— 1 —   This Week’s Post:  Where Would I Be Without The Veil?  Did you see the beautiful testimony in this Guest Post by the lovely fellow blogger, Pier?

Isn’t the Catholic Blogging world such a blessing?!  Pier is so sweet.  She featured The Veil of Chastity twice in this post and this post.  In this post, she included a recipe for Buffalo Chicken Dip.  My friend, Jeanette, brought the same dip over to our house for our little New Year’s Eve party and I fell in love with it.  I followed the recipe on Pier’s blog and made this yummy appetizer.  We enjoyed it as we watched ‘playoff’ football on Sunday.  Yummmm.  Thank you again, Pier!

— 2 —   Meg:  As reported in last week’s 7QTs, our friend Meg Hunter-Kilmer stayed at our house last Friday night!  She presented her Apologetics Bootcamp class at our Parish and it was fantastic.  Gregg and I were blessed with a babysitter at the last minute on Friday night and we were able to go to Meg’s Bootcamp class together.  Please ask your Pastor to bring Meg in to your Parish for this Apologetics Bootcamp class.  You will not be disappointed!

 —3 —  Amazing:  Speaking of not being disappointed, we are blessed with amazing young people in our County.  As we were leaving the Church Friday night, a young girl of about 17-years old sweetly suggested that we all stop in front of the altar and say an Our Father.  So, there we were.  Meg, our amazing Pastor, about 6 college students and a couple of parents praying an Our Father….on a Friday night….following the lead of a beautiful 17-year-old girl.  Wow.  Amazing!

In addition, we have two more young Catholics seeking religious vocations in our County for a total of 12! Check out this article  which shares the beautiful story of 2 young women from our local Catholic high school.  Our County cup overfloweth!

— 4 —  Not Alone Series:  The NAS girls are back after taking a short break for Advent and Christmas!! Boy, did I miss them!  Check out all the links over at Jen’s blog, Jumping In Puddles.  This week’s topic was: In what ways can you grow/stretch RIGHT NOW that could affect the whole of 2014?  Great job girls!  They had a new participant, Laura, who jumped right in this week.  And, this one by the other Laura from Life is Beautiful was sweet.  She wrote:

“In keeping with the NAS question above, I have a feeling this year’s goal will stretch me more than some of the others. I’m asking the Lord to help me have an inviting heart.

I want to invite others into my heart, into my home, into the Catholic Church. I want to invite new friends and old friends into my life even when I feel busy. I want to invite people into my vulnerability. Into my messiness (including my home at times!). I want to invite people in deeper relationship with Christ. By my word. By my example. By open arms and heart and listening ears.”

— 5 —   Spotlight On:  This week’s spotlight is on Leticia from Ramblings Of A Crazy Face. I just love this girl.  Take a look at the work the Lord is doing in her life and bring a tissue! 

— 6 —   Spotlight On:  The next spotlight is on Kari Kampakis for her blog post, Raising A Kind Daughter.  I found her blog via a High School friend on mine on Facebook and I know I will be spending time over this long holiday weekend reading more of her wise posts.  You can check out her blog, ‘like’ her Facebook page and follow her on Twitter to get more.  Here is the best line from Raising A Kind Daughter:

“And can I tell you what their kind friends all have in common? Kind mothers.”  Kari Kampakis

— 7 —   Silence is Scary:  I know the saying is really ‘Silence is Golden’ but for me, extended silence is scary! Well, the Lord loves to scare us stretch us out of our comfort zone and I can recognize a good nudge when I feel one.  My latest scare stretch came straight out of the book of Judges Chapter 6.  The fleece was wet and then it was dry.  Praise the Lord!  Here is the story:

A friend of mine gave me a flyer a couple of weeks ago for a…silent retreat.  Oh goodness, I hope my face did not look as frightened as my soul felt.  I sweetly thanked her and silently said, “No way.”  Then, Gregg said, “That sounds great!  You should do it!”. I gave him the “No way!” look of disapproval.

Then, another sweet girlfriend of mine emailed me the same flyer!  I told her that I would ‘try’ to sign up (knowing that the spots were filling up fast).  So, I went to the website and yes, all the spots were filled.  But, they had the option for a waiting list and a ‘commuter’ option.  Well, I got a commuter spot.  And, guess what?  I am excited now!  Another lovely girlfriend heard about my commuter spot and called to ask me if she could ride with me because the commuter option sounded perfect for her too.

God is soooo gentle with us.  He does not push us in the pool.  He allows us to dip our toe in first and ease our way into the pool.  And, I am no longer scared.  But, please pray for me.  The retreat is in mid-February and I will let you know how it goes!

God love and bless you!

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