![Our “Happiness Project”]()
by Catherine | Oct 2, 2013 | Faith, Family, Marriage
In September, I started re-reading Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project.
Gretchen spent a year of her life identifying areas where she could make small (and a few big) changes to increase her own happiness. She argues that through becoming happier herself, she will increase the happiness of those around her. She cites several studies showing that happier people tend to be more loving, patient, generous, philanthropic, and other positive traits. It reminds me of the pre-flight instructions parents receive when flying with children: apply your own oxygen mask before assisting children. If you don’t apply your mask first, you won’t be any help to your child. Similarly, if we don’t take care of our own primary needs first, we won’t have much to give others.
When I read books, I tend to mark up my favorite passages and excitedly insist that Philip read them, too. Now that I have an e-reader, I can share books with Philip and electronically “highlight” my favorite parts. If it’s a book that I am enjoying, Philip’s likely to hear:
“Read this paragraph!”
“Oh my gosh! This is totally me and you!”
“We should do this!”
After reading several passages at my insistence, Philip decided to start reading the book on his e-reader, too. A few days ago, he said, “Let’s create our own Happiness Project and start it in October.”
Great idea! I can’t think of a better day to start. Today, October 1, is the feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. When we miscarried our baby last year, we named her after the “Little Flower” because we loved that saint’s beautiful way of living a heroic life of virtue through making daily choices to love.
I had my 6-week postpartum follow-up OBGYN appointment this afternoon when I had this realization and just had to post it to Facebook because I had no one to share it with:
I’m waiting in the exact same exam room at my OBGYN’s office where we found out we were miscarrying Thérèse for my 6-week follow-up from our perfectly healthy son’s birth. Today is St. Thérèse’s feast day. Wow. God is good!
I looked down and realized I was wearing my “living locket” necklace that my brother and sister-in-law gave us on the day of Thérèse s memorial service. I didn’t want to forget that moment of thanksgiving in the exam room, so I took a picture of my necklace and my exam gown.
Interestingly enough, Gretchen Rubin writes a lot about St. Thérèse in The Happiness Project. Gretchen, a self-proclaimed agnostic, is drawn to St. Thérèse‘s way of improving the happiness of others through choosing to love.
Philip and I want to create our own Happiness Project so that we can increase our own happiness and the happiness of others through self-sacrifice and self-discipline. In theory, this should free us to better choose love. We are setting individual and couple goals for each month.
OCTOBER HAPPINESS PROJECT RESOLUTIONS:
Exercise
- Catherine, 6:00 a.m. Monday, Wednesday, Friday Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred level 1
- Philip, running or elliptical 3x per week before leaving for work
Sleep
- 9:00 p.m. get ready for bed
- Lights out at 10:00 p.m.
Faith
- Weeknight family prayer time after bathtime before bed
- 1 decade of the Rosary followed by bedtime prayers at the dinner table
Like Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project, we are starting our project with resolutions that will give us more energy to continue on to the next month’s resolutions. Please pray for us that we will be successful in implementing these resolutions.
![Our "Happiness Project"]()
by Catherine | Oct 2, 2013 | Faith, Family, Marriage
In September, I started re-reading Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project.
Gretchen spent a year of her life identifying areas where she could make small (and a few big) changes to increase her own happiness. She argues that through becoming happier herself, she will increase the happiness of those around her. She cites several studies showing that happier people tend to be more loving, patient, generous, philanthropic, and other positive traits. It reminds me of the pre-flight instructions parents receive when flying with children: apply your own oxygen mask before assisting children. If you don’t apply your mask first, you won’t be any help to your child. Similarly, if we don’t take care of our own primary needs first, we won’t have much to give others.
When I read books, I tend to mark up my favorite passages and excitedly insist that Philip read them, too. Now that I have an e-reader, I can share books with Philip and electronically “highlight” my favorite parts. If it’s a book that I am enjoying, Philip’s likely to hear:
“Read this paragraph!”
“Oh my gosh! This is totally me and you!”
“We should do this!”
After reading several passages at my insistence, Philip decided to start reading the book on his e-reader, too. A few days ago, he said, “Let’s create our own Happiness Project and start it in October.”
Great idea! I can’t think of a better day to start. Today, October 1, is the feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. When we miscarried our baby last year, we named her after the “Little Flower” because we loved that saint’s beautiful way of living a heroic life of virtue through making daily choices to love.
I had my 6-week postpartum follow-up OBGYN appointment this afternoon when I had this realization and just had to post it to Facebook because I had no one to share it with:
I’m waiting in the exact same exam room at my OBGYN’s office where we found out we were miscarrying Thérèse for my 6-week follow-up from our perfectly healthy son’s birth. Today is St. Thérèse’s feast day. Wow. God is good!
I looked down and realized I was wearing my “living locket” necklace that my brother and sister-in-law gave us on the day of Thérèse s memorial service. I didn’t want to forget that moment of thanksgiving in the exam room, so I took a picture of my necklace and my exam gown.
Interestingly enough, Gretchen Rubin writes a lot about St. Thérèse in The Happiness Project. Gretchen, a self-proclaimed agnostic, is drawn to St. Thérèse‘s way of improving the happiness of others through choosing to love.
Philip and I want to create our own Happiness Project so that we can increase our own happiness and the happiness of others through self-sacrifice and self-discipline. In theory, this should free us to better choose love. We are setting individual and couple goals for each month.
OCTOBER HAPPINESS PROJECT RESOLUTIONS:
Exercise
- Catherine, 6:00 a.m. Monday, Wednesday, Friday Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred level 1
- Philip, running or elliptical 3x per week before leaving for work
Sleep
- 9:00 p.m. get ready for bed
- Lights out at 10:00 p.m.
Faith
- Weeknight family prayer time after bathtime before bed
- 1 decade of the Rosary followed by bedtime prayers at the dinner table
Like Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project, we are starting our project with resolutions that will give us more energy to continue on to the next month’s resolutions. Please pray for us that we will be successful in implementing these resolutions.
![“You’re a convert, right?”]()
by Catherine | Sep 26, 2013 | Faith
A few weeks ago, I was at a parish event, catching up with another mom that I hadn’t seen all summer. Before asking for advice about an anti-Catholic acquaintance, she said, “You’re a convert, right?”
My initial reaction was to think that this was a compliment. My logic was this:
- Catholic converts (and reverts) are notoriously knowledgeable about the Faith.
- Catholic converts put most of us “cradle Catholics” to shame.
- This mom has known me for awhile.
- She thinks I’m a convert.
- Therefore, she thinks I’m as knowledgeable as a convert about the Faith.
“Nope,” I said, “I’m a cradle Catholic.”
“Oh. Really?!”
I left that conversation feeling pretty proud of myself. Somehow, I had convinced this woman from my parish mom’s group that I knew enough about the Faith to make her think that I had converted.
It made me think about the time two Jehovah’s Witnesses knocked on my apartment door when I was 23, single, and student teaching. They were two friendly women in their early twenties. When they asked if they could come in, I said, “Sure! I should warn you, though. I’m Catholic and have no intention of converting, but I’d love to visit.” They were visibly caught off guard and looked at each other to see what their next move should be. One of the women said, “Oh…well…sure, yes, we’d love to come in.”
The women and I visited on my couch for probably half an hour. At the end of the conversation, they said they had never met a Catholic who could give a solid defense of their faith, cite Scripture, or give a response beyond, “Yeah, well, thanks, but no thanks.” I ended up inviting the young women to my parish women’s group that evening. Of course, they declined, but they left with a new outlook on Catholicism or at least Catholics in general. All of the kudos goes to the Holy Spirit on that one! I remember being a little terrified because I had only started to feel confident in my ability to articulate the Faith. I remember praying, “Come, Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit. Now! NOW! COME, NOW!”
Stereotypes have to start somewhere, right? If the assumption is that only a convert would know that much about Catholicism, what does that say about the rest of us cradle Catholics? Well, it means those of us born and raised as Catholics probably weren’t catechized well enough to articulate or defend the Faith. It means most of us “in the flock,” so to speak, haven’t tried to investigate the faith or “own it” as we transition into adulthood.
This is bad news for the future of the Church. First, I need to say that I am leaps and bounds from being ready to be some kind of apologist or professional defender of the Faith. I have PUH-LENTY to learn! If the friend from my parish mom’s group thought I was a convert, and the female Jehovah’s Witnesses that knocked on my door were impressed with my breadth of knowledge (ha!), we’ve got a loooooooooooong way to go as a Church. It’s time to turn the stereotypes about Catholics being ignorant of the Faith on their head.
What if Catholics were known for their missionary zeal? Well, we’re supposed to be! I’ve always admired the courage of Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses that I see walking door to door.
If you’re an adult Catholic and feel like you don’t have much head knowledge about the Faith, have no fear! There are plenty of places to go to learn more. I attended Catholic school for twelve years. Nobody challenged my Faith until I was a freshman at a secular university, so I had few opportunities to be challenged. Fortunately, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln had a vibrant Catholic community. I got in touch with FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students), and I learned what it meant to be Catholic beyond attending Mass on Sundays. My time at UNL introduced me to many other resources that helped me on my journey toward “owning” the Faith.
If you’re looking for a way to delve deeper and learn more about the Faith, here are a few of my favorite go-to resources:
Listening to Catholic radio, especially Catholic Answers Live, opened my eyes to the beauty of the Faith and strengthened my resolve to learn more so that I could give a coherent response the next time I had one of those, “Oh, you’re Catholic?” conversations.
Of course, the best defense of the Faith is a happy disciple that makes someone say, “Whatever it is that makes them so happy, I want that.” However, there will be times when someone asks, “Why do you worship Mary?” or, “What’s the big deal about contraception?” or, “Why go to confession when you can just pray to God?” You want to be prepared for those moments! If you’re Catholic, you might as well have a reason for believing what you believe, right? Besides, St. Paul told us, “Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence” (1 Peter 3:15).
Uncle Scar told us to “be prepared,” too!
Show the world that you don’t have to be a Catholic convert to know the Faith. Head to Catholic.com, download a podcast from Catholic Answers, look up a passage from The Catechism of the Catholic Church to find out what the Church teaches about a specific topic, sign up for a Great Adventure Bible study–do something. Start somewhere. You won’t regret it!
I’m facilitating (and I use that term loosely!) the Jeff Cavins Bible Timeline study. Never in a million years did I think I’d be leading a Bible study. You know how they say “God doesn’t call the qualified; He qualifies the called”? Well, I DEFINITELY was not the most qualified person to lead a Bible study, but I felt God calling me to start a study for young moms. We read 3 Kimberly Hahn books and decided to take on a formal Bible study afterward. We’re halfway through the Bible Timeline study, and it’s bringing all of us countless graces. It’s amazing what God can do when you’re willing to listen to the call.
You say you want to be a disciple? Did you know the word “disciple” comes from the Latin words for “learn” or “learner”? There’s a lot to be learned. We could spend the rest of our lives learning and studying the Faith and never plumb the depths of all that there is to know, but you know what? That’s great news! That means there’s no limit to how much more intimate your relationship with God can become through learning more about Him and His Church. Allow whatever you learn to change your heart, and be open to the graces that come from the One who created you.
!["You're a convert, right?"]()
by Catherine | Sep 26, 2013 | Faith
A few weeks ago, I was at a parish event, catching up with another mom that I hadn’t seen all summer. Before asking for advice about an anti-Catholic acquaintance, she said, “You’re a convert, right?”
My initial reaction was to think that this was a compliment. My logic was this:
- Catholic converts (and reverts) are notoriously knowledgeable about the Faith.
- Catholic converts put most of us “cradle Catholics” to shame.
- This mom has known me for awhile.
- She thinks I’m a convert.
- Therefore, she thinks I’m as knowledgeable as a convert about the Faith.
“Nope,” I said, “I’m a cradle Catholic.”
“Oh. Really?!”
I left that conversation feeling pretty proud of myself. Somehow, I had convinced this woman from my parish mom’s group that I knew enough about the Faith to make her think that I had converted.
It made me think about the time two Jehovah’s Witnesses knocked on my apartment door when I was 23, single, and student teaching. They were two friendly women in their early twenties. When they asked if they could come in, I said, “Sure! I should warn you, though. I’m Catholic and have no intention of converting, but I’d love to visit.” They were visibly caught off guard and looked at each other to see what their next move should be. One of the women said, “Oh…well…sure, yes, we’d love to come in.”
The women and I visited on my couch for probably half an hour. At the end of the conversation, they said they had never met a Catholic who could give a solid defense of their faith, cite Scripture, or give a response beyond, “Yeah, well, thanks, but no thanks.” I ended up inviting the young women to my parish women’s group that evening. Of course, they declined, but they left with a new outlook on Catholicism or at least Catholics in general. All of the kudos goes to the Holy Spirit on that one! I remember being a little terrified because I had only started to feel confident in my ability to articulate the Faith. I remember praying, “Come, Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit. Now! NOW! COME, NOW!”
Stereotypes have to start somewhere, right? If the assumption is that only a convert would know that much about Catholicism, what does that say about the rest of us cradle Catholics? Well, it means those of us born and raised as Catholics probably weren’t catechized well enough to articulate or defend the Faith. It means most of us “in the flock,” so to speak, haven’t tried to investigate the faith or “own it” as we transition into adulthood.
This is bad news for the future of the Church. First, I need to say that I am leaps and bounds from being ready to be some kind of apologist or professional defender of the Faith. I have PUH-LENTY to learn! If the friend from my parish mom’s group thought I was a convert, and the female Jehovah’s Witnesses that knocked on my door were impressed with my breadth of knowledge (ha!), we’ve got a loooooooooooong way to go as a Church. It’s time to turn the stereotypes about Catholics being ignorant of the Faith on their head.
What if Catholics were known for their missionary zeal? Well, we’re supposed to be! I’ve always admired the courage of Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses that I see walking door to door.
If you’re an adult Catholic and feel like you don’t have much head knowledge about the Faith, have no fear! There are plenty of places to go to learn more. I attended Catholic school for twelve years. Nobody challenged my Faith until I was a freshman at a secular university, so I had few opportunities to be challenged. Fortunately, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln had a vibrant Catholic community. I got in touch with FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students), and I learned what it meant to be Catholic beyond attending Mass on Sundays. My time at UNL introduced me to many other resources that helped me on my journey toward “owning” the Faith.
If you’re looking for a way to delve deeper and learn more about the Faith, here are a few of my favorite go-to resources:
Listening to Catholic radio, especially Catholic Answers Live, opened my eyes to the beauty of the Faith and strengthened my resolve to learn more so that I could give a coherent response the next time I had one of those, “Oh, you’re Catholic?” conversations.
Of course, the best defense of the Faith is a happy disciple that makes someone say, “Whatever it is that makes them so happy, I want that.” However, there will be times when someone asks, “Why do you worship Mary?” or, “What’s the big deal about contraception?” or, “Why go to confession when you can just pray to God?” You want to be prepared for those moments! If you’re Catholic, you might as well have a reason for believing what you believe, right? Besides, St. Paul told us, “Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence” (1 Peter 3:15).
Uncle Scar told us to “be prepared,” too!
Show the world that you don’t have to be a Catholic convert to know the Faith. Head to Catholic.com, download a podcast from Catholic Answers, look up a passage from The Catechism of the Catholic Church to find out what the Church teaches about a specific topic, sign up for a Great Adventure Bible study–do something. Start somewhere. You won’t regret it!
I’m facilitating (and I use that term loosely!) the Jeff Cavins Bible Timeline study. Never in a million years did I think I’d be leading a Bible study. You know how they say “God doesn’t call the qualified; He qualifies the called”? Well, I DEFINITELY was not the most qualified person to lead a Bible study, but I felt God calling me to start a study for young moms. We read 3 Kimberly Hahn books and decided to take on a formal Bible study afterward. We’re halfway through the Bible Timeline study, and it’s bringing all of us countless graces. It’s amazing what God can do when you’re willing to listen to the call.
You say you want to be a disciple? Did you know the word “disciple” comes from the Latin words for “learn” or “learner”? There’s a lot to be learned. We could spend the rest of our lives learning and studying the Faith and never plumb the depths of all that there is to know, but you know what? That’s great news! That means there’s no limit to how much more intimate your relationship with God can become through learning more about Him and His Church. Allow whatever you learn to change your heart, and be open to the graces that come from the One who created you.
![Happy Baptism Day, Harold!]()
by Catherine | Sep 17, 2013 | Faith, Family
Sweet little Harold was baptized on Sunday. What a fun, special day! Baptisms are just the best, aren’t they?!
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| Philip, me, Harold, and Harold’s godparents–my brother, Andy, and my sister-in-law, Katie. We are so blessed that Harold has such wonderful godparents to help him along his way. |
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| So excited! |
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| Quick pic with Harold before the baptism |
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| Harold didn’t mind the water at all. In fact, he actually seemed to enjoy it! |
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| We’ll keep working on getting the kids to smile on command for the camera. Post-baptism pic with our pastor, Fr. Dan Kampschneider. |
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A woman in the parish embroiders each of the babies being baptized a baptismal garment.
HAROLD FULTON
SEPTEMBER 15, 2013 |
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| Get a load of these cookies! Aren’t they adorable?! |
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| My friend, Beth O’Brien, made the cookies for the luncheon reception. She runs this fabulous operation out of her home. She is so talented, and she seems to be able to make something equally adorable for just about any occasion! If you’re interested, you can e-mail Beth at naturalnotionsne@gmail.com. She can make custom orders. Please give her 5 days notice. |
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| The spread |
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| Mmmmmm. Sandwiches. I just LOVE that picture of Harold that we took in the background. We had a bunch of prints made for family to take home. |
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| Walt, totally dominating a “God Bless Harold” cookie |
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| It’s only right that a baby named Harold should have a blue plaid bow tie |
Baptisms always make me cry. Parenthood is such a gift anyway. To know that God is entrusting an eternal soul to me and Philip is a HUGE deal! The blessings at the end for the mother and father are always the clincher tearjerker moment for me.
Celebrant: God the Father, through his Son, the Virgin Mary’s child, has brought joy to all Christian mothers, as they see the hope of eternal life shine on their children. May he bless the mother of this child. She now thanks God for the gift of her child. May she be one with him in thanking him for ever in heaven, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
All: Amen.
Celebrant: God is the giver of all life, human and divine. May he bless the father of this child. He and his wife will be the first teachers of their child in the ways of faith. May they be also the best of teachers, bearing witness to the faith by what they say and do, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
All: Amen.
Keep pouring out the graces, God! Thank You for the gift of this precious baby boy.
Welcome to God’s family, Harold Fulton Boucher! We love you!
!["You are love that's come to live at our house today"]()
by Catherine | Sep 12, 2013 | Faith, Family
For the second time, I was able to catch a milk-induced sleepy smile from Harold.
I
Can’t
Get
Enough
Of
This
Baby!
When I was watching Harold smile and dream this evening, I instantly thought of this scene from The Lady and the Tramp. Click on the video to watch on YouTube. You won’t regret it!
Darling is singing the song “La La Lu” to her new baby boy in the nursery, and her dog, Lady, enters to see what the fuss is all about.
I always liked The Lady and The Tramp, and I always liked this sweet song, but I didn’t pay attention to the lyrics until I looked them up tonight.
“La La Lu” is officially my new favorite lullaby! I bolded my favorite words.
“La La Lu”
I am your mother
And I’m so glad you’re here
You have a father
Who loves you, oh so dear
We call you baby
‘Cause we don’t know how to say
That you are love
That’s come to live
At our house today
La, la, loo
La, la, loo
Oh my little star sweeper
I’ll sweep the stardust for you
La, la, loo
La, la, loo
Little soft, fluffy sleeper
Here comes a pink cloud for you
La, la, loo
La, la, loo
Little wandering angel
Fold up your wings
Close your eyes
La, la, loo
La, la, loo
And may love be your keeper
La, la, loo
La, la, loo
La, la, loo
The song is not only beautiful and soothing, it has some deep theological meaning in there! Hear me out… We’re getting Harold baptized on Sunday, so I have our parish’s baptism class for parents on the brain. The deacon leading the class talked about how our families (aka, our “domestic church”) reflect the Holy Trinity.
Our children are the love between us made flesh. Scott Hahn says it better. He wrote in his wife Kimberly’s book, Life-Giving Love, “The one flesh union of persons in the act of marriage is so powerful that nine months later you might have to give it a name.”
So, Harold (and Jane and Walt and Therese and any future babies that we may have), thank you for being the “love that’s come to live at our house today.” Your dad and I pray that “Love (with a capital “L”) be your keeper.”
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| The kids with “The Child Jesus” statue in our parish courtyard |
