Catholics Come Home

Happy Holy Week! I was sent the following link from a woman I work with - she received it from a NET alumn who is studying for the priesthood in Canada.

I checked out the website and thought it was really neat, especially the television commercials at the bottom of the opening page. Just thought I would share! God bless you!

http://www.catholicscomehome.org/index.phtml

Here is a small taste of what this website offers:

"At Catholics Come Home, we promise to always give you the honest truth, with nothing held back. We won't shy away from difficult subjects, nor will we refrain from pointing out the many beautiful, wonderful, and even miraculous aspects of the Catholic Church."

West Saint Paul -

http://homepage.mac.com/wilsonwebb/iMovieTheater21.html

Check this video out - it is interesting!!!

Does it make you want to move here?

Let me know what you think.

One thing this video forgot to mention was NET Ministries! Oh well, I will get the word out!

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