I grew up listening to stories about my dad’s Uncle Wendell. At first, I remember thinking that this was some magical character my dad invented to entertain and inspire us, just the way my father seemed to be entertained and inspired by this man he adored. We would hear how when dad was a kid, he would follow Uncle Wendell around, entranced by his mechanical abilities to fix anything and entertained at the same time with his warm personality.
I imagined scenes of breezy late summer days in northern Ohio, white clouds in blue skies, soft lake breezes and the sound of Cicadas humming in the trees. I could picture a young version of my dad, blue eyes, tight blond curls, trying to make a whistle sound from his blade of grass (he always taught us this important skill as kids.) Little Glenn might have his freckled nose too close to the engine as he positioned himself “overseeing” Uncle Wendell’s work. Maybe he tried to direct where he thought his uncle should connect a wire, and then I would recall some joke about how awesome “copper tubing” was, though I never quite understood what that meant.
Many of the things my dad proclaimed to love about his uncle were the very things I loved about my dad. He was a handy man, an inventor, a jokester, and a craftsman. As Dad would work in the garage, from a large project pile of scrap metal, wires, and other things that bewildered me, he whistled a tune that would float through the air, and his peaceful contentment was palpable. I would linger near him for hours at a time, just drawing or playing with dolls; whatever I could do to absorb any amount of his serenity.
Happy Fourth Anniversary of the Inaugural Chicoine Family Christmas Card! While normal families publish and share a card each year my parents have been dealing with my shenanigans. This year was a blur for them. They run a tight shipwreck!
It’s that special time of year again where I get to share all about my family’s adventures and shenanigans. As the resident mischief expert (and kindergartener!), I’ll provide you with the most accurate account of our year.
We’ll go in age order because that’s what we always do at our house (especially when opening presents).
Mommy
Mommy is still a special education teacher and somehow manages to keep up with all of us. She loves playing Pickleball with Daddy (I don’t understand why they hit a ball back and forth when they could be coloring). She took my siblings kayaking this summer, and now she keeps dropping hints about wanting her own kayak for Christmas.
Recently, Mommy had surgery which means I can’t use her as my personal trampoline. I made her lots of pictures to help her feel better. I’m such a thoughtful child.
Daddy
Daddy is still doing his writing stuff and something called being a “semi-funny Catholic meme-lord” (I don’t know what that means, but people seem to laugh). He’s the best jungle gym and gives amazing horsey-rides!
This summer, Daddy went to something called the National Eucharistic Congress. He came back super excited about Jesus and won’t stop talking about it. He’s been reading us a book called The Hobbit at night. I prefer coloring during story time, but my siblings seem interested in this Bilbo person.
Noah
My oldest brother is in 7th grade now (he’s getting so old!). This fall, he did Cross Country, which meant we had to watch him run in circles at random parks. He was pretty fast though!
Noah plays the silver trumpet in band and loves football, especially the Green Bay Packers. He gave me one of their extra hoodies to wear during games. He also makes the best Mac-n-cheese for me!
Amelia
My awesome sister is in 5th grade and plays the saxo-thingy in band. She’s the queen of crafts and makes me cool things out of cardboard.
We got new lofted beds and Amelia has a desk under her bed. She uses this for cool creations, artwork, and making me mini-gifts. She even made me a birthday banner and helped me when I got roller skates! Best sister ever!
Josiah
My partner in mischief is in 3rd grade now. He’s become quite the one-man football team, running back and forth in our living room playing entire games by himself. It’s weird, but Mommy and Daddy think it’s cute. He also got to be in the Olympics! We traveled down to Vermilion. I think my brother is famous now.
He loves looking at football cards, playing with our dog, and is reading chapter books now. We still get into plenty of trouble together!
Avila (that’s me!)
I started kindergarten this year and I’m basically a genius now. I love writing letters, numbers, and drawing everything I see. My artwork is displayed all over the house (mostly with tape, and sometimes in places Mommy hasn’t discovered yet).
I’ve mastered many new shenanigans this year, including:
Building fort cities in the living room
Leaving the bathroom door open so Halpert can drink from his fancy water bowl (Mommy calls it a toilet)
Spending an entire week as a dragon (ROAR!)
My favorite foods are anything from Mommy’s plate (it always tastes better), and breakfast burritos with hot sauce. I’m very sophisticated.
Halpert
The newest member of our family! He’s a fluffy puppy who thinks he’s a mighty guard dog. He barks at everyone who walks past his kingdom (our house) and loves to sit on top of the couch to survey his domain.
He’s the best at snuggling when we’re sad and playing with toys. He sleeps in his crate but I’m working on convincing my parents to let him sleep in my room (so far, no luck).
Love, ACGC – Professional Dragon, Fort Architect, and Certified Mischief Maker
P.S. Thanks to Daddy for helping edit this letter. I paid him in dragon roars this year!
According to St. John Paul II, “As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.” Families are a microcosm of society. The breakdown of the family unit is the greatest tragedy of our lifetime.
Living with other people is challenging.
Raising children is a full-time job. It’s an underappreciated and exhausting job. There is no parent manual. Too many unique circumstances exist for a clear-cut black and white rulebook. Right?!
While the details of parenthood can be debatable, there is a blueprint to raising a family with grace and love. This model is found by examining the Holy Family! Jesus. Mary. Joseph.
An analysis of Scripture and Traditional Catholic teaching will show us that the Holy Family’s love, obedience to God’s will, humility, and patience give you an example of how to foster meaningful and lasting relationships with your friends, spouses, children, and neighbors.
Model for the Family
In his Angelus on December 31st, 2006, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI declared, “The Holy Family of Nazareth is truly the “prototype” of every Christian family which, united in the Sacrament of Marriage and nourished by the Word and the Eucharist, is called to carry out the wonderful vocation and mission of being the living cell not only of society but also of the Church, a sign and instrument of unity for the entire human race.
Jesus displayed obedience to his parents. This truth is shown in the tradition of the Catholic Church. The opening Antiphon in the Divine Office for the Feast of the Holy Family is “Come let us worship Christ, the Son of God, who was obedient to Joseph and Mary.” Simple yet profound!
Imagine being God and still able to submit yourself to the authority of your father and mother.
Silence leads to sanctity
Guess how many words of St. Joseph did the Evangelists record in the Gospels? If you guessed a whopping ZERO then you are correct my friend! Though included in the key infancy and adolescent scenes of Jesus’ life the foster father of our Lord said nothing!
The adage “actions speaks louder than words” applies more directly to St. Joseph than arguably any other person in history– as we can only analyze his actions. Cardinal Robert Sarah in The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise plainly stated, “Man must make a choice: God or nothing, silence or noise.” Using Sarah’s logic Joseph not only clearly, but overwhelmingly chose God!
Joseph’s ability to heed the Angel’s message to flee the wrath of King Herod demonstrates a complete trust and dependence on God. The noise of life yanks me in different directions– all away from God. Looking to the silent saint as a role model helps to remind me of the importance of asking the Lord for help.
St. Joseph provides the ideal for what it means to be a kind and loving father and man. More than ever this world needs strong men to be role models for their families and communities.
Humility overcomes Hubris
According to St. Louis de Montfort, “The Son of God became man for our salvation but only in Mary and through Mary.” Mary is honored because of her humility and obedience to the will of God. Her YES to God’s plan was the pathway by which Jesus entered our world.
Like St. Joseph, Mary’s trust in God was evident in her obedience, despite the unique circumstances the Holy Family was in.
Conclusion
Due to Original Sin, humanity suffers a fractured relationship with God. The Mystery of the Incarnation involved God becoming man in the Person of Jesus Christ. Divine Love selected Joseph of Nazareth to be the legal and foster father of Jesus Christ and protector of Mary. Mary was chosen to be the mother of the Son of God.
St. John Paul II closed his Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio by saying, “I entrust each family to Him, to Mary, and to Joseph.”
May all men reflect upon the silent, humble, and diligent example of the Holy Family. And may the Holy Spirit grant us opportunities to be holier versions of ourselves!
Editor’s Note: Post originally published on May 1, 2018.
C.S. Lewis wrote in his work Miracles, “Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.” This weekend I experienced the miraculous in the seemingly mundane. Before I go into detail, I need to provide a little background on my family’s situation. My youngest child who is two years old was recently diagnosed on with mild to severe autism spectrum disorder. Working with local educational and developmental professional he receives occupational, developmental, and speech therapies. Daily life is difficult for typical toddlers, but my son’s trials some days are compounded due to his cognitive delays.
The perfectionist in me seeks the attainable and perfection. However, I took up a new motto when it came to parenting and teaching my youngest son: Practice makes progress. Believe me practice does make progress. I am still fighting my perfectionist tendencies currently! Realistic goals provide a healthier home atmosphere than giving my children unattainable goals.
Our two-year old had a breakthrough in his development—true progress displayed and his hard work in therapy paid off. Before we began developmental therapy, my son struggled to communicate his needs. As a result of his inability to properly convey his wants/needs he would bang his head on the ground when overcome with stress. Additionally, every single transition point over the course of the day involved intense meltdowns. While my son still struggles to transition smoothly from activity to activity, he is making progress.
The Power of 432 Hz Music for Autism Spectrum Disorder
Together with the diligent efforts my toddler and his teachers put into his therapies, my wife learned about the amazing power certain music/sounds that calm the mind. According to the German mathematician Gerhard Huisken, “music tuned to 432 Hz is softer and brighter, giving greater clarity and is easier on the ears. Many people experience more meditative and relaxing states of body and mind when listening to such music. The natural musical pitch of the universe gives a more harmonic and pleasant sound than 440 Hz” (cited from https://attunedvibrations.com/432hz/). I took my three children to the playground this past Saturday. Here I utilized the power of 432 Hz.
Cabin fever took over my household over the long and drawn out winter of 2017-2018. Outside time was an activity that the doctor ordered! Along with ambling up the stairs and going down the slide by himself—and actually enjoying it—my toddler transitioned well from leaving the park back to the car. Normally, if I placed him in the stroller, wiggling, screaming, and flaying would ensue. What did I do differently this time? I downloaded a 432 Hz player app on my smartphone and played sounds with that frequency as I placed him in the stroller? Almost instantly, the power-struggle ceased. Is this a magic cure? Certainly not, however, the discovery of using 432 Hz frequency is a miracle as my wife and I found another strategy for our educational toolbox to help our child out with his development.
Celebrating Milestones: A Meltdown-Free Day for an Autistic Child
Along with a healthy dose of outdoor time and changing the frequency, we celebrated my godson’s First Communion. After Mass, we traveled to my aunt and uncle’s house for lunch. In the past, we discovered that new scenes oftentimes disrupted our son’s routine. Any sudden change within his daily habits nearly leads to intense meltdowns. Prepped for an apocalyptic afternoon [at least on the car ride home] my wife and I were pleasantly surprised and quite proud that our toddler had a fun and major meltdown free Sunday.
Gamboling in the vast outside spaces, frequently visiting my cousins’ parakeets, discovering hay-bales, and playing Legos with his siblings and cousins provided plenty of chances for our son to exercise some independence in a new environment.
Finding Miracles in the Ordinary
My family truly experienced the miraculous in the final weekend of April. Aside from the Mass, as Catholics weekly partake of the miracle of transubstantiation–mere elements of bread and wine having the substance changed into the “body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ” while retaining the appearances of mere bread and wine, we experienced the miraculous in the form of hope in ordinary living. C.S. Lewis stated, “If miracles were offered us as events that normally occurred, then the progress of science, whose business is to tell us what occurs, would render belief in them gradually harder and finally impossible” (Miracles, p. 75).
Science certainly has the ability to explain why 432 Hz is the preferred frequency, describe the development of farmland, and inform us how exercise on playground sets provide health benefits to children. However, the amazing part of our weekend was being surprised by the progress our two-year displayed. Albert Einstein once said, “There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” Which way do you prefer to live? Finding the miraculous in ordinary living is both a challenge and a joy!
“and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority” —Luke 4:32
My parents are still too tired and busy (it seems like adults are always tired) to pitch in to help with the Christmas card. Noah, Amelia, and Josiah decided they can’t help because it would intrude on their Nintendo Switch, artwork and cartography time. It’s up to me (again) to provide a whimsical and semi-accurate summary (of shenanigans) of our year.
I’m the only one who takes Christmas-card-writing seriously in my family.
I’m going to turn five soon.
“I can’t believe my baby is almost five!” my parents have said this with tears in their eyes many times.
I learned so much over the past year so get ready for some serious life lessons. I’ll also get a summary of what’s new for the rest of my family.
We will go in age order. I hear that phrase all the time— especially when it comes to opening presents.
Mommy
My mommy started the year teaching between two buildings. I still don’t know their names because I’m a toddler and get easily distracted *rides off on a balance bike around the kitchen*.
Mommy is the awesomest and I love her very much. She helps me continue to receive speech and OT therapies. And she lets me eat off her dinner plate!
This summer Mommy had surgery on her stomach (gall bladder removal) and I had to be reminded several times I couldn’t jump on her until she recovered.
I drew my first portrait of mommy!
Mommy finally got to teach in a single building this August. She loves teaching and helping her students grow. Less travel time means she can come home early and spend more time with me and take Josiah to swimming lessons more.
She also does a great job braiding my hair and painting my nails.
I think mommy’s greatest accomplishment this year is helping me learn this year!
Daddy
Daddy had a big change in his work. Over the past few years, he has worked overnights. But in November he went to part-time at his retail job. His content writing as taken off and loves helping Catholic businesses get their message out there.
He also started another new project working to publish a neighborhood Catholic magazine. I get to be his “four-year old assistant who doubles as his daughter”. While I don’t exactly have a full understanding of my job description I do know I travel with him to meet with people. I usually sit at a table coloring and am paid with a treat like candy or crackers.
Daddy still writes for his blog and creates funny memes, but it’s been a bit since he wrote about my antics. I think I need to steal his coffee more often.
Daddy loves creating memes about the Catholic faith. 🙏 🙂
His hobbies continue to be playing board games with us. We had fun playing dominoes, a cat & mouse game, and a monster-themed game! Daddy has been binge-watching Doctor Who too.
Probably the most important of daddy’s accomplishments is still giving me horsey rides. It’s fun!
Noah
Noah is in sixth 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. Noah has improved his skills of passing, ball control, and scoring. ⚽
Noah learned to play the trumpet last year and has continued to develop a love and talent for this instrument. My family and I went to his band concert. It sounded good! I even paid attention for a few minutes (my parents were super proud of me).
My brother is also in Chess club.♟️He enjoys teaching my younger brother chess and loves playing against my dad. They talked about Fairy Chess pieces that included: a dragon, magician, and even a playtpus. I hope those pieces are pink so I can play with them when he’s not looking.
Amelia
Amelia is in fourh grade at “the school whose name I don’t know”. She still loves drawing and creating unique things out of paper, cardboard, tape, and other craft supplies.
My sister had her art published as a GIF. “Goldy the Hedgehog” caught the attention of someone my dad knew. This lady was making an app and loved Amelia’s artwork. I thought my sister did a good job drawing the hedgehog. 🦔
My sister is the best because she loves me and helps me get dressed, learn art, brushes my hair, and gets me bandaids when get hurt.
Amelia’s most important accomplishment this year is painting my fingernails. I love my sister!
Josiah
Josiah is a second-grader at “the school whose name I don’t know”. He has lots of teachers that help him learn.
My brother is obsessed with maps and flags. His favorite countries are Portugal, Spain, United States, Canada, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Josiah played soccer for the first time this spring. I enjoyed watching him play but was also kinda sad because we couldn’t get into as much trouble as usual on the sidelines. His favorite futbol player is Cristiano Ronaldo. And he loves playing football, soccer, and baseball in the living room (he’s a one man sports team). 🏈 ⚽ ⚾
Josiah dressed up as a Tornado 🌪️ this Halloween.
Finally, Josiah learned to read chapter books. Some of his favorite books include: Magic Treehouse and books about countries and sports. I like it when he reads to me.
Avila Catherine Geraldine
When I’m not committing shenanigans or earning snacks with my “daddy’s assistant” job, I learn lifeskills through my continuing education program (early childhood).
I don’t go to the same school called ” the school whose name I don’t know” as my siblings. But I do go to preschool (at a school whose name I can’t remember). I love school and my teacher and my classmates. I showed my parents all the cool things I learned at our school’s Fall Festival.
All I wanted for Christmas was to lose my first tooth!
I still struggle with the “wigglies” at Mass. But I have been making improvements. I enjoyed waving leaves on Palm Sunday and having my dad push me in the stroller this one Sunday in June (he was talking about a Corpus Christi procession or something). One Mass I even went on a “bear hunt” and did my best to whisper. My parents thought I was weird.
Halpert
The latest addition to my family was someone almost as hyper as me. We got a puppy and named him Halpert (I think it’s after my dad’s favorite TV show). He has grown so much and learned a few commands like “sit”, “lay down”, and “settle”. I love to pet him, climb in his crate, play fetch, and take him for walks. One time he jumped out of the bathtub my family and I laughed at his craziness.
His crate is comfy. 🙂😆
Halpert loves to play with my siblings and parents too. He helps cheer us up when we have a sad day.
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.
P.P.S. Halpert will be taking over next year’s Christmas Card as I’m going to be too tired from my continuing education courses and general mischief making. I get to go to school all day next year!
How do you pass on the faith to the next generation?
Here’s a glimpse at a micro-moment of evangelization:
Found this pamphlet on the Eucharist in the girls’ room.
My older daughter is headstrong and can test my patience daily. But her same tenacity is also a strength— she truly cares.
She loves reading booklets or following along the worship book at Mass. One reason is because she always needs something to hold or fidget with (flipping pages of a book is soothing ).
Another reason is I think having her “own” booklet makes her feel like she can participate more and have more of a say.
The Holy Spirit does work in mysterious ways:
I have a Master’s Degree in Theology and have been writing about our faith for almost a decade. But in order to teach my kids about the faith, the Spirit prompts me with simpler avenues.
✝️ Answering questions during Mass
✝️ Taking them to the local Catholic store occasionally
✝️ Praying before meals and before bedtime
✝️ Having holy images throughout our home
The Home is a Domestic Church
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph #2685, “The Christian family is the first place of education in prayer. Based on the sacrament of marriage, the family is the ‘domestic church’ where God’s children learn to pray “as the Church” and to persevere in prayer.”
It doesn’t always have to involve a verbalization of the faith. In fact, I don’t remember my parents ever talking at length about Catholicism. They taught us the faith by their actions and having a loving home environment.
Sometimes just the environment and time are all the Holy Spirit needs to grow the seeds planted at their Baptism.
This isn’t the post I planned on writing today. Yet, God always finds a way to make my plans better than I could imagine myself.
Passing on the faith to the next generation in the domestic church doesn’t always require lengthy theological discussions. Sometimes, it’s the small moments of evangelization, like finding a pamphlet on the Eucharist in your child’s room or answering questions during Mass, that can make the biggest impact.
By creating a loving home environment and incorporating simple faith practices like praying before meals and having holy images throughout the house, we can allow the Holy Spirit to work in mysterious ways and grow the seeds of faith planted at our children’s Baptism. Remember, committing our work to the Lord and trusting in His plans can lead to beautiful moments of evangelization in our own domestic churches.
“Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” —Proverbs 16:3
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Editor’s Note: Post originally published on June 13, 2015.
Yesterday, I encountered God and reflected on his majesty during three rather sprightly activities: lifting weights at my local fitness center, reminiscence of my childhood through classic youth books, and playing a game of cornhole toss in my basement with my toddlers.
Encountering God through Exercise
After eating breakfast, I went to my local fitness center to do my daily 45 minute exercise routine. Since Thursdays are chest/back exercise-days I bench-pressed. I have been lifting consistently for a while and I started to notice that I improved on my weight goals. Great. But how does this relate to God?
Well, a motivational quote posted on the mirror in the weight room stated, “If it does not challenge you, it won’t change you!” This means that if I want to get stronger I have to increase the amount of weight I lift. From the eyes of faith I interpreted this as “While God is everlasting and eternal, he sent his Son in the world to give us a path to change humanity for the better. This is known as the way, the truth, and the life and it is preached by the Catholic Church.” Just as reaching a weightlifting goal is challenging, so too, living a life of love and forgiveness is challenging.
Discovering the Creativity of God in Books
Secondly, I noticed the creativity of God during my time of scanning through classic books I purchased from a local used book store. Authors like Roald Dahl, Beverly Cleary, and Jerry Spinelli were just some of the many writers that I recalled from my childhood as I peered over the yellow-paged, but still nicely preserved copies of Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, Ramona Qumiby, and Maniac Magee. Here I realized that the genius of these mere human writers pale in comparison to the Author of the Universe–who composes each and every one of our stories. Nevertheless, it is through human ingenuity that God can be glorified.
God did inspire human authors to write out his love story to humanity and that collection of books would be canonized as the Bible. In other words, the brilliant human mind–in this case, I noticed it in children’s book authors– is a reflection of the creativity found most perfectly in God. Genesis 1:1-2 states, “In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters”. A more literal translation Genesis 1:2 has the “might wind” rendered as the “spirit of God”. This matters because the creative power of God the Holy Spirit has in fashioning the universe in 6 days [stages]. I refer to this passage because the first biblical image of God, as creator, highlights his creative energy.
Finding Joy in a Lawn Game
My third and final example of how I encountered God through play this Thursday occurred during my afternoon cornhole toss game with my children. For my readers that live outside of the Midwest, cornhole toss is lawn game with a objective similar to horseshoes– one must throw an item to score points. In this case, there is two inclined wooden boards with a circle in the top. The boards are placed 20 feet away from each other and two teams compete at trying to reach 21 points by tossing beanbags either onto the board itself of into the hole. That is the game in a nutshell. If you want more information I check out the American Cornhole Association’s website [yes this is a thing and the website is AWESOME].
To get back on track, cornhole toss is a remarkably simple activity and people of all ages can play. While playing this game with my children I realized that there is a certain type of beauty to cornhole toss–that although is is an incredibly simple game I could play it for hours and still be captivated. Analogously, God is a simple being do the fact of his remarkable unity and oneness. God is not composed of multiple deities but rather simply one Lord over the whole universe. Like cornhole toss, I can contemplate the beauty of God for hours on end.
