June 4th Meeting Recap

Hi Connect!

How are you? 

Yesterday was the last day of school for my kids, let the summer begin! =)

We had another great meeting earlier this month. There was lots of food to share and this time we had multiple guest speakers! Nieves invited her friends to share their stories of successful parenting. Most of their kids are in their teen years. It was very enlightening and encouraging especially for me raising 1st grade boys. 

 

Summary of successful parenting:

Each child is a gift from God and each one is blessed with their own different personality. It's important for parents to not lose faith, be close to God, respect each other and self, keep an open communication and be on the same page. This sets a great foundation for the kids to follow.

Constant statements by the guest speakers were to keep an open communication with your children, set clear expectations, discipline, respect and unconditional love. I liked the reminder to be conscious parents. Be actively involved with your children. Be deliberate in your parenting role and not let others, society, friends be the main influence of your kids. 

Here are some great ideas of how they have made it happen in their home.

After Sunday mass, take home the homily to discuss further with your child to help them understand what it means. Be encouraging and remind them when they are hard on themselves that at least they tried their best. Set clear expectations from the beginning, don't be afraid to discipline. Encourage them to have friends with the same values and respect. Invite their friends and their friends' parents over for dinner at your home. After school, ask them to share with you three things they did that day, be engaging. Then actively listen and remember you don't have to fix their problems. Make them feel appreciated, say thank you or please to your child at least three times a day. Make time for quality family time. Don't let work steal all of your precious time away from your kids.

Proverbs 22:6 Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.

Thank you, Nieves for leading a heartfelt discussion! Thank you to our guest speakers for sharing their stories! It helped to reinforce what some of us are already doing or thinking of doing, and needing to hear that it does work in the long run. I learned a lot!

 

Our next meeting is on July 2nd. I will send another email out with information about our next community service event on July 14th at the Ronald McDonald House. Please check your schedule if you are available to help out!

Take care and God Bless!

Reggie

June Scripture Reading and Meditation

Daily Reading & Meditation

Tuesday (June 4): "Give to God what belongs to God"   Scripture: Mark 12:13-17
13 And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Hero'dians, to entrap him in his talk. 14 And they came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are true, and care for no man; for you do not regard the position of men, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? 15 Should we pay them, or should we not?" But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, "Why put me to the test? Bring me a coin, and let me look at it." 16 And they brought one. And he said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They said to him, "Caesar's." 17 Jesus said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they were amazed at him.

Meditation: What do we owe God and what's our obligation towards others? Paul the Apostle tells us that we must give each what is their due (Romans 13:6-8). The Jewish authorities sought to trap Jesus in a religious-state dispute over the issue of taxes. The Jews resented their foreign rulers and despised paying taxes to Caesar. They posed a dilemma to test Jesus to see if he would make a statement they could use against him. If Jesus answered that it was lawful to pay taxes to a pagan ruler, then he would lose credibility with the Jewish populace who would regard him as a coward and a friend of Caesar.  If he said it was not lawful, then the Pharisees would have grounds to report him to the Roman authorities as a political trouble-maker and have him arrested. Jesus avoided their trap by confronting them with the image of a coin. Coinage in the ancient world had significant political power. Rulers issued coins with their own image and inscription on them. In a certain sense the coin was regarded as the personal property of the ruler. Where the coin was valid the ruler held political sway over the people. Since the Jews used the Roman currency, Jesus explained that what belonged to Caesar must be given to Caesar.

This story has another deeper meaning as well. We, too, have been stamped with God's image since we are created in his own likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). We rightfully belong, not to ourselves, but to God who created us and redeemed us in the precious blood of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Paul the Apostle says that we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God (Romans 12:1). Do you acknowledge that your life belongs to God and not to yourself? And do you give to God what rightfully belongs to Him?

"Lord, because you have made me, I owe you the whole of my love; because you have redeemed me, I owe you the whole of myself; because you have promised so much, I owe you all my being.  Moreover, I owe you as much more love than myself as you are greater than I, for whom you gave yourself and to whom you promised yourself. I pray you, Lord, make me taste by love what I taste by knowledge; let me know by love what I know by understanding. I owe you more than my whole self, but I have no more, and by myself I cannot render the whole of it to you. Draw me to you, Lord, in the fullness of love. I am wholly yours by creation; make me all yours, too, in love." (prayer of Anselm, 1033-1109)

http://www.dailyscripture.net/

(c) 2013 Don Schwager

Upcoming June Meeting

Hi Connect!

How are you? It has been a very Blessed week!

Our group had a great run at the Good Karma 5K fundraiser event last week. The weather was overcast and some sprinkles, not too cold, not too hot. Wonderful running weather. Rhea, Phil, Suzanne, Daigo-my husband, and I ran the race with great finish times. Sherry and the kids cheered us on at the sidelines. It was very cute. We celebrated together with a fun picnic BBQ afterwards. We even roasted marshmallows. Great picnic idea, Phil. We'll have to do this again next year! Rhea posted pictures from our event on our blog.

Our next potluck meeting is this Tuesday, June 4th at 7 PM. Nieves will lead the discussion on raising good teenagers. I definitely will be taking notes. =)

We will also discuss our next community service event, preparing a meal for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Seattle on July 14th. We will be serving at House A, planning and providing food for 75 people and needing a group size of 8-15 volunteers. So this is a big project for us! I need your help, time and commitment in order for this to be a success. I feel we are ready to do this especially with our experience serving several dinner meals with Operation Sack Lunch. The difference this time is that we are planning and providing the funds for the meal. I'm excited our group wants to help the families of patients at Seattle Children's Hospital in such a generous way! 

So this Tuesday, please bring ideas of what we should serve. Here are some suggestions to consider from their website:

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Western Washington & Alaska

Menu Planning

Important Note: All foods must be prepared at the House or purchased from a commercial kitchen. No preparation including chopping may be done at home. Dinner groups often ask what they should cook for dinner at the Ronald McDonald House. We welcome your own recipes, but also have a recipe book online which may be viewed at http://www.rmhcseattle.org/content/family-meal-program-and-calendar.

The other question often asked is what entrees are served most frequently at the Ronald McDonald House—the answer: spaghetti, tacos, and lasagna.

Please consider serving something different. As a general guideline, please consider providing the following menu items:

Main dish (it is not necessary to provide both a meat and vegetarian entrée)

Starch, if not included in the main dish

Fresh green salad or vegetable salad and/or vegetable

Fresh fruit

Bread/rolls with butter

Dessert

Beverages (We have drink dispensers,coolers, and ice. Individually packaged drinks, including bottled water, juice, or milk are easiest to serve. It is also fine to serve large containers of beverages that are poured into cups, which we provide).

See you Tuesday!
God Bless,
Reggie