New Year – Page 3

Word for the Year & Motto ~ 2013

January 8, 2013 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: Motto, New Year, Word of the Year 5 Comments

“…Think of this new year as a white page given to me by Your Father, on which He will write, day by day, whatever His divine good pleasure has planned. I shall now write at the top of the page, with complete confidence: Domine, fac de me sicut vis, Lord, do with me what you will, and at the bottom I already write my Amen to all the proposals of Your divine will.” ~Taken from Divine Intimacy by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, OCD

I resound my sentiments from 2011.

It’s a new year and I desire to be transformed, to live each day as though it were my last. I pray to die to self and become a true slave to Jesus through Mary.

A new year, a new creation in Christ. – Time is a Treasure!

I struggled with finalizing my word for the year. There were three words that kept coming up. All of them were relevant and remain promptings on my heart. Still, I knew that the ultimate prompting was not coming through with two of the words.

I continued to pray and be patient. As always, He came through in a grand way. The word was made known almost instantly after my first prayer request for clarification. It was a test of sorts for me to act promptly – to lay down my doubts and desire for better understanding (another one of my many crosses).

My word for the 2013 is………

Word of the Year ~ 2013

I desire prompt obedience to serve Him – first time, without hesitation. I no longer want to stand in His way from doing great things. I don’t want to put things off because I seek a level of perfection that is unattainable. I don’t want to let my health be an excuse for not living and serving. I don’t want to pass up doing the small things with great love. I don’t want to spend my life in discernment when ultimately I am refusing to walk in faith. I don’t want to put Him on hold while I attend to my flesh and worldly comforts. I don’t want to wait one unnecessary minute and risk that His voice becomes a low echoing in the distance. I don’t want to not be ready to join Him!

The time is NOW! I must follow His will for me in the present moment. I must be willing to put aside my plans for His at any given moment, regardless of the cost. I must not let a day go by with speaking with Him, offering Him an act of thanksgiving, satiating His thirst. I must always be seeking to grow in virtue. I must only offer my FIAT ~ let it be done to me as You will.

Most importantly, I must seek to do all these things in my home with those precious little faces that He has so abundantly blessed me with. I must not set my eyes beyond my four walls and I must embrace His call for me through my vocation as a wife, mama, and homeschooler. (That means I can’t wait for my energy to return, the baby to be born, the baby to stop nursing, better school resources, money, the house to be clean, the blog post to be written,…or any other lame excuses that I have been known to muster up.) The time is NOW!

His grace will be needed for me to move forward but I have no doubts in His abilities. For I am completely nothing without Him and I desire to be nothing else but that which He has ordained me to be. I want only to love Him and serve Him – NOW!

…"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

~2 Corinthians 9:23

I am not moving out of fear. This call to action is made out of LOVE for the One who so dearly loves me despite all my failings. His love is my motivation to offer prompt obedience for His will for me.

May His grace help me to do His will NOW!

I’m not abandoning any of my previous words. In fact, through this practice, they have been imprinted on my heart. Perfection is not sought. My goal is only to move closer to Him and do His will.

St. Guy of Anderlecht, St. Bernard Scammacca, Bl. Teresa of Calcutta, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel ~ pray for me!

Word of the Year Posts – 2012 – Pray 2011 – Charity (LOVE)

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2013 Motto

This motto has been developing since 2011 and my inspiration from Melody.

Be Charitable. love others, especially family, the way He loves you.

Be Useful. serve always.

Be Gentle. have the loving heart, tongue and hand of Mary.

Be Joyful. stay rooted in the true JOY – JESUS. share the JOY with all.

Forget about yourself. die to self, live for God alone.

Pray. speak to God often and cover everything in prayer.

ALL FOR…Jesus through Mary with the intercession of St. Joseph.

NOW! offer prompt obedience to God’s will for you.

You may print my motto for your personal use.

2013 Patron Saints

December 29, 2012 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: Family Night, New Year, Patron Saint

On the occasion of the New Year 1935 Saint Maria Faustina made this entry in her spiritual Diary: "Jesus likes to intervene in the smallest details of our life. And He often fulfills secret wishes of mine that I sometimes hide from Him, although I know that from Him nothing can be hidden. There is a custom among us of drawing by lot on New Year’s Day, special patrons for ourselves for the whole year…”

~ Saint Maria Faustina

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We are trying to get an early start on 2013. Dad initiated the saint selection for the family’s patron saint for 2013. Then each of us took a moment for prayer before we allowed a saint to select us as our personal patron saint for the year.*

We used the Saint’s Name Generator.

Here are our patron saints for 2013:

Family – St. Guy of Anderlecht – Feast: September 12
Dad – St. Paul the Apostle – Feast: June 29; January 25 (celebration of conversion)
Mom – St. Bernard Scammacca – Feast: February 16 (fitting since I am due with Baby G on Feb. 17)
Rose – St. George – Feast: April 23
Sparkles – St. Charles Borromeo – November 5 (old) – November 4 (new)
Sweetie – St. Elizabeth Ann Seton – Feast: January 4

*Only those who receive or will receive Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, selected a patron saint for the year. The boys will focus on growing in devotion to their namesakes.

Family Patron Saints from 2010 I 2011 I 2012.

Word of the Year

January 13, 2012 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: Motto, New Year, Prayer, Word of the Year 5 Comments

“Almighty Father, I place the Precious Blood of Jesus before my lips before I pray, that my prayers may be purified before they ascend to Your divine altar.” ~St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

I desired to adopt a word for the year. It was a fruitful exercise for me last year and felt that I could use a simple reminder of His call for me.

I struggled with coming up with a word. Finally, I asked Dad to pick one for me. He told me to go to my saint for the year, St. Mary Magdalen Pazzi. Praise God for the headship of my family. It was the exact place that I needed to go. The word was immediately made known. It’s not original or flashy–the word is PRAY.

Everything starts with prayer. Prayer is where I hear His voice. Prayer in Adoration, in celebration of the Mass, in my work, in times of trials, in times of jubilation, in union with Dad, with my family, for others, united in sacrifice and penance, in the tears that I shed,….I must pray in all things at all times.
I desire to do all things for the greater glory of God and I trust that, through prayer, He will show me the way.

I’m not abandoning any of my previous words. In fact, through this practice, they have been imprinted on my heart. Perfection is not sought. My goal is only to move closer to Him and do His will.

“Our prayer must be humble, fervent, resigned, persevering, and deeply reverent, for we must reflect that we are in the presence of a God and speaking with a Lord before Whom the Angels tremble out of respect and fear.” ~ St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi

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2012 Motto

Be Charitable.

Be Useful.

Be Gentle.

Be Joyful.

Pray always.

Forget about yourself.

ALL FOR!

In His JOY,

Resourceful

January 13, 2012 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: Crafts, Frugal Living, Gifts, New Year, Simplicity

Dad and I have made a pact, we will not be buying anything this year. In other words, no shopping. We will only purchase whole, clean food and personal necessities. It’s a call that has been on our heart for sometime now but we I have resisted. We are now cooperating with His grace and moving forward.
We are very limited with our financial resources and are facing some more difficult times. All of which, have been answers to prayers. The Good Lord is making it easy for us to know His will.
We have nothing to fear. We are not going without and trust in His providence. All of our needs are being met, praise God.

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ~ Matthew 6:25-26

We pray that we grow to be better stewards of our blessings (monetary, physical, spiritual,–all things).

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.

~ Matthew 6:33-34

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No shopping doesn’t mean no crafting or gift giving. The kids and I will use what we have on hand. Here are a few of our latest creations. I did purchase some prints of the photos that I had taken.

Sweetie is my focus group when it comes to all things Little Flowers. I usually have her do a trial run of the LF craft for the month. This gives me a good idea of the level of difficulty for the craft and about how long the craft will take. This month’s craft has to do with knitting.

I took family photographs for Christmas gifts. I used the photos to create photo canvases. I printed enlargements at Costco and applied them to my stash of canvases. (The canvases have been sitting in the bag for almost six years now. I had intended to create personalized paintings.)

Rose and I made personalized trinkets for Dad’s co-workers and her girlfriends. The pictures below don’t do these creations justice. They’re simple, fun and absolutely darling.

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I hope to use up all my craft supplies this year. I’ll be sharing my creations at the weekly Stash Bash and Pinning it Down.

Ringing in 2012

January 4, 2012 by Lena {JOYfilledfamily} Filed Under: Family Night, New Year

this was the first year that the little’s were able to stay up until midnight. I don’t know how super baby managed but he did.

Dad and I continued our New Year’s tradition. Dad holds a family session. He leads spiritual reflections. It includes a spiritual progress report and a spiritual goal setting session. Dad leads and each family member takes a turn sharing. Everyone has a chance to voice their own report, offer their gift to Jesus, and to "evaluate" one another. All ages participate. I record the responses. In the past, I have video recorded the sessions. We all love to hear and see our growth over the year.

Dad is responsible for checking in with our goals. He usually does this sporadically (throughout the year) on family nights.

This year, our tradition almost got put off. Dad and I were invited to a New Year’s Eve party. It was tempting for us since the tickets were free and we desired some adult time. After some discernment, we opted to keep our tradition of bringing in the New Year with family. We give thanks and praise to the Good Lord for leading us home. We trust that He is calling us, now more than ever, to resign more fully to our home and family. We pray that we will be given the graces, this year, to see what other activities are hindering us in fully preparing our family for His call, and that we move promptly to become right ordered.

"How shall I make a return to the Lord for all the good He has done for me?" (Ps. 116:12)

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In addition to New Year’s Family session, Dad has started a new tradition—tamale making. He grew up making tamales in his home every Christmas. He’s only made them once on his own. He and my dad rallied together. It was a day full of family fun in the kitchen. Grandma, Nana & Papa, aunts and uncles, and cousins all pitched a hand. We made over 30 dozen pork, chicken, and green chili and cheese tamales. Craziness is what it was.

I hope to use up all my craft supplies this year. I’ll be sharing my creations at the weekly Stash Bash and Pinning it Down.

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