Ball Family Chronicles #2: Little Voices at Mass

It's been entirely too long since I published something (and in the process of writing this post, I realized how few pictures I've taken over the last three months.... shame on me!). The newborn and infant phases of parenting have really been taking everything out of me.

Daniel has left to go to work, and so in these smallish hours before the littles wake up, I have a little joy to share with you.

As you can imagine, having a baby makes going to the same Mass each week a bit arduous, so we do the sensible thing.

We don't worry about it. We get up when the baby makes us, and we go to the first Mass that's after she finishes nursing.

When Church Strife Makes You Worry About Your Witness

Original Images from Pixabay. (There are two.)

In the last couple of months, we have had some significant conflict among our church-going friends and their families. I don't want to go into detail here, but these events have been a big deal. They have been a big deal in my life, in my husband's life, in the lives of all of our family... but we've been very careful about sharing them with friends.

Why is that?

In a word: scandal.

Time For a Change

Original image from Pixabay. Edited by Shannon Ball 2016.

I've been doing some soul searching, blogwise. Thinking, in detail, about how I intended this blog to be, when I started it two years ago.

{7 QT 24} - Resolutions!

Happy New Year!

I'm one of those unfortunate people who loves making New Year's Resolutions, and usually gets carried away in the process.

Inevitably, I make resolutions that are unrealistic - being either too big, or requiring too many little pieces and parts. And I may have done this again this year, but at least I'm trying to make an improvement in how I make resolutions.

These are designed to encompass only those things that are the most important for me to do, and everything else... I'm willing to not worry about.

I don't know if you're familiar with Leigh Ann Dutton @ Intentional By Grace, but she has a lot of right ideas about life. The biggest ones being that being a good mother, a good wife, a good friend, a good daughter, a good employee... a good whatever... those things aren't going to happen by accident. They're going to happen because you are intentional about them, and by the grace of God.

So... resolutions this year boil down to being intentional about the things that are most important. This year, I've made twelve and managed to number them 1-7! (I'm a nerd, remember?)

My (late) Post for Wear a Veil to Mass Day

I have read a number of testimonies regarding why women wear chapel veils. It’s not something I ever considered important when I was younger, and none of my close relatives choose to wear a chapel veil.

The story as to why I wear a chapel veil is perhaps different from others. I started out trying to solve a spiritual problem that I’d become aware of.

Sometime around Pitter Patter’s first birthday, she started getting a lot more active during Mass. I was still struggling pretty hard against the scourge of maternity brain. And the antics of an adorable little infant did not make paying attention during mass very easy. Not at all.

{7 QT 23} - More Life Lately

So... life has been pretty busy for me this last month! Here's a little about what's been going on with me lately.

Quick Prayer Request first: sometime during the month, I misplaced my Bible and haven't been able to find it. It's the Bible I got when I was Confirmed, and so it's very special to me.  I use it for pretty much everything I do. Please pray that I'm able to find it.

St. Maria Goretti

(Don't expect anything too profound... this is just my personal experience of her visit in Baton Rouge.)

So, the big news in Baton Rouge this month is that the major relics of St. Maria Goretti stopped here on their journey around the country.

I have to admit at the outset that I usually hold the practice of venerating relics at a respectful distance; I see a lot of things that I would describe as superstition in the way some Catholics practice such veneration  – but that’s a post for another day. But… since no church in Baton Rouge has ever hosted such a thing in my memory, I couldn’t very well let them leave without trying to get something like an understand of what makes first-class relics so special to so many people.

{7 QT 22} - Life, Lately (Now with 50% more good news!)

Just a few more update in how things are going, lately.

{7 QT 21} - NaNoWriMo!

A who to the what, now?
National Novel Writing Month - is 100% without a doubt my favorite secular celebration of anything. Way, way cooler than Talk Like a Pirate Day.

NaNoWriMo is a month-long novel writing event that takes place during the month of November. The object is to write 50,000 words worth of first draft, that you can later revise into a novel.

I have been a (very) long-time participant in NaNoWriMo. Eleven years is the figure I keep quoting on the forums, but having done a little napkin math, I am able to rattle off novel titles for eleven previous years, so this may, in fact, be my twelfth year!

And I didn't get "in" on NaNoWriMo until it had already been going strong for five years.

Here are seven quick takes about NaNoWriMo for me, this year, and why it's a red letter year.

Between the Old and New Covenants

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

This Sunday, the second reading will be from Hebrews 2:9-11. I would suggest beginning at verse 5 - that's where the link goes. Be sure to read the other readings for context - this reflection will not make sense without them!

On description, Daniel indicated that he thought this was a “how it happened to speak to me” type of reflection. Read with that in mind!

One Year Ago...

One year ago, yesterday, a faithful servant went to meet our Master.

This is Wayne King. He was the pastor at Daniel’s small Presbyterian church for ten years, and a very good friend of ours. And before that, he and his wife, Julie, spent 20 years doing Bible translation work in Malaysia, for a language that - I understand - previously didn’t have a written form.

What I've Been Doing With My Rosaries Lately

If you’ve been reading for a while, you might be aware that the Rosary isn’t my favorite devotion. (Be Warned: That was before I learned about the wonders of Pixabay and public domain images.) At the same time, I have a LOT of rosaries, and I feel guilty not using any of them.

My husband and I recently took up the practice of couple prayer, and I noticed something in the process of listening to myself pray out loud.

{7 QT 19} - I was in English Class

I'm doing my quick takes this week on the day that we were getting news about the 9/11 attacks, here in Baton Rouge. Just - disclosure - in case you'd rather not read on.

--- 1 ---

I realize that Louisiana is pretty far removed from New York City, but you never do quite forget exactly where you were and what you were doing when you first find out about truly, truly significant cultural events.

Choosing God's Will

20th Sunday of Ordinary Time

This Sunday, the second reading will be from Ephesians 5:15-20, but I’d strongly suggest reading the other readings. It’s lectionary # 119, if you’re reading from a hard copy.

In this section of the letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul exhorts members of the church in Ephesus to live wisely, to  make the most of opportunities, to refrain from drunkenness, and to address one another with spiritual language, and give thanks in all things.

Perhaps it is the fact that we were recently in a car accident and had a lot of things to sort out in the aftermath, but I’ve seen these very verses in my life lately.

Announcement: Post to be Delayed

I mentioned in a previous post that my family was involved in a car accident a little over a week ago. We're okay, but our car was totaled.

We're actually very blessed that we are all okay - Daniel observed that we were about a foot removed from having a leg get crushed. (Ain't God good!) I will be following up with my OBGYN at my regular appointment on Friday, where I expect it to be verified that she agrees that everything is okay.

Because of the accident, a lot of the time I would ordinarily spend blogging has been spent talking with adjusters (who were all very helpful!) and shopping for a new-to-us used car. (Which we found late Wednesday afternoon, so no more delays from that.)


I want to post good-quality reflections, so I'm going to delay the one for this week. It will not be up tomorrow morning, but I'm not sure exactly when it will be up. It may be up as early as tomorrow afternoon, or as late as Saturday.

I meant to try to write it last night, but I was so tired after traipsing around in the blistering heat on a car lot yesterday that I turned back into a pumpkin last night at like 8:30. (That's over an hour earlier than usual!)

I realize that delay is becoming more of the norm than the exception lately! Lesigh. I hope that the drama comes to an end soon!

I do have a long car ride in my future, so I'm hoping that I'll be able to use that time to get a little ahead.

{7 QT 16} - What's up in Life

So, it's been a little while since I've posted a quick takes - since early July. Largely because I've been crazy busy lately. So, here's a little of what I've been up to since then.

Gratitude for the Small Things

If you've been reading for about the last two weeks, you've probably noticed two things.

(1) I have been incredibly busy.
(2) I have been sick.

Between being sick and having a funeral to attend, it's easy to get caught in the poor, poor, pitiful me's, like I did when I was first diagnosed with Hashimoto's. (Which, by the by, is even harder to eat for when your sick and ALL of your comfort foods are carbs.)

It's a good deal harder when you're dealing with problems to have a grateful heart, to think of all of the little gifts that God has given you along the way while he's been carrying you through your convalescence.

Unity Among Christians

17th Sunday of Ordinary Time

This Sunday, the second reading will be from Ephesians 4:1-6.

In this passage in Ephesians, Paul urges the church in Ephesus to nurture and maintain their unity.

How sad it is that Christianity today is so deeply divided! Divided to the point that some Christians refuse to acknowledge one another as fellow laborers for Christ.

Announcement: Post Delayed

Sorry to do this two weeks in a row, but I'm going to have to delay this week's post until Saturday as well.

I've been sick with a bad cold for over a week now, and I'm only just now starting to crawl back into the land of feeling a bit better, but not nearly well.

Daniel and Pitter Patter are both almost completely better, and Daniel caught it after me.  (Kind of infuriating, but I'm glad he's better.)

Please include me in your prayers. I'm attending a class next week to maintain one of my professional designations. There's a test at the end of the week that I really need to pass; I'm really concerned about my ability to pay attention with all the coughing I've been doing.

I do not foresee any delay in posts next week due to my class as my hotel claims to have free wireless; I will post if this turns out to not be the case.

Thanks for your understanding and prayers.

When the Retreat Isn't What You Hoped For

I usually go on a silent retreat in June with my mom. I know a fair few people for whom this would be sheer torture, but I absolutely love the fact that I get left alone all weekend.

On my retreats, there are usually talks twice a day. I’ve been on retreats where there are three or maybe four, but that’s about the limit. These talks are usually interesting and educational, and on a topic that has good application to my spiritual life. I’ve been to retreats on “Praying with Mary,” “Healing our Understanding of God,” “The Practice of Reconciliation,” and “The Beatitudes.” They were all wonderful.

This year was different. This year I found the retreat to be really lousy. I mean really lousy.