Being Thankful.

Things I am thankful for today, Feb. 22 - 2:59 pm - Central Standard Time ....




*Traveling through 4 times zones in the last 2 weeks. Thanks what happens when you supervise 2 traveling NET teams, one in Las Vegas, and the other in Kentucky.



*Having a rap written about you - and all your roommates for Valentines Day's ... "From the Chateau to the Chalet, Happy Valentines Day ..."
(the Chateau is the name of the house the guys i work with live in, and the Chalet is the name of the house we women all live in)

*Going to Vegas, seeing the fountain at the Bellagio, recognizing the beauty that the sinfulness of Vegas is hiding, and riding in a PT cruiser convertible.





*Having 3 days off. Usually I would be filling some of my day with Jack Bauer in "24", but Bless the Lord ... It's Lent ...and I'm happily enjoying the sacrifice of NOT watching "24", while I blog and think about reading a book.





*Psalm 136 - the original, and the new renditions that Team's 5 and 6 wrote. "God's love Endures FOREVER!"





*Teaching my friends how to sew. Who knew all those sewing lessons as a child would come in SO handy!





*Being able to help Kathy make part of her habit! (She will be entering the Nashville Dominicans in August, pray for her.)





Recent pictures from the past few weeks:

Team 5 and their Supervisors (Me and Vito) @ Woodford Reserve Bourbon Distillery

Anna and Lupita at the Woodford Reserves Bourbon Distillery in KY

Chateau Men rapping to us on Valentine's Day!!!

NET Mission Staff Households joined together to celebrate....

The ladies of the Chalet sipping our Mexican beverages :-)

Right Order

Well - I have been meaning to post this information for awhile, and while I am hesitant because it is still not totally official, it is exciting and wonderful.

I am starting my own business!

While working as a missionary for NET ministries in 2005, I stayed with a woman who was in the process of quitting her job as a civil engineer to start her own business as a Professional Organizer. This conversation sparked something in me. I had no idea this was something people could do for a living! We stayed up for much of the night chatting, about her business and goals, and I was very intrigued. Though my interested was peeked, I didn't give it too much weight, because I didn't think it was actually something that was doable. I continued to travel on the road with NET until May of 2006, and then signed on to work for them full time as a Team Supervisor for the 2006-2007 & 2007-2008 NET year.

The wonderful woman that I met in Northern Minnesota emailed me and sent information about NAPO - National Association of Professional Organizers. Again, I didn't do much with this information because I was busy working for NET and had other goals I was working toward.

During the summer of 2007, I was looking into opportunities for grad school and jobs, knowing that my commitment for NET would be over in July 2008. Through all of the searching and investigation, I was not having any peace about grad school - and was prompted (by the Holy Spirit most likely) to recall the NAPO web site and check it out.

I found out that NAPO meetings (in Minnesota) happen the 1st Monday of every month, and the soonest I could make it to one was October 2007. At the meeting, I met many people who had tons of experience and advice about organizing, and one women who teaches classes about how to start a business, specifically in ORGANIZING. I took the class, and was on my way to starting a business.

Long story short ..... my business is called Right Order. The name came from wanting to have and idea of peace and calm in my home and the homes of others. After many names that were on the table, eventually Right Order came. The definition of PEACE is ...... mutual harmony, serenity and .... Right Order! It made perfect sense to me.

It is still in the very beginning stages, but I already have business cards, and the website is under construction http://www.rightorder.biz but viewable and has a few items up. Please check it out! I will post some before and after photos of the places i have already organized soon.

I will continue to give updates as things develop. Please keep all of this in your prayers.

December Retreat 2007 - NET Teams

We bring the NET teams back for 3 days in December to give them some time to rest, so they don't return to their families looking like zombies from doing retreats for the last 4 months. When they are at the NET center - we have a good ol' time - no business, just resting, prayer and FUN!



Please pray for the NET teams as they are home with their families for 2 weeks. They are getting a much needed and deserved break! The NET teams return on January 2nd for one more week of training, and head out to their new diocese on January 9th - not returning until May 10th.


Here are some pictures and video clips.

Rob, Jessica and Matt (Team 5) competing in the"Egg Bake" eat off -

They were VICTORIOUS!! 1st place in Crazy Olympics!

Mary, Monica, Sarah, Anna, Kathy, Lynn -

The wonderful, beautiful women I live with.

Team 6 women and Team 2 men singing "country" Christmas carols.

Team 1 women and Team 6 men singing "heavy metal" Christmas carols.

Hallelujah Chorus - one of the best moments of December Retreat. Chad and Joe pulled off a practically perfect rendition of this NET holiday tradition. Enjoy!

More to come...

Sorry for the lack of posts, November was crazy wild busy, December will get batter.

More posts to come.

Enjoy Advent! Prepare the Way!

All Saints .... Pray for us!

On All Saints Day, we take a moment to remember all of those up in heaven who have gone before us to where we hope to go. Most of us have at least a nodding acquaintance with the famous saints – people like St. Peter and St. Paul, St. Patrick, and St. Francis, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Catherine of Siena, and St. Therese of the Child Jesus, to name just a few. Yet heaven is populated with “everyday” saints. Some may be people we were privileged to know here on earth: loved ones who passed on before us; teachers who opened our eyes to the mysteries of the world; doctors; good priests and religious; storekeepers and accountants; indeed people from all walks of life.

There are many others whose names we may never know, but we can rest assured that they too offer models of holiness. The doctrine of the Communion of Saints is one of the most comforting in the Church. We are all in this together. We are all part of the Body of Christ. Whether one walked alongside Jesus in 1st century Palestine or toiled in the Middle Ages or is trying to make his way amidst the challenges of 21st century America, we are all connected. We are here to support each other both in this life and the next. The saints up in heaven have achieved the summit and stand ready to help us climb the mountain. Just as we pray for each other here on earth, they are eager to pray for us up in heaven. We can lean on them for support and encouragement. And so, on this day we celebrate the “everyday” saints, the ones who have no feast day on the liturgical calendar.

We think of the people who lived their lives in relative anonymity, the way most of us do. We remember the mothers and fathers who raised their children to the best of their abilities, the people who went to work every day and did an honest day’s labor, the women and men who practiced works of mercy whenever they could, and the people who prayed for others on a daily basis. We may look at the lives of the famous saints and think that we could never be like them, but there are as many paths to holiness as there are people on earth. We can look to these unknown saints for inspiration when the days get hard. God calls each of us in our own way. Whether we are doing the dishes, helping our children learn to read, doing data-entry in an office, managing a staff of hundreds, caring for a sick parent, or sitting in a Church praying, if we are doing what God wants of us, we can be sure we are on the right path.

God is found in the details of our daily life, just as God was found in the details of the lives in the saints that went before us. They are waiting for us with outstretched arms, eager to welcome us to the promise of eternal life.

by Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur

God Moments

Vito and I arrived safely back from Bismarck ND and Toledo OH. Now all of the supervisors have the rest of the week off! You will be able to find me watching a few episodes of 24 and sleeping in!

This was taken at the Badlands in ND - We pulled over at a "scenic view" with the team and took pictures. After we "posed" for this photo - our team members came in between us to get a shot with their supes - it was CUTE

I want to share a few "glory stories" from our travels to visit the teams ... being with our teams was wonderful, and a very blessed time, but it was the times of traveling in between and the people we met that amazed me the most.



While we were in Bismarck, I was able to stay in the host family of 3 of the ladies i supervise. I had gotten there late (8:00 pm) and they had already finished dinner and were sitting around chatting. As soon as i walked in, in true host family style - they offered me more food that i could ever eat and sat around the table to get to know me. This family is amazing! They had 4 children ranging from 12 - 20 (Luke, Mary, Virginia, Molly - they wanted to name all of their girls after our Blessed Mother Mary!) and over the last 15 years they have had 52 foster children! If that isn't selfless love, i don't know what is. The host parents (Todd and Deb) shared about how they met and how much they love one another, and said "We have so much love between the 2 of us, it seemed wrong not to share it with children who don't have that." My heart was so overwhelmed with joy after listening to the stories of this family, and all of the trials the Lord has brought them through, that i couldn't help but cry. They have total trust and faith that God will take care of them - because he hasn't let them down yet ..... i pray i can imitate their virtues.

Catherine, Amy, Deb (Host mom), Maria, and myself saying goodbye in the Church parking lot.

Then, to make a long weekend full of stories as short as possible - on the flight back to St. Paul from ND - Vito and i sat next to a nice woman from Denver who was traveling back for her grandmother funeral. She was about 40 years old, and he father had also recently passed away a few months prior. Vito (who is really into Christian rap and spoken word) was trying to teach me how to "flow" when the woman sitting next to him said, "that sounds like music my husband would listen to."


The rap i was learning went like this, "You say that Jesus Christ just ain't your type of flavor - He never claimed to be, He came to be your type of Savior!"


That gave Vito and I an open door to evangelize. She shared a lot with us - and after the trip, as we were landing, Vito leaned over to me and said, "Make sure i pray over her before we land." And with that, he asked if she would liked to be prayed over, she said OF COURSE, and the Lord worked! It was beautiful. She was so grateful for how the Lord worked through her trip home, and i am glad we were there to be able to witness the power of God and be His vessels.

Team 6 sisters at the park across the street from the church - St. Josephs, ND

I am learning so much this year, most importantly, i am learning to not be afraid to share the Gospel always - even when you are weak - God uses you!


I will also post a few pictures below of Team 5 and 6's team building activity. We use "the tent pole" on the 1st Supe visit to help them work as a team and lower the tent pole to the ground. As simple as lowering a tent pole to the ground may sound - it is actually very difficult and i have only seen 1 team ever do it. The tent pole has to rest between the second knuckle and the tip of your pointer finger - if your finger comes off of the pole at all, you have to start over. Because the pole is so light and has no resistance, it magically moves up when you want it to go down. If you ever need a team building activity - i will be glad to give you all the details! Just let me know.

Team 6 attempting to lower the pole

Team 5 skipping off after trying to lower the pole. We didn't even tell them to do this, they just got in the field and started skipping together!

Team 6 on the slide together

NET TEAMS 5 and 6!

It's official - Vito (my co-supervisor) and I are off to Bismarck, ND, and Toledo, OH, this weekend and the next for our 1st Supervisor Visit to teams 5 and 6. Team 6 gets the first visit - we leave Friday the 12th to fly to ND and spend a fun and long weekend with the team.

Our visits serve a few purposes - to observe the team in action now that we sent them on the road all alone, to lead them in team building activities, to care for their needs (as best we can with God's grace) and to love and serve them. We have a very fun team building activity (more on that in another post) and lots of other tricks up our sleeves that will help the team unite and work together as one cohesive unit.

Please keep Vito and me in your prayers and also the teams as they continue to pour themselves out ministering to young people across the country!

Team 5 on team picture day

Team 6 on team announcement night at Wapo