Making Holes in the Walls

I mentioned earlier that my walls looked very bare, but I was having trouble convincing myself to hammer nails into the walls. Well, you can see that we have started. The first nail holds a crucifix, and the second nail holds this. I wanted to hang this shell right away because the past few months have convinced me that we truly have no lasting city here--no lasting home--no refuge at all except for the heart of our Lord, and everyday is a pilgrimage on the way that Home. 

Underneath the shell is our Harry Potter closet. 

Just to the left of this picture, the wall joins the wall that you see in my profile picture at the corner of the room. Despite the way this picture looks, the walls are the same color, the color in the profile picture being correct, and, as you can see, the room really did turn out to look very much like the blog, as I suspected it might.

AMDG

What I Didn't Miss

  

That vehicle on the right, my friends, is what my husband and I call The Red Truck of Death. On a road where the speed limit is 50 mph and everyone goes 65 mph, he crawls along at about 30 mph (Bill says 30 is generous. He puts it at 20 or 25.). You can see that there is a double yellow line, and you can see as well that there is another truck passing him (he passed me too). This is not unusual. That double yellow line goes on for about 10 miles and after about the first 5, people would pass that guy on a curve on the top of a hill just to keep from losing their sanity. 

I'm convinced that this guy leaves his house at the exact same minute every day and he probably arrives at his destination at the same time every day. If you look at him when you pass him, he is staring straight ahead, expressionless, as if he were in a trance. I'm convinced, though, that he is laughing at us inside. I don't know where he goes, because I always pass him before he gets there--and I hardly ever pass anybody on that road.

One day on the way to work, I got behind another slow-moving truck, and I noticed that it looked exactly like the RToD except that it was turquoise. Could it be, I wondered, that this guy has two trucks that are identical except for the color? So, I passed him, and sure enough, it was either the same guy or his twin brother. Curiouser and curiouser.

Then, Bill and I were going to church one day on a road that runs in another direction than the work road, and we got behind the RToD, and actually got to see him turn into his driveway. I looked down the driveway, and YES, the TToD was parked next to the house. Well, maybe this isn't too exciting to you, but down here we take our excitement where we find it.

This picture was taken one day last week while I was driving to work. Yes, I was taking a picture while I was driving on a narrow two-lane road with a foot-wide shoulder that drops off into a swamp while a truck was passing me on the right. I hope y'all appreciate that I risked my life to bring you this enthralling blog post. Anyway, for the last 3 weeks I've been driving along thinking about how much I've missed this beautiful road, and how glad I am to be back. And I am, even when I'm following behind my friend here.

AMDG

St. Theresa and the Glory of God

While I'm waiting to get the house to the picture-taking state (very close) I don't want to let St. Theresa's feast day pass by without saying anything about her, but since I don't have much new to say, I will simply point you here and here.

This morning for the first time I participated in 40 Days for Life, standing and praying in front of Planned Parenthood from 6:00 to 7:00 a.m. For some reason it hadn't occurred to me that it would be dark at that hour of the morning, but once some other people showed up, I didn't really mind and it was surprisingly peaceful in this very busy part of town. There was plenty of traffic already, but there was still that quiet very early morning feeling, and there was a pleasant breeze, and many birds were singing, and the ugly business of the day had not yet begun. It reminds me that God renews His promises every morning, no matter how badly we mess them up during the day.

Later, I was the lector at Mass, and I was struck by how well the first reading from Romans spoke to those who are involved in the abortion industry.

The wrath of God is indeed being revealed from heaven against every impiety and wickedness of those who suppress the truth by their wickedness. For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them. Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made. As a result, they have no excuse; for although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened. While claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of an image of mortal man or of birds or of four-legged animals or of snakes. Therefore, God handed them over to impurity through the lusts of their hearts for the mutual degradation of their bodies. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshiped the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

AMDG

Jigetty Jig

Yesterday morning on the way to work, there was thick fog along the road: fog in the fields, fog in the swamp, even fog on the expressway. Today, there were lumps of cotton all alongside the roadway. Now I know I'm back home for sure.

We moved back into our house a week ago yesterday, Thursday, the 3rd. I didn't really have time to write anything then because we were so overwhelmed with all we had to do, plus my daughter and her friend were going to come to visit the next day, and we had to have the bedrooms put together. There are still some boxes of books to dust and put on the shelves (the wrong shelves--I don't know when I can get them back where they belong.); there are some problems with the gas line; the porch and yard look like a cross between a construction site and a slum; there's a lot of dusting and arranging still to do; but by and large we are settled in.

For a while, I had an absolute dread of going home. The house was really dreadful. There were sheets of white plastic hanging everywhere that didn't seem to protect anything, but made everything seem alien and hostile. My things were piled up and mistreated. The large kitchen was completely filled with boxes stacked two deep. We could barely forge a path to the  (only) bathroom. I felt like the house was actively hostile. 

Now, everything is peaceful and it feels like my home again. It looks so very much better than it ever has before that while the thought of the work to be done exhausts me, I am very grateful. I had gotten so used to living in the condo (almost 3 months), and it was such an easy life, that I was worried that I would miss it, but already those months seem to be rapidly receding into to the murky recesses of my memory.

So, thank you for your prayers.

I'll post some pictures when things look a bit more finished.

AMDG