Wedding Coordinators...check

We met with the Church wedding coordinators yesterday and we are all set with them. We are one step closer to our big day and still amazed at how smoothly everything keeps coming together.  Next weekend we begin meetings with lighting companies, florists, and of course cake tasting (our favorite part)! Hopefully everyone got our save the date cards and has marked their calendars! I am hoping and praying that a lot of out of town family will be able to join us.

"All is grace" -St. Therese

"...let no man separate"

Someone recently asked me if Eric and I had gotten into any big fights yet over wedding plans. You know the classic I want steak and he wants chicken type fights? I replied that no we had not and everyone in the room was shocked! I mentioned that I made a decision to be an easy going bride and that I do not think any big disagreements will come. It seemed to me that most people didn't really believe me and remarked that as we get close to the wedding we will indeed find ourselves in conflict.

When I saw Eric later the day of this exchange I told him the story and asked his thoughts. He agreed with me that he can't imagine what we would fight about and mentioned that we have already made all the big decisions without fighting so are doing good so far. Wanting to not be prideful and assume we are stronger than the temptations others have apparently faced I began to pray about this and meditate on why couples experience conflict while planning their wedding as well as identify ways Eric and I can avoid those potential issues. What God brought to my mind I thought worth sharing.

We know from Scripture that when a man and woman marry, "the two become one flesh" (Mark 10:8).  On October 13th forever more Eric and Robyn will not exist as separate individuals, instead we will be Eric and Robyn together. The devil is not a big fan of this idea, in fact he hates it and he will do anything he can to try to destroy it. It comes as no shock to me then that as couples prepare for marriage, the devil is in their trying to cause separation between them even before the one flesh union has occurred. He knows that the graces given in the sacrament are strong and so he better get to work early.  With this thought in mind I feel all the more committed to not letting plans for one day bring even the smallest amount of tension or separation between us.

My next question to God was how to fight these temptations from the evil one. I believe that if Eric and I keep our focus on the sacrament that we will participate in and the union that God will create and allow the rest to just be details we will be on a good path. I am blessed to have an amazing wedding coordinator and a mom who is a party planning expert so I am able to leave some of the little details to them and focus my energy on spiritually preparing for the rest of our lives. It could be easy to get caught up in what napkins are best or what flowers I "can't live without" but I know those things are temporary and our union will be forever. Eric and I are both listening to talks and reading books about marriage (thank you Chris for the famous "red bag") in order to keep our minds focused on what really matters.  The more we can focus our minds on the spiritual realities the less we will be caught up in other details.  Whenever we are tempted to get caught up in details of the wedding day, I pray we are able to remember what truly matters and know that the most important aspect of October 13th is the Mass in which Jesus will join us together for the rest of our lives and even one step better, He will give himself to us in the Eucharist as our strength and nourishment to be faithful to our vocation. Prayer is also essential to us staying united as we approach our wedding day.  Eric and I pray the rosary every time we are together because we firmly believe that Mary is our greatest intercessor and the one who will best draw us closer to Jesus who will unite us.

Knowing that we are weak we ask for your continued prayers. We desire to glorify God in our marriage, even in the planning of our wedding and we know we will only be able to do so by his grace aided by the prayers of those who love us.

"All is grace" -St. Therese

Save-The-Date

Save-the-date cards are now in the mail! 131 days until I marry the love of my life!

On another note:

Lest you think due to my last two posts that Eric never enjoys decadent food please see the picture below and appreciate that when this man indulges, HE INDULGES! And he deserves it! Dessert last night was ice cream (butter pecan and mint chip), brownie, and an ice cream candy bar, all on one bowl! 

"All is grace" -St. Therese

Saints vs saints

My future sister-in-law suggested that I write a blog explaining the difference between Saints (big S) and saints (little s) since our blog is called "cradle for saints". Saints (big S) comes from the Latin word "sanctus" which means holy. Saints are individuals who lived a life in loving response to God and so merited the rewards of eternal life with Him. Anyone who is in heaven is a Saint. Certain people are officially canonized Saints by the Catholic Church. This is done not for their benefit for they are already receiving all of their rewards eternally in heaven. The Church gives those of us still here on earth the gift of canonized Saints as an example to be followed. Knowing that they are in heaven we can follow their example and trust that through imitation of their lives, we too will one day be with God in heaven. One might ask: "aren't we supposed to imitate Christ in order to get to heaven?" Yes of course we are and that is precisely what the Saints did! What I love so much about the Saints is that they were people like you and me who went above and beyond being simply good people. They show us that loving God to the fullest is not only possibly but eternally rewarding.

saints (little s) refers to those who are living in the state of God's grace while still here on earth. We can say that a newly baptized baby is a saint because they are holy as the definition of the word indicates.

Eric and I got the name of our blog from a document entitles "The Large Family" by Pope Pius XII. Pope Pius XII wrote, "With good reason, it has often been pointed out that large families have been in the forefront as the cradles of saints." When one studies the lives of the Saints one will often find that they came from large, devoted, Christian families. Meditating on this Eric and I began to see that creating a cradle for saints and God willing Saints is exactly what we desire for our marriage. Reading these words from the Holy Father also solidified in our hearts a deep desire to be very generous with God regarding the size of our family. Ultimately the size of our family is in the hands of our Lord and we abandon ourselves, our family, and the future sanctity of our children into his loving hands.

If you are interested in learning more about the Saints (big S) their is a great book called "Saints for Dummies" by Father John Trigilio and Father Kenneth Brighenti that I highly recommend. I actually use that book as the text for the Lives of the Saints course that I currently teach.

Also here is a link to the full text of the document The Large Family by Pope Pius XII:
 http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=5370

"All is grace" -St. Therese

Creative Cooking Update

The Shepherds Pie with a twist was a winner! Eric and I both loved it! Eric's brother Brett was also home last night (he currently lives with Eric) and joined us for dinner and he too said it was a keeper! It has been added to my recipe box and will be a regular in the Mattson home. It turns out one can make a meal of only lean meats and vegetables and have it taste delicious! If any of you are ever coming to our house for dinner once we are married get ready because we just might have to make it for you!

Creative with Cooking

One aspect of being a wife that I am really looking forward to is cooking meals. Meals have always been a large part of our Catholic faith. Jesus chose to reveal the depths of his love for his people at the most important meal ever, the Last Supper, and he continues to give himself to us every single day through the Eucharist at Mass. Cooking meals for Eric is a labor of love for me. Thankfully I am marrying a man who loves to eat! We have decided that once we are married we will once a week (either Saturday or Sunday depending on his work schedule) cook a huge indulgent meal for us to enjoy. The other days though will be more focused on being healthy. Due to the nature of Eric's job as a firefighter and his commitment to stay healthy for his family, he currently eats, one might say, simply. I should mention that I am forever grateful for his commitment to being healthy so he can do his job well and most important be a husband and father well into old age. His focus is on lean meats, vegetables, and protein. Desiring to cook meals he will really enjoy while staying within his desired way of eating, I have begun the process of searching for new ways to cook making use of chicken, lean beef, fish, and veggies. Tonight we are going to go out on a limb and are going to try cooking something entirely new: Shepherd's pie with a twist. Instead of mashed potatoes the recipe uses mashed cauliflower for the top. And instead of beef I am using ground turkey. I'll let you know how it turns out. Maybe we will find a new treasure that will become a regular once we are married. Here is a link to the recipe if you are interested... http://www.elanaspantry.com/paleo-shepherds-pie/

Welcome

Welcome to our blog! I hope this will be a way to share our life with family and friends who we love so much! I also hope that this might be one tool Eric and I can use to witness about the faith that drew us together and we pray will continue to fuel our marriage, family, and life. The blog is called "Cradle for Saints" because as Eric and I reflect on our upcoming entrance into the vocation of marriage we often talk about our desire to be blessed with a family and we pray that through the grace of God our home will be a place for raising and nurturing little saints. I will post a mix of updates on our life, thoughts that I have as a pray and grow to become the wife and (God-willing) mother that God desires me to be, and any fun tidbits that others may find useful.