Wise Old St. Nicholas

We celebrated the feast of St. Nicholas as is our custom.  I am always so thankful for the opportunity to share the wisdom of this saint with our children.  I have a fuller explanation of his life in my other blog dedicated to the saints and my hobby of painting peg dolls.

The children woke up to find the annual St. Nicholas Boot Exchange was really going to happen again this year.  I stuffed their boots with new socks and other necessary clothing, along with fruit and a small amount of chocolate.  They read their St. Nicholas notes (read more on this custom from last year) and enjoyed the morning.

We are not big on presents during this time of year.  I know this is different then what most do but I think it works for us.  We try to center on giving to others instead.  This morning I woke up thinking about what we would do this year to spread God's message of love and self-sacrifice.  I think we will help the homeless in the area.  This area has embraced the homeless as a part of the culture and nothing is thought of them living throughout town.  It was quite surprising for us but with the mild weather throughout the year it just seems to be normal.  We have had conversations with several who live around the library and our priest speaks of them often.  However normal this life might be, I still think we should try to help them when we can.  On the way to Mass, we discussed how we could make that happen.  I think we have a good plan...more on that later!

Father Hall spoke about Hanukkah at Mass today.  He told us that we should think of this holy season as part of our heritage and celebrate how the Israelites were not forsaken by God.  In doing this, we remember that we can also trust in God.

I love how this tied into the feast of St. Nicholas.  It is the 'genius of Catholicism' that makes me smile and move my faith.  Only through God's graces can it all come together to better our lives and understanding of our relationship with God.

Unfortunately, our plans to have a family outing were thrown off course today...another child out with this illness...although Little Miss is feeling much better!  So...we came home and I sent Michael with the older boys to the aquarium ...quite fitting since they missed out on this adventure back in October.  They had a great time and the little ones slept.  It gave me time to think about the days to come...my mom is coming for a visit in TEN DAYS!!!!  So very excited to see her!