A hidden chapel

Last week, I was very upset about the train I usually take to work being on strike (for about the fifty-millionth time this year). 

The bad part (VERY bad part): I had to get up an hour earlier (5:30 to catch the only train available). 

The good part: with my extra time (getting to work an hour earlier) I found a place I had been wanting to see for some time: a Schoenstatt chapel. 

It's right behind a residential house and I was so surprised to find the gate open when I pushed it and the little chapel with its lights on at 7:30 in the morning. It was so surprising and comforting to see that in the places where I least expect it, there is something really amazing and providential happening. In the middle of a residential neighborhood, so close to my work... something that if you didn't look for it you wouldn't find it! I realized, after having found this hidden place of prayer and holiness last week, that... 

anything that is great and important to God is small and hidden in the world. 

Schoenstatt's unity cross: "It depicts the Virgin Mary - the 'woman' at the foot of the cross - as an icon of the Church and humanity, receiving the blood of the crucified Christ in a chalice. It is the moment of the mystical, spousal union of the New Adam and the New Eve (see pp. 120-123 for a discussion of this mystery)." - p. 271 of Christopher West's book, At the Heart of the Gospel

Ourem for the weekend

A weekend I have been dreading for a long time turned out to be... quite alright, surprisingly. Daniel and I went to Quinta da Alcaidaria-Mor in Ourem (near Fatima) with his friends from college. They have an annual get-together in different places. This place was beautiful and had lots of things to do. Other than stuff our faces with good food, we rode bikes (until Daniel's tire got a hole), he swam in the pool and went go-karting with his friends. The girls were girly (myself included) and just watched while the boys drove their karts around in circles and got really competitive and aggressive. 

I think I finally learned to value his friends, even though they are different from me and different from what I used to think would be "good" for Daniel. Life really is so out of our control... and I'm glad it is. I'm glad it's difficult/uphill yet surprising and better than I could imagine. 

“No friendship is an accident. ” 

― O. Henry, Heart of the West

This house has always been Christian (sign on left); This house has always been monarchist (sign on right)

Riding bikes...

Daniel and his friends competing in go-karts (he's the one in the middle...)

...Vroom! There he goes...

AM to PM

Two things I wouldn't trade for anything lately: 

My morning oatmeal (breakfast takes 30 minutes, but there's nothing like leaving with something hot in your stomach) and my nightly journaling/prayer. 

We must pray without tiring, for the salvation of mankind does not depend on material success; nor on sciences that cloud the intellect. Neither does it depend on arms and human industries, but on Jesus alone.- St. Frances Cabrini

Lack of prayer is the cause of lack of time. - Peter Kreeft

Why the small things?

This blog is dedicated to the small moments: the cups of tea from my weekend at home (see below), sweet hallmark cards sent to me from across the Atlantic, running barefoot on the beach, accepting failure, the importance of friendship, etc. 

Why?

Because...

• ..."the home, in all its aspects, is the most crucial element in influencing happiness" (http://happiness-project.com/books/happier-at-home/about-the-book/). 
• ...the extraordinary is in the ordinary. 
• ...strength is in the small things: “Do not think that love in order to be genuine has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” ― Mother Teresa
• ...love is not in the big projects, our career path, or our reputation. It's in our daily prayer life, our cultivating of virtue, our relationships. It's in the present moment, in "the cup washed with extra care before it's returned to the cupboard" (from conversiondiary.com's Rock the Present Moment). 
• "I know she's not perfect, but she tries so hard for me. And I thank God that she isn't 'cause how boring would that be. It's the little imperfections, it's the sudden change in plans. When she misreads the directions and we're lost but holdin' hands. Yeah I live for little moments like that." from "Little Moments" by Brad Paisley
• "And it's the way that she looks with her eyes and her hair. Eatin' burnt suppers the whole first year and askin' for seconds to keep her from tearin' up. Yeah man that's the good stuff." from "Good Stuff" by Kenny Chesney

My Hat Hangs There

Frida's My Dress Hangs There...


My cowboy hat hangs there...

Even though I rarely wear my cowboy hat (it's kind of tight) and summer has faded away, I still like to leave it hanging on my coat rack. It makes me feel like a cowgirl, who just came in from a hard day of ploughing the fields or something. I also love to see it with the contrast of my Portuguese tiles and arch entrance. It's a cultural oddball, like Frida Kahlo's painting, My Dress Hangs There.