Decisions, decisions.

I need to make some serious life decisions in the coming weeks. I have no brain space for trivial matters.

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I reckon I make about 500+ decisions in a day. Maybe more, given that I'm a teacher and I constantly need to decide how to respond to pupil interactions in my classroom. The problem is that my ability to make good decisions is easily depleted. So the key is to minimise the number of decisions I need to make each day.

Ever since I've decluttered my wardrobe, my mornings involve much less decisions, because I don't have piles and piles of clothes to get through in order to pick my outfit. In fact, I often plan it the previous evening. I have the same morning routine every day, wake up at the same time, bathroom, make a cup of tea, take lunch out of the fridge, eat breakfast, get dressed, brush my teeth, get out of the house. Same every day, I don't even need to think about it. I usually mak a big batch of food on a Sunday so that I can just take it to work for lunch without worrying what to eat. I make a rough meal plan for the week so that I don't have to come up with ideas for dinners.

As for my daily activities, I write down what I need to do when I get to work in the morning so that I have a productive hour without wasting time for making choices. Time at work is structured, but what happens in the classroom can be unpredictable, so I need all the energy I can get to respond to anything that might happen in the classroom. Like children trying to turn tables upside down or throwing bits of glue around. All these require me to be super alert and able to make quick decisions. So I come in in the morning with a clear idea what needs printing, what needs marking, which books need to be on the desks. And I have routines for the school day as well. At break time, I lay out the books for the next class, set up everything on my laptop for the next two periods of the day and I have my snack. Every day is the same. I know exactly what to do and how to do it, no need to think to much.

I know that some people might say that it is sad and that there doesn't seem to be any spontaneity in my life, but actually I found that because I've pre-made so many decisions, I have more energy and time for being spontaneous when I feel like it. And I actually really like structure. It gives me a sense of security and lets me really focus on what matters. Like taking time to do my MA or to make better lesson plans or engage with professional development. Time is precious. If I can make a decision about something trivial once a week or once a month instead of every day, I'm going to do it, no doubt about it.

Sunday Special: The Persistent Saint: St Rita of Cascia.

This Sunday, I want to launch a series of Sunday Specials about my favourite saints. Throughout the ages there has been thousands of holy men and women who carried the light of Christ to all people around them. I hope that one day, together with all of you, I shall join them in Heaven in an unceasing celebration of God's love. To get there, we have a score of saints to be our models and to guide us on the journey through their wisdom and example.

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My first encounter with St Rita was about six or seven years ago. I've met up with a writer to talk about studying abroad and it turned out that she was an author of a book about the life of and devotion to St Rita. I instantly fell in love with this saint.

St Rita was born in 1367 and her story is absolutely incredible. She wanted to join a religious community, but her parents wished her to marry, so she humbly submitted to their wishes. The match with Ferdinand Mancini was not an easy one: her husband was said to be hotheaded. Initially Rita tried to confront this difficult temperament, but with time she simply resolved to pray fervently for a change in her husband. Rita gave birth to two sons who inherited their father's tendency to get into arguments. Ferdinand was murdered following one of many conflicts between the local political clans and his sons wanted revenge. Rita prayed that her boys might not become murderers. The story is that the boys died in a plague before they could carry out any of their murderous plans.

Rita found consolation in prayer and sought to enter an Augustinian convent in Cascia. However, time after time, her requests to join the community were rejected. Finally, after many attempts and after facilitating a reconciliation between her family and the family of Ferdinand's murders, she was allowed to start her religious life.

Her life in the convent was full of acts of penance. Rita spent days considering the Passion of Christ and said "Please let me suffer like you, Divine Saviour." She received stigmata as a response to her prayer: a wound appeared on her forehead, as if a thorn from Christ's crown has pierced her. The wound never healed and caused Rita severe pain that she bore with patience, always offering it up in prayer.

Miracles followed Rita's death immediately. Rita's body is still incorrupt today, it can be seen in a glass coffin in the basilica in Cascia. My dream is to make a pilgrimage to Italy and visit the basilica there. St Rita is is considered a patron of impossible causes and is often depicted with a rose. This is a reference to a story from her monastic times. One day in January, Rita asked another sister to go to the garden and bring her a rose. Surprisingly, and against all odds, the sister returned with a beautiful rose.

St Rita is remembered in the Church on May 22nd.

O God, Who in Thine infinite tenderness hast vouchsafed to regard the prayer of Thy servant, Blessed Rita, and dost grant to her supplication that which is impossible to human foresight, skill and efforts, in reward of her compassionate love and firm reliance on Thy promise, have pity on our adversity and succor us in our calamities, that the unbeliever may know Thou art the recompense of the humble, the defense of the helpless, and the strength of those who trust in Thee, through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

Juggling a Master's and a full-time job.

What a lovely way to spend a Saturday. Grocery shopping, putting together an IKEA storage system and spending hours reading educational journals.

Doing a masters degree is a challenge. Doing it while working full time is even more challenging.

I've done my PGCE while working, but it was very different: I didn't have a full teaching timetable at the time and my life was much less demanding in general. I've started my two-year part time course last year and I can already say that this year is much more challenging. I work more hours this year and I have very limited time that I can actually commit to focused for on my thesis.

By next September, I have to have my thesis completed regardless of work circumstances, however, so I had to quickly find ways of making it work. Part of it is simple organisation, part of it letting go of my ideas what studying should look like.

And so I've created a schedule. I love planning, so it was was an easy task for me. The key is to be both realistic and specific about what needs to be done. By Christmas, I should have my literature review ready (ha ha ha), but it is not a specific enough goal to have. So I broke it down into manageable weekly tasks: reading specific articles, books, calling my supervisor etc. It is not a perfect schedule and will evolve with time, but it gives me some structure to begin with.

Now I've also created a home office in the spare bedroom so that I have space dedicated exclusively to working, be it school work or MA work. I don't have a massive need to have a special room for work, I live on my own so I don't have many distractions here (bar a cupboard full of delicious tea and chocolate), but sitting in my little office puts me in the work mindset straight away.

Finally, I had to accept that whole day study sessions are not likely to happen this year. I might manage to spend a couple of days over half terms working on the thesis, but on the whole, it will be just using these little pockets of time here and there. I need to find my own rhythm. I usually have a little bit of time in the evening between dinner time and relaxation, so I use that time to read an article or think about my ideas (I sit around thinking a lot. And talking to myself). But this is probably my biggest struggle at the moment. I'm used to long stretches of time dedicated to studying or writing and I don't get many of those now. But the only way to do it is to make it work.

I must say I have a love-hate relationship with this Masters programme: it's yet another thing that I need to do think about and schedule into the week, but at the same time I really enjoy reading articles and learning about new perspectives on the Mathematics curriculum. I know that this is probably the best time to do it, before my careers becomes even more demanding and before I become a mother; and I will benefit immensely from it in terms of my professional and personal development. But for all of you out there thinking about studying part time and working full time at the same time: it's not  piece of cake. But you can do it with plenty of cake at hand.

Enough, back to juggling now. :)

Sunday Special: To tithe or not to tithe?

Let's talk money today. And in particular about money given to the Church.

Under the Mosaic Law, the Israelites had to pay around 20%-30% of their income in tithe. There appear to have been three different kinds of tithe, paid in different places, for different purposes and in different amounts. The New Testament, on the other hand, does not suggest that tithing remains the obligation for the members of the Christian community. St Paul is his letters ephasises the need to give freely, and he does say that this does not have the force of a commandment (2 Cor 8:8).

Apparently Catholics are one of the least generous communities in terms of giving money to the Church. Other Christian denominations seems to be much more inclined to part with their money to support evangelisation and other works of their congregations. I wonder whether this is because the Catholic Church is seen as a large institution, whereas protestant churches, for instance, are usually single congregations without ties to large organisations?

If you follow my blog regularly, you would have seen that I'm in the process of reorganising my finances. This also applies to the money I give to the Church. I have a fixed amount I offer during collection on a Sunday each week. It's important for me since this money supports my parish directly. At the end of the day, electricity and heating bills needs to be paid, bread and wine need to be bought for Mass celebrations.

However, charity obliges to look after the poor and the needy around us. This is why I try to support the local food bank. So many families around here rely on food from donations. I'm yet to establish a regular pattern of donating, but I find it to be more meaningful than placing coins in the church basket. Charitable giving is something that I consider an important part of living out my faith. Give bread to the hungry and drink to the thirsty. It might be neither practical nor efficient to do it on individual basis (though there is time and place for it as well), but there are so many organisations that do wonderful work with those in need.

Everything belongs to God, and we only have stewardship of our resources.

I often worry about money, whether there is enough of it to cover all the expenses, to pay the bills and buy food. This sometimes makes me reluctant to suport the Church and the community. Yet God really calls me to less attachment to money. Every time I open my purse and give generously, God gives me tenfold more.

My resolution for the coming months is to become more generously and thoughtful in my giving. Have more discipline so that I have a regular pattern of giving rather than giving only when I feel guilty for not doing it often enough.

My answer to the question whether to tithe or not is to be generous in sharing your money and time with those around you: set a fixed amount of money aside each month and distribute it across different organisations according to what your heart tells you. For me this is my parish church, the local food bank and a number of charities that I support in the run-up to Christmas (Operation Christmas Child) and during Lent (CAFOD). Take time to volunteer if possible or to have a chat with your neighbour. I think we forget that time is probably our most precious resource and there are so many opportunities to give it generously for the good of others.

I would really encourage you to consider supporting the work of the church or local charities with your time and money. Christmas is approaching fast: maybe you could pack a shoe box for a child in need. It's my second year of getting involved with this project and it has brought me much joy.