Sacrifice Beads

In case you can't tell, I'm trying to make up for the two weeks I lost on here while recovering from my back. :)

So last week the girls went to "K4J," a religion class we go to once a month. Every month introduces a different virtue, and the theme this month is "Sacrifice." So Katie and Beth were both given St. Therese beads to use during Lent.

St. Therese and her sisters (she was the youngest, I think, of 5) used to make these things called "sacrifice beads," a string of beads that is tied together in a way that allows you to pull them along the string. On the top is a crucifix, and the deal is that every time you make a sacrifice, you pull a bead towards the crucifix. The goal is to pull all your beads during the day. However, for the sacrifice to count, you have to keep it a SECRET. No bragging, no comparing sacrifices, it should be a secret between you and Jesus.

Well, we've been having a hard time preserving the spirit of that around here. Katie's mouth runs non-stop all day long, so secrets are not exactly her forte. This is a speech I've heard several times a day for the last week: Katie, "I made three sacrifices so far today! Of course, it's a secret. I can't tell you what I did. But can I tell you that I did something that was really hard for me? I think that makes God feel really happy, I like to make some sacrifices but we are supposed to keep it a secret but I can just tell you that mine had something to do with Claire I keep my beads hidden in my pocket so no-one can see them Beth wants me to always see when she pulls a bead but I keep mine a secret it's in my pocket Claire always wants to take my toys but today I did a really good thing pulled a bead keeping it a secret a secret a secret I LET CLAIRE PLAY WITH MY TOY."

Beth, on the surface, does much better, but she has a certain way of advertising her sacrifices , that is actually more noticeable than if she spent all day talking about it. This is a scenario that we've gone through just as often as Katie's little speeches: Beth sits at the table coloring. Katie asks her for the red crayon, Beth hands it to her and then sighs loudly. She then gets up, walks over to the counter where her beads are, picks the beads up, casts a look at Katie, dramatically pulls one, then goes back to her seat. Katie says, "Why did you just pull that bead? Giving me the red crayon was not a sacrifice, you weren't using the red one. That was just doing a favor." Beth replies, "It's a secret." Katie: "I'm just telling you that giving me the crayon was not a sacrifice." Beth: "I can't talk about this because we are supposed to keep our sacrifices a SECRET."

So Katie is slowly going batty, because she is just positive that Beth is pulling beads when she doesn't really deserve to. And Beth, I am almost certain, is deliberately pulling beads in front of Katie because she KNOWS it's driving her crazy.

I think I may need some sacrifice beads of my own, so I have something to pull every time I resist the urge to chuck the beads out the window.