Archive for the ‘Orthodoxy’ Category

• When Punky Goes To Heaven

  Date: 2010.07.18 | Category: Faith, Punky | Response: 4

  

  Daddy, when I die, I’ll go to heaven and I’ll see God.
  And I’ll bring God down with me, so everyone can see Him.
  And Jesus with come with me, too.

• Gifts from Russia

  Date: 2010.06.14 | Category: Godparents, Orthodoxy | Response: 1

  Our children’s godparents recently made at trip to Russia to attend a conference.  ”Mr. David” is a well-known philosopher, author, and professor, and his wife was able to accompany him on the trip.  Our priest and his wife were also able to make the trip for about two weeks.

  Here are the little magnets that were given to our children:

  

• If You Can’t Say Something Nice…

  Date: 2010.06.09 | Category: Parenting, Saints, mama | Response: 4

  The rain is pouring down outside our windows as my children and I cuddle together on the couch and watch “Bambi”.  It seems almost a tradition that we watch a movie on rainy days.

  In the movie, Thumper is reprimanded by his mother for saying something critical of Bambi, and then he repeats what his father had told him that morning: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothin’ at all.”

  How often do we say things that aren’t nice?

  I know I do it far too often.  I’ve noticed that Punky has started calling things or people “stupid”.  Do you know where he learned that from? ME.  I call Leo, our Labradoodle, “stupid” all the time.  Now, he can be infuriating at times due to his lack of smarts, but that doesn’t mean I should be lashing out at him and calling him names.  Even if he is just a dog, as I often claim, we all do love him like a family member.

  It is so important for us to watch what we say around our children.  If we don’t allow our children to name call, then we shouldn’t do it ourselves.  This is so obvious to me, but, yet, I still falter.  It seems, at least for me, my lack of patience is always the root of my problems.  If only I could be more patient, I wouldn’t be so inclined to speak without thinking, specifically when it comes to criticism.  It is always best to reprimand our children without criticizing them or berating them. “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1).  Stirring up anger in my children is not something that I want to do, but my curt answers or accusatory discipling does just that.

  Molly shared this quote on her blog today, and I want to as well because it pertains to what I have been pondering as my children watch “Bambi” this morning.

  “Pray and then speak. That’s what to do with your children. If you are constantly lecturing them, you’ll become tiresome and when they grow up they’ll feel a kind of oppression. Prefer prayer and speak to them through prayer. Speak to God and God will speak to their hearts. That is, you shouldn’t give guidance to your children with a voice that they hear with their ears. You may do this too, but above all you should speak to God about your children. Say, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, give Your light to my children. I entrust them to You. You gave them to me, but I am weak and unable to guide them, so, please, illuminate them.’”

  - Elder Porphyrios

• Wordless Wednesday: Abandoned Church

  Date: 2010.06.09 | Category: Orthodoxy, Wordless Wednesday | Response: 4

  

  This church was abandoned during the Soviet Era in Russia.

  found here.

• Understanding the Apostles Fast

  Date: 2010.05.30 | Category: Apostles Fast, Faith, Orthodoxy | Response: 2

  There are several fasting seasons in the Orthodox Church.  The most well-known would be the Lenten Fast before Easter/Pascha, but there is also the Nativity fast leading up to Christmas, the Dormition Fast in August, and the Apostles Fast during the summer.
  

  I never fully understood the reasons for this fast until I did a bit of research online:

  Having rejoiced for fifty days following Pascha (Easter), the Apostles began to prepare for their departure from Jerusalem to spread Christ’s message. According to Sacred Tradition, as part of their preparation, they began a fast with prayer to ask God to strengthen their resolve and to be with them in their missionary undertakings.

  The tradition of the Fast has existed at least since 461 AD, as is evidenced by Pope Leo’s homilies/sermons. The Fast is thought to have been instituted out of thanksgiving to God for the witness of the Apostles.

  The Biblical foundation for the Fast is found in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), when the Pharisees criticized the Apostles for not fasting, Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Our Lord, in this passage, is expressing his command to preach the Gospel, which can only be accomplished with prayer and fasting. The New Testament mentions the practice of fasting many times.

  Therefore, the Apostles Fast takes places fifty days after Pascha/Easter, so that after Christ’s death and resurrection, we take time to focus on prayer and fasting, just as the Apostles did nearly two thousand years ago.

  For more information on fasting, please read my page: Why Do We Fast?

• A Not So Routine Check-Up

  Date: 2010.05.23 | Category: Bunky, Grammy, Health, Prayer, Punky, Spunky, mama | Response: 11

  On Friday, I took Bunky for his 9 month check-up.  I assumed it was just going to be routine, no surprises, especially since I didn’t have any major concerns about him.  We arrived a few minutes late because Punky was throwing one of his tantrums.  Yes, he is four and a half and still frequently throwing major tantrums- more on that later.

  We were sitting in the waiting room when out of the corner of my eye I saw Spunky throw up.  She had covered a chair, a book and the floor and her clothes needed to be changed.  I called the receptionist to help, and she ran to get supplies to clean up.  As she did, Spunky threw up again, but this time I was able to get her to land it in a garbage can.   I don’t typically bring a change of clothing for my older children, so I took off Punky’s long-sleeved shirt (he had a t-shirt on under) and put that on Spunky like a long over-sized dress.  She said she felt fine, and I have no idea why she threw up because she has been perfectly healthy since.

  A nurse took Bunky into the other room to weigh him while I cleaned up Spunky.  I could hear Bunky screaming it in the other room and it broke my heart.  Spunky was finally semi-presentable, so she, Punky and I were able to go to the examine room to be with Bunky.  He immediately stopped crying and reached out his arms as soon as he saw me.  My sweet boy!

  That was when Punky started freaking out- there is no other word for it.  He started screaming and crying.  He even kicked the wall and window.  He took his shoe off his foot and threw it across the room.  He was terrified that Bunky needed to get a shot, which Bunky was not going to, but it didn’t matter because he was all worked up about it.  He fought with his sister and yelled at me. (A couple of years ago, Punky came down with a really bad case of pneumonia, as a result, he had to have blood drawn and a shot of antibiotics.  He has been scared of shots ever since.)

  All the while I was trying to take care of Bunky and talk to the pediatrician.  At the nine month check-up, they do a heel prick to check the baby’s blood.  It turns out that Bunky’s iron count was really low, so they had to draw more blood to check his hematocrit level.  The normal range for a child his age is 33-40%.  Bunky’s was 8.2%.

  The pediatrician also heard a slight heart murmur during the exam, which could be related to the low hematocrit level.  I have to now give Bunky vitamins with iron and two serving of iron-fortified cereal a day.  I am also going to take iron supplements because if Bunky has low iron, I probably do as well.  Hopefully, Bunky’s problem is just low iron and not something more serious.  When I asked the pediatrician what else it could be, she said, “we’ll talk about that when we get there,” which made me even more upset.  I have to take Bunky back to have his blood checked again in two weeks.

  After the appointment, I was feeling like such a failure as a mom.

  Punky couldn’t behave to save his life, Spunky threw up out of no where, and now my poor baby boy was not healthy.  I felt like I could have somehow controlled all of these things.  I needed to make my baby healthy again, keep a close eye on my princess and determine how I could help Punky.

  And all this happened before 10am!

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  I would appreciate your prayers for both of my boys.

  Thankfully, Spunky is completely fine!  Grammy’s theory, which I think is probably true, is that Spunky may have been trying to make herself burp.  It is her not-so-secret talent that she does to impress people. That girl cracks me up!

  I’ll update you as I know more.

• Perspective

  Date: 2010.05.11 | Category: Faith, Homemaking, Hubby, New House, mama | Response: 5

  My husband recently decided to spoil me and he had someone come to our home and clean for six hours.

  While this was happening, I took the kids out of the house until resting time.  As I pulled into the driveway, I could feel the excitement rising up inside of me.

  I couldn’t wait to see the clean house!

  However, what I found was not quite what I had expected.  The areas that I had asked the cleaning person to focus on didn’t look much better than they had when I had left.  I had specifically asked for the blinds to be “wiped down”- they were covered in dust and fingerprints.  They needed more than just a light dusting, but that is all that they got.

  After surveying the job done, I realized I could have accomplished that result in a mere two hours.

  I was disappointed.

  I was frustrated.

  In my anger, I started cleaning up the spots that had been missed. The spots that really needed to be done.

  I carefully cleaned the blinds.  Dusting and then cleaning each wooden slat until it was gleaming in the sunlight, feeling resentful that I had spent money on things I normally do myself.

  And that is when it hit me: if the cleaning person hadn’t come, I never would have cleaned the areas that needed it the most.

  I would have kept maintaining the house without ever taking the time to clean the areas that aren’t in the forefront.

  Even though I was upset at first, in the quiet moments as I cleaned the blinds, God showed me how important it is to be thankful for all things.

  I am thankful that the major areas of the house were cleaned by someone other than myself.

  I am thankful that I was able to deep clean some areas.

  I am thankful for my dear husband who loves me and gives me gifts that help me and improve my life, even if I don’t realize it at first.

  I am most thankful for a loving, patient God who reveals such great truths to me in moments of frustration.

  With a change in my perspective I was able to see the gift that I had been given.

  I am truly thankful.

• King of Kings

  Date: 2010.05.06 | Category: Faith, Punky | Response: 2

  

  Punky: Look there is a crown on this- it must be from the King of Kings.

  Mommy: Do you know who is the King of Kings?

  Punky: Jesus! And Jesus is God, too.

  Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise
  ~ Matthew 21:16

• A Song Heard from the Bathtub

  Date: 2010.04.23 | Category: Faith, Punky, Spunky | Response: 0

  

  “Baping tize… Baping tize… bap bap baping tize….”

  Punky was singing this while he was dumping water over Spunky’s head.
  (He was pretending to baptize her. )

• Earth Day 2010

  Date: 2010.04.22 | Category: Environment, Faith, Punky, Spunky | Response: 0