Seven Quick Takes (#9)

Lots and lots and lots going on this week. Welcome to my 9th edition of 7QT, and it's going to be pretty NFP heavy y'all. Time has ben flying over here this month. They weren't kidding when they said March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, were they?? Are we in lamb territory yet? :)
                                          

FCP Training - As you may have noticed from the counter on the right hand side of this blog, it's time for my actual FCP training. EP1 is about 1,000 miles away from where I sit as of this moment...so a roadtripping I shall go. We started this venture on Fat Tuesday and we can't believe how fast you (and God) have answered our big YES to this calling. It truly, truly would not be happening without all of you! The excitement for what's ahead (learning new stuff, geeking out on something I already really dig, and all of the unfortunate amazing car dancing in my near future is pretty palpable here. That excitement is only grounded by the gravity of the work and studying that is ahead of me. And *gulp*, just to make it all-the-more intimidating, I've just learned in the past 24 hours that the training is 100% filled with doctors.... except.... you know... ME. Nothing to see here. Just a small little freak out about how crazy that detail is. As I said before, I will never, ever forget how this career began.

What Infertile Women Eat - This was a week where I went with this logic: Can't have gluten, dairy, nuts, nightshades, or refined sugar? Eat more bacon. Big, thick, natural slices of bacon. Oink. That's not the important part of this WIWE update though. There is such an exciting food detail ahead of me, I don't know *what* to do to properly express my excitement about it. It takes a LOT to evoke excitement on the category of food anymore. So y'all funded my tuition in record time and then people started asking to cover travel expenses...then food. The Lord kept bringing you to my doorstep to help, we kept saying yes, and then it got delicious. A generous couple has donated an entire week's worth of Paleo AIP meals to me for this training. They bought it from a service called Paleo to Go. It's basically a gourmet chef who cooks exactly for your food needs, then the food is delivered to you. I'm SO excited about it because traveling involves an inevitable amount of itchiness, allergic reactions, gastro issues, etc. that come up because off-limits stuff gets hidden in your food no matter what you do. I've been on trips before where I basically had to survive on lettuce for a week. It's not fun. But not this time! This trip will be as simple as opening a custom packed box later today and putting all the wholesome safe meals into the fridge. Y'all spoiled me!

Prayer Request - Please pray for my long road trip to be safe, for my training to be fruitful, and for all of the doctors at this educational program to bring pro-life NFP in the form of C.reighton back to their hometowns.

A year of "parenthood" - It has taken a while to share news of my miscarriages openly, but I took the plunge publicly on my facebook page on our 1st child's 1st birthday. An outpouring of love from everyone ensued and my heart felt a little less heavy. It was all anxiety and tears before the post and none after it, so I know the Holy Spirit was close by.
"Today would have been the 1st birthday of our 1st child, Ruadhán Pádraig. As you all celebrate the Feast of St. Patrick this year, know that we are mourning the loss of a child who is not with us. There is no birthday cake and no balloons. There is no party or giggling baby. What I have learned from my first year of "parenthood" is that this child was not *just* a miscarriage as so many have told me. His death cannot be explained away as some trite explanation of God's "plan". And this sadness and emptiness that we feel is not something you "get over with time". There is a Ruadhán-sized hole that is cauterized right into the flesh of my heart. I am the only place he ever called home before he went home to be with Christ, so I am forever changed by the short time I was granted to be his Earthly mother. Our hearts and our minds connect with our children the moment we know they are there, no matter how tiny. Perhaps the words of Laura Bush say it all better than I can manage on a day like today: "The English language lacks the words to mourn an absence. For the loss of a parent, grandparent, spouse, child or friend, we have all manner of words and phrases, some helpful some not. Still we are conditioned to say something, even if it is only “I’m sorry for your loss.” But for an absence, for someone who was never there at all, we are wordless to capture that particular emptiness. For those who deeply want children and are denied them, those missing babies hover like silent ephemeral shadows over their lives. Who can describe the feel of a tiny hand that is never held?"







The power of prayer - At the risk of sounding like a broken record on the topic of prayers, I wanted to remind everyone to take a moment and think of someone you can pray for in your life. Sometimes, the prayers we offer, organize, and deliver can have a powerful impact on the people around us. I've done three spiritual bouquets since I initially published this card. And over 100 people have downloaded it to make their own bouquet. Do you have a Lenten prayer buddy? Is a family member sick? Is someone you know falling on hard times? Is there a reason to offer prayers of thanksgiving for something amazing in your life? All of those things are a great reason to put your prayers together in support of someone else in a tangible way. HERE is what it is like for someone to open up a spiritual bouquet. It makes a difference.














Your messages to us - This week, since I'll be on the road, I'd like to pray rosaries for my readers' intentions. If you have any intentions that you'd like me to pray for you...just throw them down in the comments of this thread or send me a message on our contact form! I'm very happy to do it. Remember that no intention is trivial - send them all my way! <3

This Ain't the Lyceum - Don't forget to visit the host of 7QT!

P.S. You get an additional one this week with the Irish Feasting and all. Go make yourself some of these. Tá tú fáilte roimh! :)

Seven Quick Takes (#7)

With a full week of Lent under us this year, there are no signs of things slowing down over here!! Here's our 7th edition of 7QT and it's action packed! Thank you to everyone for praying and supporting us through this giant past week. We felt your love and support the entire way.

                                          

FCP Training - We have been nothing short of drop-jaw-amazed at the generosity of our friends, and their friends, and even complete strangers this week. At every turn of this journey to discern becoming an FCP, the path has been cleared. This week was no different. With only 20 calendar days until this training session begins, I'm happy to announce that I just learned that I've been ACCEPTED into the program and I've been granted a $1,000 grant from OSV for this training. Thank you to everyone for encouraging me to apply. I know we have a lot of work ahead (and a ton of studying!!), but this path is already enormously blessed and my faith has been doubled and redoubled in God's plan for us this year. Since we originally posted the "donate" button --> on our page on Fat Tuesday, you all have donated $274.93 out of the $4,000 remaining funds needed. If we have been the focus of your almsgiving this Lent, know that you have our humble thanks and our constant prayers. We still have quite a bit of fundraising to do before I travel all those miles to training. I hope you will prayerfully consider helping me get there. More details/updates in the weeks to come!

What Infertile Women Eat - This week involved a wonderful treat that I shared with friends. Korean food was on the menu this time and our Wednesday dinner was a special treat because of it. Skirt steak from my local butcher (pastured and grassfed!) that we marinated all day, chopped across the grain, and turned into Korean bulgogi. And that's not all! We actually served it as lettuce wraps, so we made a food assembly line on the kitchen island and we lined up all the options. Romaine lettuce leaves, jasmine steamed rice, bulgogi meat, mushrooms and scallions and carrots sauteed in sesame oil, (homemade) mak kimchi cooked down with some veggies and oil, crumbled nori (seaweed), sesame seeds, and a delicious ssamjang to top it all off (and of course raw mak kimchi as banchan!). We enjoyed it with a lovely chilled Virginia Viognier and it was a fantastic pairing.

Prayer Request Update - So many people from around the US and the world have been praying for my dear father-in-law. As many of you know, the Irish are not known for their over-the-top expressions of emotion. But this week involved a lot of really scary moments...so emotions were in full force. Lots of expressions of love going all the way around. Our only good news so far came today that swelling and lung fluid are slowly retreating. He hasn't been able to even talk the past few days because he's been struggling for air that much. Thank you to all the people keeping my beloved family in prayer. I'm deeply indebted to you for the thoughtfulness and for each of you raising up your suffering for him to our Lord. And we've shared each prayer offering with him...and he continues to be amazed at all the people praying to St. Anthony (his favorite intercessor) with him.

Printable Spiritual Prayer Bouquet - Speaking of prayers!! This got published under-the-radar because I needed it to be at the time (remember when I mentioned it here?). I organized my first spiritual bouquet this past month. The project began on January 20th and it ended on February 20th. I will be posting some pictures of what my prayer bouquet looked like once it was complete, what it entailed, how I approached it. It was an entire month dedicated to rosaries, novenas, mass offerings, adoration hours, fasting, and acts of charity. The completed prayer bouquet is en route to the recipient via snail mail and I want her to be the first to see the completed project before I share anything here. This bouquet was compiled for a very specific tribute and I hope it expresses all the love that was put into it. So for now, I'm sharing the link to the FREE printable cards (with instructions!) I created that you can download here to make your own spiritual bouquet. Share. Pray. Repeat.

St. Monica, My 2015 Patron Saint - She continues to kick some tail, this awesome saint. When I originally pulled this saint for my patron, I was a bit confused at how she could be my intercessor. And then a friend confided in me about abuse in her marriage. Then another friend confided in me about her marriage falling apart from difficulties. Then another friend confided in me about infidelity in her marriage. Then another friend confided in me about mental illness breaking up a marriage. Over a period of three weeks, I've learned some dark, dark things going on in marriages all around me (in some pretty devout Catholic couples!). My husband and I are taking this "spiritual attack" very seriously and we are praying vigilantly for ourselves and all marriages - that God would offer protection to all those who shared this sacred bond. St. Monica, pray for us! She has done an AWESOME job supporting these prayers so far...so please consider her as your own intercessor if you know someone struggling! 

   

Speaking of prayers again - you have been reaching out to us and asking us to pray for you. Keep using our contact form and asking! We love hearing from our readers and we are very happy to pray for you. We've been asked if you need to donate to our CrMS training fund in order for us to offer prayers for you and I just want to give a great big NO to that question. Our prayers are offered free of any obligation. We'll never offer to pray for you with conditions. That said, we know some of you are donating in memory of children. If you *have* asked us to pray for a special intention along with your contribution, know that we are keeping those intentions in nightly prayers as well. Accept all as Christ, right? <3

This Ain't the Lyceum - Don't forget to visit the host of 7QT! 

Spiritual Bouquet

This idea was born out of a need to do something more. (I alluded to this idea in a former 7QT post earlier this year here.) I had heard of the concept of a spiritual bouquet before, but I had never been a part of one, nor had I organized one myself. Suffice it to say, the IF Catholic blogosphere is full of awesome people and this is the result of all our ideas combined. I prayed for someone's surgery while I made this. And then I prayed for someone's full term stillborn child while I organized my first "bouquet".

Feel free to download and print these instructions and the prayer card and organize your own spiritual bouquet of prayer for someone. It can be offered in times of joy and in time of sadness. It can be celebratory or it can be offering a tribute. However you choose to use it, it will be a meaningful way to share your prayer devotions with people.

This is my very first attempt at making a printable, so please let me know if you have any questions and I'm happy to help if you encounter a formatting issue. With that said, this prayer card has already been tested throughout the world on a variety of different printers, so it should work just fine for you!

I made two versions of the card, each formatted for the most popular sizes of normal printer paper (one version for Europeans - A4, and one version for Americans - 8.5x11).

Instructions that will explain what a prayer bouquet is,
how to make one, and what the finished product
will look like can be downloaded here:

                                                              

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If you would like to print the USA version of this card 

(formatted for 8.5" x 11" paper), 

please use this download:

                                                              

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If you would like the European version of this card 

(formatted for A4 paper), 

please use this download:

                                                              

Seven Quick Takes (#4)

My Patron Saint for 2015
This is my second year choosing a patron saint using Jennifer Fulwiler's Saint Generator. (In case you aren't familiar with this fun little idea, you just click on the name generator and pray while your saint is being "chosen" for you - super simple.) This year's saint proves just as prayerfully picked as last years was. Saint Monica popped up on the screen and I wasn't surprised to see her either. You can read more about her patronage here. Pray for us, fierce St. Monica. Let's hope your patronage to motherhood is something you can help with!





Death of an Era
My great aunt E passed away this week at the age of 94. She and my grandmother had the most beautiful smiles...the kind that lit up their entire face. They radiated joy, warmth, and love. My great aunt E was a hope filled woman. She believed in the Resurrection. She and her sisters (three girls) lost their parents when they were very young. My grandmother was so young that she was sent to an orphanage, because her sisters were too young to care for her. E is the last of the sisters to pass away, so it truly feels like the end of an era. So grateful for all the love and smiles she selflessly gave. She was so tickled to hear that I had fallen in love with an Irishman. Even more tickled to hear that we married, given that my Irish roots stem from her side of the family.

Painful Anniversaries
We would have never known about Sadhbh if I hadn't have tested early. Last year, we learned about my godmother's tragic death in the end of January. She had pain in her belly button, underwent a diagnostic procedure to see if there was a hernia, and was diagnosed with aggressive and advanced ovarian cancer. Within 6 days, she died - mid conversation. We also learned at the same time of the death of our daughter, Sadhbh. It was a painful couple of weeks and here we are looking back on a whole year passed since then. You can hardly explain the connection you feel to a child you never held or kissed or rocked to sleep. The distance of a year between us seems utterly impossible. This song is for you, baby girl:

What Infertile Women Eat
I haven't been blogging about it, but I spent the entire month of January doing an elimination diet to determine if I had any remaining food sensitivities. Oh brother, did I learn a lot in the past 30+ days! I've been GF/DF/SF for the past two years, but January was my first time completing Paleo AIP. Now I'm working through reintroducing foods one at a time to see what needs to stay eliminated. Re-introductions have been interesting (some failures), so that's an eye-opener. I made an amazing vegan cheesecake this past week (I know, I know... vegan and cheesecake...what could be in it??) I assure you it was phenomenally delicious. Normal delicious, not "delicious for what it is". Anyway, it relies mostly on soaked, raw cashews that are blended smooth. Guess who learned she has a raging issue with cashews, a sore mouth, and a contact rash to prove it?? BOO!

Nutrigenomic Success
Months ago, I wrote a post about how I had undergone some genetic testing. More specifically, I had my genome mapped. Through that process, you are able to see the kinds of genetic mutations you inherited from your parents (or spontaneously via a copy error). Just because you have a mutation, doesn't mean that gene is expressed to make it an issue for you. That said, I have results that point to a tremendous number of methylation, transulfuration pathway, and folate cycle issues. We don't have the money to work with a genetic expert yet, so I'm on my own with researching this for now. First up to bat was figuring out my constant B12 deficiency. There are four forms of the vitamin. In order of asborbability: cyano-, hydroxy-, methyl-, adenosylcobalamin. I have taken three of these forms at some point over the past 10 years, but have been on the methyl version solidly for the past year. After months of researching this, I decided to switch to the adenosyl form of B12 (also called dibencozide)... and my anemia disappeared within 2 weeks. Coincidence?






Gift of Prayer
Recently, I've had an opportunity to organize some spiritual support for a special person in need of some prayer. The process of reaching out to people and asking for their help with this project has been absolutely amazing. As a result of this experience, I'm going to be posting a permanent resource on this blog to help others organize the same kind of spiritual support whenever the need arises. Prayer makes a profound difference, so consider this tangible work of mercy you can offer to someone in need, next time you have the opportunity. Keep an eye out for that post in a few short weeks. The permalink for that post will live HERE.

Budget Success
This month was lived as close to the vest as possible. We have some major expenses coming up soon, so I really had to put my accounting skills to work to figure out how to successfully manage this month and come under our normal budget. I still have to put together the comprehensive 2015 budget though, so that's on the to-do list for February. Despite being on what people consider an expensive diet, the food bill has been in line with (and even smaller than!) what it has been in previous months. I know that we will bear fruits from being fiscally responsible and pinching these pennies. In the meantime, this former accountant is working hard to get us into the black. I expect for 100% of my student loans to be paid off by June of this year. Sa·yo·na·ra. Then it's just getting rid of the mortgage in America and we will be completely debt-free. Let's see how quickly we can manage it!

                                    

                                   

Make sure you head on over to This Ain't the Lyceum, the host for the 7QT link-up.