Faith, Hope and Trust

From Matthew 6:25-34:

25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat (or drink), or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? 27 Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? 28 Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. 29 But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. 30  If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry and say, 'What are we to eat?' or 'What are we to drink?' or 'What are we to wear?' 32 All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. 34 Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.

I have not blogged in quite some time.  Partially because my pc time has been spent with my weight loss blog...  An endeavor that has ended up taking up more time than I had originally planned to give to it.    More time, but it is helping me to SLOWLY take off the weight I have been carrying around on and off since the birth of my first child AND helping me to develop healthy habits I plan to keep for a lifetime.

We received some news yesterday.  Rather distressing news.  My husband, who was laid off from his consulting position 15 months ago, was not selected for a position at a company he had been in the courting process for 6 weeks with.  This was the closest he had come in the 15 months, and it was extremely disheartening to hear that once again, there is no job.....

I have another friend in the same boat.  Her husband was laid off after my husband, but he was able to find a contract position to keep their family going.  They were just informed that the contract position was going to be eliminated due to downsizing.  And my brother in law is stressing about the future of his construction company...  (Feel free to insert snarky comment here about our "recovering" economy...)

I have had a few friends ask me how we are managing.  The only reply is Faith, Hope and Trust in God!  I know He has a plan, and I know that there must be some reason we are going through this time of trial and suffering.  I cling to 4 things right now.  1.  The Scripture verse above.  2.  Eucharistic Adoration  3. Confession, and 4. Our Lady Help of Christians through the Rosary and Memorare....

1.  Matthew 6:25-34

I do not think this verse needs any explanation.  This is the main thing that sustains me.  Every day, I think of this and I know Our Father will take care of us and our suffering will end....

2.  Eucharistic Adoration
What better way to pray (and beg?) for our needs than to go and visit Our Lord truly present, body, blood, soul and divinity in the Most Blessed Sacrament?  We are not fortunate enough to have a church here with Perpetual Adoration, but every time we make a little trip into The Cities, we stop at St Michael's Parish in Stillwater and visit Our Lord.  This has been a MAJOR source of comfort and strength for both my husband and myself....

3.  Confession
There is a propensity toward despair when you have 4 children to feed and clothe and educate and raise and student loans and other bills and  no money coming in to take care of those things.  Despair is a sin, it betrays a lack of Faith.  There is also a tendency to be a little more rash and impatient and argumentative when you are under great stress.  These things do not bring us closer to God, they take us from Him.  I have been going to Confession as often as I can and feel as though I need to.  Lately, that has been once a week.  Without the Grace from this wonderful Sacrament of Mercy, I do not know how I would get through......

4.  Our Lady, Help of Christians

For information on this title of Our Blessed Virgin and and Mother Full of Grace, see here.  I have been asking her intercession for all of our needs through the Rosary and also the Memorare.  Both are most beautiful prayers.  Our Lady raised Our Lord.  She saw to His needs as a child.  She understands a mother's suffering, as well as a woman's love and honor of her husband.  What better person to look to for example of living a life that is holy and pleasing to God?  And, as she is the mother of Our Lord, what better person to ask for help?  Since Our Lord loves and respects His mother, He will grant whatever she asks if it is in concordance with the Father's will....  Thus, we keep "flying" to her, seeking her help and imploring her intercession.....

I look forward to the day when I can report that God has answered our prayers with a "Yes", instead of a "Not Now." regarding my husband's employment.  In the meantime, I count my blessings, am thankful for the blessings I have, and pray!

Recipe for A Happy Marraige

I found this in an old country cookbook, and I LOVE it, so I thought it worth sharing.....

Recipe For a Happy Marraige

1 cup Consideration
2 cups Flatter, carefully concealed
2 cups Milk of Human Kindness
1 Gallon Faith in God and eachother
2 cups Praise
1 small pinch In-Laws
1 reasonable Budget, mixed in with a generoud dash of cooperation
3 tsp Pure Extract of "I am Sorry."
1 cup Contentment
1 cup Confidence
1 cup Encouragement
2 Children, at least
1 Large or Two Small hobbies
1 heaping cup Blindness to Others' Faults

For extra flavor, add recreation and a dash of happy memories.  Stir well and remove any specks of jealousy, temper or criticism.  If you like a sweeter product, add a generous portion of LOVE.  Keep warm with a steady flame of devotion.  Never serve with a cold shoulder or a hot tongue.  Add to the recipe the presence and love of God and you will have quite a home.

Out of the Mouths of Babes....

So, Buddy has been asking - a lot lately - if I am pregnant yet.  I have to keep telling him "no, honey.  Mom and dad are waiting just a little bit so the babies can get a little older and mom can lose some weight to make sure she has a healthy pregnancy."   Of course, we always add the "but you never know what God has planned for us...."  Well, apparently that is not good enough for him...  Two nights ago, during family prayers, when it came to his turn, after saying what he was thankful for, he decided to ask God for another baby brother.... 
O boy!

Well, with no sustainable income for 12 months and me being seriously overweight, and having a 2 year old and an 11 month old....  I am certainly not going to say no to whatever God has planned for me BUT I really am hoping that He does not have another blessing of the baby type planned for any time withing the next 12-18 months....  I am so very thankful NFP is 99% effective - for postponing pregnancy as well as for couples trying to achieve pregnancy....

Saint Michael, your heart was filled with great charity for God and man.
Our Lord returned your love and allowed you to exchange mystically your heart with His.
Pray for all whose hearts are afflicted with illness, fear, or loneliness.
Teach us to be resigned to God's will in all the trials and sicknesses.
Help us to live as you lived - to do good now and for eternity.
Amen

It's been awhile...

OK, I know I have been slacking a bit here with my blog entries....  I have started a secondary blog - which seems to have become my primary blog.  I am - how do I say this? - overweight, fat, obese...  There are many words to choose from, but the bottom line is I need to reduce my bottom line.  As of a week and a half ago, I weighed over 300 pounds.  My other blog is chronicling my weight loss journey...  Really, it is more of a conversion to a healthier lifestyle.....

So why am I writing about that here?  It occurred to me that us moms are so busy caring for the other members of the family, we frequently forget (or just plain fail) to take care of ourselves....  When you take a flight anywhere and the flight attendants go through their little safety ditty, the one thing they say when talking about the air masks is to make sure your own mask is on and secure BEFORE you assist others in securing their mask.  That's because they have to remind us that if we're not conscious, we cannot take care of others....   I'll take that to a not-so-obvious level....  If we fail to take care of ourselves, how can we be in a condition to handle whatever life throws at us?
1 corinthians 6:19-20 tells us:
19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

While the verse is specifically referring to sexual immorality, that is not the only way to read it.  If our body belongs to God, and we are to honor Him with it, then ANYTHING that is harmful to our body should be avoided.  If our body is HIS, we MUST take care of it and treasure it as the wonderful sacred gift it is....  Overeating, or being overweight to an unhealthy extent is failing to to do just that...

No more excuses.  I am going to take care of me so that I can take care of my children, and hopefully have enough health and life to play with my grandchildren!

Lord, You invite all who are burdened to come to you.

Allow Your healing Hand to heal me.
Touch my soul with Your compassion for others;
touch my heart with Your courage
and infinite Love for all;
touch my mind with Your Wisdom,
and may my mouth always proclaim Your praise.
Teach me to reach out to You in all my needs,
and help me to lead others to You by my example.

Most loving Heart of Jesus,
bring me health in body and spirit that I may serve You with all my strength.
Touch gently this life which you have created, now and forever.
Amen.

2 year olds are amazing

I do not know if it is because we homeschool or if he is just really a bright kid (little of both, maybe?) but Taz is amazing us daily.  Today, he looked at the fall scene on my husband's laptop and said "orange", and kept saying it until we acknowledged him.  I have never taught him his colors.  When he wants a particular crayon, we tell him the name of the color when we hand it to him, but he rarely ever wants orange.  Usually blue and red are his preferences....  He also knows most of his letters by sight and sound....  Obviously, I have no illusions of him putting the letters together to make words at this age, but I am amazed at what he knows with no 'real' instruction....

Unfortunately, it does not stop there.  He can also work around almost any child-proofing.  It was quite frightening when we were moving and he took out the outlet covers and tried to find out what would happen when you put a screwdriver in an electrical outlet....  We have gone through 2 lazy-susan cabinet locks...  (They're not cheap, either) and the child could still get breakfast for himself if we were inclined to let him.  He loves Cheerios and the Kix....  And he loves to be helpful and give them to the baby.

I think it has just been so long since we have had a 2 year old in the house, I had forgotten how amazing they are.  They are little parakeets, repeating everything - especially seeming to repeat those things you wish they hadn't heard at a time when you wish they wouldn't speak...  Our oldest had a moment when we were out at a restaurant with my parents and brother and sister.  She dropped something on the way to the ladies room and said "Oh, shit".  When no one heard the first time (other than me - very thankful that no one else heard), she turned around and practically shouted it.

Another reason I believe in the Classical Education method of educating our children, and ourselves....  At such a young age, our brains are like sponges, just waiting to soak up every thing we can.  It isn't until we are older and can see how the things we learned connect and relate that things begin to make sense.  My husband and I are actually considering taking Traditional Logic, Memoria Press's basic logic course.  Ultimately, I want to take Logic I and II as well as Rhetoric.  I know how to argue (debate) a point rather well, but I want to know the terminology and linguistics when I am refuting an invalid point.....  Since my oldest won't be ready for logic for 3 more years, I figure it is good to stay ahead of her - she is already a world class debater and negotiator....    Also, it will help the kids to learn to think, and see fallacies in media and not fall prey to propaganda...  Hopefully.....

What to do.....

I am looking ahead for our homeschool curriculum...  I am in a quagmire....

I strongly believe in following the classical model of education.  I have just discovered a wonderful book called "The Latin Centered Curriculum" by Andrew A Campbell.  It explains the history of classical education from the Ancient Greeks through its present revival.  It also has curriculum suggestions.  I am reading it and Crunchy CONS simultaneously, and am only in the beginning of this book.  I have most of what we are doing for next year, but I am stuck for a writing program....  I love the approach of Classical Writing.  Their method seems solidly classical.  I also like IEW's Teaching Writing and Student Writing Intensive....  I am not even sure where to go for good comparisons.  I have heard rave reviews and IEW's writing program, but the book I am reading recommends Classical Writing.  Now I do not want to be a lemming and use that just because a book recommends it.  That being said, I respect the author of the book as knowledgeable, and the people I know who recommended the book to me.  So do I really want to try to reinvent the wheel?  Anyway, I am leaning towards the Classical Writing as of now.....   We'll see.....  I suppose some time, and praying for guidance, and things will sort out.  Either way, the program I choose, I am going to be with it for at least 2 years....  It's a big decision....

Crunchy CONS

I am reading a very interesting book called "Crunchy CONS" by Rod Dreher.

I am only on the second chapter, but I am liking it.  In a nutshell, it discusses some of the hypocrisy of those who label themselves conservatives and discusses the thousands of Americans who live the "crunchy con" life.  'Crunchy' here refers to the slang term for earthy, you know, granola....   The book discusses how typically, being crunchy is seen as leftist, when it in fact can flow from true conservatism.

One of my favorite quotes (page 12-13).  "Too often the Democrats act like the Party of Lust, and Republicans the Party of Greed.  Both are deadly sins that eat at the soul, and crunchy cons believe that both must be resisted in our personal and communal lives.  Mainstream liberalism and conservatism, as the agrarian essayist Wendell Berry said, are "perfectly useless" to combat the forces in contemporary American society that are pulling families and communities apart...."

As a 'conservative' who makes our own homemade bread, sometimes using our own ground wheat and/or rye berries.   Over the last couple years, I have developed a bit of a loating of pre-packaged, processed foods...  Also, I have been more and more drawn to hormone free and free range meats....  Unfortunately, they are also more expensive, but very worth it.  Had we not moved, we were going to join a local farmers co-op for fresh fruits and vegetables...  I have always been very conscious of recycling and reusing and tryting to do what is right for the environment.  My husband and I take the kids to the local park with rubber gloves and a garbage bag occasionally to pick up trash...  If it were solely my decision, we'd not own a TV.  As I delve further into the earthy life, and find people who are like minded in that regard, many tend to be very stereotypically 'lefty'....  Reading this book has been a bit refreshing.  I know that there are others out there like me that are too conservative for the Democrats but do not really fit into the Republican camp, either. 

I am finding it a very interesting book.  And I love the subtitle:  "How Birkenstocked Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardners, evangelical free range farmers, hip homeschooling mamas, right-wing nature lovers, and their diverse tribe of coutercultural conservatives plan to save America (or at least the Republican Party)" oh, and I also love that the author is an eastern rite Catholic who's wife homeschools the children... Now, I am going to go read another chapter :)

Function and Dysfunction

Ok, so these musings are going to just be my rambling....  Warning: the are completely counter-cuntural.  You may become upset.  Read on at your own risk.....

I have heard a startling statistic in the last 2 weeks.  Twice in as many weeks, from different sources, I have heard that 87 percent of American families are dysfunctional.  What does it even mean to be a "dysfunctional family"? According to Wikipedia, "A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often abuse on the part of individual members occur continually and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions."  That being understood, the rate of dysfunctional families is  87% - Seriously?!?  Why the rate is so high?   What is the difference in percentage from 10 years ago? 20? 50? 


I question the source of the statistic, but I have no doubt that it is very high number...  Much higher than in years past.  I think it is for 2 primary reasons - and a slew of reasons that flow from the two main ones....  (And here I open myself to possibly scathing comments)

1.  "Sexual revolution"
2.  "Women's liberation"

The sexual revolution started before I was born.  Back then, marraige was sacred and families stayed together.  They know that eventually the passion and the "starstruck lovers" phase of any relationship ends and they knew how to make love work.  They understood that love was a choice and did not equate love with sex.  Love is a choice, sex is an act.  The sexual revolution trivialized the most sacred communion - both physically AND spiritually - a man and a woman can share.  It made a sacred union into a purely physical act.  From this, eventually, over the course of many years,  flowed a more tolerant attitude of sex, anywhere with anyone for any reason....   With that kind of misunderstanding about the nature of the act and so few people waiting until marraige, why get married?  It seems now people tend to equate love with the pleasure derived from a sexual relationship with a person.  When the passion dies, so does the relationship - time to move on to the next "love" of our life.  Relationships stop being about working through things and making the choice to love "until death do us part" and become more about "What can you do for me now?"  It becomes more of a contract to be terminated at will than a covenant to be lived.  This attitude has severely affected the divorce rate in our country, as well as our attitudes of what the dynamics of relationships should look like.  Our attitudes are no longer about what is in the best interest of the family and what can I do to help/support/show my love for my family.  It has become about what am I getting from my family?  What do I get out of this relationship?  When we start thinking that way, there would logically follow a propensity a mistreat the other members of our family - thus leading to the depressing label of "dysfunctional"


2.   Women's liberation was also before my time.  I am thankful for the right to vote.  I am thankful to the women who blazed trails so that my generation can believe that they are receiving equal work for equal pay.  Unfortunately, it seems that our "liberation" has created a generation of slaves who now have no choice but to work.  When women joined the workforce, the job market was flooded and no one needed to pay employees as much as they might have with half the available workers....  Now, most women are not in a position to easily stay home.  Just my theory, I could be wrong...
Also, I have heard it argued that you can be a great mom and a great employee.  I beg to differ.  Best case scenario is that you could be great at one and mediocre at the other, worst case scenario is that you think you're great at both when you really suck at both.....  Before you argue with me on this point, just think about this: You have an important meeting/presentation/whatever scheduled at work today and your child wakes up coughing with a stomach ache and a fever.  You do not have family or friends able to watch said child for you, or take them to the doctor for you.  Do you take the day off work to take care of your sick child or do you send them to school/daycare and go to work?  One makes you a bad employee, the other a bad mother.  It is not possible to be 100% at both. 
Anyway, with women's lib, we were told that not only could we do it all, we SHOULD do it all, and expect to be great at doing it all.  In the process, we have delegated the raising of our children to daycares, sitters, nannies and employees of our government in the form of public school "educators"....  No one has a more vested interest in our children and our families than we do.  No one loves our children through their strengths like we do and no one wants to help them overcome their weaknesses like we do.  We are also being told now that no matter what, we should not do anything that might be seen as possibly being maybe damaging to the way the children see themselves...  This includes especially disciplining them.  Without discipline, we lose sight of what is right and what is wrong.  We lose sight of how people should be treated, and - more importantly - why.    So, let's revisit the Wiki definition of a dysfunctional family - "A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often abuse on the part of individual members occur continually and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions."  Without discipline, there tends to be misbehavior, likely "continually and regularly" misbehavior.

I could be wrong, but I think that a serious rethinking of the importance and roles of families in society, and our attitudes about them could help reverse the alarming trends of divorce and dysfunction............

A Prayer for families from Mother Theresa of Calcutta:

Heavenly Father, you have given us the model of life in the Holy Family of Nazareth.
Help us, O Loving Father, to make our family another Nazareth where love, peace and joy reign.
May it be deeply contemplative, intensely eucharistic, revived with joy.
Help us to stay together in joy and sorrow in family prayer.  Teach us to see Jesus in the members of our families, especially in their distressing disguise.  May the eucharistic heart of Jesus make our hearts humble like his and help us to carry out our family duties in a holy way.


May we love one another as God loves each one of us, more and more each day, and forgive each other's faults as you forgive our sins.  Help us, O Loving Father, to take whatever you give and give whatever you take with a big smile. 
Immaculate Heart of Mary, cause of our joy, pray for us.
St. Joseph, pray for us.
Holy Guardian Angels, be always with us, guide and protect us.


Amen.

When life hands you lemons

Pray, pray, pray......

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
"Rejoice always;
pray without ceasing;
in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

My husband was laid off almost a year ago.  29 days before the birth of our youngest, in fact.  He is still looking for employment.   We moved 3 months ago to a small town where we have no family, and are 90 minutes from all our friends since the cost of living was more suitable for our situation.  It is a nice area, but we are far from our support network and from those we love.  We found out today my husband has skin cancer.  That was a tough pill to swallow.  Fortunately, it is basal carcinoma.  The 'better' one to have.  Not likely to metasticize.  'Easy' to treat.  Also, it was a dreary, rainy, grey day outside, and I tend to get a little down anyway when there is no sun or moon visible.....

Homeschool did not happen today.  We read another chapter of our current read-aloud - The Return of the King by Tolkein (Lord of the Rings Trilogy finall book).  That was it.  Really, that was all I had it in me to do. 

I KNOW God has a plan, and I fully accept His will for me and my family.  It's just that sometimes I wonder what this is all going to lead to...  We went from a 6 figure salary to below the poverty level...  Looks like this Lent is going to last just a little longer..... 

Praise God for all His wonders and blessings.  No matter what your situation is, He loves you!  Every cross is a blessing - our crosses are our opportunity to share in Christ's passion.  We can share in His act of salvation through a free acceptance of our own suffering.  Paragraph 272 of The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, "Faith in God the Father Almighty can be put to the test by the experience of evil and suffering. God can sometimes seem to be absent and incapable of stopping evil. But in the most mysterious way God the Father has revealed his almighty power in the voluntary humiliation and resurrection of his Son, by which he conquered evil. . . . "    Suffering can be sanctifying.  I am so very thankful to know this...

Tomorrow is a new day.  Praise be to God for giving me a tomorrow to look forward to!  I am going to go kiss the kids and get some sleep!  God Bless you!

They do the darndest things......

My 2 year old, Taz,  is certainly a handful.  Today at Mass after Communion, when the communion hymn was over and the congregation was all quiet, he was in the pew (front one, mind you...  we sit up fron so the kids can see) singing Know Your Enemy by Green Day.  I am so thankful that his little two year old mouth cannot articulate so well.  It could have been a little more embarassing.  As it was, people just thought he liked the hymn som much that he continued singing.....  Thankfully, he was also singing all of the other songs, so that was plausible...

We listen to the classics.  I have the Music Masters Cds as well as Leonard Bernsteins Young People's Concerts but I also let them listen to things like Green Day, which they, of course, prefer.... We discuss the songs, and I love that the kids will remind me to turn off a song they know has a bad word in it.  That being said, my 7 year old has a very strong preference for hard rock.  He knows what button on the car radio that station is, and he asks me to stop on that one before he even hears the song that's on it.....  And I know the kids don't really listen to the words, they just like a good beat - like I did until I was about.....  um.....  well, I guess I still do...........

Sometimes I wonder if I am corrupting them with a bad "diet" of music.  I suppose the bottom line is as long as their music diet is balanced, and they feel like they can talk to me about things, we're in pretty good shape............  Now I need to go try to plan for tomorrow a little before bed.

HAPPY AND BLESSED EASTER!!!!

Finally... One on Homeschooling

OK, so this will be quick, but I was perusing through some old magalogs and articles I printed out to determine which ones I need to purge, and which to keep because one or more of the articles 'speaks' to me.  The unfortunate (or fortunate?) thing is if I kept it in my file/pile, it already 'spoke' to me and thus I was loathe to part with it. 

Anyway, after Mass tonight (Happy and Blessed Holy Week and Easter, by the way!) I was reading through an old issue of Magnum Opus (November 2008 issue, the article was "How to Think") and came accross a gem of a quote that hit me square in the face.....  "Great teaching isn't based on knowing how to ask good questions, but rather in training students to ask themselves good questions." 

I LOVE this quote.  I hope to chew on it frequently....  As frequently as I may lose sight of the truth it offers.  My children are 10, 7, 2 and almost 1.  I do NOT want to raise lemmings.  One of my foremost goals in the education of my children is to arm them with the tools necessary to know HOW to think and to learn.  To that end...  I am following the classical model of education and doing my best to instill a love of learning...  And praying - A LOT!

Wisdom From the Radio, Part 2

 "I used to be angry with people who had no Faith, then I realized that Faith is a gift from God."

I go through things sometimes with people I care about....  People I grew up with...  People who were, like me, born and raised Catholic all their formative years.  I sometimes get angry with them for not believing as I feel they should....  People who decide to leave the Church because the Church won't cave on this ideal or that teaching, and then say that it's the Church that hurt them.  It is easy to stand up and say you believe when everything is in order and things are easy.  It is precisely when things become difficult and we are feeling a challenge to our own behaviors and ideals that following the things we are taught proves our Faith.   This being said, Faith is a gift from God.  I have no right to get angry at others.  I have plenty of skeletons (sins) in my own closet.  What makes me so much better?   From this moment on, I will NOT get mad at those with little or no Faith....  I will pray for them and pity them, and love them, even when they challenge me and call me things like "Jesus Freak" and "too Catholic".... 

 "Every journey, no matter how long, begins with the first step." 

I have been out of shape for some time, spiritually as well as physically.   Sometimes I get overwhelmed with what I need to do to get back on track fully.   I know that an AA saying is "one day at a time", well, I think one step at a time is even better.  With my prayer life, as well as my dietary/exercize habits, instead of thinking "I blew it today", I just need to focus on one step at a time....  So what steps do I need to take here?  I have a few in mind...  Step one (for the body)- exercize every day, even if it is just for a bit....  and bed at 10pm (obviously not tonight...)  Step one (for the soul)- Make sure to have some quiet prayer time.  Start with 10 minutes a day.....

PRAYER FOR PERSEVERANCE:
Eternal Father, I humbly adore Thee, and thank Thee for having created me,
and for having redeemed me through Jesus Christ.
I thank Thee most sincerely for having made me a Christian, by giving me the true faith,
and by adopting me as Thy daughter, in the sacrament of baptism.
I thank Thee for having, after the numberless sins I had committed, waited for my repentance, and for having pardoned (as I humbly hope) all the offences which I have offered to Thee, and for which I am now sincerely sorry, because they have been displeasing to Thee, who art infinite goodness.
I thank Thee for having preserved me from so many relapses, of which I would have been guilty if Thou hadst not protected me.  But my enemies still continue, and will continue till death, to combat against me,
and to endeavor to make me their slave.  If Thou dost not constantly guard and succor me with thy aid,
I, a miserable creature,  shall return to sin, and shall certainly lose Thy grace.  I beseech Thee, then,
for the love of Jesus Christ, to grant me holy perseverance unto death.  
Jesus, Thy Son, has promised that Thou wilt grant whatsoever we ask in his name.
Through the merits, then, of Jesus Christ,  I beg, for myself and for all the just,
the grace never again to be separated from Thy love, but to love Thee forever,
in time and eternity. Mary, Mother of God, pray to Jesus for me.  Amen

Wisdom From the Radio

I love to listen to Relevant Radio and the other day I was listening to Fr. John Corapi.  Other than ArchBishop Fulton Sheen, Fr Corapi is one of my favorite speakers on the Faith.  They both tell it like it is, exactly like it is....   Anyway, there were two things he said that really struck a chord with me.  The first was "I used to be angry with people who had no Faith, then I realized that Faith is a gift from God."  The second was "every journey, no matter how long, begins with the first step.'  He was quoting someone on that one, but I cannot remember who he gave the credit to.....

My reflections on these quotes to come :)

God Be with you, always!

Hopefully Flawed

OK, I am getting the hang of blogging.  I was never good at keeping any type of journal, and so I suppose it is going to be that way without effort when it comes to an electronic journal....

One thing I have been able to reflect on this Lent is that I am flawed....   I have many, many flaws that are mostly due to the vices of Pride and Indulgence.  So, to counteract these, I need to prayerfully develop the virtues of Temperance and Humility.

I have found that when you ask God to help you to develop these virtues, He gives you lots of opportunity to practice.  So far, I am not doing as well as I would like to think that I am.....  Ask to be more humble, and it seems like more 'idiots' and horrible drivers and punky kids are thrust into your life....  I'm working on it, though.  Just because I "would never do x" does not mean that I do not do 'y', which may be just as much of an offense to God or man....

All this being said, I am hopeful.  Thus, I am hopefully flawed, and will likely remain so until I pass from this world.  This passage from Acts of the Apostles 2:25-27 fits my thoughts on this:
David said about him: 
   " 'I saw the Lord always before me.
      Because he is at my right hand,
      I will not be shaken.
 ²⁶Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
      my body also will live in hope,
 ²⁷because you will not abandon me to the grave,
      nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

Someday, I might actually around to blogging about being a mom or homeschooling, but I suppose that won't be today.

Lent

We were at Confession last Saturday and the Priest gave my husband the Little Black Book.  This particular Little Black Book is not an address book, but a Lenten reflection book that walks the reader through the Passion of Mark.  Each day has 6 minute meditations that started last Sunday and will continue through Easter Sunday.  

On the second day, I learned something new about the fasting required during Lent.  (I suppose it didn't take long because I am not a great scholar on such matters...)  In the early Church, the number of days of fasting prior to Easter varied.  Some places has as little as a couple days, while other places had up to a week.  Over time, the period of fasting became longer and longer and by the mid-fourth century, Lent began 6 weeks before Easter on the first Sunday of Lent.  Because fasting was not allowed on Sundays, there were not a full 40 days of fasting.  To make the fast 40 days long, the Church added the days from Ash Wednesday through the Saturday before the first Sunday of Lent.  

So, in the early Church, people didn't give up things like candy or pop or video games.  Not to belittle those sacrifices (I know personally that they are quite challenging), but how much more difficult would it be to observe an actual 40 day Lenten fast?  I know I sometimes grumble (internally, and I am not proud to admit it, but it does, sometimes, occur) at the one day here and there we are required to do....  but really....  40 days?!?  

We were talking about Operation Rice Bowl with the children today and we all did a bit of thinking on the fact that 2/3 of the world's population lives on 1/2 bowl of rice a day.  They get 1/2 bowl of rice, and I complain (sometimes) about eating 1 full meal, no snacks between meals, and 2 little meals that put together still don't equal one full meal.    Really, when you put it that way, it seems ridiculous to complain about being hungry - ever....  How Blessed we are that we have the opportunity to fast and share the pangs of hunger with our brothers and sisters!  How lucky we are to this incredible spiritual tool!  (Some demons can only be driven out by prayer and fasting (see Mark 9:17-29) - how powerful an aid fasting is! ) 

So, to make a long story short (too late!) what did I learn?

I learned that I take many things for granted and need to remember to be thankful for all of my Blessings!

Happy Lent and God Bless You!

Parenthood

Taz was truly a terror at Mass this morning....  First of all, he was playing with the cute little blond-haired girl that sits 2 rows behind us.  She would look under the pew, so he'd lay down on the floor and look under the pew, then she'd look over the seat back of the pew, and he'd pop right up and look at her there.  This continued for some time...  The they started laughing, she had this cute little girl laugh, and Taz had this hearty 2 year old loud boy laugh...  Would have been darling anywhere else.  Anyway, when I tried to grab him to remind him to be quiet, he threw an absolute fit....    I had to take him to the back and "have a talk with him".

This child has known how to go down stairs by himself since he was 11 months old, could get around any childproofing you try to hinder him with for about 6 months now, can put all the shapes in the little Tupperware shape sorter within 60 seconds, and watches his big sibs do something once or twice and usually does it himself shortly thereafter...

Ever watch Parenthood?  The kid that put on the football helmet and rammed his head into the wall...  Yeah, that's our Taz - on a calm day....  Funny thing is the older 2 were singing in the choir today, so we just had Taz and Peanut with us, both of whom got loud at precisely different points (and when you sit in the front row so the kiddos can see what's going on, loudness is a bit distressing...).  The Priest was a wonderful retired Priest who came to our Parish to say Mass (we've been without a parish Priest for 4 months) and after Mass he approached me and told me how wonderful and beautiful my children are.  

Since I wasn't really feeling the "wonderfulness" at the moment, the comment made me realize that yes, my babies are pretty wonderful, and I am so Blessed and thankful for them...  I may not be able to control their actions or behavior, but I can certainly control how I react - and that isn't only true of responding to our babies, but to everyone we come into contact with...  Now I just need to figure out how to control how I react to my parents, and all will be copacetic....  I humble thanked the Priest for his comment, and then I thanked God for the gentle reminder.....

It's About Time

It is always about time....  Time to do the chores, time to go to bed (which was about two and a half hours ago...), time to wake up, time to cook, time to feed the troops, time for school....  Time is fleeting, and I have realized that there are so many ways to lose it.  I read once that good is the enemy of best, and I think the saying is a great fit when it comes to the use of our time.  What I am doing with my time might be good, there are virtually innumerable "good" things I can do with my time, but am I making BEST use of my time?.

It hit me tonight as I sat here that I keep waiting until the "perfect moment" to start my blog.  I have been waiting for that moment for months now.  I have stayed up a little (and sometimes a lot) too late watching tv, but I never quite found (or made) the "right time" for beginning my foray into the blogosphere.  Well, it's not much, but here it is.

I think that in waiting for the perfect moment, we may lose those things that are important enough to wait for.  How many have put off having children until they had enough money, or put off seeing family until... or put off doing something special with their own family until....  How many people put off apologizing or forgiving until... only to find out their chance had passed?  If we wait for the "right" moment, it may never come.  We are called to make good use of this time that God has given us, or rather the best use of it.  My new resolution is to find the 'best' use of my time and go from there.  (Who says resolutions can only be made on 1/1?)  I am going to have to define what my priorities are and find my best uses for my time from there...  I know the general priorities in my life are: my relationship with God, my relationship with my husband, the raising of my children to become first contributing members of society and foremost Saints.... but I have to go more in-depth to figure out this how-to-spend-my-time thing.   I suppose that one is going to require a little more thought and prayers....

Lord Jesus, Light of the world, 
give us Your light tonight,
Light to see the truth plainly;
Light to see ourselves as we are;
Light to see the way we should go.
Light to see You in Your majesty, 
Your humility and Your love.  Amen.