Habemus Papam! We have a pope!

Habemus Papam! We have a pope! At 7:06 pm in Rome white smoke poured out of the chimney on the Sistine Chapel. We had been to morning Mass and after were celebrating Fr. Paul's birthday when the news came in. The room quickly cleared as everyone rushed off to see the announcement of the new Holy Father. We laughed that Fr. Paul got a pope for his birthday.  

Modern technology mixed with the 2000 year old office of the Bishop of Rome. We awaited for the announcement with the more than half a million people in St. Peter's Square and more than a billion Catholics worldwide. We streamed the broadcast online, while the girls recorded and photographed the ceremony with their iPods the historic moment. 

The announcement came, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J., Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina will ascend the Chair of St. Peter as Pope Francis. Viva il Papa!

"The modern mind will accept nothing on authority, but will accept anything on no authority. Say that the Bible or the Pope says so and it will be dismissed without further examination. But preface your remark with “I think I heard somewhere,” or, try but fail to remember the name of some professor who might have said “such-and-such,” and it will be immediately accepted as an unshakable fact." 

-G.K. Chesterton

Friends, Love & Faith Blog Hop

Welcome to the Friends, Love & Faith blog hop sponsored by My Paper Treehouse. I am try to spend a little time each day on one or two of the many things I am thankful for... some of the many tiny blessings that fill my life. Sometimes the most obvious of things are the blessings I most easily overlook. Today I am thankful for the special grace of faith. It is among the most precious of virtues, and a prized gift of God's grace. Today I am spending a little extra time thanking God and praying for an increase faith, hope and love.

Most supplies from the February Scarlet Lime Kit

Blog Hop Details:

Welcome to Paper Tree House Studio's Friends, Love, and Faith Blog Hop. Today, we're out in force on the internet -- showing our faith and giving the glory to God. United, we stand as Christian paper crafters and blog owners to make a presence on the internet for all to see. If you are hopping with us, you should have hopped over from Getting Cricky with K. Andrew.  If you happened to just come across this post and you want to join in on the fun, make sure you jump over to the beginning so that you do not miss out: Paper Tree House Studio.


We're celebrating the theme of faith and we're happy to share our projects with you based on the verse:

"...those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40:31)


First, we would like to take a moment to thank our generous co-sponsors: Zutter, Paper Trunk, Create 365, Memorable Seasons, Scrapbook News and Review, as well as Papperie.  Together with Paper Tree House Studio, these companies have donated some wonderful prizes for today's blog hop.

Prizes? Oh, yeah! There will be three lucky grand prize winners for today's event.

To enter, simply hop through the blogs and take note of all of the participating DT members of Paper Tree House Studio, and make sure to jot down the "blessed words" they will have in their post, and leave a comment on their posts. Once you gather all of the words, you will have another special Scripture to inspire you to create while leaving His legacy. Then send us an email at mypapertreehousedt@gmail.com listing each of the staff members who participated in today's hop and the completed Scripture. It's that easy. All entries must be received by Monday, February 28, 2011 at 12 noon, EST and seven winners will be randomly chosen to win.

What are the prizes?
One Cricut Gypsy from Paper Tree House Studio
One Bind-it-All from Zutter

One baggy of goodies from Create 365
One baggy of goodies from Papperie
One baggy of goodies from Paper Trunk
One year subscription to Scrapbook News and Review
One $15 gift card to Memorable Seasons so that you can purchase your favorite goodies!!

In addition, many of our participating bloggers will have amazing blog candy and RAKS available for one of their blessed visitors by simply leaving a comment and becoming a follower on their blog. That's a lot of chances to win, so let's get to the Hop!

"...those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40:31)

The next stop on this blog hop is Living in the Positive.

sunrise, sunset... swiftly fly the days

Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears

was humming this fiddler on the roof song while i was loading pictures onto my blog tonight. just thinking of how quickly the days and years seem to be flying by, and all of the happiness and tears they are filled with. how some moments i might not wish to live over, but how i would not change one bit knowing how the good Lord has lead me with His gentle hand along the way.

and now for the continuing journey through the bits of the mundane and the beautiful that make up my daily life. bits of beauty like the sunrises from my back deck on a crisp fall morning.

fun moments like growing older with my husband... or at least hanging with him while he's growing older! :) no big party, no throngs of people, no extras... just our family, a nice dinner and a few cupcakes. simple but good.

the mundane little things like the zillions of fall spiders making their homes all around our house and yard.

watching the years fly by in watching the girls grow... like torrey studying her script before broadcasting the morning announcements on the school tv's.

the beauty of family... my brother with all of the nieces and nephews while he was in town for the weekend.

my sister, my mom & stan celebrating their trio of birthdays.

the seemingly mundane yet beautifully telling picture of torrey reading the encyclopedia... for fun. :)

the beautiful bounty of nature from our weekly organic "box of good"

the beautiful gift of faith, and how it carries you through those years laden with happiness and tears...

the sweet simplicity of turning mundane puddles into play in the middle of a rainstorm.

so i know it said "sunrise, sunset", but all i have (as far as recent daily pictures anyway) are sunrise shots. so maybe it doesn't work especially well for the lyrics, but scrolling through the 365 pictures between the sunrise bookends... i am thankful for each an every moment because swiftly fly the years.