A New Paracletes

"I will give to you the keys of the kingdom....."

2009-08-02T11:53:00.001-04:00

"And I will put them in my mouth!"

St. Joseph patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Catholic Book Review (sort-of): Last Child in the Woods

2009-07-28T18:51:00.003-04:00

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!

So the second installation of my book reviews is not necessarily written by a Catholic author or written to a Catholic audience, but I believe it's message is appropriate for the faithful. The book is called "Last Child in the Woods (saving our children from nature-deficit disorder) by the 2008 Audubon Medal winner Richard Louv.

The entire premise of the book is that in modern times, children spend way too much time indoors being entertained by electronics, tv, video games, and the like, and that this over-reliance on these things is stunting our childrens' imagination and ability to think creatively. This is a phenomenon that I completely agree with and hope that I would be able to encourage Abigail to spend as much time outside as possible, although I would also argue that there is an appropriate place and time for household play as well. This is illustrated by Louv when he states, "The problem with computers isn't computers--they're just tools; the problem is that overdependence of them displaces other sources of education, from arts to nature."

This is a book that I finished with some difficulty. Much of the book reads like a manuscript that just summarizes Study X or Study Y from some highly unique environment where children are given the opportunity to have free play in a large field at school, or is about a town that spends crazy money planting gardens or whatnot. It was somewhat annoying to read about all these studies and it left me wondering if Mr. Louv did not just create an elaborate meta-analysis of nature play. Part of my cynicism must be due to the amount of scientific research I read in grad school and the over-riding sense of "research never proves anything"/"there are always limitations in research".

Louv does a good job of organizing the text, however. He begins by describing the problem, offers some reasons as to why it is a problem, proposes some solutions, then illustrates what could be in store if the solutions are carried out. Then, at the very end, he lists, "100 Actions We Can Take" which are practical, everyday solutions to the problem of nature-deficit disorder.

Overall, I am glad that I read this book. Although I pretty much agreed with most of what was written, the practical application section was very interesting. I do not know if I would recommend this book to someone who is already planning on immersing their kids in nature and the outdoors, but it certainly would help convince someone who is on the fence, or fuel the fire of activists for the cause.

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

You Know You're Catholic When

2009-05-31T15:22:00.003-04:00

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!

Your golf balls are marked with a monogrammatic cross :)

St. Joseph patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Mise en Place

2009-05-28T18:03:00.002-04:00

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Mise en place is a French term that cooks use to describe the preparation of ingredients prior to use in recipes. Common tasks would include cutting up vegetables, preparing sauces, or breaking down certain cuts of meat.

One of the sacrifices that Diana and I have found it necessary to make is the amount of times that we eat out per month. The amount of income that we would devote to this each month was too high and we are learning that we must change this practice.

Now that we are settled in with Abigail and she is starting to put herself to sleep after minimal fussing, Diana has found it easier to get housework accomplished. One of the greatest things that she is able to do now (and God bless her for it!) is plan meals up to 2 weeks ahead and stick to that menu through the week. We were successfully able to buy groceries and, surprisingly enough, only eat the meals we planned, for the two weeks surrounding Abigails baptism. The feeling that I get knowing that the income I provide is going towards healthy and wholesome meals is very encouraging.

The most interesting thing about this is that the amount of mise en place type activities that occur is phenomenal. Below is a sampling of the changes that we have made to accomodate more home cooked meals (saves a bunch of money too!):

-Buying stalks of celery, bags of whole carrots, and whole big tomatoes and cutting them into salad topping size
-Making homemade bread for sandwiches; homemade pizza dough; homemade breadbowls for soup
-Buying a block of mozzarella cheese and shredding it as opposed to buying preshredded cheese
-Buying bulk items such as tuna and meatballs as appropriate
-Making cookies instead of buying them

We are also making a desparate attempt to eat all of the food in our house before we make large scale grocery trips. For example, we made a large grocery trip on 5/6/09 and did not need to make another until this past Monday. I will say that these changes are made much easier with our purchase of a food processor, and the presence of a nice breadmaker and the stand mixer that we recieved as gifts. Also, Diana has been extra dilligent about clipping and using coupons to save a few extra coins here and there.

As I type, my extraordinary wife is stirring some homemade broccoli cheese soup that we are going to enjoy in the aforementioned breadbowls. I am so thankful for Diana and the work that she has done to "make the home".

St. Joseph patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Crib and Crying

2009-05-25T21:39:00.002-04:00

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

We might be crazy.

Just yesterday, Abigail spent her first full night in her crib. She looked so tiny in it but she slept just fine with no abnormal sleep pattern.

So we decided to just dive straight into the deep end without blowing bubbles in the bucket first. Tonight she just finished about a half hour (the longest 34 minutes of our lives if you ask Diana) of wailing in two 15 minute sessions by falling asleep (we think, both of us are too scared to go in there and see) all on her own!

Hopefully tomorrow night will begin her alleged slow but steady decline in time before she goes to sleep herself!

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Abigail firsts!

2009-05-23T08:54:00.002-04:00

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Abigail has had quite the 24 hours.

On Fridays at St. Mark, the Blessed Sacrament is exposed from after the 7AM mass until benediction before the 9AM mass on Saturday. We were having a lazy afternoon so I decided we should go take Abigail to visit Jesus. Diana and I were both a bit unsure how she would behave in the chapel. To our surprise, she did quite well; she even talked a bit in her "Ah-oooo's" and "Eh's" and "Gaa-O's". It was pretty neat to think that Abigail could be talking to Jesus in her own personal way! Unfortunately, though, we were only able to stay for about a half hour before she started getting fussy (we were on the back end of her 2-3 hour block of nursing).

Also last night, we are pretty sure that Abigail slept for a continuous 7 hours. She nursed at around 8:30PM and did not nurse again until 5:30PM! We are hoping that our efforts to keep her "bedtime" consistent will continue to pay off like this!

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Man Chores #3: Vegetable Planter Box

2009-05-02T12:03:00.004-04:00

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!

Sometimes I surprise even myself.

For the past few years Diana has maintained some simple vegetable plants on her back porch. I believe she started out with just tomatoes, then added bell peppers last year. These plants have been very successful with the intense morning sun that they get on our back porch.

This year, Diana and I brainstormed a better way to plant these veggies, as the pots just did not seem big enough and not the most effective way to grow these plants. Our solution was a planter box that would be deep and wide enough to plant several plants and fit on our back porch as well.

Following a gracious gift of plywood and lumber from my Dad, I put the following together:

The materials

The walls and supports are cut

The frame put together

All settled in on the back porch!

I used only my battery powered circular saw, drill, and some decking screws. The dimensions of the box are 60"x14"x16" which we plan on filling with dirt and planting 3 cherry tomato plants and two red bell pepper plants. Also, we have a mint plant, 2 zucchini plants, and several flowers that are going to be put into pots to finish the ensemble. Diana is presently working on planting everything.

It was kind of a cool moment in the street when I was putting everything together and it actually felt sturdy! If I had to do it over again, I would have cut the plywood in more daylight. As it were, I had to cut it later in the evening and my lines were not as dark as I would have liked and the longer cuts got a bit crooked, but overall everything fit together pretty well.

Hopefully this is the first of many things I will be able to build for the family. I already have plans on building a set of wooden blocks for Abigail to play with, and hopefully, a playground set for our future backyard!

I will update when everything is planted.

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

On vocations

2009-04-23T16:51:00.003-04:00

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!

Everyone always says that kids change your life. Guess what?

They were right.

I can honestly say that I am a different person than I was 4 weeks ago. Sure I look the same, and certain characteristics are the same, but Abigail has changed my approach to life, vocations, and family.

I realized very soon after her birth that my vocation, the role in life that God has chosen for me, my route to heaven, is that of a husband and a father. Period. Many people would argue that my job also could be considered my vocation, but I see it differently. My job is merely a way to provide for my family at home. There was a very intense feeling of guilt that came with my return to work, especially the days where I would have to be gone for most of the day, leaving Diana and Abigail at home alone. It was days like those where I was thankful that Diana understands her vocation as a wife and mother.

I think much trouble comes from a skewed view of family. Many call it archaic and oppressive, but when I think about all of the families that I know that have qualities that I hope to emulate (faithful, respectful, modest, etc.) many, if not all of them have a husband that works full time and a wife that stays at home and cares for the children and home. I find it in a way beautiful that God provides for us like that.

One night when we were in the hospital, I went to the nursery with Abigail to have blood drawn for her PKU and bilirubin. While I was waiting for the nurse to be done, another baby was being bathed and a nurse (1) came in and asked the nurse (2) bathing that baby if the grandmother could see the baby. Nurse 2 said that nurse 1 would have to ask the parents if it was OK (to me indicating some family conflict that the parents would not want grandma to see baby). Nurse 1 came back a short while later and said that the father said she could see but not touch. Nurse 2 proceeded to open the blinds on the nursery door and hold the baby up to the window so grandma could take pictures with her camera phone. I was so overcome with such sorrow and sadness that there are family situations that necessitate restrictions such as this that I began to weep (ironically enough, the first time I cried in the hospital was not because of my baby!).

I began then to think about all of the single mothers who are tasked with raising children alone, or the families that have abusive husbands, or any other of the domestic situations that kids face. A couple weeks prior, Diana and I had been recieveing many pieces of mail from different groups of priests asking for donations for their particular ministries. We disregarded many of these because we did not feel a particular connection to the group or ministry. I know now, that I would like our family to be involved with a group that ministers to or is involved with improving family life and helping families that are less fortunate raise their children in a Catholic home. If you know of any such groups, please let me know!

Further reflection on my vocation as a husband and father found me reflecting on how I might better live out this vocation. One of the blog communities I frequent is Catholic Dads, a blog for, well, Catholic Dads. Their tagline is, "because we need all the help we can get". While it is funny, I believe it is all too true that true Catholic fatherhood is not very popular in today's society. The man is supposed to be in charge and all that jazz. What this notion fails to recognize is the extreme humility that comes with Catholic fatherhood. Many people look at the following passage and draw from it the oppressive nature of marriage:


: Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church, he himself the savior of the body. As the church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. (Eph 5:22-25)

The beautiful thing about this passage is that the husband must love his wife as Christ loved the Church. You might recall that Jesus loved the Church quite a bit ;) So one can see, that the only way a marriage truly works is if the husband is sacrificing himself fully for his bride.

Another nice little resource that Catholic Dads introduced me to is the 10 commandments of a Husband and Father.

One of the interesting things that I drew from reading that is that a husbands love must be directed as follows: God, wife, children. I find myself often not paying attention to how Diana is doing for the sake of Abigail. I also fall into the trap of not spending any time in personal prayer or prayer with Diana and I because I/we are too busy with the Abigail. I must remember that my love must be directed to God first, then Diana, then my children.

So how do I do that? Well first I must remember that God does not require big, drastic changes right away (in most cases). Secondly, I need to remember that how Diana and I express our faith and pass it to Abigail must be OUR decision. I can not just decide that we are going to start doing a bunch of things without her input. Thirdly, after reading Stephen Wood's Legacy, he made a very interesting point that the home does not need to be a monastery where every waking moment is steeped in prayer and contemplation. Rather, my children are most likely to recieve the faith from Diana and I by the example that I set. Therefore, I want to make sure that Abigail sees us say grace before meals and sees mommy and daddy praying together and spends time at church and getting to know the aforementioned families that emulate the qualities I wish our family to have. I must stay focused on God and on His will for my family.

I pray that God continue to bless our family as He has so far and that He continues to mold our hearts and wills to His.

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

ps. my apologies if this post does not sound very well organized, I had a lot on my mind!

O God, O God....the rest

2009-04-05T20:10:00.002-04:00

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!

God is good, all the time. Our precious daughter slept the entire time during Mass today, including through the reading of the Passion! Diana did such an amazing job holding her throughout; praise God!

Fr. Pat offered a neat reflection of the Psalm today, "O God, O God, why have you abandoned me?" (Ps 22:2) He mentioned that this cry from King David is only the first part of his plea, and would seem to show some anger and doubt that the Lord will deliver him. What we often times miss, is the rest of the plea, "Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the glory of Israel. In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted and you rescued them. To you they cried out and they escaped; in you they trusted and were not disappointed." (Ps 22:4-7)

How often do we forget to remember that God not only brings us to trouble and times of doubt and frustration, but also is the One who delivers us from these same?

May we trust in you, O God, to deliver us from evil, especially when we, as parents, become frustrated our day to day struggles with raising your future saints!

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Man Chores #2.5: Pesky Bird Nest Removal

2009-04-02T19:50:00.005-04:00

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!

It seems my attempts have been foiled......

I guess I'll have to figure something else out.

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Man Chores #2: Pesky Bird Nest Removal

2009-03-11T11:45:00.003-04:00

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!

On our humble back porch, there is a little spot between the top of the main support beam in the corner and the underside of the "ceiling" that provides an ample platform for the little birdies that fly around our neighborhood to set up shop. These nests become a nuisance, as they stain the siding and just generally make a mess on the porch. As such, I have been summoned several times to rid the perch of these nests.

Finally, we decided that something needed to be done to prevent the birds from nesting on our porch. I tossed around the idea of just wedging something up in the space to prevent them from getting into the beloved corner but then I figured they could just nest beside the block. My dad then suggested to create some spike strips to glue on the edges.

About an hour later here is the final result:
It's been three days and no nests.

Mission: Accomplished

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Man Chores #1: Assembling Exercise Equipment

2009-03-09T18:22:00.006-04:00

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!

Several days ago, our neighbor Jamie purchased an elliptical machine for herself with her tax refund. She offered to cook Diana and I dinner if I put it together for her. Not able to say no to free food for myself and a 39 week pregnant wife, I grabbed my tool bag and headed over to her place.

The beast finally on the floor

What have I gotten myself into pt. 1

What have I gotten myself into pt. 2

Almost there...........

Jamie wouldn't let me take a picture with her actually on it

All in all, it was pretty straight forward, and yes, I did read and follow the instructions. Total job time was about 2 hours.

St. Joseph patron of families, champion of purity, and mode

Angel Food

2009-02-20T21:55:00.005-05:00

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Several weeks back, my father-in-law mentioned to Diana and I about a group called Angel Food Ministries that sells "boxes" of pre-selected food to anyone who is interested at a steep discount. Each month, the group puts out a menu that includes a "regular box" with enough food to feed a family of 4 for one week. This box is $30. On top of that, each month there are several "special boxes" that may include steaks, chicken, any specialty foods such as pre-prepared side dishes, and a selection of fresh fruits and vegetables. You must purchase a regular box in order to order any of the specialty boxes. The contents of these boxes are then shipped to local churches where you pick them up on designated dates.

After looking at the menus for the past couple months and considering how we would best be able to utilize all of the food that comes in the boxes, Diana and I sent in our order form for the February menu. We got one regular box and one fresh fruit and veggie box. Shown below are the blessings we recieved for only $51!

Regular box contents: 1 pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts, thick cut porkchops, 4 sirloin steaks, frozen breaded chicken tenders, bacon, carrots, rice, eggs, stir fry veggies, french fries, frosted flakes, 2%milk, salisbury steak frozen dinner entree, 2 small pecan pies.

Fresh fruit and veggie box contents: carrots, 2 pears, apples, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, raisins, cabbage, oranges, and a pineapple.

We really do feel very blessed that such an opportunity has presented itself to be thrifty with the way we purchase groceries, especially in such uncertain financial times, and hope that the Lord continues to bless those involved with this ministry

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Catholic Book Review -- Triumph: The power and glory of the Catholic church.

2009-02-06T19:55:00.004-05:00

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!

I have begun to work on my lengthy list of books that I have started but not finished. The first in a hopefully continual series of books that I will review is Triumph: The Power and Glory of the Catholic Church by HW Crocker III.

This book serves as a history lesson of the Catholic church in historical terms. That is, it does not necessarily delve deep into the history of Church teaching and the development of Church doctrine; but rather, it illustrates how the Church has survived from the time of its inception to the present day.

HW Crocker III does a fantastic job in my opinion of acknowledging the fact that the Church has seen some times of poor leadership and questionable decision making in its political and military sphere, but always keeps a sense that God protects His Church from doctrinial error and will always lead it through times of trouble.

This point is best illustrated by Crocker as he chronicles the Church center moving from Constantinople (now Istanbul) to Rome, then to Avignon for a brief period, then back to Rome. There have been times where the papacy was hunted and papal states attacked, but despite these worldly attacks, the Church always survives.

In reflecting on this book, I thought about the faithful citizens of the Church during such turbulent times as the Arian heresy and the rise of Protestantism. How hopeless must they have felt seeing such change and such a departure from the Truth in their neighbors. I liken it to the present day where we are feeling a similar attack from the rise of secularism, "feel good Christianity", and an overwhelming sense of trust in material possessions. Some days, the cause of the faithful must feel pretty hopeless but we must remember that God will protect His Church and He will lead His faithful to Heaven. Yes, it is hard; but, it is not unprecedented. How interesting it must be to live another 2000 years from now, God willing, and look back at today and say, "wow, God led His people through THAT?!?!"

There were several passages that struck me and caused me to dog-ear the page.

The first is a quote from Martin Luther who literally had the revelation that sparked his protest while sitting on the privy:

"Be a sinner and sin on bravely, but have stronger faith and rejoice in Christ, who is the victor of sin, death, and the world. Do not for a moment imagine that this life is the abiding place of justice: sin must be commited. To you it ought to be sufficient that you acknowledge the Lamb that takes away the sins of the world, the sin cannont tear you away from him, even though you commit adultery a hundred times a day and commit as many murders."

No comment.

The second quote is a comment on Pope Leo XIII's inability to stave off the French Revolution, and holds particular relevance today when Catholic and democrat do not seem to mix:

"If the future of the Western world was democratic, he [Pope Leo XIII] wanted to set a precedent that established that Catholics could be good democrats and that such political designations should not interfere with the faith."

Next, a quote referring to Nazi Germany's rise to power. Again, particularly interesting given today's attitude on pro-life work:

"Almost immediately after signing the concordat, the Nazis fell afoul of the Catholic Church by legalizing abortion and sterilization (for non-Aryans)--surgical procedures that are now known in the Western world as constitutional rights, but to the Catholic Church were a sign of barbarism of the new regime."

How proud the pro-abort camp must feel for promoting a procedure that the Nazi's praised.

Finally, one excerpt that I found quite interesting in that I had never really considered this position before:

"It is, however, a backhanded compliment to the papacy and the Catholic Church that no one asks why the Free Church of Scotland . . . or any other of the innumerable Protestant churches did not do more to help the Jews. In such enormous world crises [Nazism], there really is only one Christian voice and one Christian institution that matters; the rest--whatever great and heroic individual efforts are made--are so fractured, politically unimportant, or compromised as to be irrelevant."

Come to think about it, no other "church" ever comes out and makes a united stand against the tragedy of abortion, or other social injustices. Very interesting point to consider.

In conclusion, this book was an excellent read: rich in information and very readable. One could read this book for facts and historical knowledge but I think the greater purpose of the book is to gather that the Church has survived for this long and through considerable strife, and that it is not going anywhere.

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Superest Sunday?

2009-01-28T18:03:00.001-05:00

I came across this link and got chills imagining the potential.

I think the link speaks for itself and I am excited by the prospect of having the ad reach such a large national audience. These people are doing great work!

Live Coverage

2009-01-22T12:30:00.003-05:00

The 2009 March for Life is being streamed live.

Very interesting to see the National Mall filled with pro-lifers after just a few days ago being filled with thousands of Obama supporters.

I actually got chills watching some of this coverage. God bless those in Washington today and God bless all the unborn!

St. Joseph patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Inauguration Eve

2009-01-19T23:06:00.007-05:00

On this eve of the inauguration of our next president, I wanted to share some of my emotions as our country takes this next step forward.

As a Catholic, I was a bit disappointed at the election of Obama for his obvious pro-choice agenda, which I still believe he will have to put on hold considering the state our country's economy is in currently. I guess what I was more disappointed in was the support for Obama that came from many of my friends and peers who consider themselves Catholic, or Christian, or pro-life. I can certainly sympathize with those who voted Obama on the basis of his "social justice" for the poor and underpriviledged, but it seems to me that the most poor and underpriviledged in our society are the unborn.

I would like to think that I will be supportive of Obama and not try to criticize his policies too harshly. However, it is hard to believe that those who voted for him will be able to swallow their pride when/if his decisions are not the correct ones. I will be the first to admit that I was not a fan of some of the Bush administration actions but I do not see how criticizing and complaining does anything about the situation. I just hope that the rose colored glasses can come off and that we don't just ride the wave of electing our first minority president for the next four years, unable to see that there could be negative effects of his decisions.

EDIT: I found this comment on a website that I frequent and thought it sums up the way I feel (emphasis mine)

"The problem is that we've not only given Obama the keys to the car, we've also given him a blank check with that huge congressional majority. On top of that, he can seemingly do no wrong in the eyes of thousands of adoring journalists and millions of worshipping fans. I'd like to see some real, critical analysis of Obama's decisions and policy, but I doubt I'll see anything like that for a while. (And while I trust the guy to make the right decision more than I would ever trust Bush -- dont necessairly agree here), there are no checks or balances in place to prevent him from going down the wrong path."

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Honey-dew?

2009-01-14T19:56:00.004-05:00

Diana and I have settled back into the condo and as such, there are house tasks that need to be done. You know, the man stuff that involves hammers......and sweat.....and fixing things. It seemed natural that Diana just make a list of these things so that she, hopefully, does not have to nag me to do them (the dreaded "N" word!!!). Tonight I asked her if she could every so kindly make me a honey-do list (yes I know its cliche, but hey, its effective).

At my request, she practically sprinted into our baby's room/nursery/library/craft cave/warehouse/diaper heaven, and I don't know for sure, but she might have pulled a hamstring darting over there. One thing I must divulge about my beloved is that she has a weakness for notepads. I'm not talking about having a couple laying around here or there; rather, there is a stack of them that consumes the better part of one side of the bottom shelf of her bookcase in aforementioned room. There is basically a notepad for every holiday of the year (I didn't even know they made Take Your Daughter To Work Day notepads.....come to think of it, why does she have that one?) Literally, every time we walk into a Target store, we spend several minutes perusing the $1 items right at the entry to the store; if you've ever been in Target, you know what I'm talking about. It takes a small act of God to get on with our shopping.

So anyway, she digs around for a couple minutes and emerges with this gem:
Apparently, she bought this one day before we were even married, just waiting for the day when she would get to use it. I personally think that the quotation marks should be around the words "honey do" but that's neither here nor there.

As you can see, I am already behind on my list, but hey, isn't that half the fun?

I was also informed that I am not allowed to make a honey do list for her. Go figure.

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Small Victory

2009-01-06T12:05:00.002-05:00

So it looks like the first bill that President Obama will sign WONT be the Freedom of Choice Act.

I would count this as a small victory for the pro-life cause. While I certainly do not expect Obama to completely forget about his desire to sign the FOCA, it is nice to see that it is not such a priority to him that he would ignore the obvious economic crisis the country is in.

The Lord works in mysterious ways and it seems as though the "recession" could be a way to focus our governments efforts on things other than killing babies.

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Ideas Worth Spreading

2009-01-05T12:31:00.003-05:00

Just recently I have come across this website, TED.com. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design. Apparently there are TED conferences all around the country and the speakers at these conferences speak on a wide variety of subjects. It is worth poking around the site if you are bored, there are some really fascinating videos on the site.

I will highlight a few for you to get started:

5 dangerous things you should let your kid do

Mathemagic

Cell animation by a medical illustrator

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Fall on your knees

2008-12-24T20:10:00.003-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

So to honor him

2008-12-23T22:04:00.002-05:00

This is the second installment of Sounds of the Season and it features Josh Groban's beautiful version of Little Drummer Boy.

Many lines in this song struck me while listening to it.

"I am a poor boy too"
We must remember that Jesus humbled Himself and became man to save us and that we must become poor in order to inherit the Kingdom of God.

"I have no gifts to bring"
How often in our own lives do we feel like our gifts and talents do not measure up to those around us, as the little drummer boy must have felt among the kings who brought their finest gifts.

"Shall I play for you"
The drummer boy realizes that all he has to offer is the gift of his music and so he offers that as his gift. Sometimes, it is important to recognize that God wants all of us, however meek and lowly.

"So to honor him"
This little drummer boy gave all he had for the glory of Christ. Let us remember that all we do must give God glory first and He will return the glory in His time.

"Then He smiled at me"
I pray that the Lord is able to smile at me if I have given Him all my talents and gifts, just as He did to the drummer boy who did the same.

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

If Santa Did Exist

2008-12-22T13:04:00.003-05:00

Today I crush all the little one's dreams of a jolly old Santa Claus coming and delivering joy to all the children of the world. Call me a grinch, but you know you will laugh.....

Scientists have tried to answer the question, "Does Santa come with flying reindeer to deliver presents at Christmas?" This is what they have found:

1. No known species of reindeer can fly, but there are 300,000 species of living organims yet to be classified. Although most of these are insects and bacteria, this does not rule out flying reindeer.

2. According to the Population Refeence Bureau, 378 million people celebrate Christmas worldwide. With an average of 3.5 children per home, that's 91.8 million homes for Santa to visit.

3. Thanks to different time zones, Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, assuming he travels east to west. This works out to 822.6 visits per second. That means for each celebrating household with at least one good child in it, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, place presents under the tree, eat the cookies and return to the sleigh.

4. Assuming that all 91.8 million stops are evenly distributed throughout the earth, the total trip time will be 75.5 million miles. That means Santa's sleigh must move at 650 miles per second, 3000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man-made vehicle on earth (the Ulysses space probe) moves at 27.4 miles per second.

5. Assuming that each child get nothing more than a medium-sized Lego set (weighing 2 pounds), the sleigh is carrying a payload of 321,300 tons, not counting jolly ol' Saint Nick himself.

6. A standard reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even if flying reindeer might pull 10 times more than a normal reindeer, Santa would need 214,200 reindeer to pull the sleigh. The reindeer, payload, Santa and sleigh would therefore weigh more than 353,430 tons. This is four times the weight of the Q.E. II cruise ship.

7. This 353,430 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates tremendous air resistance, heating the reindeer in the same manner as a spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer would therefore absorb 14.3 quintillion joule of energy, per second, each.

8. The lead reindeer, as a result will burst into flames, exposing the reindeer behind them and creating massive sonic booms in their wakes. The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 0.00426 seconds. Santa will be subjected to centrifugal forces 17,500 times greater than gravity. Assuming that Santa weighs 250 pounds (a modest estimate for sure), he would be pinned to the back of the sleigh by 4,375,000 pounds of centrifugal force.

In conclusion, if Santa did exist, he's dead by now.

Sounds of the Season Pt. 1

2008-12-14T15:45:00.008-05:00

This year I will feature several Christmas songs on my blog. These will not be poppy Santa songs (lol, I typed Satan instead of Santa the first time......) but rather classic Christmas tunes that have solid messages or just an everlasting quality to them.

The first in this series is "Go Tell It On The Mountain" by Big Daddy Weave. While not my all-time favorite Christmas song, I heard this version on the radio the other day and it really caught my ear. Very nice voice quality, and stuck to the original song in tempo and lyrics.

Enjoy!

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Oh Tannenbaum!

2008-12-10T16:16:00.008-05:00

This Christmas marks an exciting time for Diana and I. Not only is it our first Christmas as a married couple, but it is also the first time that we will celebrate Christmas with a real live (well, live at one time) tree!

For as long as we both could remember, our families had real trees at Christmas time. When Diana moved into the condo several years ago, she was not able to manage a Christmas tree (physically and financially) so a friend of her family bought her a 5 foot artificial tree that she and I would cheerfully decorate every year. While it certainly put us in the Christmas mood, there is nothing quite like a real tree at Christmas.

I remember years ago when my brother and I were little we would help Dad hoist the tree onto the top of the van and tie it down, then carry it off the van into the garage where we would trim the bottom and get it ready for the stand. I always liked using the bow saw to lop off the end of the tree! I hope that that memory is one that I will be able to pass on to my children.

This Christmas, Diana and I purchased a tree from the Knights of Columbus at our parish (it is a yearly fundraiser, they get the trees from a local farm that grows and cuts them!) We got the tree last weekend and I had the privledge to prepare it for the house.

Well, 2 jigsaw blades, a circular saw, a hammer, a screwdriver, and 45 minutes was all it took to cut about 6 boughs and 3 inches off the end of the tree to get it ready for the stand. I think I need a bow saw haha!

Fortunately it was light enough that I could carry it up the stairs and maneuver it into the tree stand that we inherited from Diana's parents with no problems.

This is the tree just after getting it screwed into the stand. Notice that the branches are still bunched up from being tied for so long. A few tamps on the ground and a couple days later, the tree was ready to decorate.
The other conundrum that we ran into this Christmas is that we both wanted to have an angel tree topper, rather than the star that we had been using for so long (a homemade aluminum foil star). We also did not have a "First Christmas" ornament. Fortunately, a trip to the southern christmas show in Charlotte and another trip to Garden Ridge satisfied both desires!

The smell of fresh cut pine tree now infuses our home everytime we walk through the door. We are so blessed to have this little comfort in our home this year!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPxCHi4mLYA

Merry Christmas!......more Christmas madness to come, but my wife is bumping me with her pregnant belly.....

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Pro-life or pro-......choice?

2008-10-23T19:06:00.003-04:00

I was watching a video that highlights Senator Obama's intentions concerning the abortion debate today and I got to thinking.

Isn't it interesting that the two sides of this debate are pro-life and pro-choice?

I recognize why the word choice is used, because pro-abortionists believe that women should have the choice of whether or not to have an abortion, but it is kind of a misnomer for those of us who CHOOSE to have the baby.

It seems to me that if you want to accurately describe the position so often held by the pro-choice camp, one should use the word that is the opposite of life: death. It would accurately describe the intentions of the group and would end this euphemistic attitude that we as a country seem to be adopting toward this subject.

Regardless of the circumstances, abortion ends human life. Abortion results in death. Those that support abortion should be described as pro-death.

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Church Militant or Church Belligerent?

2008-10-06T19:12:00.003-04:00

I recently came across an article with the same title that can be found here.

It is a very well written article that asks the question: do we fight for the truth because it is the the truth or because we want to win battles?

I fear that I myself often fall into the many pitfalls associated with the Chruch Belligerent and must pray for the grace to avoid them in the future.

The article identifies a few of these pitfalls as such:
1. Prizing principles over persons - "the person succumbs to the temptation to win arguments instead of hearts".
2. Losing the supernatural outlook - "worldly elements and factions exist in the Church.....they are not the only, nor even the most important, aspect of the Church".
3. Making our preferences mandatory for others, or requiring of others what the Church does not - "we mandate what the Church does not, or forbid what the Church permits".
4. Giving free rein to our critical faculty - "If we refuse to trust anyone, then we set ourselves up as our own personal magisterium".

There are many other good points about this subject in the article, which is a very good read.

Lord, give us the grace to fight for your truth and humble our hearts to your Love, let it always shine forth in our thoughts, words, and actions.

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Beautiful new pro-life ad

2008-09-24T09:08:00.001-04:00

The Knights of Columbus have began running a new pro-life radio ad encouraging people to "vote pro-life".

I don't know how to embed the audio so if you do, please educate me! Here is the link to the official press release from the Knights' website with the mp3

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Abortion debate on facebook

2008-09-17T19:50:00.002-04:00

I have successfully done a pretty good job of staying away from many internet message board debates, as they tend to get nasty really quickly and generally are not productive.

That being said, a friend on Facebook from the Catholic student group at UNCG posted a message and tagged all the members of the group to read it. Since I had attended several meetings while I was a grad student there. The message was basically a response to Nancy Pelosi's comments recently regarding abortion and the general topic of abortion as it pertains to this year's presidential election.

I will save you all the gritty details, but it progressed to comments about abstinence not being effective because people do not have the willpower to fight sexual urges, etc. A friend responded with one of the most eloquent responses I have read in a while. It speaks not only to the abortion debate but also to anything that people struggle with in life and it really drove home many good points. I have copied the salient portion for your reading pleasure.

"The fact is that people DO have the will power. God would not have created us to not do something and then not give all of us the power not to do it. God created each of us with the will power to follow His law if we so choose to. Saying that people don't have the will power makes it seem as though you don't think God has given us all the power to follow His laws, making Him seem like quite an unjust and unfair God. God has given us all the strength we need to follow what He asks. So please don't tell me people don't have the will power, they sure do have it. They have just decided to suppress it and take the easy way out. Life is hard, and it requires sacrifice and a whole hell of a lot of will power...but people don't want to accept that anymore. I am tired of this nation catering to evil because they just don't think people can handle sacrifice. People live up to the expectations you assign them. If you tell people they won't survive abstinence, then they won't."

How true, how true. The family unit is under attack because people are too selfish and proud to humble themselves before our Lord and allow Him to take control of their life. It is times like this that I truly worry about our society and the values that we embrace.

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Dear young people

2008-09-14T22:35:00.002-04:00

The following is an excerpt from the Papal address at World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto. The first portion of it was used in a song by Fr. Stan Fortuna called Cell 91, which is a tribute to Pope John Paul II (pretty rockin song if youve heard it or can find it, I havent been able to track it down online).

When I heard the song for the first time, the quote really struck me and has stuck in my head for about 6 years or so. It addresses the role of young people in Christian living and it really drives home the concept of the humble life and abandoning pop culture, which seems to be ever deprivating these days.

"It is the nature of human beings, and especially youth, to seek the Absolute, the meaning and fullness of life. Dear young people, do not be content with anything less than the highest ideals! Do not let yourselves be dispirited by those who are disillusioned with life and have grown deaf to the deepest and most authentic desires of their heart. You are right to be disappointed with hollow entertainment and passing fads, and with aiming at too little in life. If you have an ardent desire for the Lord you will steer clear of the mediocrity and conformism so widespread in our society."

Could you just imagine being in a crowd of a million young Catholics and hearing a Pope who is especially special to that crowd say these words? How could your life not be different?!

How often are we deaf to the deepest and most authentic desires of our hearts? Better yet, how often do we completely ignore these desires in favor of "hollow entertainment and passing fads"?!?! I believe that our generation, Catholic young adults, really have a great opportunity, no responsibility to uphold orthodoxy and moral living and not allow ourselves to be seduced by the things that we are "supposed" to want or do. Holiness requires us to be different!

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Catholic Vote 2008

2008-09-11T11:27:00.002-04:00

Found this video roaming around the internet and thought it would be a good share for all ye faithful Catholics to share with your friends and family:

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Favicon

2008-09-09T22:37:00.000-04:00

Peep it.

Werd.

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

An amateur discourse on humility

2008-09-09T21:55:00.003-04:00

I am a man.

I struggle with things.

Man things.

These struggles have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember and I have fought mightily to rid them from my life.

There was a time in my life, in college, that I became apathetic to these things and allowed myself to fall deeper and deeper into my own selfishness and pride, never allowing my heart to be humbled enough to admit that I needed divine help in overcoming these things.

Then I met my future wife. While our relationship did not instantly make things better for me, and while we certainly had our struggles, her presence in my life allowed me to see the good that comes from purity and the value in that virtue.

I praise the Lord that for the past several months, I have been graced with the opportunity for regular confession and a renewed sense of culpability for these sins. One of my best friends and a priest-in-training, has been a great source of strength for me and has kept me accountable many times.

I know that I need humility and a deep sense of self-sacrifice in order to overcome these things completely. I believe God has blessed my wife and I with our bun-in-the-oven, and that this new page in our lives will help accomplish that.

There is an incredible amount of self-sacrifice that I am learning needs to happen in order to take care of a sick wife, maintain a household partially due to said sick wife, and work my first full time position. It is a tremendous responsibility and I am learning everyday how to love God in my work, love my wife at home, and love our child in the womb.

St. Joseph has been a newfound source of strength for me in this time of my life. His model as father, husband, and saint is one that is full of the virtues of purity, true humility, and self-abandonment. Devotion to St. Joseph began for me with the Novena to St. Joseph and I find myself thinking about his example more and more everyday.

Lord God, please grant me a true spirit of humility that I may serve you and serve my family everyday.

St. Joseph, patron of families, champion of purity, and model of humility, pray for us!

Exciting news from the NALMDW

2008-09-05T21:50:00.002-04:00

The North American League of Male Dishwashers (NALMDW) has released their first annual preseason rankings and, much to my chigrin, I was snubbed of a Top 5 ranking.

This league bases its rankings on both speed of dishwashing as well as quality of washing job and overall impression. There are 5 judges that score the second two elements much like an Olympic diving or gymnastics competition. As such, none of these judges represent the country from which participants are from.

I feel that I should have been ranked higher, considering my depth of experience and admittedly nice job of washing that I do. Unfortunately, the powers to be considered the following 5 male dishwashers to be better than I:

1. Jesus (I guess I can't really argue this one that much, I mean, He is the Son of God after all; although, I am suspicious of how often he actually washed dishes, being the son of the best parents of all time).

2. Robin Williams as Mrs. Doubtfire (I suppose he gets the nod here for the heroic measure........)

3. Vin Diesel as The Pacifier (I don't even think he ever washes a dish either, but rumor is that the French judge gave him a 10.0 because of his good looks......and the one-arm pushups).

4. This guy.

5. Michael Phelps (He's not even a registered member of the League but apparantely after saying that I would smash him in a dishwashing contest, he edged me out by 0.01s) [extra props to you if you laughed because you understand].

God bless all you men who wash dishes for yourself, your wife, or just for your sanity.

2008-08-06T09:33:00.002-04:00

I just sent an email to the moderators over at Catholic-Dads and it has instructed me to post their blogroll, which I am admittedly ignorant about. I am going to post it here not knowing what to expect and if anyone could help a brother out on what to do with this that would be fantastic!

In other news, I hope to be a little more active from here on out. The last few months of my life have been crazy busy with life events to be described in future posts.

Catholic Dads Blogroll:

Mid-Week Update

2008-05-06T17:43:00.006-04:00

Here is the updated Final Countdown

~~(1) Group project paper for neural control of human movement. Due tomorrow~~
~~(1) Thesis defense presentation. Going down on Tuesday, May 6 1-3pm~~
~~(1) Missed class summary paper (read 3 journal articles and summarize). Due tomorrow~~
~~(2) Class sessions~~
(1) Group project presentation
(10 7) Baseball games, best case scenario, all on the road
(1) Graduation to attend
(1) Thesis document to prepare and finalize. Due May 7 before 5pm.
(1) Wedding to help plan (technically doesnt have to happen by May 17)
(1) Job to find (had phone interview with Davidson yesterday, hope to know about a formal interview by the end of the week)

The Final Countdown

2008-05-01T16:21:00.002-04:00

OK folks, here it is, The Final Countdown

Between now and Sunday May 17, the following needs to happen in my life:

(1) Group project paper for neural control of human movement. Due tomorrow
(1) Thesis defense presentation. Going down on Tuesday, May 6 1-3pm
(1) Missed class summary paper (read 3 journal articles and summarize). Due tomorrow
(2) Class sessions
(1) Group project presentation
(10) Baseball games, best case scenario, all on the road
(1) Graduation to attend
(1) Thesis document to prepare and finalize. Due May 7 before 5pm.
(1) Wedding to help plan (technically doesnt have to happen by May 17)
(1) Job to find (would like to have interview scheduled before May 17)

Thats not bad right?

God bless

Adam

7 Random Things

2008-04-28T22:11:00.004-04:00

After being mentioned in good friends David and Frances' blog, I am going to try this whole chain letter/blog thing. I guess the first thing is to link to the person who called you out....er.....I mean, graciously linked you from their blog. So here it is.

The second thing is to post the instructions. So here they are:

1. When tagged, place the name and URL on your blog.
2. Post rules on your blog.
3. Write 7 non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Name 7 of your favorite blogs.
5. Send an email/comment on their blog letting them know they have been tagged.

And off we go!

1. One of my biggest pet peeves is soap/shampoo that does not lather. The biggest culprit in this area is public bathrooms, most notably the one at work. There is nothing worse than soaping up my hands only to feel like I am washing my hands with olive oil that is barely scented like urinal cakes.

2. I love the smell of my toenails after I clip them, especially my big toes. Call me weird, call me gross, but you know you have that one thing you love the smell of that your friends would disown you over.

3. I am scared to death of drowning. Let me clarify. I am scared to death of being drowned, forcefully, mob-movie-cinder-block-shoes-thrown-into-Lake-Michigan-in-December-style. Most would think this is counterintuitive, considering my competitive swimming background, but I guess its the whole concept of such an amazing talent being taken away from me that really geeks me out.

4. I love sunflower seeds. I am working with a college baseball team, and I must say that sunflower seeds, not sunflower kernels, are the sole thing that help me keep my sanity when we get to the stadium 4 hours before game time. There is something therapeutic about throwing about 20 seeds in your mouth, storing them in one cheek squirrel style and slowly working them down like a professional. Nevermind the fact that all the salt works my cheeks and lips raw. Most people would just say, "Adam, why dont you just buy the kernels and save yourself the trouble". I say, I buy them because of the hull, not in spite of it. Some may just never understand. Wow thats alot of typing about sunflower seeds.

5. I have the meanest watch tan this side of the Mississippi. Again, working with two outdoors sports this year meant countless hours in the sun. I like to wear a watch in case I ever need to take a pulse, God forbid, and as such, the perfect outline of my timepiece can be seen on my wrist. I think you can even see the word Timex on there too.

6. This one may shock you. I know that I am tall, 6'9" in fact. And no I didnt play basketball, I swam. And yes, when I dove in, I was pretty much halfway across the pool. If I had a nickel everytime I encountered this EXACT sequence of questions being told to me as if no one ever told me that I was tall, Diana and I would be out of debt last year.

7. I will argue with you for hours about what side of the utensils go into the basket in the dishwasher. I can not for the life of me, understand why you would put the business end of the fork into the basket and not give it the full exposure to the water and soap that it needs. Most people rebut with, and please use your best "dummy" voice when you read this line, "Well what about knives, you dont want to cut yourself on them when you take them out". First, who washes their nice cutlery in the dishwasher? If you do this, you should probably not argue on the best way to wash dishes. Second, who doesnt pay attention to what they are grabbing out of the basket when putting dishes away. I have emptied dishwashers for the better part of 18 years of my life and never once, to my recollection, can I remember putting the silverware away with my eyes closed, or in a situation where I could not see the utensils. Again, if you do this, maybe you just shouldnt put the silverware away.

So now Im supposed to put 7 of my favorite blogs down. I wish I could name 7 blogs, much less choose 7 of my favorites. Sadly, the above linked blog is my only blogger friend so far. Is there like a club or a bar that you can go to to meet blogfriends?

God bless

Adam

ps...This weeks song of the hour is by Monday Morning, a Christian group that plays some softer, worship style songs. The song is called "The Wonder of it All" and has a pretty quality sound to it. Enjoy

BTGTF

2008-04-14T17:06:00.002-04:00

For those who dont know, that stands for "Buy Two Get Three Free". Yes. I said that right. Buy two, get THREE free.

This is a current special Harris Teeter grocery stores are running for VIC customers. Generally I wont splurge and buy 5 of a particular item (save fruit lol), but the two finds I saw today were too good to pass up.

The headliner was BTGTF 12-packs of Pepsi products. Now, having just bought some soda the day before, I was hesitant to get more, but then my fabulous fiance Diana reminded me that I can get them and donate them to the LifeTeen ministry at our church!

The other thing I saw, just as I was getting ready to check out, was BTGTF reduced fat, whole wheat wheat thins, a favorite snack of Diana and I. I bought 5, knowing that they will get eaten. Im going to have to give them to her one at a time though, so she doesnt blaze through them too fast haha.

I feel I need to take an opportunity to rave about the wonders of whole wheat products. Many people dont like stuff made with whole wheat because of the taste, and I can certainly respect that; I personally dont think Ill ever get a taste for whole wheat pasta. On the other hand, I feel that the health benefits from the reduced fat and higher fiber contents of these products is one of the easiest ways to eat healthier. Im talking simple things like making sandwiches out of whole wheat bread instead of white, or eating whole wheat crackers (like above). I think you would be surprised at how much you dont taste of the whole wheat.

I am really trying to eat healthier. For the longest time, I thrived on junk food and just didnt make smart choices about what I ate, but could get away with it because I was so active with swimming. Now that exercise is harder to come buy, I really need to start making better choices, and I figure now is the best time to do that, because come June 14th, or whenever we get back from our honeymoon (Alaska here we come!), I am going to have to eat better if I want home cooked meals (which I do, have you ever eaten anything Diana has cooked!)

God bless you all

Adam

ps. I have several topics for blog posts in my head, but I must get to the library to work on thesis edits, they are due in two days!

pps. song of the hour is "Faith, Love, and Happiness" by Thousand Foot Krutch, a Christian rock band, similar to Falling Up, but a bit harder. Still, great stuff. Ignore the retarded video, its the only thing I could find that links the song lol

The Lord always provides

2008-04-11T16:14:00.002-04:00

I am sure that there is some very eloquent Bible verse about the Lord providing for the needs of his people, somewhere in the Old Testament perhaps. I am way too excited/lazy to look one up right now, however.

I just found out that Davidson College, a school about 10 minutes, literally, from my future wife's condo, is hiring an assistant athletic trainer. This is exactly the position that I am searching for, college athletic training somewhere where we would not have to move. This position is absolutely perfect. Don't worry, I have already applied.

Please pray for this opportunity to pan out for Diana and I. We really do not want to have to move away from our friends in Charlotte for some silly job.

Something else I just noticed. Blogger will underline words you misspell in red. It even underlines contractions like won't and don't that you do not put the apostrophes in. I am notorious for doing that and I found that I change it when Blogger tells me its wrong. I guess I just do not like the look of the red line lol. See, well I guess you can't, it underlined "lol".....LOOK it did it again.....grrrrrr.......

God bless

Adam

p.s. song of the hour is "Escalates" by Falling Up, a Christian rock band. Good stuff.

Welcome to My Blog

2008-04-09T01:59:00.002-04:00

First off I would like to thank you for visiting my site. I hope that this blog will entertain, inform, and inspire those who read the posts within. I invite comments from anyone and everyone.

The title of this blog "A New Paracletes" is a double-entendre. For those of you who dont know what the heck that is, its a type of pun where a word has a double meaning.

Paraclete as it is spelled is a term used as a title for the Holy Spirit as a "mediator" or "one who intercedes". This title can be found in The Divine Praises, a prayer recited typically at the end of a holy hour or during benediction and reposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

A pair of cleats, quite obviously refers to the shoes commonly worn by athletes during competition. This, I thought, was a pretty neat way to incorporate my love of sports and my connection to them through my job as a collegiate athletic trainer.

The purpose of this blog is to share my thoughts on life, both serious and funny. For those who dont know me, I love laughing and making others laugh, so I will try to portray that through my writing. It will often include thoughts on matters of faith, including my upcoming wedding to my beautiful and wonderful fiance, Diana. She got "mad" at me when I told her I was starting this blog, so hopefully I can convince her to get into it once we get married.

Other ideas I had for this blog were having a weekly/monthly post on some aspect of athletic training, whether it be a description of the anatomy of a certain joint or the different aspects of certain injuries, just something that keeps these things in my head and helps me to learn more about them for my personal career growth. Also, I thought of sharing my finds in the realm of Christian/Catholic music. I am big into lesser known bands that produce awesome tracks, so I will be sharing some of those with you as well. Finally, I LOVE the Latin language. There is nothing better than singing Latin chants during Mass on Sunday, although it has been few and far between that I have had the joy of doing so. That being said, I will try to educate you alls on some Latin phrases that I find interesting and/or funny.

Wow thats a long first post. Especially considering it is 2:10am and I should be typing on my thesis. Dont tell anyone.

God bless you all

Adam

Finally Unlocked!

2008-04-09T00:15:00.002-04:00

After about 2 weeks of waiting for my blog to be unlocked (Blogger thought it was a spam blog!), I can finally post. It is pretty late right now and I have some work to do on my thesis document but I wanted to post here so that I do not get locked up again.

A proper introduction and explanation of this blog is forthcoming so tell all your friends!

God bless

Adam