Has It Been A Year Already?

Its been said by many individuals much wiser than me, countless time; you have to set time aside for prayer, daily. I do this by both morning and evening prayers during times when I am most likely alone, either because everyone has yet to awaken in the morning or has already gone to bed for the night. My prayers aren’t too long and are usually to the point.
However, Sundays do seem to be more reflective days for me compared to other days of the week, despite what may be going on in my life. It would appear that has been true of me for quite some time. During these prayerful days I often find myself writing in variety of styles in various journals and/or books I have gathered throughout my life. Every so often I am compelled to go back and read what I have written in the past.
It just so happens that this past Sunday was one of those re-read days. I have set aside an hour every Sunday to spend time with our Lord in adoption of the holy Eucharist. (For my non-Catholic brothers and sisters this means I spend time with Jesus present in the consecrated host…still not clear? …well…ask a Mass attending Catholic, I’m trying to tell a story here.) I find it very useful to bring along my old school bag that has been stuffed with three years of pastoral ministries coursework. This includes a very well used and bruised study bible and several notebooks and journals. It was upon flipping through one of my journals that I came across something marvelous.
As I sat in Adoration this past October 21st I came across a journal entry I had made on October 21st of 2011 exactly one year later.
Now, you have to understand one thing about my style of writing, it’s sporadic. What I mean is that one day I’ll write a narrative, the next a poem, and then perhaps nothing for weeks.
So, coming across a piece of my work a year to the day has to be God speaking to me during this specific prayerful reflection time. Just what is it that has got me all worked up, you ask? Well that is the beautiful part of my tale.
My journal entry was directed toward my two boys. I was expressing my love for them, and also a bit of fatherly anxiety. This in itself is nothing new. However, it was the reason as to why I was doing so on this particular occasion that brings a smile to my face. On October 21st of 2011 my wife and I were expecting our third child and wife was six months into her pregnancy. Here we are today with my daughter, six months after her birth.
A year ago today we had no idea what the sex of our baby was to be. Now we can’t imagine our baby girl being anything else than who she is. Time has pushed us forward an entire year and the Lord had not allowed us to forget where we once were. The good and not so good have come and gone…and come and gone, but our blessing continue to multiply. Thanks be to God.
Who knows, we all may be looking back at this very day in a year. The Lord knows how bright our blessing will shine then.

Blessing,
Michael

A Reminder

  I came across a good friend of mine that I haven't seen since our last few days of high school; Roxanne "What's Playing at the Roxy" V., and she looked amazing, then and now.  I recognized her immediately, but I was to timid to say hello.  Sorry, Rox; looks like not much has changed since high school, right?  You see, while we were in school together I kept a secret from Roxanne.  For just about four years I could not find a way to say she was one of the individuals I admired most.  She was unique with out effort, in image and attitude. 

  Now, I do have to be honest; teenagers are teenager; far from perfect, but with a strong sense of immortality.  I certainly was no different.  Roxy had her flaws as well, having friends like me hanging around her was her biggest imperfection.  That also happen to be one of her most enduring qualities.  She could look beyond her own needs and tend to those around her, and when she befriended you you then had a friend for life.  No one knows this better then Michelle "My Bell" R. who, till this day, has a daily conversation with her best friend even though they live on opposite side of the country.  These are two of the most real girls any guy could count himself blessed to have know.

  These two lovely ladies are now long married and have beautiful children of their own.  Where others in my life have moved on, grown older and simply lost interest in old friends, Roxanne and Michelle merely pick up where they left off with familiar faces they come across each day.  Isn't that the primary definition of Friendship?  Isn't that the goal of all of our lives, to love God and through Him our neighbors as we love ourselves?  Perhaps something I almost lost track of, almost forgotten. 

  Thanks for the reminder, Roxy. 

  But of course you know what this means.  I will be out there looking for old friends, like it or not, I'm coming guys and dolls.  (insert maniacal laugh here)


Blessing,
Michael Salinas

"I am the vine, you are the branches". Today's Gospel reminds us that our salvation is completely dependant on being as close to the vine, Christ Jesus, as humanly possible. The further we are from Him the lower quality of fruit we will produce, if we produce any fruit at all.

As a husband, as a father, and as the spiritual head of my household I am called to be Christ-like for every member of my family. I am to be the vine on which the branches that are my children are to grow and produce good fruit. Yes, it is important to allow them space to personalize their faith, however, it's critical that I  impress upon them that I am to be their spiritual example for quite some time.

From time to time I still look to my father for advise and guidance during certain situations that perhaps I've never encountered before. I am still fairly young as both a husband and father, and I can absolutely appreciate the experience of those a bit further along them me.

Now, some of the best advice my father has given me is to simply say, " just figure it out". After seeing how I have managed to raise my children thus far, with no small help from my extraordinary wife, my Pop recognizes the importance of working through difficulties on my own.

In truth, I'm never really on my own. I carry with me the lifetime of guidance and wisdom given to me by good ol' dad. He lead our household in scriptural reading and insisted we keep an open prayer line with our Lord. My old man would often say that our prayers may not be perfect, but our intention certainly can be. He was the vine that has led this branch to sprout fruit, good fruit; two boys and a girl worth of fruit.

So, it comes as no real surprise that I see a lot of not only my wife and me in my children, but also a bit of my dad. We are not your typical fruit, and there may be a little nuttiness to our flavor, but good fruit we are none the less. And good fruit tends to produce good fruit, all around itself.  Thanks be to God.


Blessing,
Michael Salinas

I will be updating my blog shortly. Thank you for your patience.

Traditions

Happy Thanksgiving!
To all of my readers, I wish blessed Thanksgiving day. May it be filled with good food and even better company. Its a shame that much of our American culture pushes us through thing great day in order to get us to focus on, not Christmas itself, but rather on Christmas shopping. However, I will save that topic for another blog post.
Today I will focus on my Thanksgiving traditions and travels. I grew up on a home with very few holiday traditions. However, I married into a family who is really quite big on said traditions, and I must say, I love it. So, when the news came my wife and boys would be joining my In-laws in spending the Thanksgiving, long weekend at a house rented out in Carmel I have to admit I was hesitant. Now, I have absolutely have nothing against the city of Carmel, Ca. If i had to choose of cities to spend time in Carmel is at thr top of my list, but I digress to my original point, breaking otraditionon. I was even more so perturbed after finding out we would be trading turkey with all the fixings for tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. In was very much looking forward to mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls and cranberry sauce, but they were not to be. My heart ached.
Believe it or not, this is a positive posting. Fore, I would still be bumming myself out about traditions had it not been for the biggest tradition of all, which, thanks be to God, we were able to keep to this year. Having the entire family together is the only thing we really need to celebrate any holiday.
Now on to Christmas. ;)

Blessing,
Michael

Ketchup?

  The glue that holds a family together is a mysterious red substance known as ketchup. From the traditional French-fry to the base of more complex bar-b-que sauces, ketchup can be paired with almost any kind of food; almost. So, when my brilliantly tasteful wife came home from the grocery store with a bag of ketchup flavored potato chips you would think I would be chomping at the bit to try them. After all, I have been known to top my morning eggs with a squirt of ketchup every now and then. However, the thought of biting into crispy ketchup somehow didn't appeal to me. Don’t get me wrong, I was willing to give them a shot, just to be fair.
To be honest, when it comes to food, I’m not hesitant to try anything at least once, maybe twice …just to be sure. This is why I’m a little rounder than I was back in high school. Everything my wife puts on the table in front of me gets eaten. The real problem is my Cyndi is truly a master chef and EVERYTHING she prepares can lead to a wonderful show of culinary magic for the human pallet.

So, of course I had to take a hand full of these new fandangle chips for a taste-drive. My opinion; well, they taste like ketchup, and for a short while I was against trying any more. My wife was very adamant in stating she would in fact be buying more of these chips because she and the boys liked them so much. The real question was could I grow to enjoy them. After all, I would like to join in the snacking fun everyone else in the house was experiencing. The outcome came to be I too have come to crave my ketchup potato chips.

What was it that finally won me over and made a Ketchup chip fan out of this cynic; an appeal to the child within me and the innocent logic he posses. The simple idea that ketchup and French fries are great together, and a bit of ketchup on top of some mashed potatoes is fabulous. Potatoes and ketchup are naturally made for one another. So, let’s hear it for ketchup, and for the love of my life, my wife not the ketchup, who, as usual, knows me better than I know myself sometimes.

Ketchup chips; go figure. What are next, mustard flavored hotdog buns? …Wait, I thought of it first. Where’s a patent when you need one?



Blessings,
Mike Salinas

Creating Memories

 My beautiful wife, our two boys, and I have spent this past weekend at a breathtaking Catholic Engaged Encounter convention in Reno, NV jammed packed with fabulous guest speakers. It was there that we met Jason and Kim Kotecki, one of the most inspiring Catholic couples in active ministry. I had first met Jason just about six years ago at a local Catholic business professionals breakfast where he was a much anticipated guest. It was then that I first was diagnosed with "Adultits (TM)". Want to find out more about my diagnosis, you must visit http://www.kimandjason.com/. In short, the cure for my condition is ice cream...for dinner. Who am I to argue with the experts? 

  So there my family and I were making the long drive home back to the Central Valley after a great weekend with the hours slowly ticking away when finally the need for gas and food had arrived; time for some much needed medication, of the cold and creamy nature. It has to be understood that the four of us were most certainly hungry, and so much would have been just tasty, but none more tasty then ice cream. Our boys LOVED every bite, especially after knowing this was not an everyday thing, (although it may have to be, we'll see. I'll let you know). For about a half an hour that parlor enjoyed the company of four kids rather than two adults with two children. To top it all off, we each ate out of each others waffle cone bowls.
  I'm not cured, but I'm certainly not planning on missing any doses of childhood and opportunities to create memories for my children, and my beautiful wife.

  So, just today, the family and I were shopping for groceries when my six year old son told a complete stranger that he and his family had had ice cream for dinner the night before. I didn't get any look of horror from the stranger, nor even one of disappointment. Instead I received a laugh and a "way to go, dad. Keep up the good work". I plan on doing just that.

Blessings,
Michael