Prayer buddies, info, and random thoughts...

Before I dive back into some meaty topics, a few things:

1) Happy Easter! Jesus Christ is truly risen! Yep, it's literal, and if He did not truly, literally rise from the dead, then our faith is in vain, and we are the most pitiable of men, as St. Paul says. Thankfully, He did rise, and we are not putting our faith in a work of fiction. More on that, soon…

2) I can now reveal that during this Lenten prayer buddy season, I have been praying for Second Chances! I have adored this woman for a long time, and have been so inspired by her courageous witness to Church teaching on reproduction and sexuality, even when she was facing her own pain of secondary infertility. I have rejoiced watching her new baby boy grow into the most gorgeous little man. That last round of photos nearly sent me over the edge! It was an honor to pray for her intentions this Lent, and I will keep her and her beautiful family close to my heart.

3) I discovered that a most amazing new blogger was praying for me! She is Patiently Waiting…Kinda, and I am so grateful and humbled to have been the recipient of her most powerful prayers! I cannot wait to get to know her better, and to follow her journey to motherhood, via pregnancy or adoption. You can bet I will be praying for those intentions, dear Patiently Waiting!

4) Shhhh, don't tell him, but I found a perfect gift for my son who is graduating from high school next month: Two books by Dr. J. Budziszewski (with whom I am currently obsessed --more on that later): 

Ask Me Anything: Provocative Answers for College Students, and Ask Me Anything 2: More Provocative Answers for College Students.

I ordered both today. I have a particular interest in helping college students stay grounded in truth, considering the blather they (including my daughter) are exposed to on most campuses, often without ever hearing a reasoned argument from the other side. Professor Budziszewski is an antidote to that. Oh, and his How to Stay Christian in College looks amazing, too.

5) For some inexplicable reason, I have always wanted my blog to look like an ice cream parlor or a candy store. I change the colors from time to time, but they will always be candy/ice cream themed. Yay!

6) Finally, I make a plea to all bloggers (except for TCIE, who is exempt) to remove word verification from their comment requirements. Perhaps I am ADD, but I become almost despairing when I type out a quick comment, ready to click and fly, only to be confronted with a new and cumbersome step. For those willing to take the courageous leap to rid our blogger community of the scourge of word verification (a cause that Sew and Lauren have already championed), I salute you! (Plus, you will get a lot more comments!!)

Blessed Easter to all!

The Christ's Mass, and Prayer Buddy Reveal!!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas Day!

A teeny-tiny teaching from the Bubble: The word "Christmas" is derived from Christ's Mass -- a reminder of the Catholic character and origin of this beautiful Holy Day. I am grateful that our Protestant friends keep two of the great Feast Days of the Church (Easter being the other).  Not everything Catholic is so bad after all!  ;)

(Hey, in light of the above, I just realized that "Christmas Mass" is actually redundant!!)

Another little teaching regarding this wonderful Christmas season is that Christmas is... a season! The four weeks leading up to Christmas is the season of Advent, and Christmas itself begins on December 25! So, you don't have to stop celebrating Christmas just because it's December 26, or even January 1. You can continue celebrating up until at least the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6), and some say till the following Sunday, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord!  So, now is the time to start the festivities, not end them! Merry Christmas!

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The big prayer buddy reveal is here!!

I was so excited when I learned who my prayer buddy was going to be this time around! I love this sweet young woman, and I long ago crowned her and her dear husband "the cutest couple on the blogs" (yep, that's a dead giveaway right there!). She radiates joy and faithfulness, and she gives me such hope for the future of the Church!

The best part is, she is expecting her first sweet little one in just a few weeks, and I was so honored to pray for her intentions, offering masses and daily sufferings (there have been a few big ones and a lot of little ones)!

I couldn't be more thrilled that my prayer buddy is..............

KAITLIN at More Like Mary~More Like Me!

I will continue to pray for you and that (inevitably cute) baby you will soon meet face to face!!

Thanks for always being such an inspiration!

Prayer Buddy Revealed!! *UPDATE*

Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary


I can't tell you how excited I was for prayer buddies this time around! (I had missed the Advent and Lent prayer buddy seasons because I was not yet a blogger.) 


When I found out who my summertime prayer buddy was, I was giddy!!! I love this girl, and she was one of the original IF bloggers whom I stalked when I was just a groupie lurker. She was classy, intelligent and oh so lithe! (Any guesses yet??)


Also, she was the most intimidating in some ways, because she was none too fond of fertiles! I figured if I ever won her over, I was golden with the IF bloggers! (Now do you know who I'm talking about??)


Well, someway, somehow, I think I did win her over. And when she friend-requested me on facebook, I knew it was official! The infiltration was complete! I found out from facebook photos that she was not just an "eye" after all! (Surely you've figured it out now??) 


That's right, my prayer buddy was JellyBelly, from Frustrated Musings of a Seemingly Calm Gal! Our sister from up north, eh? Proud Canadian and yoga practitioner extraordinaire! Not to mention gifted writer, inspired teacher, loving wife and amazing Catholic!


Now, it so happened that the praying started right around the time of one of her most hopeful cycles. I prayed for those follies like nobody's business, and I offered every mass for her intentions. Also, I had put off a very important (but mundane) chore for years, but I became supernaturally motivated when I knew I could offer it up for JB to become a mother. 


I admit that I was was crushed when her hopeful cycle was a bust. But I kept going. I had made a promise to God that I would become more attentive to my own vocation if He would work on fulfilling hers. Basically, praying for JB has made me a better person.


If you think that I am done praying for her, you are wrong! I am going to be like the old woman in Scripture who pesters the judge relentlessly until she gets him to make a judgement in her favor!! (I am too lazy to look up the chapter and verse for you, but I promise you it's there!)


So, dear, sweet JellyBelly, the end of the prayer buddy season is irrelevant to me.... you can count on my continued prayers for as long as it takes to fill your arms with your heart's desire!

*Update: Today I learned that the blogger praying for me was Brenda at Life As We Know It! I have been reading her blog for a long time, and I was so happy to know that she was the one responsible for the spiritual lift I received all these weeks! Here's how it works, this amazing Body of Christ: The supernatural "vocational productivity" I received during prayer buddy season was certainly God honoring the prayers of Brenda on my behalf. I can't tell you how amazing things have been since she started praying. I did things I never thought I could, and I have kept them up. I have been a better wife and parent, so much so that it almost surprises me (don't worry, I have a LONG way to go!). And, as my intentions were being attended to by Brenda, I was able to offer to God the good fruits of those intentions for JellyBelly's intentions! Got it? Wow!

"Thinking Out Loud" Post. *...and a PS

I have nothing to write that could compare to this glorious news!  Like so many, I have waited anxiously every single day for this blessing to occur. Praise God!!


I am trying to finish up a book that I started reading weeks ago, so that I can finally start my "Books in the Bubble" feature. (I am all into features!) It's a book I read years ago, and it had a profound effect on me. I rarely read a book twice (heck, these days I rarely read a book once!), so that is saying something. If I weren't so addicted to all your blogs, maybe I could spend some spare time reading! Sheesh! You guys should try to be less interesting, fun and inspirational!


Busy doing all sorts of stuff for my vocation, too. That is for my prayer buddy. Offering it up, baby. You can't imagine how many times I have forced myself to do the right thing in a given situation (where I could easily have chosen the lazy part) simply by telling myself, "Do it for your prayer buddy!" I always get a sense of renewed energy and joy after that.  :)


Quiz, just for fun: How do you pronounce my name (Leila)? 


If you already know the answer, you can't participate!! Also, no holey soap prize for this one, sorry! But I will publicly honor those who get it right. 


Okay, back to my book, and I wish you all a very happy NFP Awareness Week!


PS: I have not heard back from Christa, Sophie, "The Master" or even Kristen for that matter. I am ready to continue the dialogue whenever they are.

Dear Prayer Buddy*... *UPDATED*

*the prayer buddy I am praying for, not the poor blogger who has to pray for me!

... I have had a very productive day! Maybe later I will tell you what I did, but for now I will just say that I offered it all up for your intentions, and I sure hope God accepts my offering! 

*Update: I also went to confession, and I received some amazing spiritual direction from a priest who was completely unknown to me. 

You know what just dawned on me as I was typing that last sentence?? My productive day that I offered up for you, dear prayer buddy, was probably made possible by my other prayer buddy who is offering up prayers for my own intentions (which had to do with being productive in my vocation), and whoa, those prayers are working, and it's because of that that I had this great offering to give to the Lord on your behalf today!  Whew!  This is how the Body of Christ works! 

Tee hee! I love prayer buddies!

A couple quick things...

(So sorry to interrupt the riveting discussion about toilet paper on the previous post. Feel free to keep commenting on that post, though, because can toilet paper really ever be discussed enough?)

First, I am SO EXCITED to be a part of the Prayer Buddies this time around! And, I couldn't be more thrilled about the person I am praying for! I hope I will do right by you, Prayer Buddy! Yippee!!! Thanks JBTC, TCIE and Sew for organizing this impressive effort!

Second, is it really tacky to become an "Amazon Associate" or whatever they call it? Meaning, a blogger signs up with Amazon to receive 15% of any purchase made through a recommendation on the blog? I have linked books to Amazon in the past, and I will be linking to books in the future, so why not bring in a couple of bucks if someone chooses to buy it from Amazon through my blog? It would make my husband think my blog was productive, ha! But is the whole idea tacky?? Tell me what you think and be honest!

Oh, and for anyone who is still dragging her feet on her faith story, consider this my gentle prompting.

Sorry, Sew, this is another boring post, but I will do better next time and stir up some controversy for you, I promise! ;)