7 Quick Takes:The Devil and the Details

--1-- The Podcast Is Up

I swear I'm going to have to stop talking about the occult. Blogtalk Radio and Facebook are starting to SPAM me with how-tos for Satanism. Next week will be about putting your gifts from the Holy Spirit to good use among other things. I rebuke thee, SPAM! Get thee behind me computer cookies!
 

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--2-- The Devil in the Ordinary

As promised on the show, here's the website for Father Dwight Longenecker's piece about possession. He asks us to ponder if demon possession is rare or if it is more common than we know. It's a very interesting piece.

Al Pacino in Devil's Advocate

 --3-- Happy Valentine's Day

This is the anniversary of our regularizing our marriage in the Church so it is a special day for us. We went out for breakfast this morning with all the kids and my parents. It was Mr. Baby's premier appearance at a real sit down restaurant. All was well, the waitress was charmed (and well tipped) and the day adequately feted. To top it all off the owners hired a troupe of singers to serenade their customers. They sang "Love Potion Number Nine"! It was so hard not to sing along!  

--4-- I've Been Under the Weather

 I've been unable to shake the last cold/flu bug and have been running on half speed for the last several weeks. Last week it really caught up with me, so I took yet another unannounced break from blogging, and sought out medical assistance. I'm on anti-vitals, totally off of sugar, and am on the mend. Finally! My coffee is unsweetened for the duration. Well, now I guess I'll have to give something else up for Lent.  

--5-- I'll Be Speaking at an ACTS Retreat!

In April I will be giving my personal testimony at an ACTS retreat. If you ever have the opportunity to attend an ACTS retreat, take it! This particular retreat will be for anyone who has been on a previous ACTS retreat and needs to recharge.

ACTS is an acronym that stands for Adoration, Community, Theology, and Service. Here is more information regarding ACTS retreats. Go here to find an ACTS retreat near you. Retreats are amazing. If you can go, you should go. You really do deserve to spend some time with God.  

--6-- Speaking of Speaking

  I can come to your event and speak on marriage, family life, my conversion story, and the life of a foster parent. To reach me, contact me at via email at andychrism at juno.com.

--7-- Speaking of Foster Parenting

(Yes, I did! Right up there in #6, see?) Here is my favorite prayer asking for Saint Joseph's intercession. He's the patron of foster parents, being one himself.

Oh, St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God. I place in you all my interests and desires. Oh, St. Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession, and obtain for me from your devine Son all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So that, having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers.

Oh, St. Joseph, I never weary of contemplating you, and Jesus asleep in your arms; I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me and ask him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath. St. Joseph, Patron of departing souls - Pray for me.

 - See more at: http://prayertostjoseph.org/#sthash.68uqVkiT.dpuf

7 Quick Takes

--1--

The podcast is back! It's now scheduled for Friday mornings, 7 a.m. Eastern, 6 a.m. Central, and that-had-better-not-be-the-radio a.m. Pacific.

This Friday's show was on evil, marriage, and other tangents.

New Religion Internet Radio with Deeper Truth on BlogTalkRadio

--2--

Do We See Ourselves?

Because of The Wardrobe Project, I spend a lot of time talking to other women about their various shapes. It amazes me how hard it is for us to look objectively at our own bodies. I feel a blog post coming on, but in the meantime, why do you think that is? Why can't we look and just see?

--3--

A Shape Calculator

This is designed for larger women but it works for any woman. It'll give you a rough idea of your shape  without using a tape measure and some advice for dressing that shape.

For more advice on dressing your body shape, click through to The Wardrobe Project.

--4-- 

The Wardrobe Project

What's Next?

• I will be researching each of the body shapes in the plus sizes. Many of you have contacted me via Facebook and email with questions specific to applying body shape information to larger sizes.
• I will going to the store with models for the various body types. We will try on clothing appropriate for their sizes and body shapes. Then we will try on clothing that does not fit their sizes and body shapes and noting what happens. This will (I hope) help those of us who have trouble in the fitting room figure out how to fix the problems or make more flattering choices.  

--5--

Creation Debate

A Catholic Answers Roundup

My main problem with this whole argument between Christians and Evolutionists is that it is too narrow. Yes, Genesis is the creation story, but it is so much more than that. It is the first promise of Christ the Redeemer and more. It is an explanation of all that is broken in the relationship between men and women and more. It describes the consequences of sin and still more. There is an eternity's worth of depth to the entire book of Genesis. Yet, because some people want to tease us, mock us, and use Science as the tool to do so, Christians want to fight this one battle to the bitter end. Why? The secular world always hates and makes fun of us. They will always get us and God wrong. Ultimately, science can't disprove a correct understanding of God and His universe. We will always struggle to understand God, science will always struggle to understand creation, and there will always be a tension between the two.

--6-- 

I Like Unequally Yoked's Take on Children in Public

Have we gone from "Children should be seen and not heard" to "Children should not be seen"? Click here for the article "Oh Stewardess? There's a Baby in My Plane!" 

--7--

The Devil in Ordinary 

Read this one to the end so that you don't miss the story Lenny Kravitz shares about his father. In the movie The Conjuring, the image of something dark clinging to the back of the girls scared me more than the Big Boo moments of demons jumping out at people. Why? Because that's the real deal.

How does one become involved in Satanism?

And how does God get you out of it again? Tune in to tonight's Podcast and find out as we interview a convert from Satanism. 9 p.m. Eastern (8 p.m. Central)

(click here to listen in tonight)

Our speaker will be featured at the Spiritual Warfare Conference in Ontario, California, May 3, 4, 5. Click here for details.

"Warm Up Your Wardrobe but Keep Your Cool" Podcast with Colleen Hammond

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Tonight's Garden of Holiness at Deeper Truth podcast featured Colleen Hammond the author of Dressing with Dignity. We heated things up by talking modesty and dignity and fashion. Colleen is a Catholic speaker, an award-winning writer, radio and television talk show host, educator, comedienne, and mother—all rolled into one!

Catholic Author and Speaker Colleen Hammond

Here are some of the links to the webpages and studies we mentioned:

"Women and Objectification" Huffington Post article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/25/women-and-objectification_n_1701275.html

Colleen Hammond's website and Pinterest link
http://www.colleenhammond.com
http://pinterest.com/colleenmhammond/


You can have an opportunity to hear her live again soon! Colleen will be speaking at the IMH National Conference in Fredericksburg, Virginia, June 21 and 22, 2013.
Click here for more details: http://www.ihmconference.org/national/

7 Quick Takes

1

Have I mentioned that I love my laptop? I am able to integrate writing around family life a whole lot better with it. At this very moment I am on my way to the little town where my spiritual director lives. It is absolutely awesome. My husband is driving, the kids are chatting, and I am blogging. Wild.


2

I had a revelation about Hell and God this morning as I contemplated dragging my carcass out of the warm bed into a 55 degree house. Our thermostat is cranky, by the way, and tends to shut off if it is jostled. We have five children, two dogs and four cats. We jostle. Cold mornings are a regular occurrence, but that’s not the point.

The point is I had no desire at all to get up out of bed early nor to brave the chilly floor and house. I was lolling in bed, eyes closed, listening to the radio in the dark, attempting to muster the desire to muster. Inevitably I dosed off for a second. It was only for a second, but I had that panicky startled wake up and determined then and there to get a move on. I reached up and turned on the light.

My eyes, totally given over to the dark, suffered the light. It was barely painful, but in addition to the cold and the fatigue, I felt the eye ache on a personal and a resentful level.

That’s when it hit me. Though Hell is described as a torment, Heaven would be an even worse torment for those who hate the Light. It would burn and ache and drive spears into the souls of those who hate it.

These are my thoughts first thing this morning. Can you tell I am in dire need of Confession here?  What a crank! I sincerely hope to be more cheerful as soon as I clean out some muck and goo.


3

Loving That Post-Confession Feeling!

Ah, much better. I feel like a million bucks. It’s a good thing this post is in 7 Quick Takes format or I’d have to trash the first two because of the abrupt change in tone. Like life, these little blurbs can take a complete turn around in authorial attitude rather well.


4

At breakfast my oldest daughter, age 7, asked Father if she could start studying for First Communion and First Confession. She’s been asking about it at home for several months now and we’ve wondered if she is ready, second guessing ourselves. Father settled the matter rather quickly after asking her several questions to determine her readiness. In addition to her, he asked us several questions about Simon. Father is going to work with us to get Simon able to use the iPad in the Confessional to assist their communication. Simon is talking but his diction is such that he is incredibly hard to understand. Father, knowing this, is eager to use the technology that will make Simon able to do it now when his heart is ready rather than waiting on his speech skills to catch up. We are very excited to announce we are starting Sacramental Preparation at our house!

5

Honestly, I don’t know why I haven’t learned to write stuff down. My husband will say, “Oh you need to blog that!” and I’ll smile and agree and I won’t make a move to jot the incident down. I always regret it when Friday comes. “Honey, do you remember that thing we were going to put in the 7 Quick Takes?” “Yeah, it was funny. What was it again? Did you get it written down?”

No.

6

Pretty soon I’ll be moving this blog over to Wordpress. I’ll have my own domain name and everything. Jeff Young at The Catholic Foodie is helping me make the transition, so you can see his name as a blog contributor. Wouldn’t that be the coolest thing ever? Maybe I should ask him for some insights about food meeting faith.

7


For the next few weeks the Podcasts will be exploring modern marriage and the problems we experience. We (Tim and Rozanne Ohmes and my very own husband Andy and I) will be touching on Genesis and the Theology of the Body as we discuss struggling with NFP.

This week Rozanne and I will first attempt to give you the best cure we know for marital ills: praying together. For my Wifey Wednesday post this week I’m going to give you links, suggestions, and the stats on couples who pray together. The Podcast on Wednesday at 9 p.m. Eastern will go into more depth about Couple Prayer. You won’t want to miss it.

7 Quick Takes and a Prayer

--1--

Isn't it a blessing to be comfortable enough to have the means for all of life's true necessities and yet to be working hard enough to get them that a bag of coffee and a quart of cream makes for a fine, fine Christmas gift? Of course, it's easy to be grateful for a bag of Mystic Monk. Thank you oh so very much, neighbors!

--2--

Everyone waiting to see Sissy's gift!

By American standards, we celebrate a small Christmas. We try to keep the focus on our faith and each other and not on an ever growing pile of goods under the tree. For the past few years we have chosen not to go into credit card debt but instead have set a cash budget and have kept to it in spite of all temptation. We actually give the majority of the funding to the children to spend a modest amount on each present they need to buy for each other, my husband and I, grandparents and Godparents. Most of their Christmas gifts and most of the excitement come from what they carefully choose for each other. It's sweet to watch the children hover around the recipient as each gift is opened, to hear them calling out, "That's from me!" and "You got that from her?" We think we're on to something. This year, as every year, was the very best.

--3--

A No-Filing Filing System of Monthly Bills
From Echoes of Laughter

We had our first test of our new bill paying system the other day. Our propane company called concerned that we hadn't paid our bill. All it took was a quick look in my notebook to be able to say, "It was mailed a week ago Wednesday." Before they even found their clerical error, I already knew the check had cleared the bank and all was well. It was a nice experience compared to the frantic search through a pile of unfiled paperwork that was my previous system for responding to such phone calls. If you are interested in changing the way you track and file your monthly bills, this is the system we're using. I can recommend it from personal experience. It works!

--4--

Enough crowing! How about a nice wife fail to round out the list? Last Sunday, my husband was sick and staying home from church and work. The kids were also sick and were dozing and quiet so while I was getting ready, he and I had the rare opportunity for a real adult conversation. It got pretty deep into the usual topics of the New Year, self-improvement, and I wanted to give him a little boost. Meaning to remind him that nobody is expected to be perfect but to simply persevere I said cheerily, "You know you are going to fail, right?" I meant to go on and explain myself better, but his look prevented much more than some stammering and apologizing. It took me awhile to untangle what I really meant from what I'd said and by the end of it we were laughing at my failure to communicate. He isn't teasing me too hard about it yet, but he has whispered in my ear once or twice as I'm beginning a job, "You know you're going to fail, right?"

I already did, babe. Got that skill down pat.

--5--

"Resolving to Sin No More"

Garden of Holiness Podcast for Deeper Truth

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Wednesday's podcast on combating sins with virtues turned out pretty well. My friends over at Deeper Truth are putting it in their "Best Of" list. Since it expands on some of the points I made in Wednesday's post, I thought I'd share it. I had a chance to talk about some of the ways even the practice of Virtues can be twisted around on you if you aren't careful. Speaking from personal experience, of course. *ahem*

--6--

No word yet on the foster care paperwork. It's all in and undergoing review. I'm waiting as patiently as I can, figuring our social worker is taking a few days to spend some time with her family.

--7--

Speaking of, thank you for your understanding and patience when I took some time off from blogging to be able to relax and enjoy the season with my family. In fact, the entire crew of Martins thanks you and wishes you a very happy New Year.

 --A Prayer--

Two of my blogging friends need prayers. Both are pregnant and both have been hospitalized this week: Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary (an update) and Kelly at The Careless Catholic (an update). Thank you.

7 Quick Takes

--1--

My spiritual director gave me quite a penance yesterday. We got to the assigning of a penance portion of the Confession when he said with a twinkle in his eye, "How do you take your coffee?"

A cup of blech coffee...

He had watched me doctor up a cup mere moments before, so I said, "Oh, no! You're going to take my coffee!"

He laughed at me, "Answer the question."

I bowed to the inevitable and answered, "I mess with it a lot. Cream, sugar. The works, Father."

He nodded and bowed his head. "For two days, drink it black."

"Can I do without?"

"No."

"You know, I can do without it. I thought you were going to tell me to do without."

"You are to drink it and you are to drink it black."

"I can do that," thinking I'd drink one cup and call it penance.

"I want you to drink it and I want you to be sure that you are not drinking any less."

I wondered if he could read minds.

He had that twinkle in his eye again, "Think about the bitterness of sin with each sip."

I laughed, "That won't be hard."

"It could be," he said.

He knows me well enough to know me. I'd rather do without than put up with.

Lord, have mercy.

--2--

As I was reviewing the above, I realized something about myself--I am constantly bargaining. It's not just me in the Confessional, it's me everywhere (just ask my mom sometime). I don't think I accept authority very well. I also think I need to quit blaming my husband for our son who does the exact same thing to my authority.

Mea culpa!

--3--

Today I had the pleasure of going to Mass. It's First Friday. We Martins haven't managed to ever complete the First Friday Devotion, but we do go frequently. Any day with Mass in it is a good day.

--4--

I am also fasting today. The first coffee penance was served today, too, and yet today wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be. It did take me until 3:00 p.m. to choke down my usual dose of morning coffee. I thought of the bitterness of sin with every sip, too. I can not believe that this is all it takes to tame me. I am an incredible wimp.

--5--

The weather has been so cooperative that I decided to work outside. We are renovating an old farmhouse that we moved onto an acre of land we purchased a few years ago. Last year's massive drought took us down to bare dirt, though I had managed to section off and compost a large garden bed out front. This week I began transplanting bulbs and perennials. Today, my neighbor and I hit the town's free mulch yard. We loaded up a trailer full of mulch and dumped it on the new plantings. I'm watering it all in even as I type.

I'm also hoping for snow on Sunday. It's been the only promise of moisture for months. C'mon snow! Ice? Anything!!

--6--

My neighbor and I are going to share our resources for gardening in other ways, too. Next year I will be in charge of all the gourds here at my house. She will grow everything else. We began pooling our resources because I wanted to garden but didn't have the soil ready. Instead of struggling to produce a measly crop in poorly prepared soil, all last year I churned the dirt and added manure to my future garden and earned my summer produce by working in her garden and helping with the harvests and canning. Gardens around here take tremendous effort and much preparation. I'm only just to the point where enough compost has been added to enrich the soil in my main garden bed to consider being in charge of the gourds. We'll still pool our resources, we've just increased the pool for next year. I'm excited.

We're moving all the gourds to my new bed because the ongoing drought has created a surplus of squash bugs. We're hoping to get a better harvest than this year if we move next year's crop of pumpkins, butternuts, and squashes to my plot. You think maybe the bugs will simply get lost between here and there? I am happily working on the project now at any rate. Next year I will have some flowers and some greenery about the place.

So help me!

--7--

Well, I promised a special Advent Post and then I went and took all my notes and made a Podcast out of them. I was able to go so far afield and so much more in depth talking about Advent that I now have enough material to write a small book on the subject. Gracious sakes, I'm not up for that at the moment (though I will take this opportunity to announce that I have two children's books being penned as well as a sci-fi story bubbling around in my cauldron of Too Much To Do Stew), so I've decided to leave it as a Podcast for the moment and let you listen to the post I had fully intended to write for you.

Here it is...

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Newsy Tuesday: Stuff About Wednesday

Interview with the author Bradley Birzer
to air tomorrow on the Garden of Holiness Podcast.
This book available on Amazon.com

For those of you who enjoy the Garden of Holiness Podcast, I won't be able to be on tomorrow. I'm going out of town and will be on the road. Deeper Truth plans to run a prerecorded show, it's just a matter of which one. I have permission from Sister Miriam to run her interview with Bradley Birzer, the author of American Cicero: The Life of Charles Carroll that originally aired on my local Catholic radio station, KDJW Saint Valentine Radio. Charles Carroll was the only Catholic founding father of America. His life is an interesting story about surviving and flourishing in an anti-Catholic culture. It's a good interview and I hope it can air. Otherwise, we'll be running something just as good so tune in!

The Garden of Holiness Podcast is scheduled Wednesdays at 7 p.m. Eastern.

How to disagree

Robert Frost's proverb "Good fences make good neighbors"
applies especially to differences of faith.

My sister is Mormon. I'm Catholic. There are important matters of the faith that we do not agree upon. You would think this would cause tense moments and awkward silences. You would think there should be subjects we must avoid at all costs. You would think this difference would cause strife and division between us. It doesn't.

It really doesn't. My sister taught me the skill of holding onto your most precious beliefs while respecting that others disagree. In other words she taught me the skill to tolerate any one's right to be wrong. Because of her, I can look her in the eye, disagreeing with her completely, and still find love. Before I was even a Christian, she showed me how to love in Christian Charity. She showed me that when you hold the Truth in your heart, it is like an armor. Nothing can touch it.

She showed me how to be unshakable.

So, how does that translate in a world where disagreements of the sort that exist between Mormonism and Catholicism lead to harsh words and strong emotions at best? It looks an awful lot like what you will hear on this podcast. We are very matter of fact about our respective faiths. We listen. We find the common ground and point out the differences. We allow space to exist where it exists and we don't insist on agreement. We build a good fence in that particular spot and gaze over it, saying, "Well, that is different."

That doesn't mean the differences aren't fundamental or essential. It simply means that I know her heart is for God. She is in the palm of His hand, and I know He loves her perfectly. I tell her the truth of my faith, she tells me the truths of hers, and then we live those truths the best way we can.

She is no hypocrite, my sister, I can tell you that. So I can trust her to be wrong. She can trust me to be. We both love each other and believe wholeheartedly, "I can trust God with her."

I guess that kind of faith in God and His providence is one of those spots where there is a gate in our fence. It's a place where we find common ground, where we can really open up and see into each other's fields for a short distance. We won't agree on everything, but this little spot is good. We can rest there for a little while.

So what if she prays for me and not so secretly wishes I was Mormon? I pray for her and wish she were Catholic. That's perfectly okay. Conversion is a continual return to God, so if she prays for my conversion I am strengthened by her prayers, and she, the same.

I trust so completely that God meets us where we are. She is there. I am here.

And here you are.

So, my neighbor, are we at a fence or a gate?

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--------
The idea for this show came from a Facebook discussion of the Vice Presidential debate that turned quickly into an anti-Romney, anti-Mormon thread. I countered, with help from a young woman of my acquaintance, and decided it was an opportunity to clear up some falsehoods about Mormonism. The first step to good apologetics is education, so here is an opportunity to learn about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from someone who knows her faith and lives it.

The Gates of Hell

My friends came on the Podcast last night, John and Tammy, and shared a bitter story of their family. It ran for three hours, one hour over the live broadcast portion. You can hear it all in the archive here. In that final hour I left my friends with an image, not my own it's in the Book of Matthew, of the Gates of Hell. It particularly resonated with Tammy.

I reminded her that the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against us. Us, the Church, of course, but us. It is a mistake to believe that we of the Church are besieged by evil. It is the Church that has the field! Even now evil is barricaded behind its battlements and we, we, are at the gates. Evil loses in the end.

Those Gates of Hell shall not prevail against us.

Let me tell you that her family took a hit, a terrible blow from the evil behind those gates. A rain of arrows came flying out and struck each of them, wounding them all. Amen, I say to you that they are still standing. Wounded but here. They did not fall.

Some of us will, but not this family. In the end we do win, wounded or not. Those gates shall not stand.

For you, Tammy, my warrior friend. May this battle cry can soothe your mother's heart.

 

And from the Mercy of God, may He reach out and heal the wounded hearts of your children. Lord, hear our prayer.

Conversion Story: Were you crying?

I was barely holding it together. Oh my word that was powerful stuff! After last night's show, I think I could hang up the microphone and consider it "mission accomplished." If all I was meant to do was get that story told...

"A Man and His Marriage Brought to the Brink of Hell"

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Nick Alexander on the Show Tonight!

The Garden of Holiness Show on Deeper Truth is featuring Catholic convert, speaker, comedian, singer and songwriter Nick Alexander, tonight! Yes, that Nick Alexander, the Catholic Weird Al!

If you happen upon the intersection of hilarity and holiness you'll probably find Nick Alexander standing on the street corner directing traffic. Some, he finds, could use a little help lightening up. Others might do well to take their faith a bit more seriously. Either way, he's pointing people in the same direction: Straight up.

Listen in tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern/8 p.m. Central by clicking this handy link!

Uh...uh...I'll be podcasting tonight

Thanks to my friends over at Deeper Truth, I am beginning to podcast. You can hear me live tonight at 9 p.m Eastern/8 p.m. Central for a "Getting to Know You" show. Click here for: The Garden of Holiness show 02/15 by Deeper Truth | Blog Talk Radio

I'll be telling a bit about my hopes for this little blog, how I fell away from Christianity in the first place, and a bit or two about me and my family that you might not know yet. If you are a reader here, or if you have your own Prodigal's Story to share, we'd love to hear from you, so call in!

Call in number to speak with the host

           (646) 595-2071   
Tonight 9 p.m. Easter/8 p.m. Central