Quote of the Month: April 2014

Since I am trying to catch up on my blogs I thought I'd backtrack and catch up on my quotes too. 

What you give up for Lent changes lives. - Catholic Relief Services

I don't exactly know who said/wrote that quote.  It was printed on the rice bowl Leah received in her Faith Formation class at the beginning of Lent.  You might remember our rice bowl experience last Lent from a blog entry I wrote in April 2013.  We gave up our Popcorn Friday treats and lunch out after church & Faith Formation classes and donated that money.  The enlightenment Leah and Aaron received about being grateful and thinking of others by participating in the Operation Rice Bowl project last year was priceless.  This year we decided to step up our game.

We again gave up our Popcorn Friday treats and donated the money instead.  Leah and Aaron also donated their "give" money.  (They each put $1 of their weekly allowance in a "give" fund.  Once they collectively reach $25 or more, they get to decide how to donate the money.)  Sometimes they would give an extra dollar or change.  In the six weeks of Lent we collected over $25 without feeling like we gave anything up.  The great part is, and what follows the quote, is our donation based upon what we gave up for Lent really has the power to change lives.  According CRS (Catholic Relief Services) a donation of $10 buys two weeks of food for a family of six.  $25 buys health exams for 13 kids and $30 can provide up to two years of seeds for a farmer, all because we gave up having popcorn and cookies after school on Fridays for six weeks.  It's pretty amazing when you think about it.

This Lent we stepped up our game by trying some of the recipes too.  As you may know, Catholics abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent.  CRS has weekly stories from around the world of how donations helped individuals or villages from a region then they include a meatless recipe from that region.  This past Lent we tried two of those recipes:  Mukimo from Kenya and Frijoles Volteados from Guatemala.

Mukimo was not a big hit at our house. 

Mukimo is a concoction of potatoes, peas, spinach and corn.  Honestly, it didn't taste like much of anything.  It was kind of like eating mashed potatoes with corn and peas stirred into it.  Leah tried two or three bites (which impressed me) but Aaron refused altogether.  Needless to say it will not be made again at our house.  The Frijoles Volteados had potential.  It was like a black bean paste that was served in a tortilla.  It was kind of bland and I didn't even bother to try to get the kids to taste it.  I do think you could use the recipe as an outline and build on it into something a little more interesting.  I may try do something with it for Lent 2015.

I can't tell you how many people I have encountered in my life, many of them not even Catholic or practicing Christians, who give up chocolate or some sort of sweets for Lent.  They use it as a springboard for beginning a diet and they lament over how hard it is for them to do this for 40 days.  I think the big picture is maybe for 40 days out of the year (at least), we can think of someone other than ourselves.  And maybe we need to remember that living without chocolate for 40 days is not hard living compared to people who have to spend hours a day hauling clean water to their homes so they can safely drink and cook for their families.  Lent is not about giving something up for ourselves, it is about giving alms to someone else less fortunate.  This rice bowl project has helped remind/clarify this to me.  I plan to make this rice bowl project a tradition for Lent for our family regardless of whether the next parish we move to participates.  I would encourage anybody of any religion to consider giving something up for 40 days then donate the money they would have spent to the charity of their choice.  What you give up could change a person's life.

Quote of the Month: August 2014

Yes, I know it has been a while, but I am trying to get back into the swing of things, blogger-style.  Last night (August 2, 2014), Matt and Leah went to the Father-Daughter Dance here on base.  It made me think of this quote:

          A daughter may outgrow your lap, but she will never outgrow your heart. - Author Unknown

Leah wore her Easter dress and Matt wore the
tie with matching pocket square and cuff links
that the kids gave him for Father's Day.

I guess I wasn't the only one thinking of that quote; it was on the ticket to the dance.

Matt and Leah had a good time at the dance.  There were quite a few familiar faces.  It was a pink-and-silver themed event with tiaras for all the girls.  There was a buffet that even had a candy bar (meaning a table full of candy, not a candy bar, singular). 

After dinner there was plenty of dancing for Leah and Matt.  There was a DJ, who Matt said did a pretty good job.  Leah even learned how to do the Cupid Shuffle.  She enjoyed dancing and the DJ until he played (inevitably) "Let It Go."  Matt said while 98% of all the girls under the age of 15 were on the dance floor, Leah asked if it was time to go home.  (Our kids are the only kids I know who do not really like the movie Frozen.)  They ended up staying and dancing more.  Leah got a gift bag with a picture frame, a wand and a tiara hair comb as well as a lot of Hershey Kisses.  She also got to bring home a bouquet of pink mums, which was part of a centerpiece.  Overall, they had a good night.

While Leah and Matt were dancing the night away, Aaron and I had our own fun.  MWR also sponsored a Mother-Son Movie Night with a free showing of Toy Story at the Hario Theater.  Aaron and I went with some friends who also had husbands and daughters at the dance.  A much more laid-back evening for us, but fun all the same.

You've got a friend in me.