for the love of leeks and heaven on earth

Our CSA just started harvesting their leeks again and I think it is my favorite thing that we receive! They smell so good and I know they are good for us. I am anxious to make potato leek soup again (I posted the recipe last year here) and I also like to use them like onions with meat or other vegetables, or even in rice dishes. So, if you look at your grocer's or farmers markets, then you might be able to pick some up now yourself.

We've had some gorgeous weather lately-- low 70's, sunny and a little breezy. I've been walking Ellie every day... until today. Today it's rainy, windy, thunderstorming, flooding, AND there is a tornado watch! I spent all day running from place to place trying to get my errands done and I was poured on no less than four times! I look like a drenched mouse. My mom is coming in on Thursday so I have a lot to get ready before she gets here-- food shopping being the agenda today so I just had to buckle down and go out in it. (So much for my cleanly mopped floors!)

This week I also read (in two days) a book that was just recently published by my friend Mary McCafferty: Born Again... in Medjugorje.  She and her family are members of our church and Mary was one of the first people I met before I became Catholic and was attending Daily Mass. She is one of those people who is always smiling and her love for people and her faith is always evident. So I was really excited to hear that she published this story of her first trip to Medjugorje, the place where The Blessed Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to six young people starting in June, 1981 and still does today. She even got to stay at one of their homes. I couldn't put the book down-- it was if I was experiencing that week with her! She writes honestly about her past-- her childhood and how she went from a typical teenager to a woman who has seen miracles-- and came to believe and tremendously grow in her faith. Experiences like this are not necessary to believe in God, but there are miracles happening today, as we sit here reading blog posts on our computer... messages being sent from heaven telling us that God is right there, sitting beside you and Mary is continually praying for peace in our world for us. I have to say that parts of this book brought tears to my eyes. Mary writes from a place of pure innocence and wonder. There is no pretentiousness or piousness. She works with the teens in our church and I know those that have heard her stories have been deeply moved. This little book is well worth the read and is so short, you can finish it in a weekend. I have to say that my faith increased so much from hearing her story and that's why I'm sharing this with you. Mary wrote this for her seven children (!) so that they'd have it (Nathaniel is in class with her second to youngest daughter).  It is available on amazon to order if you'd like to read it too!  If you'd like to know more about Medjugorje, there is a website that tells more about it, lists some of the pilgrimages, and even has the most recent message (from Sept. 2!) posted. There have been so many miraculous things that happen to people during our lifetime, and not just in the Catholic Church but to many people all over the world. I used to doubt but there have just been too many to ignore or to try to explain away. As I study homeopathy I realize that science has only a very, very small understanding of how the world works and what happens in it and in heaven. There is no denying that human understanding has a very far way to travel and I cannot deny that Christ is here among us. I just have to remember to open my heart to letting Him in.  Don't be afraid to let God love you!  ♰