Monday, December 23, 2013

Fourth Sunday of Advent - Of rising water and forgotten candles...

Hi all! I hope that you all had a fabulous Fourth Sunday of Advent. Ours was...I actually don't know fully how to describe it. :-0 It was kinda crazy, but in the end, we came out strong. Let us debrief...

Saturday found us very tense. Our region was under a flood watch due to a storm that would be arriving overnight, and with part of our roof and kitchen ceiling in shambles, plus a basement that has been prone to taking in water, we were feeling apprehensive.

Exhibit A
Lovely, right? :-\ It rained all day Saturday, and despite having been dry for a few days, the ceiling started to ominously drip again. It was just this weird gray day, with us holed up and distracted. I was toying with going to the vigil Mass, but none of us felt up to it when the time came.

Overnight, the storm came and our basement flooded. Mike was up all night working with various pumps to get the water out. It went well. Our water heater pilot light went out because the water level got so high, but we got it relit. The basement is drying, all is well.

Sunday dawned with both Mike and I feeling grateful to have the storm behind us, and plans in place for appointments with various contractors and plumbers.

#sigh

The sound of running water just doesn't have the same allure anymore, ugh. But I was grateful to be on the other side of this storm, and readying for Mass.

Still feeling a bit flustered - hence the veil only halfway on my head
And Mass was *lovely*. It was a cold morning, freezing rain having made the trees look like a winter wonderland, and I felt so happy to be moving into the church to worship with our community. All four candles lit on the altar Advent wreath = sublime.

One nice recent change in our parish is that our priest decided to make some logistical changes at communion based upon appeals for additional Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion going unanswered. I don't dislike EMHC's, but they do tend to be overused, at least in my opinion. :) Instead of 4 separate lines for communion (2 EMHC's in the back, and the priest and 1 EHMC/the deacon in the front) there is now only 2 lines in the front of the church. One line is administered by our priest, and the other is administered by the deacon if he is available or an EMHC. EMHC's also administer the Precious Blood at 2 stations off to the side. I have to admit, I much prefer this situation, and it really doesn't take much longer. We always sit towards the front anyway, so we were usually in the priest or deacon's line, but there is never enough people to warrant the back of the church lines. I like all of us coming together in the front, it feels more community-like.

So that was smashing. I'm sad to retire my purple veil temporarily, but it will come back out for a grand unveiling at Lent. :0

Back at home, I was a busy, busy bee while Anne napped. I wrapped all of our presents and it felt fabulous. I hate wrapping, and the floor contortions required made my aging body sore for the rest of the day, but no matter. THE WRAPPING IS DONE! I feel victorious.

Later, Mike and I went out to dinner for his birthday, and we reflected on coming through what turned out to be a fairly stressful week with all of the water involved at our house. It was lovely.

It was only this morning that I realized that in all of the craziness, we forgot to light the fourth Advent candle with the kids, mew! This is what happens when you lose brain cells and your mind is always on a million different things. See "aging body" paragraph, above. But we lit them this morning, so all is well. :)

So now you know about my Fourth Sunday of Advent! Would you like to share yours? Linkup below! I have enjoyed sharing this Advent series with all of you.  Perhaps this can become a Catholic Librarian annual tradition. :-0

4 comments:

  1. What a mess...and you are still smiling. I couldn't do as well : )

    So, what color is next after purple?

    Wishing you a blessed joyous Christmas. Thanks for hosting these link ups.

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    1. Don't get her started on colors, Theresa!

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    2. OH must have a silver one...they are just beautiful : ) I think you girls did a great job of drumming up some interest (discernment) in veiling and also increased business to all those lovely ladies.

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  2. Lol. I'll go back to my brown for Ordinary Time. Planning to order a silver one next for Easter. :)

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