The world moves at lightning ⚡ pace and stress seems to compound faster than interest on payday loans.
Add the short-staffing crisis and the ongoing pandemic to the mix and it’s no wonder people’s mental health is on the brink of breaking (again and again).
Will the Stress Ever End?
I have suffered anxiety attacks at least weekly at work.
I often get frustrated at myself for not having more “strength” to weather the stress storm.
“My best is not enough” I think as I analyze the ever-growing list of things needed to do at work.
And it never will be enough.
You are not meant to have perfection or “enoughness” in this life.
Only One can fill your heart and mind with satisfaction and long-term peace, contentment and joy.
God.
Gratitude is our oxygen.
The pressures of the world make it appear survival is the only option. Inhale a large breath and make it last until you burst.
Taking a moment or two to exhale by taking in gratitude infuses new life.
God gives us grace (pure gift) to help us in times of trouble.
The catch?
Gifts are only help when you accept them
Ask and you will receive.
One way to receive grace is to practice gratitude.
💡The secret to success is not really a secret. That is if you pay attention to the best people in life. Jesus. MLKJ. St. Francis of Assisi.
❤️ The people of unparalleled and unparalleled virtue.
My observations and experiences has helped me learn how to be successful.
🧡 I define success as experiencing daily joy in your life, developing strong & genuine relationships, and the ability to create opportunities for yourself.
Here is my list of how to be successful:
1️⃣ Humility—this is foundational for everything
Humble people accept feedback and recognize (and can hire) people with more talent.
2️⃣ Gratitude—enhances and stabilizes humility
Being thankful helps you remember your beginnings and your priorities.
3️⃣ Action-oriented
Without this third attribute a humility, grateful person would be well-respected, but standing still—not reaching their full potential.
Action leads to growth—both personally and professionally.
4️⃣ Active listener/feedback consumer
Combined with character (humility + gratitude) and diligence (action) taking feedback seriously and implementing it as soon as possible puts you on the surefire track to success.
Add in consistency this makes the best recipe for lasting success.
Happy First Anniversary of the inaugural Chicoine Family Christmas Card!
This year my parents are too tired and busy (it seems like adults are always tired) to pitch in to help. And my siblings get too distracted doing art, playing carwash or swinging around like Spider-Man. It’s up to me (again) to provide an accurate summary of our year.
I’m going to turn three soon and I like to share my wisdom I learned over the past year along with trying to make my boring family seem interesting. We will go in age order (I hear that phrase all the time— especially when it comes to opening presents).
Mommy
This year has been the most challenging year of teaching for mommy. She teaches between two buildings. I don’t know their names because I’m a toddler and get easily distracted (wanders off to leap off the couch with siblings).
Mommy is the best and I love her very much. She helped me get speech and OT therapies. And she lets me eat off her dinner plate! She and daddy talk a lot about the basement (it’s getting finished) and enjoys coffee. I think she needs it to stay awake because my brothers and sister wear her out.
Mommy also loves helping everyone learn and enjoys decorating our new home. She also gives great hugs!
I think mommy’s greatest accomplishment this year is helping me learn this year!
Daddy
Daddy still works evenings. He has to take naps in the morning. I enjoy spending time with daddy because he takes me to the library, watches Blippi with me, and cuddles with me.
I occasionally still try to obtain a sip of his coffee. Daddy doesn’t like this for some reason. Maybe my siblings also wear him out like they make mommy tired. But the times I do get to taste coffee it is awesome!!! I feel so fast and powerful.
Daddy still writes for his blog and includes some of my antics in it. He recently mentioned something about Tea with Tolkien but I don’t know what that means. Maybe he wrote something for them.
Probably the most important of daddy’s accomplishments is giving me horsey rides. It’s fun!
Noah
Noah is in fourth grade at “the school whose name I don’t know” (again because I’m a toddler and get easily distracted with details). He played soccer in the spring and fall. According to my parents, Noah scored his first goal in soccer. I wasn’t there because I was too busy playing with toys at home.
Noah loves Marvel superheroes (we jump around like Spider-Man a lot lately) and loves reading. He also finds long division fun and leads the family in creative play.
I think Noah’s greatest accomplishment this year is rocking my to sleep in the rocking chair. I love my big brother!
Amelia
Amelia is in second grade at “the school whose name I don’t know”. She loves drawing and creating unique things out of paper, cardboard, tape, and other craft supplies. Some of her neatest creations this year were a cardboard platypus and a picture of Wanda (Scarlet Witch). Daddy thought the Wanda drawing was amazing.
Amelia has made a lot of neighborhood friends. (and Noah too). Noah and her learned how to roller blade. I am learning and wear one skate 🛼 to travel in the living room.
My sister is the best because she loves me and helps me get dressed, brushes my hair, and usually lets me play with her toys.
Amelia’s most important accomplishment this year is painting my fingernails. I love my sister!
Josiah
Josiah is a kindergarten at the “school whose name I don’t know”. He is adjusting pretty well to the elementary school life. He has receives speech, OT, and PT therapy at school which help him a lot.
My brother is obsessed with carwashes and garbage trucks. My dad even for a membership to a “carwash whose name I don’t know” (editor’s note: the carwash membership is for Silverstar Car Wash). Josiah plays carwash or garbage truck most days. He sometimes even lets me help him set up the car wash!
Josiah also got to help the garbage truck worker put the can in the back of the truck. He was so excited. He makes me laugh like no one else. My brother is great at distracting my parents so I can achieve my shenanigan quota for the day (some days I worry I won’t hit my goal)..
Josiah’s biggest accomplishment for this year is teaching me how to cut with scissors and helping me draw. I love my other big brother!
Avila Catherine Geraldine
Why do I get my full name displayed? It’s the least I deserve considering I spearheaded my family’s Christmas letter (again).
I don’t go to “school whose name I don’t know” in fact I don’t go to school—yet. Mommy and daddy say I will be going to early childhood starting in January. It will be at a different school that my siblings go to. To avoid confusion I will call it “different school whose name I don’t know”.
This year was one of adventure and growth for me. I learned so many new words and skills. Speech and OT therapies have helped me so much.
I still struggle with the “wigglies” at Mass. My parents have to take me out a decent amount because of how loud my worship is.y reasoning is if Jesus is God and he saved us why not shout it from the pew (I can’t reach a rooftop. Plus my parents stop me even when I stand on a table. They aren’t fun).
Live your life to the fullest. Thank the people who helped you grow and learn. Count your blessings and your stuffed unicorns. And don’t waste time learning the names of schools whose name you don’t know.
Love,
ACGC— Muffin Miscreant, Coffee Culprit, and Adventure Seeker
P.S. Special thanks to my daddy for editing the Chicoine Family Christmas Card. I paid him in hugs.
A belated Gaudete Sunday meme. 💖💕Monday Mirth. 🙂Legitimate debates. 🙂😆A week I look forward to every year! But can you really have too much chocolate? 🍫🍫🍫🍫A feast some get mix up. 🙂😆Classic Moses and tablet humor. Best Catholic meme ever!!! 😆😆😆🎵🎶 The more you know 🎶🎵More Monday Mirth (and belated Saint Nick’s Day humor). 😆Hope you have a joyful week. 🙏
That’s all I have this week. Stay alert for next week’s Catholic Meme Monday. Receive updates straight to your email inbox by subscribing to The Simple Catholic blog.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on December 4, 2018.
The season of Advent usually begins with a perception of being a magical, jovial, and anticipatory time of the birth of Jesus. My Advent began with an anticipation. Yet it lacked marvel and apparent joy. God encountered me in an incarnational way this Advent season. I juggled the infectious side effects of projectile vomit and diaper explosions. Both of my sons came down with the stomach flu over the weekend.
Parenting Sucks (Sometimes)
Nothing tests a parent’s patience, will-power or love of their children quite like a continual cleaning of bodily fluids. On top of the symptoms of the stomach flu, my youngest son is also recovering from an adenoidectomy (see below diagram if you never heard of that organ before–as I never did prior to this surgery!) Because the flesh is healing behind his nasal cavity, my two year old’s breath smelled like death since the surgery. The doctors estimate three weeks before his rotting-breath odor stops! What a start to the New Liturgical year!
Prepare for Christ not the Perfect Season
Too often society places pressure for the perfect “holiday” season: all the gifts must be precisely wrapped and laden under the Christmas tree in a tidy order, the Christmas meal has to be cooked to the exact temperature and paired with the appropriate side dishes depending on the main dish, and family members need to behave–especially your “estranged/weird” uncle [or aunt or other unique relative you may have]. Honestly, I fall into this fallacy almost every year myself.
This year was no different.
I hoped to be able to take my entire family to Mass to celebrate the First Sunday of Advent. Sadly, this didn’t happen. Because of my priority as a parent, I had to miss this Mass to care for my ailing family.
Advent— A Time to Prepare for Jesus
After taking some time to reflect on the apparent failures of the weekends, I realized maybe God was preparing me for something greater—Advent really is all about preparation for the coming of Christ. Revisiting the birth narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, showed me the arrival of Jesus did not occur in the ideal standards, at least according to the world’s standards.
Luke 2:7 details how Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem “too late” and the innkeeper denied them a room at the inn. Mary had to give birth to Jesus in a humble way—in a simple stable. American novelist Flannery O’Connor wrote the following about the Incarnation,
Man’s maker was made man that He, Ruler of the stars, might nurse at His mother’s breast; that the Bread might hunger, the Fountain thirst, the Light sleep, the Way be tired on its journey; that Truth might be accused of false witnesses, the Teacher be beaten with whips, the Foundation be suspended on wood; that Strength might grow weak; that the Healer might be wounded; that Life might die.
Advent is Incarnational
By becoming a human Jesus was able to encounter the entirely of the human condition save for sin. In my children’s pain, suffering, tiredness, and thirstiness this past weekend, Christ was with them in a unique way as he already suffering all those things during his 33 years on Earth.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 463, “Belief in the true Incarnation of the Son of God is the distinctive sign of Christian faith: “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.” The season of Advent is not about preparing for the “perfect” Christmas where Mary and Joseph get a room at the inn. Advent prepares us for the birth of Jesus Christ. His birth took place in the messiness of the stable. And his Passion and Death took place on the messiness of the Cross.
Not everything in my life will be neatly fit in my control. But after this incarnational and infectious start to Advent, God grace me with the gift of perspective and opportunity in serving my children as Christ served the world.
