If The Moon Please join us in praying with the Leadership Conference of Religious Women the reflection “If the Moon Only Came Out Once A Month“.
I Want to See Talk to any Real Estate agent (or avid HGTV viewer) and they’ll tell you that increasing your curb appeal is important when selling your home. Curb appeal is how attractive your home looks when a potential buyer first pulls up to look at it. You’ve probably heard the phrase “first impressions are important,” and that’s true — especially when selling a home. According to a study done by Michigan State University, a home with landscaping and effort put into curb appeal can increase perceived home value by 5 to 11%. Curb appeal can also sell a home faster. Suzette Peoples, Owner and Broker of Peoples Properties, said curb appeal is important for buyers to form a positive opinion on the property. “When buyers see the outside taken care of, they have a better attitude that the inside will be just as nice!” Peoples said. “First impressions make lasting impressions.” Luckily, whether your budget is large or small, you can use these 6 tips from successful real estate agents to increase your curb appeal and see a return on your investment in the sale of your home. Clean or Repaint the Door Suzette Peoples, Owner of Peoples Properties, said she always advises sellers to clean or re-paint their front door before listing a home. Your front door gets a lot of wear and tear and has to face the outside elements, which can make it wear faster. Cleaning it and updating the paint can instantly update the look and feel of your home. Add a bold but matching color to make the door pop and have the prospective buyer’s eye drawn to it. Cost to repaint the door: About $20 for a quart Little extra in your budget? Completely replacing your door can bring a 90% return on your investment if the entry door is steel (which, on average, will cost you about $1,413), according to the Cost vs Value Report from Remodeling Magazine. Landscape When you pull up to a home with dead grass and weeds in the planter boxes, you’re probably not going to be impressed. That’s why investing in your lawn and garden is great for curb appeal. Try out with artificial turf. “Landscaping is one of the best ways to increase curb appeal for any listing,” Peoples said. According to the Economic Benefits of Landscape by the Landscape Contractors of America, landscaping can add 14% to the resale value of a home and sell it 6 weeks faster. Take an hour or two to weed the garden, replace mulch, plant new flowers, and replace the brick or concrete siders on your flower beds. You’ll also want to mow your lawn before showing the home. You can also purchase ready-made pots of plants at most home improvement stores, which can save you time and energy. Cost: dependent on what type of flowers and mulch you purchase. Can work with any price range. Little extra in your budget?: Find a professional landscaper in your area to create an easy-to-care-for landscape that also looks beautiful. Homeowners spend $3,219 on average to hire a landscaper. Clean Up the Driveway Driveways don’t seem like they’d be a real eyecatcher, but if it has weeds and dirt, it’s going to leave a bad first impression for your buyers. Suzette Peoples said she powerwashes all driveways and sidewalks before listing the home. But don’t just clean up your driveway, make sure it’s de-cluttered as well. Jill Price suggested making sure the cars aren’t parked in the driveway for the photoshoot of the home and while the home is being shown.
Send Me We have a preschool connected to our Motherhouse. One day as I walked by our Kindergarten, I overheard the teacher asking the children what they wanted to do when they grew up. The answers came rather quickly- astronaut, president, doctor. Their answers leaned toward bigger than life careers. The ordinary and mundane were not part of their responses. Yet their teacher pursued the conversation and encouraged her students to remember, no matter what they did, they were to be of service to others. In our Gospel, Jesus sends the disciples on mission, to be of service to those they meet and to take nothing extra on the way. All they needed for success was the grace Jesus offered them and His commission and authority. We who are Jesus’ disciples today are sent in the same way. Traveling light, we carry with us the authority of Jesus to enable others to know his love and action in their life and to bring them to fullness of life. By acting faithfully, we are God’s instruments bringing life and healing to others.
“Your Faith has saved you.” We have a tendency to label people. Sometimes labeling serves as a protection, preparing us to act appropriately. Labeling may shield us from heartache or expectations unfilled. In our gospel today, it seems the people are good at labeling! The disciples are puzzled by Jesus’ question, “Who touched me?” when the crowds are pressing him. The crowd at Jarius’ house tells Jesus not to bother, because Jarius’ daughter is dead. Typical responses. The woman was afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years and the little girl was dead. What could Jesus do in the face of all that? What the crowd was not prepared for is Jesus taking labeled situations and treating them as new opportunities to call forth faith. The woman with the hemorrhages and Jarius were people of great faith. They stand in opposition to the hardheaded realism of the disciples and the crowd. Encounter with Jesus changes experiences. It is the faith of the woman and Jarius that opens new life offered by Jesus. The challenge is to see new life in the circumstances of our life precisely because Jesus is present and nothing is the same. The good news is that suffering and death are not hopeless because out of them comes life. All we need is faith in Jesus.
“Do you not yet have faith?” Growing up on Lake Erie, I had opportunity to see small vessels caught in storms, buffeted by wind and rain. And as a child, storms frightened me. My mother would light a blessed candle, reassuring me that all would be well. Today violent storms cause me to pause. I have expensive surge protectors to protect my electronic equipment. Yet, when a storm arises, I am still fearful and I disconnect everything. In our Gospel today, Jesus is with experienced fishermen who knew the peril of a storm at sea. What they did not yet know was the extent of Jesus’ power and his care for them. From what disaster does Jesus really save the disciples? From a storm? Yes, but much more. Jesus saves them from their lack of faith and trust in him. After Jesus commanded the sea to be quiet, there was a great calm. Were the disciples calmed? Did they grow in faith? For us, do the storms of our lives become occasions for us to grow in faith and trust that God is present, bringing us closer to him?