Quick note from the Abitadeacon!

 Here I am in beautiful, although, very cold North Carolina.  Due to circumstances that have been helpful this recently unemployed and now employed, thankfully but not at income levels recently enjoyed, has been able, along with Wendy, to finally achieve our "Christmas" visit with our NC family.  In about one hour from writing this we will be visiting our first two grandchildren, Calvin, now 8+, and Katelyn, incredibly 5, or as she will readily tell you, 5 and a half!

So please forgive me if blogging ebbs and flows a bit; from today thru Tuesday evening, my focus will be those two and their parents too.  As I say all the time; they are my NC family!

And good news: the kids have both Monday and Tuesday off so it will be all day long fun for Pops and Nona.

While I'm here, I will be praying for all my family, our safe travels, the nation, especially in the coming days and my home parish family of St. Jane de Chantal in Abita Springs/St. Michael's in Bush.

Hey, your prayers are always very welcomed!

Another NC visit; another Calvin birthday and now another long drive home

Wendy and I have wrapped up this latest visit to family in NC as we celebrated Calvin's 7th birthday.  Calvin is our 1st grandchild so we have been here for every birthday including arriving a day after his birth back in 2012.  Calvin had a great birthday; party at school Friday, party at the house Friday night after dinner at one of his favorite places to eat.  At that dinner Calvin had all 4 grandparents present; something he might find impressive many years from now.  Saturday was his big party at a local club that specializes in tennis and swimming.  We had great quality time with Calvin and his sister Katelyn, now 4, with several special trips to favorite places and swimming.

These trips have been so important to us as these two grands live over 800 miles away.  Wendy and I have visited often, sometimes 4 times a year.  That will be slowing down as now Calvin is in elementary school and Katelyn not far behind.  Also, these trips have become a little harder on us as it's a long drive and/or flight and we are not getting any younger.  Still we came, we had a great time and we made some more wonderful memories.  These trips, coupled with our Skype sessions at least 3 times a month have helped to somewhat minimize the time and distance between us.  We are so thankful for the gift of our NC grandchildren and the closeness we feel despite the miles.  Wendy and I are still enjoying the gift of our granddaughter who lives just 30 minutes away and love that we can visit with Brennan most anytime.  We often wish we could do that with all 3 but we accept and understand the reality.

So home we come tomorrow, a long 12 hour drive.  We will be ready to assume our "normal" routine and look forward to seeing them again.  Heads up: rumor has it sometime later this year I may have all 3 grandkids under roof; something to really look forward to!

Prayers for traveling mercies kindly accepted!

All over...again

Visiting the NC family is done; all that is left is an early wake up and a 12 hour drive home.  Sad.

Our time in front of Calvin and Katelyn is so seldom but always great whether reading books, playing games, exploring places to eat, swimming, spending time in the yard or taking in a AA baseball game.

So time will be consumed with resting, packing and driving for the next 24 hours so don't look for much Monday posting.

Thanks!

And just like that it is over

Our visit to NC is done and we celebrated Calvin's 6th birthday and had some excellent adventures with Katelyn too.

Here is a picture from Calvin's birthday party today, he is the tall one in the middle and Katelyn is the smallest in the pink & white and a killer smile.

We will miss them again, but back to Louisiana at 5 in the morning:

Celebrations, family fun, family concerns, terrible missteps, the journey of life

So the main focus of my week of vacation was to visit NC, celebrate Calvin's birthday and just have time away from what has been a summer from hell family wise.  Of course I am speaking of the now over 3 month illness/hospitalization/nursing home odyssey of Wendy's mom.  With this being Labor Day week and the family having prior Labor Day weekend plans we timed everything to do some stuff at home first then take off north after the celebratory 3-day weekend.  Then this thing named Gordon came up and we were guaranteed a tropical storm/hurricane event early in the week.  Been around to long to buy into the hype so we did our weekend things, had dinner back to back nights with friends, the second of which included the unexpectedly pleasant viewing of the LSU game but then our attention turned to the impending doom news of a sure hit hurricane, you know close the schools, go rush the stores, etc. along with our own personal need to attend a friends funeral, which I have posted about a few times here recently.  Tuesday was the funeral, a beautiful and spiritual celebration of Alan's life, a mini reunion of friends from Jaycees days and then what would be the starting point for our journey north.

By the way, everything was focused on that Gordon fella as we turned north but, as is often the case, storms do what they do and there would be no visit from Gordon.  Instead landfall was well over 100 miles to the east.  Our first night got us as far as a town called Villa Rica Georgia and we did have this one phone call from Wendy's mom.  She was complaining of pain and not feeling well but assured us all will be fine, keep on going and enjoy the grands.  So we did just this, navigating early morning business rush hour in Atlanta and headed for South, then North Carolina.  But this phone call was to tell us that once again, I believe the 4th time in 3+ months, Wendy's mom was hospital bound.  My goodness, Wendy gets upset, conflicted but the word on the ground is keep going north.  And we did.  We arrived Wednesday evening to share some play time and dinner with the NC Talbot's and to get ready for Calvin's birthday #6 the next day.  But reports from home started to convey some not so favorable news about the mother-in-law, nothing life threatening but disturbing nonetheless.  Friends and family helped out but here Wendy is in North Carolina and her sister is home sick with a bad and contagious illness that would not be good around their mom.  I want to make sure folks much closer to us read this carefully as I, screwing up again, misread the situation back home and inferred, in a public reply that Wendy's sister did not go to help out.  I was wrong; she was sick and could not go help out so I apologize to the one I hurt for not only my error but my indiscretion at how I handled things that day.  Despite being with our NC family, it was tense and remains tense, relative to her mom's condition as we just don't know much.  Information has poured in slowly.

Thursday was Calvin's big day but now, as a student in elementary school, there is no grandparents pulling grandkids from class for an all day fun day.  We did, however, take our youngest NC grand to a children's museum and had a blast with her.  Believe it or not, this was the first time Wendy and I had ever taken Katelyn on an adventure, just the three of us, in like forever.  What a fun and grand time!  I took a ride with my son to pick up birthday boy Calvin and experience the joys of car line.  That's quite the production.  All I will say is despite this particular school's organization, car lines are not for me!!  The afternoon brought fun, games, a pizza party for dinner, a special 6 year old cake and some nice presents.  I guess since he is the 1st born grandchild we have never missed a single birthday party for Calvin!  Today brings more "no news" from home and it also brings another outing with Katelyn as Calvin does the school routine.  We took her to Build-A-Bear, a first time experience for us.  After lunch we got home for naptime and get this; Wendy took a ride with Sara for school pick up and I am home supervising Katelyn's nap and subsequent wake up routine.  Yep, this should be interesting.

There is still plenty to experience tonight and tomorrow along the lines of birthday celebrations and then the all too soon departure on Sunday for home.  And there will be no delaying departure as we, especially Wendy, is anxious to get home and see what the heck is going on as her mom remains hospitalized with little plan of action so far.

Thank you, good readers, to allow me to occasionally use this blog as a personal kind of journal.  I actually like having stuff to post that is more personal and intimate about who I am, who we are as a family, as well as my diaconal ministries and all the comings and goings of Holy Mother Church.  In this one post you may focus on my role as a father, grandfather, husband, etc.  In other posts you may focus on my role as a deacon, a member of the clergy, a minister, a confidant, a friend.  I'd like to think all of these things are aptly captured in these pages.  But in this post and not to be diminished is someone who still is capable of sin, sin against God and another, and one who is far from his goal of striving for daily holiness.  These landmines that I allow to become launching points for ill tempered, hurtful and unnecessary behavior are sincerely of great concern to me and something I keep needing to work on; and yes, I mean keep working on.  There is nothing good or right about saying or doing anything to anyone that causes hurt.  I did that this week.  I have shared with that person my sorrow and regret but I know I've been there done this before.  Upon my return I will ask for greater help in this area of my human, personal and spiritual dimension as a man, a deacon, and just one member of a greater family dynamic than myself.  With age comes wisdom; well, sometimes, not all the time.  For that I am gravely disappointed.

There are a couple of things of infinite importance to me as I blog away with tiny grandchild upstairs napping; to continue to celebrate family, especially my NC family as we are here, to specially celebrate with Calvin as he is now 6 and in what we call "real" school, to keep involved and abreast of what is transpiring with Wendy's mother-in law back home and to hopefully be allowed to reach out and ask forgiveness for my trespasses and to use what is at my disposal, especially the love and mercy of God, to gain better handle on still "hanging on" failures and shortcomings.  This road, this journey of life comes with all kinds of ups and downs, good times and bad, joys and sorrows, smooth sailing and bumpy roads and turbulent seas.  Most of the latter are self inflicted, at least in my case.

So for now, I will focus on the remaining 30 hours or so with the NC family and wish my grandson Calvin a most special Happy Birthday:


And can I request prayers for my mother-in-law Lynn, our family and for our travels this coming weekend and prayers too for the person hurt by my words.  My God continue to have mercy on us.

Arriving to celebrate with our NC family and then difficult news from home

I'm doing this on the blog so I can link it to my facebook and twitter accounts.  Wendy and I made it to our North Carolina family this afternoon; had a great visit and dinner with the gang and talked to Calvin about how excited we are that he will be 6 years old.  I posted a great picture of both Calvin & Katelyn listening intently to Nona reading them a book.  Glad we are here and I hope we can stay.

So a complication arises today as Wendy's mom, who has been doing so much better this past week and a half, was brought back to the hospital through the ER.  Things all day have gone from bad to worse.  She is in pain again and a MRI reveals some abscesses in the stomach, potentially from her recent gall bladder surgery.  Bad enough she also is having BP issues and there is fluid in the lungs along with poor CO2 readings.  My oh my has this been a difficult ordeal for her mom since June 2nd.

Thankfully a family friend and our daughter Elizabeth have responded today to be with Lynn as she endures her now 5th hospitalization since June.  And for us wanting only to rejoice in this 4 day visit with our grandchildren now have the uncertainty of this latest hospitalization and the fear and concern Wendy now must deal with from over 800 miles away.

Will we get to stay through Saturday and the big 6th birthday party for Calvin or will we be heading south, returning home, to manage this latest scare?  Time will tell.  Tomorrow is Calvin's actual birthday and while he has school, we have planned a big day with Katelyn before our little pizza party tomorrow night for the birthday boy.  Yet tomorrow could bring surgery for Wendy's mom and the resulting impacts and recovery.

We are praying for wisdom.

And of course we are praying for Lynn in this latest detour in a now 96 day odyssey.

All prayers are welcome and all I can do is evaluate and wait.

A moment of unexpected joy

Many of you know that our family dynamic has been greatly impacted by the illness of Wendy's mom.  She is doing better this week but we have a long way to go even after this 75 day odyssey.  Some of her bounce back moments have been moments of joy and hope.  The week that she was doing so well that others stepped up so Wendy and I could attend the big Deacon Congress in New Orleans was also filled with joy.  A little over a week ago my son called to tell me that he and the family would be in Louisiana but it was a short trip to spend a long weekend with his childhood friend in Grand Isle.  He called to see if we could squeeze in a visit but things looked iffy at best.  The very next day Wendy's mom had her latest set back and we went through a couple of rough days.  We were relieved that she recovered from that scare.  My daughter Elizabeth took the opportunity to bring her brother Jimmy up to date and soon he called to see if he could coordinate a visit to see his grandmother, the kids call her Momsy.

After enjoying two days in Grand Isle, they made it happen.  Before the big visit, Jimmy made his way with Sara and Calvin & Katelyn to Slidell so they all could meet Brennan.  It was like the kids all knew each other.  We captured a picture of our son Jimmy holding Brennan alongside Calvin & Katelyn becoming the first picture of all three of my grandchildren together in one place.  By the way, they then went on to surprise Wendy's mom giving her perhaps her biggest moment of joy since this all began back on June 2nd.  Unexpected joy for her I'm sure as this picture is for both Wendy and I.  Soon I hope we all can be together, for now we are so happy for this little shot of family joy:

So maybe it's the right time for one of my famous "time of the year" updates; then again maybe not; but here goes anyways

I used to do these all the time but deep down I know it's of little interest to most of you.  Every now and again I post these things because, well, because I feel like it.  So since this is a "time of the year" post I need to acknowledge up front that we are in August, my own self-defined worst month of the year.  August is always super hot and, along with early September, the highest likelihood of hurricanes!  This summer started off very bad, first of all late May and most of June was way above normal heat index wise and gave us little hope for August.  And while it is still hot, it actually hasn't been as bad as it could be.  And this summer has been totally dominated by my mother-in-laws illness and extended hospital/rehab center stays.  She is back in the hospital by the way, yet another setback.  And today is day 62; that's right, 62 days of trying to recover, Wendy's daily schedule a disaster and lots of prayers for eventual recovery.

August, by the way, does have a good component, there is actually a football game on TV tonight from the NFL Hall of Fame.  It does make me look forward to actual football season and the hope that always springs eternal concerning the New Orleans Saints, although many believe this should be a great year for them; have you seen the schedule?  Tough!

August 2018 brings for both Wendy and me the new phenomena of a grandbaby here!!  We love Calvin and Katelynn dearly, and had a great visit late May, going back in September, but it is nice to see Brennan whenever we can.  In fact she came and visited me at Mass to hear me preach and then I went to visit last night.  Brennan is grandbaby #3 and we love all 3 with all our hearts.

If you all really read me you also know that I am still on a personal and spiritual re-charged batteries high from last week's National Diaconate Congress.  I still love to review my notes, articles in Catholic media and my own blog posts to relive that week that was so special; not only to me but to Wendy too!  I was excited to share some of my Congress excitement in my homily that I got to deliver three times this past weekend and am already looking forward to sharing with the men at Rayburn next week.  As a Catholic Deacon I am indeed very aware of all the blow back from the recent scandal centered around former Cardinal McCarrick.  The realization of this latest scandal indicates to all of us that there are miles to go to drain the church of predators, pedophiles and anyone who would prey on our young people.  While it is very discouraging, it does not diminish my resolve to preach Christ and His Church, to remain firmly on the vine which is Holy Mother Church and to bring service, charity and encouragement to a hurting world.  My faith grows even stronger in the face of recent scandal.

So August promises to be very busy; predicated, in part, by whatever the news of the day/week may be surrounding Wendy's mom.  But I know that I have many masses to assist, at least 3 Baptisms this month, a special Deacon celebration of St. Lawrence on his feast day, August 10th and plenty more indeed.  And all this time we will actually be drawing closer to the real start of football season, and eventually real fall season, maybe even temps below the always mid to high nineties.

So this is all I got for August, thankful for making it through June and July and hoping to be in October soon enough!  Time marches on, and it is all gift from God!

We are home!

In less than 13 hours, from North Carolina to, well, at least to Winn Dixie.  Yep after almost 13 hours of driving we had to stop at the WD because we are out of staples, mainly edible food!  And then we had to pick up our golden girl, Delilah.  But we are home, car unpacked, mailed reviewed and first load of clothes in the wash.

We loved our visit with our NC family and Calvin and Katelynn were, as usual, lots of fun an good for many smiles and warm heart moments.  And while we will miss them, we are planning to go visit grandbaby #3 in the morning!

More posts tonight on this very HOT Wednesday back at the Talbot farm and at the abitadeacon!!

A little Tuesday night update from North Carolina

Our short 3-day visit to see the family up here in N.C. is over and Wendy and I plan on taking off early in the morning.  We are so glad we came as we have not seen the family and played with the grandkids since December.  This was our 1st visit up here since November but I spent 3 days of that trip in a hospital.

Our return trip will be dodging lots of rain from wrap around remnants from Alberto.  As long as the interstates are passable we will be good.  I always dread hitting Atlanta and we will be passing through around 11 in the morning.  That's bad enough on a typical work day but worse if heavy rain persists; time will tell.

The highlight of our trip is always to spend face time with Calvin & Katelyn.  They are growing so big as they approach their 6th and 3rd birthday respectively.  We spent most of the time swimming and playing in the yard and just hanging out with the family.  We really enjoyed the visit, short as it was.  We went out to eat together a couple of times and Wendy and I got to make mass at St. Pius X Church(see previous article).  And not only did we celebrate Memorial Day while here, we also celebrated Jimmy & Sara's 8th wedding anniversary!

So prayers for traveling mercies and good weather and no severe rain and we should be home in Louisiana by tomorrow evening!

Blogging will resume in earnest tomorrow night, Thursday sometime.  Peace!

Just not posting all day

Seems one of the keys to blogging momentum is posting all day and that’s not going to happen when I’m with Calvin and Katelyn. Our time with these two is precious because of distance.  So after a Memorial Day of swimming and pitch and catch and something called WildKratts I’m going to enjoy the next few hours before our last full day here which will be here tomorrow already!

Maybe some updates later tonight!

Blogging momentum will be impacted by upcoming visit

So about three weeks ago I lamented the extreme run-off in normal pattern readership here at the abitadeacon.  I'm happy to report, for reasons still not really clear to me, that the pattern of normalcy has returned, well at least about 80-90% of normal.

Sometimes readership dips when new posts and updates are not published here.  Beginning early tomorrow Wendy and I will take off to see the North Carolina crew including our tow grandkids Calvin & Katelyn.  We saw them about a week before Christmas and of course they were with us when my appendix gave out on our November trip up there.

This is also our first trip away from home since the arrival of grandchild Brennan.  Of course we will see her after we return.

I will try to keep on blogging on the trip, pause to celebrate Trinity Sunday and Memorial Day and hopefully stay clear of this early season storm named Alberto.  Perhaps you will recall we had to drive through Tennessee last September to avoid whatever storm that was last year.

So keep reading us here at abitadeacon and pray for a safe trip.

Another great picture of Brennan and her beautiful mom

Look at these two beautiful women in my life; that's daughter Elizabeth holding my granddaughter Brennan Leigh, now just a few days old and already stealing hearts.

I am so blessed to have three fantastic grandchildren, my big buddy Calvin, my greatest smile in the world Katelyn and now beautiful brand new Brennan.

Blessed be God!

When family comes to town

This Advent, as Christmas rapidly approaches, we are blessed to have our North Carolina family with us for a few days.  It's not a lot of time but we'll take it.  After the incredibly eventful November visit to North Carolina, complete with my hospitalization, it is nice to have my family here at our house.



Calvin & Katelyn arrived last night with mom and dad in tow and we had nice visits all day today, like when the gang drove to Pearl River and met me for lunch, after a little tour of the bank I manage.  After lunch, we all gathered together this evening for dinner, followed by presents galore.  For the first time in well over a year, I had both of my children, both their spouses and both our grandchildren all under one roof.

We enjoy being with them tremendously.

It is a quick trip so we have a very hectic Saturday planned, more family coming for an afternoon visit and then we will move on to Sunday.  I can't wait for Saturday!

When family comes to town, it is a complete joy!

Some extra time with the grandkids, family & friends

Wendy and I have been to see the grandkids before, lots of times!  Since the birth of Calvin in 2012 and then Katelyn in 2015 I would say we've been up here maybe 18 to 20 times.  This week, we are back again with a little different dynamic.  Our good friends Aimee and Keith are with us, actually they did all the driving, and they are spending time with my son hunting.  It is the peak of hunting season and these three love to hunt.  In fact Aimee and Keith came up here a few years back and Jimmy showed them the ropes.  So they will be hunting today thru Tuesday, and again Thursday, while Wendy and I spend quality time with the kids, and Sara, who like us, does not hunt.  Wendy and I were reminiscing about all the things we started doing years ago with Calvin and the generous amount of time his parents would let us keep him from day care/school.  Well, we realized that this will come to an end soon as Calvin begins Kindergarten next August.  Can't just pull a grandchild out of school you know.  Yet Katelyn is still eligible for all the trips to the science center and museums and such so that is something to look forward to.  Also, next year, we will have another grandbaby near us when Elizabeth delivers her little girl.

Can I tell you the conditions up here make me think, albeit for a moment, about moving north.  Here in northern North Carolina they celebrate all four seasons and this fall like weather is just delightful.  While it cam be and has been colder this time of year, overnight lows 28-30 and daytime highs 58-60.  Perfect for us and a nice treat for the hunters.  The leaves around my son's neighborhood are both changed in color and rapidly falling to earth.  Today the kids were playing in the inviting piles of tree leaves.

Wendy and I are truly looking forward to the next 4 days spent with Calvin and Katelyn and we are so glad that Aimee and Keith are having a blast, and yes, they have already scored some impressive deer treasure.  We are also very excited that this year, my NC family has managed to get some time off and will be among us for about 4-5 days before Christmas this year and all the family will have an opportunity to visit with them.  Thankful for these special family blessings!

Enjoying our latest visit with the grandkids!

Wendy and I are back home tonight safe and sound after a 14 hour drive to avoid an outrun Hurricane Irma.  Everything was successful.  We had nothing more than rain and was pleasantly surprised at the very cool weather all the way down to Meridian Mississippi.  It soon warmed up though going from 55 degrees to 82 in about 30 minutes.  To avoid the impacts from Irma Wendy and I drove through the mountains of western North Carolina and Tennessee then south into Alabama.  We even left the hotel at 4:15 this morning to make it work.

Of course we did not want to mess with Irma but we did not want to cut short our visit with our North Carolina family.  The big event this trip was the 5th birthday celebration for Calvin, our #1 grandson.  It continues to be an amazing thing to watch him grow and to realize he is already 5 years old.  We had a great time with Calvin and his 2 year old little sister Katelyn, who keeps us busy.  They are gorgeous:

 

Nona and Pops got to spend plenty of time with the kids and a good bit of time with daddy and mom too(James & Sara).  My son cooked dinner every night except Friday when Wendy cooked.  Sunday was Calvin's big party and he had many friends come to a jumping party at one of those trampoline places.  He sure had a good time.  I was exhausted just watching him and his friends.

So until we see each other again, goodnight Calvin and Katelyn!  We sure enjoyed being with you!

September and we are somewhere in between

I'm glad the traditional summer months of June, July and August are behind us; I really dislike these particular months of the year.  And late last week, just like that, we arrived at September.  I have a love-hate, up, down kind of relationship with September.  And this particular September is indeed proving true to form.  On this Labor Day as I take some time to unwind, I do so with one wary eye cast to the east and a monster storm named Irma.  We have just witnessed the impact of these kind of storms with Hurricane Harvey and the devastation wrought upon coastal Texas, including the Houston area with record rainfall, all the way to the areas around Lake Charles Louisiana.  Most of the stories post Harvey have been of incredible human spirit from rescues to so many relief efforts and contributions.  The fact of the matter is that the area impacted will take a long time to recover but they will recover.  And we must never forgot that as of this morning there is a death toll that has reached 50.  And with Harvey still a current reality now we are looking at this monster named Irma:



Now anything can happen, and a lot will change between today and any landfall, but currently this track looks like very bad news for Florida and plenty of places inland.  But hurricane tracks do change and for us who still live with Katrina fatigue, this bears watching and a reminder to be prepared.  As hurricane veterans in this part of Louisiana this should not be a shock to us as we know that the peak of hurricane season is September 10th.  So we watch and wait, having to be about the business of every day life because while concerned, this thing is a week away from any of us.  And we pray, Irma, just go away.

As we get about everyday life I prepare for our next visit with the "grands" as we travel to North Carolina to celebrate Calvin's 5th birthday.  It is beyond incredible to me that Calvin is already 5!  And we can't wait to see him and little sister Katelyn who, you may recall, celebrated birthday #2 just two months ago.  Our September visit to North Carolina is one of those reasons I do love September as are many other reasons.  In case you have not noticed it is football season!  I certainly enjoyed all the games this weekend as college football kicked off, especially watching my LSU Tigers picking up a shutout victory over BYU.  And the New Orleans Saints start the new season a week from today and all Saints fans want and expect something much better than these mediocre performances of recent memory.  That Super Bowl victory for the Saints seems like a hundred years ago.  Another reason I love September is the promise of October and hopefully cooler weather.  In fact we are actually getting a cold front soon and will have overnight lows in the upper 50's; that's nice for us in early September.

If the first few days of September are any indication ministry will be full and robust.  I was privileged to offer Benediction at my parish both Friday and Sunday evenings and assisted at two masses Sunday.  I also visited with a brother deacon Saturday struggling with some health issues.  Later this month I'll be back at Rayburn, will begin our fall-winter Bible Study as we move on to the Acts of the Apostles and fulfill several other ministry responsibilities.  The ministry of the Permanent Deacon takes no time off no matter what month it is or even the weather conditions.  Simply, we serve!

So I love a lot about September in reality but truly hate those threats from hurricanes and tropical disturbances.  And yes, I do not like the normal summer-like heat but am hopeful for cooler things to come.

In any event, let's keep persevering through this 9th month of the year, remembering those who have suffered and are now recovering from Harvey as we pray away Irma and any other named storms this year.  Bring on North Carolina, Calvin's birthday and lots more football!  Happy September!

Obviously, we've got some catching up to do

Well hello mid-July, and I guess mid summer.  Hell, we have at least two more months of summer and then some.  You all know I hate summer time and another reason to not like summer is all this crazy Catholic vacation mentality.  I guess it comes with the culture.  Perhaps too I am guilty of same although my recent week long vacation, to get some in person time with the grand kids was well worth it but also very demanding.  From July 3rd until this past Sunday, the 9th, I was on the road.  Wendy and I, and Wendy's mom Lynn, drove up to North Carolina, visited with family, played with the kids, celebrated Katelyn's 2nd birthday(I know; already) toured my son Jimmy's equine hospital(he is a great equine vet) and just enjoyed time with family we see in person so rarely.  Because of work demands, we also loaded up the car and left this past Sunday at 5 a.m. our time and pushed, and pushed to arrive home at 7 p.m.  All so I could be at work this past Monday morning.  While demanding, I'm actually quite satisfied and proud that we did it!  And I had a pretty productive day at work on Monday. 

The good news for Wendy and I is that we are headed back in September to be there for Calvin's 5th birthday.  Saying the words Calvin and 5 years old is mind blowing.  Truly, it seems like yesterday that our first grandchild was born.  What a joy to see him grow up all these years and now to be an excellent big brother to little sister Katelyn.

In the meantime, yours truly remains incredibly busy especially since I remain a full-time banker working through this big bank conversion and transition since the failure of my predecessor bank.  I must admit things are getting a little smoother after multiple 50+ hour weeks, working 3 and 4 Saturdays in a row and helping guide all of our clients through the transition.  I always joke since I've been in banking I've only changed jobs once and have worked for 5 banks; a nasty reality of the industry in which I am employed.

And we all know that another source of busy times, not to mention great joy, is the ministry of my diaconate.  In all honesty, I feel like my ministry has not been as robust and effective as I would like it to be due to all the work stuff and on-going issues with my bad knee and arthritis.  In fact just the other day I took a pass on my weekly visit to the prison since they did have a priest and a lay minister already on the way.  Hopefully this all will pass soon and I will be back in the groove!

Despite all this I can say that things are not boring around the ministry at St. Jane de Chantal.  Just this week we hosted three families in the Family Promise Program.  Families that find themselves homeless come and stay with us for a week and receive bedding, meals and fellowship during the week.  This is a great program that our parish is privileged to be involved.  Another big event is our hosting of a large youth group from Texas while they do mission work in New Orleans.  They will be involved in several evening events including an evening of Adoration, Benediction and Mass.  How cool is that.  Later this month I will be one of the Deacons assisting at our Archdiocese Cathedral at the Sunday Mass.  And it's not too soon to remember that in August we begin our latest Bible Study for adults, this one based on the Book of Acts of the Apostles!

By the way, I've noticed with this so-called Catholic vacation mentality comes some drop off in visitors to this blog effort that I love so much.  Now surely, I am not complaining about still having about 700 visitors a day, but that is about a 400 visitor drop off from several recent months.  Yes, I have been posting less recently, and even less personal reflections.  I will try and remedy that as we move on.  In any event, I always appreciate my many visitors and hope that what I write and what other articles I select to present here are of great value to you as we embrace the Catholic faith, journey together on our path of salvation and grow in holiness.

Glad we caught up.  I promise to keep it going!

Calvin, now almost 5 years old &

Katelyn, now two years old


There is not much that pulls me away today from back home, especially with my diaconate ministry and the many new and exciting changes at work, except these two awesome grandchildren.  Calvin and Katelyn hang with us like we almost lived nearby, and believe me, we don't!  Wendy and I have 3 more full days with these awesome kids and our son and daughter-in-law.  Looking so forward to these days!

My southern grandkids are stuck in some snow!!