image copyright James and Ellen Hrkach 2012
Image copyright James and Ellen Hrkach 2012
Happy New Year!
Monthly Archives: December 2012
A Blessed and Joy-Filled Christmas to All!
photo credit: Josh Hrkach 2011 (copyright)
“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:8-11
“Fear not little flock, fear not. Come with me to Bethlehem. Let us celebrate a joyous Christmas. Let us be merry and happy no matter what because Christ is born.” Catherine Doherty
I’ll be taking the next week off from blogging.
Merry Christmas!
Sunday Snippets – December 22
Image copyright Ellen Gable Hrkach
Here are my posts:
Copyright 2012 Ellen Gable Hrkach
7 Quick Takes Friday – Volume 52
It’s Friday so it’s time to connect with Jen’s Conversion Diary.
As promised, I’d like to share just a few of the 25 original Christmas cards we’ve created over the past 28 years. As I’ve mentioned before, our “Family Life” cartoons began as Christmas cards 24 years ago. To learn more about this, you can read my previous guest post at Catholic Sistas entitled “Life in a Cartoon World.”
Those on our Christmas card list really enjoy and appreciate our cards; the caricatures of the members of our family are drawn by my husband. With some of these, I scanned only one part of the card, since I just wanted to share the caricatures of the family.
1. Let the Spirit In – 1989
Image copyright James and Ellen Hrkach 1989
2. She Brought Forth Her First Born Son – 1992
Image copyright James and Ellen Hrkach 1992
3. Glorious Strains – 1996
Image copyright James and Ellen Hrkach 1996
image copyright James and Ellen Hrkach 1996
4. Cookies are Like Baby Jesus – 2002
Image copyright James and Ellen Hrkach 2002
5. ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas – 2007
Image and text copyright James and Ellen Hrkach 2007
Image and text copyright James and Ellen Hrkach 2007
6. Hrkach Boys Assembly Line – 2008
Image and text copyright James and Ellen Hrkach 2008
Image and text copyright 2008 James and Ellen Hrkach
7. Vertical Enhancements – 2009
Image and text copyright James and Ellen Hrkach 2009
Image and text copyright James and Ellen Hrkach 2009
All text and images copyright James and Ellen Hrkach 2012
Prayer: The Cry of A Child
As we get closer to Christmas, I’d like to share another beautiful excerpt, this one from Catherine Doherty’s “Living the Gospel Without Compromise.” This is entitled “Prayer: The Cry of a Child” and is available free as a Pass it On article at this link.
The first step in praying is to understand who we are, and that is awfully difficult. We must acknowledge that we are creatures, saved sinners, entirely dependent on God. We must be, as the bible says, anawim, poor people of God, the poor people of the beatitudes who know that they depend on God. We must face ourselves and realize that we cannot exist on our own, that we are dependent.
To the proud, this is anathema. We look at ourselves and we say “I depend on no one” — and suddenly, in the very saying, we realize that this is not so: we do depend on God. This is the beginning of prayer: that we become beggars before God, knowing that we receive even the steps we take from him.
To begin to pray we must first cleanse our souls of arrogance and pride. In grave humility and as beggars, must we come to him who alone can make us princes and kings and queens, not of earthly kingdoms, but of the kingdom of God. Only when we are thus poor and realize our total poverty, can we go to Bethlehem and meet the Child who became poor for us.
Is there any human being who does not respond to the cry of a child? Did you ever consider the first cry of the Child Jesus? It was his first message of love to us. When we know that we are poor, we can easily enter Bethlehem and answer his cry. We can easily walk behind the donkey that bears the woman and Child. If we are poor we will not hesitate to enter the humble home of Nazareth to take part in the hospitality of Joseph and Mary. Yet the proud and the arrogant look down their noses at simple folk from Nazareth: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
If we realize our own poverty we will follow him who had nowhere to lay his head. Prayer is the interpersonal relationship of a poor man with the Poor Man.
If we remain poor and keep following the Poor Man, a change will take place. Up to a point Christ will console us. But as our prayer deepens, we will enter the darkness of a fantastic faith, a faith that we have to pray for. The time will come when we will have to console Christ. For we see him all over the world — in slums, in Park Avenue — in people committing suicide because of the greed of people.
When we console him our prayer will take on a new dimension. The Son of Man became incarnate that we might console him, so that in consoling him we might learn to console one another, to be tender toward one another. He offered himself as a victim for us on the cross so that we might take him in our arms as Our Lady took him in hers.
Our prayer will be dirgelike, and yet, a joy! Our pain will be purified and our prayer will have moved into another dimension: we will want to be on the cross because Love is crucified. A strange thing will happen: our prayer will become a prayer of joy, a fantastic resting in the heart of God.
Thus from a recognition of our total dependence we are led to a prayer where we realize the Father is coming to us, know the touch of his hand, see Christ’s human face reflecting his glory. Thus does prayer become a total and final resting place, a unity, a complete union of ourselves with God. The darkness of faith grows light and there is no need for words anymore. There is only a need for rest, the rest of a beloved in the arms of her Beloved.
Sunday Snippets – December 15
Image copyright Ellen Gable Hrkach
Self-Publishing and Web Presence My latest post for the Catholic Writers Guild.
7 Quick Takes Friday A cool video, a cartoon, a recipe and other stuff.
Trust, Fertility and Advent My latest column for both Amazing Catechists and Catholic Mom.
Copyright 2012 Ellen Gable Hrkach
Trust, Fertility and Advent
image copyright James Hrkach/Josh Hrkach
One of my favorite shows is “Mayday,” a documentary which recounts stories of plane crashes or near crashes. My favorite episodes are the ones where everyone (or most) survives. Survival often depends on the skill and precision of the pilots and flight engineers. I find it fascinating just what can bring a plane down and what can also save a plane.
It dawned on me recently when I was flying back from New Jersey that it takes tremendous trust to get on a plane: trust that the pilots are trained to fly the plane with precision, trust that the builders created a solid, well-performing plane, trust that the mechanics have serviced the plane properly. After all, which one of us wants to be 20,000 feet in the air when a mechanical problem happens or when a pilot encounters a situation he’s not trained to handle?
Of course, the same can be said for any situation. We trust our doctors, food companies, school bus drivers and many others. On a daily basis, we are called to trust those who are human and have the potential of making mistakes.
Consider how most couples “trust” with regard to their fertility. They take pills, get injections, apply chemical patches, insert devices, consent to operations. Instead of working with their fertility, they try to destroy it. Instead of embracing their fertility, they fight it. They “trust” that by using contraceptives, they will be able to “control” their fertility.
Newsflash: none of these chemicals, devices or operations are 100 percent effective in preventing pregnancy. No method, except for complete abstinence, is 100 percent effective in preventing pregnancy. And yet millions of couples put their “trust” in contraceptive methods on a daily basis. If the methods “fail,” and a child is conceived, many will resort to abortion.
So what does this have to do with Advent?
Well, a lot. When told that she would be the mother of our Savior, Mary replied, “Be it done to me according to your word.” That took tremendous trust in God’s plan for her. She didn’t say, “Hmmm, let me think about that for a few weeks and I’ll get back to you.” Without her trust, without her yes, we would not be preparing to celebrate Christmas.
Admittedly, the times I’ve appreciated Our Lady’s fiat the most have been when I was expecting a child during Advent and Christmas. I loved being pregnant and feeling the movement of my babies. It definitely helped me to be more empathetic to what Mary went through: nine months pregnant, on a donkey and making a long journey away from home. It was equally difficult for her to give birth in a stable, surrounded by the smells and sounds of animals. And yet Mary trusted that this was God’s plan for her and accepted it without question.
So what is God’s plan for us especially regarding our fertility? I can tell you what it is not: God’s plan is not for us to destroy the gift of our fertility with devices, behaviors, chemicals or operations. This “trust” that many couples place in contraceptives can sometimes result in an unwanted, permanent loss of fertility and can lead to numerous other consequences as well. Pope Paul VI, in his encyclical Humanae Vitae (On Human Life, 1968) talks about one of the most common consequences of contraceptive use: “A man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.”
God’s plan is for couples to embrace their fertility and to be generously open to life. Does that mean that God wants us to have as many children as possible? No, it doesn’t. God gave us the gift of reason and he also gave us a built-in natural method of avoiding pregnancy that works with fertility and not against it. God, the Author of life, wants to be part of our decisions regarding our fertility.
What about us? Who do we trust with our fertility? Is it God or is it a device, operation or contraceptive behavior?
Couples who want to trust God with their decisions will trust Him with all of their decisions, including the beautiful gift of fertility. When couples have serious need to avoid pregnancy, Natural Family Planning is a moral way to do so. NFP uses no devices and works with God instead of against Him. Wives who use NFP seldom feel used by their husbands. NFP also works well to achieve pregnancy. It’s healthy, effective and safe. NFP encourages good communication and strengthens marital relationships.
Advent is the ideal time to rethink who we trust our fertility with. Do we trust a chemical company? Do we trust a condom manufacturer? Or do we trust God, the Author of Life?
Learning Natural Family Planning nowadays is as simple as turning on your computer. My husband and I teach NFP online through the Couple to Couple League. For more information on NFP classes or NFP in general, please comment below or email me: info(at)fullquiverpublishing.com.
Copyright Ellen Gable Hrkach 2012
7 Quick Takes Friday – Vol. 51
I’m heading over to Conversion Diary to participate in 7 Quick Takes Friday with other Catholic bloggers.
1. Ski Hill Fun
Last Saturday, I spent the afternoon at the local ski hill with my youngest son. I don’t ski, but he enjoys skiing, so I stayed in the lounge beside the fireplace with this view (photo) listening to Christmas songs on the radio. Because it’s the beginning of the ski season, very few people were on the hill and no waiting for the ski lift. It was a relaxing time for me and an exciting time for him.
2 and 3. Pakenham Five-Span Bridge
We live in the country near Pakenham, Ontario. Pakenham is a beautiful little town with a unique five-span stone bridge.
photo copyright Josh Hrkach
Photo copyright Josh Hrkach
4. Jell-O Cookies
Since she worked from home full time, my mother rarely baked cookies. The exception was Christmas time. In the 70’s, she began making festive pink and green Jell-O cookies. Here’s the recipe.
Photo credit: Kraft
5. Upcoming Reviews
I’m working on reviews for the following books:
The Life I Dreamed by Kari Burke
Facing Infertility: A Catholic Approach by Jean Dimech-Juchniewicz
6. No Room at the Inn Cartoon
This was actually the very first cartoon we created for Family Foundations Magazine six years ago. It wasn’t the first cartoon we ever did, however. We have about 25 years worth of Christmas card cartoons (I’ll be sharing some of those next week…)
Image copyright James and Ellen Hrkach/FQP
7. Carol of the Bells 2010
My husband and three of my sons performing “Christmas Eve at Sarajevo” Carol of the Bells back in 2010.
Copyright 2012 Ellen Gable Hrkach
Stealing Jenny FREE on Kindle Today & Tomorrow
My third novel, Stealing Jenny, will be FREE today and tomorrow on Kindle.
After three heartbreaking miscarriages, Tom and Jenny Callahan are happily anticipating the birth of their sixth child. A neighbor, however, is secretly hatching a sinister plot which will find Jenny and her unborn baby fighting for their lives.
“Stealing Jenny is a gripping novel filled with engaging characters, a compelling mystery and a message which underscores the precious dignity of life. I literally couldn’t put it down and give Stealing Jenny my highest recommendation.” Lisa M. Hendey, author of “A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms”
“Ellen Gable is a masterful storyteller.Stealing Jenny is a smoothly written, chilling tale of gripping suspense. There are terrifying moments and heart-wrenching moments. Catholic faith and hope are tested. Above all, the sacredness and privilege of precious new life is made indisputably evident I never wanted it to end!” Therese Heckenkamp, author, Frozen Footprints and Past Suspicion
To download your Kindle copy for FREE, click here.
Self-Publishing and Web Presence
image purchased from iStock
Since I self-published my first book eight years ago, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of self-published books being released. In 2009, nearly 80 percent of all books released were self-published. And with the e-book revolution, there are even more independently published books released each year. Many authors are choosing this route, so I wanted to focus on web presence in promoting a self-published book. Keep in mind that this assumes the self-published author has hired a competent editor and book designer in order to produce a high quality book. No amount of web presence will help you promote a low quality book.
Having a web presence before you publish is essential, although you can build a web presence after you publish.
Here are a few helpful sites the self-published author should have…below each one are several examples from self-published authors I know.
Author Page
Author pages should list information about the author: books, awards, biography and special interests.
TM Wallace
Gerard Webster
Blog
A blog takes a lot of time. And if you’re only posting to it once a month or less, you are unlikely to gain many followers. Try starting out at once a week. Comment and “like” other bloggers’ posts. There are several free blogging sites an author can use. I use WordPress (first example below). Another option is Blogger (second example). I know several bloggers who were approached by publishers because of their blog’s popularity.
Plot Line & Sinker
Cause of Our Joy Blog
Book Page
Book pages list reviews, synopsis, excerpts, ordering information and freebies for readers. A web professional can set up a book page or you can do it through a free WordPress site. As well, Vistaprint offers websites (the second site below is a Vistaprint site).
In Name Only Web Page
The Cameo Web Page
Facebook Page for Author and/or Book
A Facebook author page is a great way to let fans and others on Facebook know what’s going on: book signings, freebies etc.
Ann Frailey’s Facebook Page
Ellen Gable, Author’s Facebook Page
Twitter
Twitter is a social networking site where you can post short posts, “retweet” others’ posts and it has the potential of helping you gain a following.
Leticia Velasquez on Twitter
Susi Pittman (Catholic Steward) on Twitter
Goodreads
Whether you’re self-published or traditionally published, Goodreads is one of the best sites for authors and readers. You can become a “Goodreads Author.” Goodreads will also link your blog to your profile page.
Ellen Gable’s Goodreads Author Page
Elena Maria Vidal’s Goodreads Author Page
Linked In
Linked in is a social networking site that connects business and professional contacts. Your contacts can now “endorse” you for various jobs and skills you have.
Gloria Winn’s Linked in Profile
Nancy Carabio Belanger’s Linked In Profile
Amazon Author Page
Amazon Author pages include a biography of the author, along with all the books that have been published and that are available on Amazon. The Amazon Author Page also connects your blog to your page.
Ellen Gable’s Amazon Author Page
Karen Kelly Boyce’s Amazon Author Page
Other “pages” include Google Plus and a You Tube Channel.
Some of these links/pages take time to maintain and keep fresh with material, but some, like the Amazon Author Page, take only a few moments to update every six months or so. All of these links can be very helpful in finding your target audience.
There are many self-published authors I didn’t mention. If you are a self-published author and wish to include your links, please feel free to comment below!
To read the post in its entirety at the CWG Blog, click here.
copyright 2012 Ellen Gable Hrkach
Plot Line and Sinker (Ellen Gable, Author) 