Lest I Forget

Lent. It was long, and emotional. Our little world is about to be in some major upheaval as we pack up and make our way back to the states. We must begin to really look at the contents of this house and decide "Is this really necessary? Why are we clinging to these things? Will they be useful in our new house?" I think Lent is a lot like that, but with our souls. What things are hanging out in our souls that are taking up precious space that needs to be for Jesus? How can we clear out a space for Him? What is keeping us from doing so? On Holy Thursday, I was blessed to be able to spend time with Jesus in Adoration after Mass. I tell you, He can really hear your prayers when you are that close to Him, so be careful. What I asked of Him was given to me almost immediately. The question is, will I grow closer to my Lord, or will I let fear grip me and not rise to the challenge? Somewhere along the way, we started a tradition of putting littl...

We are nearing the end of our time in Germany. There are ever so many places I would like to visit before returning to the USA, yet we can only see so much in these remaining days. The Black Forest area is nearby, we had yet to visit this part of Germany, and we had to work around Anna's online classes. We picked places that would capture the interest of each of us, found an apartment, and we packed up and started our five day adventure. Sunday : Drove to Strasbourg, France. It was near our destination and we had time before our check-in at the apartment. We found the Notre Dame Cathedral and waited in line to climb 330 steps to the top of the Cathedral. The kids took off at a tremendous pace, and going up a spiraling staircase, I quickly lost sight of them. That was stressful for me, even though I logically knew that they couldn't fall off the building. I admit to being short of breath by the time we reached the top, but what a view of the city! You might be surprised to lea...