16 / 52 weeks

52 weeks of daily life in pictures: trials and celebrations,
the extraordinary and mundane -- 
whatever is unique to the week. 
Join me if you like.

Holy Week Edition...

** Daily reminders; daily prayer, Lenten readings and walking the way of the cross...

** Palm Sunday reminders for assisting to keep our focus on "The Light of the World".

** Gentle blessings on Holy Thursday at dusk, shortly before mass...

** The Way of the Cross, more gentle reminders of the most selfless sacrifice, offered freely for the benefit of all mankind...

Our last Way of the Cross this Lent, prayed together as a family on Good Friday evening. 

"Father forgive them, for they know NOT what they do."

** As the cock crows, one wonders - have I denied HIM three times... or more? 

** During the entire month of April, we were able to view this lovely page on the family calendar in the kitchen.

** My purple penitential rosary made from the loving hands of my dear friend Barbara has offered me (over and over again) the richest of meanings during this Lenten season and all of Holy Week.

 

** The view from our window, a sweeping and telltale reminder of the "Passionate" storm that once fell upon the world after HIS last breath...

** Reminder of "The Story of Salvation" - John 3:16

 

** Looking rather colorful while preparing for the greatest depth of joy that lay shortly ahead for us this Easter.  

** Empty eggs not yet filled for the traditional family egg hunt for Easter Sunday afternoon. Even the adult children love to take part in this.

Head on over to Barbara's to check out the invitation to join the

52 week photography link-up party.

As today is the "5th anniversary" of my humble blogging efforts here "In the East", I am also going to just go ahead and announce; 

I will be taking a leave from the blogging world, sticking to only one weekly post until the conclusion of my completed "2011 - "52 Weeks". 

I hope you will excuse me as I begin spending large chunks of my time performing a myriad of personal projects which are calling my name over the coming seasons.  

After 1611 posts to be exact, I will attempt to blend in the final bits of my 13 draft posts as once promised, into the 52 weeks themed posts ahead. 

• The projects I'm been dreaming of will begin with the final publishing of all my blogging efforts of the entire posts written, all made into hard copy books. 

• There are other similar goals I have which will consume much time while deep in the boxes of family photos, in the selection of colorful pens strewn on the table near the multitudes of family scrapbooks I have let fall into an abyss of nothingness the past while. 

• I am thrilled to obtain a new device for transferring all our family VHS to DVD, to transfer our old slides and negatives onto disks, and to fulfill the wisest of duties of preserving the "story" of "us" for all our future progeny and the generations to come.

As our family's story largely depends on me and has always been a passion of mine to tell and to unfold in a timeline chronicle, I want to take more time for disappearing into the midst of my memorable photos, to tend to them and not just rely on my online blogging which only tells a very tiny part of our day to day real life family story. 

•  I will continue to work alongside my husband, to post occasionally on our other blog for "Mounier-Kuhn Syndrome awareness", holding his hand, as we both involuntarily inch forward along the health journey path that lingers on like a bad dream. Rest assured all is well at this point in time. At some point soon though, we'll have to accept and realize the full extent of both a permanent health disability leave from work. 

Like the incredible benefits of a soothing and most prayerful uplifting one might happen to experience upon the conclusion of attending a mini retreat, I'm feeling deeply convicted to retreat from much of my online presence about now. 

• I will always maintain a huge depth of gratitude for the beauty of life's simplest pleasures, humbly appreciate all the blessings showered unto me, and hope to keep in touch with you all somehow via my weekly posts ahead. If a post doesn't happen to appear one week, there will be a combined one the next. I promise. :)

For sure, every mother knows it's easy to come dead last on the family priority totem pole, so many people need us - all. of. the. time..... often just accepting that as the natural depth requirement and substance held within the vocation of motherhood at its prime.

I might have had trouble admitting this before, but now I realize there is value in engaging the boomerang effect, to recognize, and acknowledge the simple need for a largely overdue and very purposeful renewal. God bless my loved ones who have been trying to lay hints and had to practically point out that I am so very guilty of often neglecting my own needs (it's a mother thing) while always offering a sacrifice on behalf of tending firstly to all my cherished loved ones in my big beautiful family.

• As it is spring, I plan to dive into taking better care of my own personal health, just because, and to get outdoors as often as possible; for a hike, a bike ride, a paddle on the bay and to those canoe day trips I've signed up for, to obviously exercise way more, to concentrate on the school year end and encourage more nature appreciation on our own property, and get myself right back to the water's edge - a particularly favorite place of mine to reflect on life as it is. 

I'm still planning on paying special visits to my dear virtual blogging friends via your own blogs through my google reader. I invite you to reciprocate by keeping in touch with me as I'm only a telephone call, an email, a weekly blog post com box, or Facebook message away. Thank you in advance everyone for understanding...xox

Happy Easter to all my family and friends!

God bless;

Renee