PRAYER FOR HOME AND FAMILY - Robert Louis Stevenson
Lord, behold our family here assembled. We thank Thee for this place in which we dwell; for the love that unites us; for the peace accorded us this day; for the hope with which we expect the morrow; for the health, the work, the food, and the bright skies that make our lives delightful; for our friends in all parts of the earth.
Let peace abound in our small company. Purge out of every heart the lurking grudge. Give us grace and strength to forbear and to persevere. Offenders, give us the grace to accept and to forgive offenders. Forgetful ourselves, help us to bear cheerfully the forgetfulness of others.
Give us courage and gaiety and the quiet mind. Spare to us our friends, soften to us our enemies. Bless us, if it may be, in all our innocent endeavors. If it may not, give us the strength to encounter that which is to come, that we may be brave in peril, constant in tribulation, temperate in wrath, and in all changes of fortune, and down to the gates of death, loyal and loving to one another.
As the clay to the potter, as the windmill to the wind, as children of their sire, we beseech of Thee this help and mercy for Christ's sake.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Another Quiz!
You Are 36% Nerdy |
 You're a little nerdy, but no one would ever call you a nerd. You sometimes get into nerdy things, but only after they've become a part of mainstream culture. |
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
What condiment are you?
Here's mine:
Click here to take the quiz!
You Are Ketchup |
 You are easy going and very measured in your approach to life. Popular and well liked, you get along with everyone. Seriously, everyone loves you! Your taste tends to be pretty mainstream American. You go for the classic favorites: burgers, fries, and apple pie. You get along best with mustard and mayonnaise personalities. |
Click here to take the quiz!
Monday, April 14, 2008
What color should your eyes be?
Your Eyes Should Be Brown |
 Your eyes reflect: Depth and wisdom What's hidden behind your eyes: A tender heart |
I'm a cashew
You Are a Cashew |
 You are laid back, friendly, and easy going. Compared to most people, you have a very mild temperament. You blend in well. You're often the last person to get noticed. But whenever you're gone, people seem to notice right away! |
Thursday, April 10, 2008
The meaning of life...
I found a couple of nice quotes at The Quote Garden :
He who has a why to live can bear almost any how. ~Friedrich Nietzsche
Life has meaning only if one barters it day by day for something other than itself. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery
He who has a why to live can bear almost any how. ~Friedrich Nietzsche
Life has meaning only if one barters it day by day for something other than itself. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
What children need...
I ran across this on Barbara Nicolosi’s blog, Church of the Masses, and I pass it along because I think it is absolutely true:
As an old nun told me once, "There are certain things that little kids need from Mommy and Daddy. When they don't get them, they spend the rest of their lives searching for them. "
Discuss among yourselves
As an old nun told me once, "There are certain things that little kids need from Mommy and Daddy. When they don't get them, they spend the rest of their lives searching for them. "
Discuss among yourselves
Friday, December 21, 2007
Be a Hand-Bell Hero!
How's your co-ordination? Try your hand at hand-bell ringing here
I hope you can do better than I did.
I hope you can do better than I did.
Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat...
Here are the O Antiphons for the rest of Advent:
December 21st:
O Rising Sun, you are the splendor of eternal light and the sun of justice. O come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.
December 22nd:
O King whom all the peoples desire, you are the cornerstone which makes all one. O come and save man whom you made from clay.
December 23rd:
O Emmanuel, you are our king and judge, the One whom the peoples await and their Savior. O come and save us, Lord, our God.
For more information on the O Antiphons, go here.
December 21st:
O Rising Sun, you are the splendor of eternal light and the sun of justice. O come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.
December 22nd:
O King whom all the peoples desire, you are the cornerstone which makes all one. O come and save man whom you made from clay.
December 23rd:
O Emmanuel, you are our king and judge, the One whom the peoples await and their Savior. O come and save us, Lord, our God.
For more information on the O Antiphons, go here.
Friday, October 19, 2007
What kind of candy are you?
***Butterfinger***
They call you sticky fingers for a reason!
What Kind of Candy Are You?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofcandyareyouquiz/
They call you sticky fingers for a reason!
What Kind of Candy Are You?
http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofcandyareyouquiz/
Thursday, October 11, 2007
How do you view Heaven?
I found this quote from Chesterton over at the Blue Boar web site:
"G.K. Chesterton occasionally depicted Heaven as an inn, the Inn at the End of the World, as it were. As he wrote in the last paragraph in his biography of Charles Dickens:
The hour of absinthe is over. We shall not be much further troubled with the little artists who found Dickens too sane for their sorrows and too clean for their delights. But we have a long way to travel before we get back to what Dickens meant: and the passage is along a rambling English road, a twisting road such as Mr. Pickwick travelled. But this at least is part of what he meant; that comradeship and serious joy are not interludes in our travel; but that rather our travels are interludes in comradeship and joy, which through God shall endure for ever. The inn does not point to the road; the road points to the inn. And all roads point at last to an ultimate inn, where we shall meet Dickens and all his characters: and when we drink again it shall be from the great flagons in the tavern at the end of the world. "
"G.K. Chesterton occasionally depicted Heaven as an inn, the Inn at the End of the World, as it were. As he wrote in the last paragraph in his biography of Charles Dickens:
The hour of absinthe is over. We shall not be much further troubled with the little artists who found Dickens too sane for their sorrows and too clean for their delights. But we have a long way to travel before we get back to what Dickens meant: and the passage is along a rambling English road, a twisting road such as Mr. Pickwick travelled. But this at least is part of what he meant; that comradeship and serious joy are not interludes in our travel; but that rather our travels are interludes in comradeship and joy, which through God shall endure for ever. The inn does not point to the road; the road points to the inn. And all roads point at last to an ultimate inn, where we shall meet Dickens and all his characters: and when we drink again it shall be from the great flagons in the tavern at the end of the world. "
Sunday, October 07, 2007
My First Post
Hey all! Amanda finally got on the blog! Yeah! Anyway, things are really busy with school right now. Not much to say, things are going well. I'm really starting to feel like a teacher, and I haven't had a class of my own yet! Until next time.....Amanda
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
School Buzz
Hello, Kopffs! It's Caroline very first post! exciting, no? (well, maybe not to you, but I think its cool) It's the very first day of school for me, and I'm excited. I FINALLY got my desk put into my room (MINE AT LAST!) and I couldn't be happier! I just came back from a great long weekend with Laura, which you can see the pictures from (I think dad posted them...). anyway, i'm just killing time, so I think I should just get back to work. Toodles! ^_~
Caroline, Emily, and I had a great time in Madison over the weekend. The campus is beautiful, and Madison is quite the large city. State Street has enough stores and restaurants to keep you busy exploring for a long time. Laura's apartment is really nice, and it looks like she is all ready to go!
You can see some pictures of our trip here .
You can see some pictures of our trip here .
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Good advice from Auntie Lillie
"My Auntie Lillie had a few words of advice for me, growing up. One was to tilt a glass 90 degrees before pouring the lager, and to let a Guinness “build” before drinking, another was to talk to St. Michael the Archangel when dodging nightmares, and the third was to “pay attention to anything that keeps being put before yer eyes; it’s the Holy Spirit calling you to prayer or action. Pray to know which.” - - The Anchoress
I would suggest, though, that you tilt the glass 45 degrees. It seems to me if you tilt it 90 degrees, all the beer will spill out--
I would suggest, though, that you tilt the glass 45 degrees. It seems to me if you tilt it 90 degrees, all the beer will spill out--
Monday, January 08, 2007
The power of commitment
I saw this quote last week--and then re-found it in Wikipedia, under the entry for W. H. Murray .
but when I said that nothing had been done I erred in one important matter. We had definitely committed ourselves and were halfway out of our ruts. We had put down our passage money— booked a sailing to Bombay. This may sound too simple, but is great in consequence. Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!
I heard Mother Angelica say in an interview, when asked about starting EWTN, that once you take the first step God supplies the grace needed to keep going. There is also a similar quote from Dorothea Brande, "Act boldly, and unseen forces will come to your aid." Those of us who tend to be timid should take this seriously.
but when I said that nothing had been done I erred in one important matter. We had definitely committed ourselves and were halfway out of our ruts. We had put down our passage money— booked a sailing to Bombay. This may sound too simple, but is great in consequence. Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!
I heard Mother Angelica say in an interview, when asked about starting EWTN, that once you take the first step God supplies the grace needed to keep going. There is also a similar quote from Dorothea Brande, "Act boldly, and unseen forces will come to your aid." Those of us who tend to be timid should take this seriously.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
A Memorable Birthday
Caroline's thirteenth birthday was one I don't think she'll easily forget. Ice and snow had been forecast for St. Louis on Thursday and Friday. Driving home on Thursday evening, the highway was slushy, and we fully expected to wake with to a blanket of snow on the ground. We already knew that Rosati and Fontbonne were closed on Friday, and I wasn't expecting to go in to work. I thought maybe I could get a little work done at home.
When I woke up about 6 am on Friday morning, our power was out. I checked our thermostat, which we have set at 63 degrees overnight (I know, the kids complain that it is like a meat locker in our house--we think that keeping the house cool is why they are all so healthy!). The thermostat showed a temperature of 62 degrees, so I figure the power had gone out shortly before I woke up. Since all of our electric clocks have digital displays, we couldn't tell exactly when the power went out. I turned on the portable radio so Caroline could hear her birthday greeting on KMOX (they were in a hurry--they called her Carol Kopff!)
I got my car de-iced and went to McDonald's so we could all have a hot breakfast--and I really needed some coffee! Breakfast was a big hit with all concerned. Then we turned our thoughts to how to cope with having no electricity. All I could think of was the aftermath of the storms last July. Some people were without power for 5 days or more. KMOX radio was telling us that some 500,000 people were without power, so there was no way to know when we'd get power back. We called several hotels near us, but they were all booked up already. I finally found us a room at the Drury Plaza Hotel downtown at 4th and Market. The hotel has a pool and hot tubs, free drinks and snacks in the evening and a free breakfast buffet in the morning. The kids were ready to go right away, but check-in wasn't until 3 pm!
We spent the day cleaning off the cars, shoveling the driveway, and getting our affairs in order--letting Cal and Rita, our neighbors, know where we'd be, getting our overnight bags packed, filling a bag with sodas and snacks. (Gotta have those snacks!) We gave Caroline her birthday presents early, cleaned up the kitchen, and finally, it was 2:30 and time to go.
We got to the hotel and checked in--I parked the van in the basement of the garage, and went to the room. Caroline, Emily, and Deb were already off exploring. Amanda was catching up on her TV watching. (It's kind of sad how dependent we are on the TV and the computer to fill our days.)
Well, the hotel was wonderful. We had dinner at Max and Erma's, then Emily and Caroline went to the exercise room, and Amanda went back to watch more TV. Deb and I visited the lounge in the lobby and got some of our free drinks (three free drinks per adult guest during happy hour--what a deal!). Then Deb headed up to the room for a nice hot shower, while Emily and Caroline and I went for a swim and a visit to the hot tub. The hotel was filled with other families and travelers taking refuge from the storm, so it was almost a festival atmosphere. The breakfast buffet offered pancakes, sausage patties, eggs, biscuits and gravy, as well as cereal, bagels, and danish. Quite a deal for free--we all ate our fill.
When it came time to check out, I was happy to be heading home (our neighbors had called the previous evening to say our power was restored) but a little sad to be ending our mini-vacation. Let's just hope the powere stays on!
When I woke up about 6 am on Friday morning, our power was out. I checked our thermostat, which we have set at 63 degrees overnight (I know, the kids complain that it is like a meat locker in our house--we think that keeping the house cool is why they are all so healthy!). The thermostat showed a temperature of 62 degrees, so I figure the power had gone out shortly before I woke up. Since all of our electric clocks have digital displays, we couldn't tell exactly when the power went out. I turned on the portable radio so Caroline could hear her birthday greeting on KMOX (they were in a hurry--they called her Carol Kopff!)
I got my car de-iced and went to McDonald's so we could all have a hot breakfast--and I really needed some coffee! Breakfast was a big hit with all concerned. Then we turned our thoughts to how to cope with having no electricity. All I could think of was the aftermath of the storms last July. Some people were without power for 5 days or more. KMOX radio was telling us that some 500,000 people were without power, so there was no way to know when we'd get power back. We called several hotels near us, but they were all booked up already. I finally found us a room at the Drury Plaza Hotel downtown at 4th and Market. The hotel has a pool and hot tubs, free drinks and snacks in the evening and a free breakfast buffet in the morning. The kids were ready to go right away, but check-in wasn't until 3 pm!
We spent the day cleaning off the cars, shoveling the driveway, and getting our affairs in order--letting Cal and Rita, our neighbors, know where we'd be, getting our overnight bags packed, filling a bag with sodas and snacks. (Gotta have those snacks!) We gave Caroline her birthday presents early, cleaned up the kitchen, and finally, it was 2:30 and time to go.
We got to the hotel and checked in--I parked the van in the basement of the garage, and went to the room. Caroline, Emily, and Deb were already off exploring. Amanda was catching up on her TV watching. (It's kind of sad how dependent we are on the TV and the computer to fill our days.)
Well, the hotel was wonderful. We had dinner at Max and Erma's, then Emily and Caroline went to the exercise room, and Amanda went back to watch more TV. Deb and I visited the lounge in the lobby and got some of our free drinks (three free drinks per adult guest during happy hour--what a deal!). Then Deb headed up to the room for a nice hot shower, while Emily and Caroline and I went for a swim and a visit to the hot tub. The hotel was filled with other families and travelers taking refuge from the storm, so it was almost a festival atmosphere. The breakfast buffet offered pancakes, sausage patties, eggs, biscuits and gravy, as well as cereal, bagels, and danish. Quite a deal for free--we all ate our fill.
When it came time to check out, I was happy to be heading home (our neighbors had called the previous evening to say our power was restored) but a little sad to be ending our mini-vacation. Let's just hope the powere stays on!
Friday, April 01, 2005
My Holy Week Retreat
If you want to see pictures of my Holy Week retreat at the White House Jesuit Retreat House, click here. The retreat was great, very full of graces, even if the weather was gloomy for all three days!
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