Dealing with depression: The battle never ends

For as long as I can remember, my husband has been a huge fan of Robin Williams. I've surprised him with two shows (a huge feat, considering both were in Indiana!) and we've seen practically every movie he's made.

The news Monday of Robin Williams' death hit hard in our home. But not for the reasons you might imagine.

For nearly a year (officially) but longer in reality, we have dealt with the roller coaster of depression.

The reality is, no matter how hard we try to control it, depression is an illness. And like any other chronic condition like diabetes, some days are better than others. And like any other chronic illness, depression can have its ups and downs, regardless of you being faithful to your medication or treatment.

In the months since my husband began medication therapy, we've had my husband slowly return to "normal." But the reality is there is a new "normal.' He's never truly returned to his "old self." Instead, we've learned to love him and his new temperment -a little quieter, a little more resigned - but continue to embrace the man who loves his family with all his heart.

We've dealt with a stretch of lows - a string of down weeks, peppered in with what we call "bad days." Being injured with a rotator cuff injury didn't help it. Being limited physically easily impacts your emotional health, especially if you have someone as independent in spirit as my husband. I can so easily see how someone with a chronic health problem - such as recovering from heart disease, such as Robin Williams was - could be brought down by the realities of their physical health.

I have no great answers for those who love people who battle depression on a daily basis. Simply pray. Pray with them, pray for them. And open your hearts and arms to them, even when they say they don't need it. Because as humans we simply do.

Prayer Kneelers for Kids

Helping my children learn to pray is once of the greatest joys - and challenges - I have had as a parent.

While perusing the garden clearance, I was inspired to make prayer kneelers for my kids. I had seen this idea last summer on Catholic Icing, initially considering this as part of our Brownie troop's Family of God religious award journey, but would think about gathering supplies for the project when it was definitely out of season.

Lately I've noticed that my youngest has created a "prayer spot," completely unprovoked, in his room. There is an "Our Father" poster he made in kindergarten, as well as a cross and the various crafts he's made during Vacation Bible School. I thought a prayer kneeler would be a great addition.

I found these apple-shaped garden kneelers on clearance at Walgreens for $2 each, and I used marker to decorate them with a rosary and children's names to create portable prayer kneelers for my godchild and for my children. 

(Why portable? Of course the kids are going to carry things around. Everywhere...)

The kids' prayer kneelers will be packaged with some inspirational reading for Christmas gifts. (I can also see it as a gift for First Communion, or a craft project for Vacation Bible School or Sunday school class.)

On the back, it says "When life gets too hard to stand, kneel." I hope the kids take it to heart.

Recycled Jesse Tree Ornaments

I'd been kicking the idea of a Jesse Tree for a few years now, but it usually was in the middle of December, when it was far too late.

Then I got the email yesterday morning: Walking the Seasons had a last-minute need for a Jesse Tree ornament swap, and would I be interested? 

Interested, yes. Time and cash-strapped, most definitely. Add in the fact that I needed to get them in the mail this weekend, and I just eliminated any hope of running to the store for last-second supplies.

The solution? A recycled Jesse Tree ornament that ended up being a whole-family affair.

Here's how we pulled off 28 ornaments in little time, all by using items in our home.

1) We took cardboard boxes we'd yet to recycle and mod-podged scrapbook paper to it for a background.

2) We traced a cup lid for the round ornament shape and cut them out. We free-hand cut tear drops, the shape we were assigned to, and adhered them to the ornament, then covered them all with a layer of Modgpodge to ensure no loose ends.

3) I had  bottle of pearlized coating for stamping that my mother had given me some time ago that I had not used, so we used a small layer on that to add additional shine to our tears.

4) We punched a hole in the top and threaded some leftover ribbon through.

Simple but effective for symbolizing tears of pain and abandonment in the Old Testament.

I'm excited to see how the others turn out and introducing this new tradition into our home!

Brownie Family of God Award Retreat (work plan for leaders)

Our Brownie troop is working on our Family of God Award this year as part of a tradition for third-graders at our parish. I mentioned some time ago on my blog we were working on the award - and learned since that there are so few resources to help leaders plan how these girls can fulfill their Family of God requirements.

So, for all of you stumped leaders out there: Consider planning a morning retreat with your girls.

I am so glad my co-leader suggested this idea. We were able to allow the girls to meet most of their award requirements, give them some one-on-one time with their parents, and keep them from being annoyed that they were "still" working on this. (We had burnout with a journey experience, and I have heard other leaders say they nearly lost girls from their troop from dragging the award out too long.)

Here's what we did for our retreat:

• We blocked out a three-hour morning session and announced it early in the year. Girls were to attend with a parent.
• We jumped around the requirements, switching quiet activities with interactive ones (table or troop discussion,  parent interviews etc.)
• Our goal for the retreat was to meet several award requirements, plan a community service project and culminate in a girl-led prayer service.

Activities we completed (listed in chapter order, not in order of the day):

• Chapter 1 (I am special to my family): Make a list of four activities you can do well.
• Chapter 2 (I am special to God's family): Write your own prayer thanking God for someone special. (These were shared at the prayer service at the end of the retreat.)
• Chapter 3 (I belong to my family): List the members of your family and list two or three jobs they do in your family. (It is a wonderful eye-opener: even siblings make a difference!).
  Plan a prayer service with family members.
• Chapter 4 (I belong to God's family): Learn the names of parish staff and others who work in the parish. Why is the priest called father? What do they do to serve the parish?
  Talk to your parent about your baptism and your name. Why was that name chosen or who is your patron saint?
  Write or draw how your parish family of God does things together. What activities are there especially for youth?
• Chapter 5 (I can help my family): Make a prayer bag with names of each member of your family. Pick a name each day to pray for them or send a special thinking of you note to them.
• Chapter 6 (I can help God's family): Read John 6:1-15 (loaves and fishes). List ways you can share or draw a picture of what you can do for people to show how you love them.
  What does the word Christian mean? Talk about the special things that make us Christians. Plan a service for your parish. (Our girls voted to earn money for an Angel Tree gift at our church.)

I should add also, that much of this was self-paced. If the girl wrapped up a requirement early, we guided her toward another requirement that could be quietly taken care of. (This is important to consider; we quickly had two girls break out a pack of cards for go fish while they were waiting and had to put a stop to it!)

The prayer service was simple but an awesome experience. One table chose a reading; the other picked a song the girls all knew from church and school. The girls shared their prayers they had written that morning, and my co-leader shared some personal things their family used in their prayer life, including crosses that had been handed down for generations. The best part was that the girls came up and added impromptu prayers at the end, and they were so beautiful!

If you have other ideas for Family of God Award, or have questions, please post! I am happy to share from our experiences!

Please note: You can order the award books online here: http://store.nfcym.org/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=24

Brownie Family of God Award Activities

The Family of God Brownie Girl Scout Award is one of our major projects for our troop this fall. So you may see less about "green" projects the girls are doing and more about how they're integrating faith into scouting.

This award is traditionally earned by the third-graders at our church, and this is our fall to do it. We're planning a retreat to meet many of the activities. Others will be done in the troop setting, and others (since it is "Family of God") will be done with the girls' families at home.

For those considering earning the award, there are 18 activities the girls are required to do to complete the award through the National Catholic Committee for Girl Scouts and Camp Fire. Brownies complete three activity choices under each of these six sections:

• I Am Special to My Family
• I Am Special to God’s Family
• I Belong to My Family
• I Belong to God’s Family
• I Can Help My Family
• I Can Help God’s Family

If that seems a bit daunting to you, many of these are smaller activities, like create a picture of your family. I thought at first it was a bit corny, but then I stumbled on an article in our diocesean newspaper this week: As part of the Pilgrimage of Families in October, children are invited to "present" their family to Pope Francis by sending a picture they have drawn electronically to the Pope. What an awesome way to tie into what might be an otherwise ho-hum activity!

Pinterest is also a great resource to find creative spins on these activities. One is an adorable family tree that I stumbled on through iMom.com. We printed off packets for the girls to work on at home, and we will add them to their Family of God books our pastor will review.

We are printing off these cute prayer cards from the Time-Warp Wife as part of their Family of God retreat.

I love this idea for a prayer pail from Lu Birdy Baby for the girls' activity to choose others to pray for. Much better than a check-off list!

We are also considering making Chemo Care Kits from Pennies of Time as a service project. It's dear to us because of one of our Girl Scout dads has been fighting a battle with cancer.

Follow Robbie @'s board Family of God award - Brownies on Pinterest.
If you have other suggestions for projects, please link them here!

Advent season: Slowing down

Advent was a season I had never given much thought to in years past. Beyond the candles burning at Sunday masses, an evening reconcilliation service and the promise of a Nativity scene, Advent didn't really register to me.

Until I started to slow things down.

First, I cut out a lot of clutter around the holidays. Over the years, I've worked most of my Christmas shopping to where my gift buying was completed over months, not weeks or days. Instead of a mad scramble to find something that "fit" the person on Black Friday, I slowly discovered gift ideas over the seasons. Come this Thanksgiving, I really only had a gift or two left to purchase, December birthdays included.

Further slowing my life down was my husband's unemployment/underemployment the last few years. Suddenly dinners out and shows seemed like unnecessary extravagances. Would I like to see Transiberian Orchestra? Of course. And some year it may happen. Just not this one. Instead I've begun searching for Christmas activities in our community that don't necessitate a $100 outlay. Like community Christmas tree services. Or a visit to Santa. Or the free day at the holiday trains at Garfield Park. Or the Nativity show at our parish.

Putting a focus on the Christmas season has helped our family put it back in the right focus. This year, I've made an ardent effort not to schedule non-Christmasy things on our calendar. Yes, we missed Scout night at the circus, and stayed home and played games and watched Rudolph. And other than a small family dinner and treats at the daycare, my son's birthday will be celebrated with friends after the Christmas business dies down. I don't know that either will be missed.

Instead of being stressed about errands, I can focus on my family. We can bake a batch of cookie if we want. Or read Christmas stories from around the world from the library. Or bring out more Christmas decorations. Or take them to play at the park for hours on a warm day without thinking about the "I need to do" list. Or (gasp!) even focus on cleaning our house for our Christmas company.

Is it tough to make a conscious choice to slow down during the Christmas season? You bet. But trading off the calendar items, the unneccessay errands, the stressed shoppers and children, it makes it all worth it. And I hope my family is happier for it.

The Harvest Prayer

Anonymous 17th Century Sermon

Please be gentle with yourself and others.
We are all children of chance,

And none can say why some fields blossom
While others lay brown beneath the harvest sun.

Take hope that your season will come.

Share the joy of those whose season is at hand.
Care for those around you.
Look past your differences.

Their dreams are no less than yours,
Their choices in life no more easily made.


And give.
Give in any way you can.
Give in every way you can.
Give whatever you possess.
Give from your heart.
To give is to love.

To withhold is to wither.

Care less for the size of your harvest
than for how it is shared,

And your life will have meaning
And your heart will have peace.

Virtual Bible School

Vacation Bible School is a great idea - unless you're a working parent.

It's tough to tackle carpools, cranky not-old-enough siblings and schedules. Yet, most churches around here do daytime sessions.

A church en route to my work was offering an evening Vacation Bible School this week, one my preschooler could even attend. Yet I did the math.

5:30 leave office
6:00 arrive at daycare
6:30 arrive at VBS
8:30 pick kids up
8:45 home
9:45 battles continue over bedtime...
7:00 am fight over wake ups

(repeat)

Of my 30 minutes between pickup and VBS, every minute would be spent commuting. Which meant that we'd be eating takeout or cheese and crackers in the car, neither of which are appealing. Coupled with a forecasted excessive heat watch this week, and my husband and I did something I never thought we did.

We ditched the church. And went online.

Earlier this summer, I'd signed up for a virtual Vacation Bible School based on the recommendation of another blogger. I thought it would be at the very least an option for activities during the week.

Instead of plays and group games, we watched videos online and did coloring pages. Instead of baggies of goldfish crackers and juice boxes, we had cooking activities that tied in with the day's lessons. Instead of being constrained to a five-day period, we've dropped in activities as interest arises. Crafts are coming, as are the rice krispy treats that are part of "Day 5" activities. (Not sure about the theological aspects of marshmallows, but what the heck.)

Yes, I miss the idea that my kids will miss out on the camaraderie of being at a traditional Vacation Bible School. But with $3.79 gas, a heat wave and overly tired children, I'm glad to know there are alternatives out there, too.

Going green for Lent?

Sacrificing for your faith is the point of Lent, but can environmentalism play a part? Today on the Green Phone Booth, we're introducing you to the idea of Lenten programs focusing on going green for 40 days. Incidentally, I went "green" in an unplanned way - breaking my tendency to reach for the junk food, particularly the stuff that folks bring into work. I'd love some good dark chocolate!

Blessing of the Sprouting Seed

We place our trust in God for the big moments in life, but all too often we forget the influence in the little details. Generations prayed to their dieties for help with their harvest, yet in our whirlwind society, where our food comes from often - beyond the doors of the grocery store - doesn't get a second thought. This weekend, the kids and I finally started our first batch of seeds indoors. An attempt at tomatoes, leeks, ground cherries, cucumbers, broccoli and more. While I wasn't initially looking at heavenly help with my feeble attempts at seed starting, I stumbled across this and felt it would be fitting for my family, especially my oldest as she learns more about her faith. I found this prayer in a 50-year-old book, "The Year and Our Children," and thought it was perfect to share with our little green thumbs. This morning, we joined together to share "The Blessing of the Sprouting Seed."

To Thee, O Lord, we cry and pray: Bless this sprouting seed, strengthen it in the gentle movement of soft winds, refresh it with the dew of heaven and let it grow to the full maturity for the good of body and soul.