I thought I’d share a few of my favorite things I stumbled upon this week.
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Our inaugural Dinner Club for Underachievers evening went splendidly! I’ll share more about our fun night another time.
Another Catholic blogger, Emily Stimpson, wrote this beautiful post called Pinterest Lies: The Secret to Successful Entertaining. Emily agrees that the success of a gathering with your favorite people is not determined by how Pinterest worthy it was. Hooray for underachieving and just going for it! My favorite part of her post was her willingness to share photos of the less than glamorous parts of her home (a grimy stove hood, a bowl catching a leak under a sink, etc.). If we wait until we have a perfect house to get together with friends, we’ll never see each other!
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While I was watching EWTN’s coverage of the 2015 March for Life, they showed the full trailer of the upcoming movie The Drop Box. As the film website says,
The Drop Box tells the story of South Korean pastor Lee Jong-rak and his heroic efforts to embrace and protect the most vulnerable members of society. It is a heart-wrenching exploration of the physical, emotional and financial toll associated with providing refuge to orphans that would otherwise be abandoned on the streets. But The Drop Box movie is also a story of hope—a reminder that every human life is sacred and worthy of love.
South Korea is not the only country grappling with the issue of orphan care. Around the world, there are more than 150 million orphans waiting for forever families to call their own.
Watch the beautiful trailer. It’s well worth the 3:05.
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The Drop Box will be released in theaters starting March 3. To learn more about the stories behind the film, read the film’s blog.
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Just in time for the March for Life, my dear friend Amanda Teixeira wrote this beautiful post for the FOCUS blog called, “Who are the real heroes of adoption?”
“We aren’t the heroes in adoption. We are simply a blessed couple who was entrusted with the most precious gift of all: a child. We didn’t do anything special or amazing other than stay open to God’s will for growing our family. We didn’t do anything superhuman.
Others did, though. I want to tell you about the people who get overlooked at times in our pro-life culture: the birth family, and in particular the birth mother.”
So awesome! Read the rest here.
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Apparently I was inspired by a lot of March for Life related stuff this week. While I was doing dinner dishes, I listened to the 1/12/15 podcast of the Jennifer Fulwiler Show when she interviewed Eva Muntean, the co-founder of the West Coast Walk for Life and Ignatius Press marketing manager. Her story of escape from communism and appreciation of American freedom is remarkable! It is no wonder that she would go on to be a pro-life advocate for the weakest among us. Listen to the podcast for yourself.
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Can we talk about how I nearly peed my pants when Jennifer Fulwiler shared this post with the latest details about The 2015 Edel Gathering?! Audrey Assad AND Jesus AND Haley Stewart are gonna be there?! It’s a Catholic girl’s dream come true!
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I’m participating in a peg saint doll exchange, and I’m chomping at the bit to get started on painting my little St. Padre Pio! Do you have any of these peg saint dolls? I love how this blogger converted a shot glass display case into a fun way to display these little dolls. So cute!
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Last week, we challenged our GodTeens to select a patron saint for 2015. Then, they were supposed to “introduce” the saint to the rest of us at the next meeting and explain why they picked him/her. Guess what??? Every teen that was at that meeting did their homework and put a lot of thought into it. Hearing their reasons for picking their patron was very inspiring.
If you’d like to find your own patron saint for 2015, it’s still January, so it’s not too late. If you’re stumped, maybe Jennifer Fulwiler’s Saint’s Name Generator can help you!
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Head over to Kelly Mantoan’s blog This Ain’t The Lyceum for more 7QT posts!
I just participated in my first saint doll exchange this fall! It was so much fun. I had students help me paint them (which was very helpful!) and it was so exciting getting the bunch in the mail!
I’d love to see the finished product if I enlisted Jane and Walt to help paint our St. Padre Pio. Ha! Maybe Philip can help since it’ll be so many dolls. One of the women has very generously offered to write up a summary of each saint so that we can have a booklet to go with them. What do you do with your saint peg dolls? Do you have them on display somewhere? I think they’ll “live” in our family oratory in our family room for now.
I just participated in my first saint doll exchange this fall! It was so much fun. I had students help me paint them (which was very helpful!) and it was so exciting getting the bunch in the mail!
I’d love to see the finished product if I enlisted Jane and Walt to help paint our St. Padre Pio. Ha! Maybe Philip can help since it’ll be so many dolls. One of the women has very generously offered to write up a summary of each saint so that we can have a booklet to go with them. What do you do with your saint peg dolls? Do you have them on display somewhere? I think they’ll “live” in our family oratory in our family room for now.