Life is a Gift!
Life All Around Us
We look around and see the trees budding, the daffodils coming up, the birds chirping. Life is all around us and it lifts our spirits and brings us joy. We see life as a gift that keeps on giving, year after year in a cycle we anticipate, which accentuates the joy. Our own life is also a gift, and our own life, too, can be a gift that keeps on giving.
Enjoy Life!
Imagine you just gave your child or another loved one a gift. You know it is a very valuable gift and you are eager to give it. You want so much for the loved one to have joy in the gift and to use it in the best way. Would not the Giver of Life and of all good things want us to enjoy life, really take joy in the gift of life He has given us? We may frequently feel a little down because we are confronted with things going on that are no good, that are contrary to a culture of life, a culture of love. But, just as by our nature we get joy from the life around us, by our nature we get joy from spreading joy to others. Using our gift of life well, by our attentiveness to others in real self-giving brings about a true optimism and joy.
Top 10 List for a Happy Life
10. Start each day the moment you wake up, eager to embrace the new day.
9. Complete each task you begin.
8. Be truthful in your dealings with others.
7. Keep your things organized.
6. Practice a positive mindset.
5. Keep learning.
4. Don’t be afraid to begin again.
3. Reflect on the good things in your life and be thankful.
2. Share time lavishly with Family and Friends.
1. Put God First.
"When you really 'give yourself' to God, there will be no difficulty that can shake your optimism."
- St. Josemaria Escriva, The Way #476
Easter Egg Decorating:
An Art of Love
Decorating Easter eggs is a childhood pastime we likely all remember. We would have little dye pellets or liquid concentrate that we carefully mixed with a vinegar-water mix; then the hard boiled eggs become lovely pale shades of different colors.
More than a pastime, egg decorating became a fascinating form of art in some of the eastern European countries. This art is called “pysanky” in Ukrainian, coming from the word for “write”. These eggs are dipped in a series of intense dyes, with hot wax being applied in between dippings forming complex, muti-colored designs. The major tool used is called a kistka, and traditionally is a wooden dowel with a small funnel attached. Beeswax is scraped into the funnel, heated with a candle, and then dripped in the desired pattern over the egg. Modern day artists us electric kistkas instead! The eggs are not cooked or eaten (the dyes are not foodgrade). They are are either kept raw or their contents are carefully emptied out through a pin hole.
The exquisite eggs pictured above were hand-decorated in the pysanky style by Victoria Kocan, the mother-in-law of Kristin Kocan, H.U. Board Member.
Members' Corner: Art of Living for Girls
You may have heard of Art of Living for Women, but have you heard of Art of Living for Girls? Just like AOLW, The Art of Living for Girls is a hands-on skills-building program designed to give 7th through 12th grade young women classes in the culinary arts, home health, interior design, and fashion. Through brief theoretical presentations, skill-building practices, coaching sessions, philosophical reflection, competition, and projects, they develop an eye for the needs of others and discover the beauty and meaning of service.
Kickstart! is an AOLG program dedicated to helping girls in 7th and 8th grade get a jump start on their culinary and home art skills. As a hands-on program, the middle school girls find themselves engaged and excited as they build their skills, develop friendships with other girls from their local area, and learn to go deeper in their faith while serving others.
Master It! is the AOLG program that takes high school girls and provides them with skills and dispositions that they will use as students, professionals, mothers, and friends. Young ladies in the Master It! program focus on four central elements: Culinary Arts, Home Health, Fashion, and Interior Design. While the elements are taught and practiced through the hands-on curriculum, participants develop the moral and intellectual foundation they will need to become a woman of character.
Art of Living for Girls can be found in Illinois and is coming soon to Wisconsin. If you would like more information or want to give your time as an instructor to one of these events, please contact Mary Jane Markel at maryjanemarkel@gmail.com.
Click to learn more about Art of Living for Girls and Art of Living for Women!
