Thursday, March 15, 2007

More Pictures

Due to popular demand (from Adam), here are some more pics from our vacation to Montana and Wyoming, including the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone.









Yup, that's a little grizzly bear...

...and a moose!
Check out the reflection.







In addition, I was quite struck by the second reading from the Office of Readings for today. The topic was prayer and I thought I'd include a few excerpts...
From the treatise On Prayer by Tertullian, priest

The spiritual offering of prayer

Prayer is the offering in spirit that has done away with the sacrifices of old... Prayer is an offering that belongs to God and is acceptable to him: it is the offering he has asked for, the offering he planned as his own.We must dedicate this offering with our whole heart, we must fatten it on faith, tend it by truth, keep it unblemished through innocence and clean through chastity, and crown it with love. We must escort it to the altar of God in a procession of good works to the sound of psalms and hymns. Then it will gain for us all that we ask of God. Since God asks for prayer offered in spirit and in truth, how can he deny anything to this kind of prayer? How great is the evidence of its power, as we read and hear and believe. Of old, prayer was able to rescue from fire and beasts and hunger, even before it received its perfection from Christ. How much greater then is the power of Christian prayer...it gives the armour of patience to those who suffer, who feel pain, who are distressed. It strengthens the power of grace, so that faith may know what is gaining from the Lord, and understand what it is suffering for the name of God... Prayer is the one thing that can conquer God. But Christ has willed that it should work no evil, and has given it all power over good. Its only art is to call back the souls of the dead from the very journey into death, to give strength to the weak, to heal the sick, to exorcise the possessed, to open prison cells, to free the innocent from their chains. Prayer cleanses from sin, drives away temptations, stamps out persecutions, comforts the fainthearted, gives new strength to the courageous, brings travellers safely home, calms the waves, confounds robbers, feeds the poor, overrules the rich, lifts up the fallen, supports those who are falling, sustains those who stand firm.All the angels pray. Every creature prays...Even the Lord himself prayed. To him be honour and power for ever and ever. Amen.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

God's Blessings




The Lord is very, very generous to Mark and I. He never ceases to provide for us! To honor and thank the Lord, and hopefully be a witness to the Lord's great love for those who strive to love and serve him, I want to list some of the material ways he has blessed us, recently: a free trip to the zoo, free movie tickets, sales on grocery items, beautiful shoes for me that were a fantastic deal (one pair was a mere $2.50!!), very inexpensive handsome glasses for me from myeyeglasses.net, I give them 5 out of 5 stars! Endless buy-one-get-one-free coupons for wonderful date nights, a BEAUTIFUL nativity set that was given to us unexpectedly exactly when we were wishing we had one, providing (free) every single piece of furniture and appliance we own (yes, they match and are in good condition), a (free) anniversary getaway that included an eight-bedroom mansion on a lake, money that shows up exactly when we have unexpected bills to pay such as wisdom teeth extractions, etc. A cat that goes in the toilet - sorry, that's not a material blessing, but I just heard a few "plops" that are music to my ears!!! Sense and Sensibility, one of my favorite movies, BRAND NEW for $1.85 (that was just this morning). The list goes on, and I know there are countless other examples that I can't think of at the moment. Maybe you're asking why the Lord does this for us? I can't say for sure, but I can guess that the Lord might not be so generous if we didn't a) tithe without fail, no matter what and b) recognize that we are simply stewards of his gifts, and they are given to us to lead us and others to Him. I hope and pray that we are good stewards of the gifts He gives us and do in fact use them for His glory. Come, Lord Jesus!

Monday, March 12, 2007

Is your 8-month-old potty-trained?


Ok, perhaps I failed to mention that it's an 8-month-old cat. Max, our loveable ball of fur, is well on his way to using the big-boy toilet. For the first time, just today, we heard a couple of beautiful "plops" as the, uh, stuff hit the water. It was the sweet sound of no more litter boxes to clean, no litter dust coating the floor, etc. Before I mislead you, I should admit that we're probably still a few days away from complete freedom from litter. Currently, there is a foil tray with a 5-inch diameter hole cut out of the middle sitting in our toilet. It began with no hole and litter, next there was a 2-inch hole with less litter, and now larger hole, still less litter. This allows Max to slowly adjust by a) balancing 2 paws on the toilet seat b) hearing the splash of the water c) not being able to bury anything when he's done. The next step is a larger hole, which will encourage him to balance entirely on the toilet seat. Hopefully it will be a success! I will be sure to keep you posted. In case you think we're completely nuts (though I won't deny it) there are others who are leading a litter-free existence, ex: http://www.karawynn.net/mishacat/toilet.html

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Spring Cleaning

Actually, just "cleaning" would probably be more appropriate. Mark and I are attempting a first-ever (hopefully annual) Lenten purge of some of the junk we've accumulated in our 1+ year of marriage. I did a quick search for the patron saint of tidiness, but came up empty-handed; who knows if there is such a person - the good Lord knows it won't be me! (poor Mark). Fun times ahead...

Thursday, March 8, 2007

Beginnings...


I have finally decided to create an Archibald blog. I'll do my best to keep posts short and sweet, with pictures when possible. Enjoy!
This picture of the Teton Mountain Range is one of the 368 breathtaking pictures from our MT/WY vacation in July '06. We can't wait to go back!