Kicking off Advent with St. Benedict

Image found at Roaming Catholic

Several weeks ago when Ashley at Between the Linens asked if I would be interested in joining her in reading a book during Advent, I jumped in and said yes.  One, because she’s awesome. And two, I’m pretty sure the Holy Spirit uses my spontaneity to work through me; otherwise I would never make a decision to do anything that may seem challenging.

After saying yes to this project, I realized what I was saying yes to, and I would be lying if didn’t admit to being intimidated.  This is out of my comfort zone.  I lack understanding, vocabulary, and confidence. I said yes and before I knew it, I was putting it out publicly that I was taking this on with Ashley.  So here I am, at the beginning of Advent and a new year in the Church with little to offer other than the journey that God has prepared for me. . .us. . . this season.

We are using The Joy of Advent with St. Benedict. I know very little about St. Benedict; after reading his brief history chapter, I can see why I did not connect with him sooner. His Rule of Life goes against every natural tendency that I possess.  His rule is something I don’t really want to live by but I recognize that slowing down, prioritizing, creating order, and taking the time to contemplate is something I need in my home and prayer life.  Being a Christian is hard, especially when we acknowledge that something must change even when we are comfortable with how things are. However, the change is necessary  in order to grow in our faith.

So readers, ‘scopers, ‘grammers, tweeters, and facebookers, I’m beginning the journey completely aware that you are probably further down the path that I am.  Hopefully, we can learn and grow within this beautiful community.  

Building Community

A Catholic women's scope group was created last week and my extroverted self can not slow down my brain.  Out of pure excitement there were two back to back scope hops #catholicscopes. And I couldn't help but jump on, but being a extrovert I left being really charged and having a hard time going to sleep each night.

Many women have been eager to hop on to this fairly new platform, but may felt like they were talking to no one.  This new group has organically given the broadcasters an audience (that is probably just a nervous as they are).  And in a matter of days the group has grown and has been fairly active.  You don't have to broadcast to be part of the group.  Being live and talking into your phone is not for everyone, but there is lots of activity in the comments.  We are all here learning the platform and getting to know each other at the same time.  It has been so much fun.  The only prerequisite for the group is being a Catholic woman.

I will say there are many homeschooling moms in the group, I think because it can often be hard to get out and make friends with like minded people if you don't have a local community.  To find a friend that understands the season of life you are in can be difficult whether you're homeschooling or not.  Periscope can create a community quickly.  But the group needs women from all walks of life.  We all don't have the same calling, but I can still be encouraged and learn from other walks of life.  I see so much potential and fellowship possibilities.

I am still really awkward, maybe I'll always see myself as awkward, but I'm hoping that will improve.  And if not, I'm thankful for the forgiving community that is beginning to grow.  :)  

7QT: Wedding, Dolls, and Social Media

It is the quickest of quick takes, because I NEED to get to bed.  And they are going to be all over the place!  Make sure you head over the Kelly's for more quick takes!

1. This last trip to North Carolina was quick.  Chris's cousin was getting married so the kids and I headed to back to celebrate.  We had a wonderful time, but it was different not having my cousins to help with the kids like I did at my brother's wedding.  The four kids seemed to be going in every direction.

2.  You know the peg doll group I'm always talking about, right?  Well, we will be opening our new swap on December 1st.  I'm pumped!  It's an Easter Swap.  The idea is to have them done, swapped, and delivered before Holy Week.  I'm getting all the details for that swap set up now.  Feel free to join the Facebook group.  We do more than peg dolls, though we try to stick to painting wood.  You can join the group for community or to get ideas an tips to host your own local swap.  Being part of the group does not commit you to any swap, and there are many of lovely ladies there.

3.  Homeschool.  Let's just say something is getting done everyday.  Very little some days.  But something.  Our first six weeks were so strong, and now it feels like I'm pulling teeth.

4.  Christy over at Fountains of Home wrote this.  I'm so glad she wrote it.  She articulated what, I think, many were thinking.  I am happy for my old faves, and there are still wonderful blogs to read.  I just need to troll the interwebs to find some new ones!

5. Voxer is my new favorite app.  It's like walkie talkie text messaging.  You record a message and it is sent.  The person will listen and respond when they can.  Voxer gives me the freedom to do what needs to be done like text messaging, with the speed of conveying my message because I'm speaking like a phone call.  Not to mention you can hear inflections, too.  

6.  Ashley over at Between the Linens is my super duper awesome friend!  Her and I are teaming up and using social media through Advent.  Blog posts, Periscope, Google Hangout for sure are on the calendar.  We are still ironing out the details, but we would LOVE for you to join us.  We are using THIS BOOK.  It's on kindle of $7.99. 

**Update we are changing out book, but we still plan to do an Advent book study.**

7.  Last night Catholic Women Scopes group was formed, and I'm stoked.  Ashley and I have been talking about this for about two months, and I'm so excited that it was created.  Tonight we are going to be doing a scope hop starting at 10pm EST.  The theme this week is favorite saints.  There is sign up in the group.  We will start with the first person and work our way down the list hopping from one scoper to the next.  I'm kind of awkward, but I'm excited for the opportunity to learn, be inspired, and connect with others.  If you don't really want to scope hopefully you can grab a cuppa and join in on the chatbox. #catholicscopes 

Upping My Prayer Game Recap.

Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse, but Periscope is fun.  I am totally awkward, but there are great scopers to watch.  Entrepreneur and marketing scopes are so cool.  Okay, that might be a bit of time waste for me since I don't own a business, but business stuff can be kinda neat.

I went for it, and I've nervously scoped three times now.  I have two of them "caught" on Katch.  You can watch them there if you want.  The latest one is at the bottom of the post.   Interacting with people while being viewed is just as hard as typing in a comment.  Lots of "uhhh"s and "like"s on my part.   And I do this weird teeth sucking thing. Yikes!  Watching the replays is painful, but I realize I have to break some habits if I don't want to look like an idiot.  Looking at the little circle on my phone that is my camera is tough.  It's really easy to get distracted.  The tripod attachment has been order so I won't look quite as awkward, and I can use my hands while I speak.  More than likely it was remain awkward because I am.  Sounds enjoyable, right?  And I'm still putting it out there for people to see.  What is wrong with me? ;)

Let's take a minute to recap the latest scope.  Building my prayer life and fostering the virtue of piety.  Upping my prayer game.

Starting small.  My first goal is to do the morning offering before I lift my head off the pillow.  And if I'm not rushing to the bathroom, or making bowls of cereal I will say a Hail Mary, too.  Handing everything over before I even get out of bed will start the day out right.

Going to confession.  During the scope my friend Pam and I set a date to go to confession this Friday.  Stoked.  As much as I ever am about confession.  The examination of conscience can be an ugly task.  But I'm really looking forward to absolution.

Daily mass.  Friday when I go to confession, I will be going to mass too!  I'm going to try to make it a weekly thing.  Wednesdays, maybe?  Jesus is there.  I should want to be there with Him as often as I can.  Not that I don't.  Laziness.

Study. Or meditation.  Or discernment.  Carving out five minutes completely devoted to God.  Blessed Is She has a free personal study on their site.  I downloaded it, and I have started working through the questions.  They are simple, but tough.  I have picked up Full of Grace: Women and the Abundent Life by Johnnette Benkovic  I'm have a hard time figuring out where I am suppose to be in God's plan. Hopefully I can use that time and those resources to figuring it out.

I think these few things are very manageable for me right now.  Are you doing anything to up your prayer game?

Simon Paul Lockhart: The Birth

Simon Paul Lockhart 10-26-2012

Better late than never, right?  Three years ago I was full term with our third (likely over ten pound) baby.  Simon was due on his sister's birthday.  I was miserable and was hoping to have him early.  But I was relieved when Amelia's birthday was over and Simon hadn't arrived.  I was hoping to go early, but going late to avoid sharing a birthday with is sister was fine with me.

Throughout the month Chris had several assignments that kept him away from the house.  He completed a gunnery, family day (the kids and I were able to attend the family day), NCO stuff, and tending to the arms room.

39 weeks with Simon.

I was warned that Chris had to go to the arms room early in the morning so I wasn't surprised at 5:00am when I woke up and he wasn't there.  The contractions weren't painful but they were steady.  My go to pregnancy remedy is get into the tub.  Around 5:30 Chris was home, and I told him we needed to head to the hospital.

While Chris was getting Owen and Amelia dressed I gave my friend Moriah a call.  Owen and her son were in the same preschool class, and she was willing to drop him off for us.  I called my friend Erin to see if I could drop off Amelia since we would pass by her house on the way to the hospital.  Both friends obliged and we continued to get ourselves into the van.

It was about 7:00 am and we had just dropped off Amelia when I gave the OB a call.  The lady on the phone told us to take our time, a shower would be nice, and to come to the OB office not the ER because labor and delivery was pretty full.  You see, we are in a military town and husbands had returned home about a year ago.  Actually, there was a mom from Owen's class that went into labor the same day as me.  Anyway, maybe I should have called before we left the house, but we were already on our way.  Amelia came so quickly, I didn't think it was a good idea to go back home.  We stopped to fill the car up with gas and went to the OB office, which was at the hospital.

At about 7:30 am I walked in and said my name and I had a contraction.  They rushed me to an exam room, I think mostly not to worry the soon to be moms in their waiting room.  The doctor that checked me determined that I was eight centimeters.  The nurse said, "do not break her water."  I think he was new and if not a student pretty fresh out of school.  I was put into a wheel chair and rushed to the very full L&D.  Not only was it a military season of having babies, but L&D was under construction.

Around 8:00am I was put in shared room with another lady who was having contractions monitored.  I remember I had two nurses trying to have me admitted.  So while I was handling contractions one lady was asking questions, while the other was doing bracelets and IVs.  Mostly what I remember is a sea of faces.  It was a tiny half of a room.  The midwife had a student under her wing and so did the nurses.  My husband was back against the wall, once they realized that he was by my side.  Another midwife remembered me from an appointment and asked if she could watch.  Sure, the more the merrier!

We forgot the camera again.

Fatherhood always looks good on him.

At one point I was told I could move to a delivery room.  I said no, let's just have this baby.  So we did.  After breaking my water Simon was here in three easy pushes.  After three and half hours of labor Simon arrived at 9:01am weighing 10 pounds 10 ounces and 21.5 inches long.  The first thing Chris said when he saw Simon was "where are his cheeks!" The older two had very full faces, and by comparison Simon did not.

Really, he doesn't have cheeks compared to Owen and Amelia.

Simon has brought (and is still bringing) a new dynamic to our home.  Pretty sure mine and Chris's sanctification is largely riding on this guy.  He's trying and affectionate.  Stubborn and caring.  Demanding and imaginative. I'm honored that we have been entrusted with this spirited soul!

#3, priorities.

"Mom pictures" of me are usually so..eh.
But there is something about this one I like.

Hello world!

Owen's birth story.
Amelia's birth story.
Becket's birth story.

Periscope: Not Sure Where To Go.

I finished my first Periscope few hours ago.  When I posted on Friday that I was going to "scope" I instantly regretted it.  Over the weekend I just didn't post anything else about it because I was considering chickening out.  Well a few hours before going on I had a random surge of courage.  And the hour leading up to beginning the scope again I had regret.  But you know what?  It wasn't too bad once we got in there.  I loved interacting with others in the room.  Public speaking isn't a gift I have, but sitting around chit chatting might be.

Watching the replay was a bit awkward.  I make lots of weird faces, and I wasn't looking at the camera, most of the time.  I wonder if I do that in real life conversations.  Then I babbled about why I think Periscope is cool.  As an extrovert, I see it as great way to socialize with other women with out leaving the home, because getting away isn't always easy with a working husband and four young kids.  People are having book clubs, building communities, and sharing ideas on Periscope.  I frequent the homeschooling scopes mostly, but have been watching many entrepreneur scopes and scopes about scopes because they are really interesting.  I would love to see a Catholic community take shape.  There is so much potential on this platform.

Where do I go from here?  I'm not sure.  I've been encouraged to do it again.  I need to have something to talk about, otherwise I will just be awkwardly looking into the camera or making weird faces.  Maybe people would show up for that, who knows. ;)  Other scopers seem to have such grasp in their intent.  What authority am I of on anything?  Seriously, I feel inadequate to mediocre most of the time, what could I possibly offer?  Yet, I'm compelled to do it again.  You can check the replay here until 9pm Wednesday the 21st.  I would love some feed back. 

7QT: Kids, Crafts, and Periscope

It has been too long since the last time I linked up for the 7 Quick Takes.  Actually, I think Jen was hosting the last time.  Now it is hosted by Kelly at This Ain't the Lyceum.  She's awesome, go check her and other quick takers.

1

This week, I take that back, the last three weeks have been tough.  Everyone's attitudes, self included, have been less than stellar.  Lots of crying.  Lots of fighting.  Lots yelling.  Lots of tude.  How we are going to reign it in?  Not sure yet.  In the heat of WWIII Lockhart style, I took time to find the good in our home.  And of course prayed.  It helped, but it did not bring peace into the home, yet.  We are just having some growing pains, a mobile one year old, an spirited, demanding almost three year old. and two independent school agers.  The independence I don't mind execpt they try to do everything on their own, and I'm not always in the know.  Things seem a little wild, and I am sure I'm not making the best in the moment parenting choices.

Simon is killin' me! (joy)

Aren't they just the cutest!?!

2

Chris began flying this week.  It has changed the flow of our home slightly, which surely contributed to this rocky week.  But we are thrilled.  The kids were so excited too.  Amelia even remembered to ask him how his first day was without any prompting.  She's such a sweet girl that doesn't get nearly the credit she deserves sometimes.  Anyway, his flight schedule will change each week so that will be interesting.  It is worth it.

3

I have been crafting a bit over here.  Last year I started a Halloween wreath for our door.  After an hour I became frustrated with the mesh and left it alone.  After Chris pulled out the Halloween decoration, he asked (several times) if I was going to finish it.  So one evening I took it apart and finished it.  I'm happy with.  I have thought about adding some spiders or letters to spell out BOO.  But I don't know.  Maybe next year. :)  

4

Simon Peter from last year's Easter swap.

(Really trying to stretch these takes) I've mentioned the Catholic Saint Peg Doll Swap a few times.  I'm in the thick of a few swaps.  The deadlines are approaching, and I have got to get them done.  A couple of moms had to drop out so I added to what I had already signed up for.  Not a huge deal, but I keep thinking one of the deadlines is 13 days later than it actually is.  It's ok though.  This weekend is going to be full of painting wisemen.  30 of them to be exact.  These Nativity sets are going to be really cute.  The next swap I will be hosting.  It's an Easter swap.  Last year I painted Simon Peter.  This year I'm not sure.  I will probably let spots fill up and take the spot to complete the group.  

5

I have always enjoyed personality test and the like.  The best is taking a test, reading the results and being "Yep, that's me".  Any personality test, I'll take it.  The ones that float through Facebook too.  You know, the four questions to figure out which U.S. President you're most like.  Your dream vacation, your favorite color, your dream job, and your favorites cereal will determine if you are most like Lincoln or Nixon.  The science is astounding. ;)  Seriously, I love the silly one, but the serious ones with some meat behind them are great.  The 5 Love Languages.  Apparently only two really matter to me, and the rest, eh.  Myers-Brigg is fun, too.  I took a free test to determine my MB type.  It's not recommended because the actual test is really thorough to type you properly.  But I did.  I'm sure that the free test nailed it (for me).  I'm an ENFP.  A flakey optimist.  Well, there is more to me than that, but I think that sums me up pretty well.  

6

I create a Facebook page for the blog.  I've been meaning to do it for a while, but I wasn't writing often enough.  So to give myself some accountability, I made the page.  Go ahead and "like" it if you like reading the blog. Or "like" it if you're feeling charitable, because I'm a train wreck over here most of the time.

7

Have you heard about Periscope?  Well, it's a live stream chat room, kinda.  There is a broadcaster (the live streamer) and then people can join the broadcast and chat using text.  If you miss a broadcaster's scope it stays on Periscope for 24 hours, so you can watch the replay.  Many businesses are using Periscope in really neat ways.  Others are using it to share their wisdom.  I watch lots of homeschooling scopes.  Experienced homeschoolers have been using the platform to share their knowledge.  I find the platform fascinating.  I have nothing to sell.  I don't have any wisdom to share.  I don't have anything interesting to say.  BUT I really want to try it out.  It would really satisfy the extrovertedness (probably not a word) if at least one person showed up.  I'm looking at you, Mom. ;) If you're interested and not on Periscope, it's a free app on iTunes or Android.  You can follow me, my handle is @LandofLockhart.

Tuesday October 20th

Ashley can tell you that I have been messaging her for weeks about Periscope/social media, but I have been nervous to just do it.  It is me being an ENFP and I curious about this new outlet.  I came up with the hashtag #stumblescopes because I feel klutzy in nearly every aspect of my life including social media.  I have said that I am mediocre to inadequate in everything I do, and the only thing that I am confident I can do is push a very large baby out of my body.  Just the pushing though.  The pregnancy and the parenting mediocre to inadequate.  I'm shocked I'm going through with it.  Ok, crazy long tangent. So, I'm not selling anything.  I have no wisdom to share.  And I'm not that interesting.  You should come anyway.  Have some wine or hot tea while make a fool of myself :)