Respect Life!

A very smart lady from our homeschool group came up with a super easy way to help the local pro-life group. Our homeschool group is going to donate two baskets for the silent auction part of the Pro-Life Banquet.  One is a wine basket and one is a new baby basket. Isn't that a fabulous idea? Here is my contribution.

Do I need to specify which is for which? :)

I had Sean pick up the wine. We are not big wine drinkers so I had no specifics except "pick up a pretty bottle". I thought he did a great job. Here's hoping it tastes good too. This is the first time I have ever thought to use an infant headband to tie up one of my bandana blankets! Why have I never thought of this before? It's so cute and an extra little gift!

There is always another choice...

My tiniest baby was atleast bigger than my hand.

Eleven years ago, there was a call put out in our little Catholic community for help for a young couple who had delivered two sweet tiny baby girls prematurely. They were at home with their mom and dad by that time but mom and dad were busy as bees and could use some support. That was how I met this sweet family. But reading this story for the first time yesterday is the first time I heard their whole story. One pound babies! Just amazing!

 

Always Wanted By Someone

My in-town friend, Barb, shared this video from Ryan Bomberger and it's too good not to pass along just in case someone hasn't seen it yet.



(If you have young children of reading age looking over your shoulder, sensitive word warning printed on the screen at about the 20 second mark.)

The Story of Faith

Faith's amazing mom, Myah, has just posted an email she received along with the address it came from. Usually I say, don't feed the troll but this time, I think it's best to stand up to a bully. I doesn't look like a real email address but it's what is posted. And maybe a nice email to Myah might help her forget about it!

UPDATE: Myah has chosen to delete the post, but I am sure that a kind word would still be welcomed! Her email address is on her profile page.

UPDATE #2: This post.

Please read to the end

A lot of words have been said about the election and how Catholics voted. Some very intelligent and insightful people have asked "how can Catholics vote for a pro-choice candidate"? May I offer a possibility?

I think as pro-life Catholics we have a tendency to demonize the women who have chosen to have abortions. We can't even imagine choosing to commit such a horrific act and so we imagine these women to be horrible selfish monsters.

I don't know about you, but I have known women who have had abortions. None of them fall into that category. Most of the women I know are the ones who regret their abortion whether they do so publicly or privately. It is usually around the time that they have their first child. That beautiful occasion really seems to drive home the pain of the misguided decision they made. We all know the ploys that abortion centers and PP use to convince these frightened confused women that they are just "taking care of a problem" or just getting rid of a "bunch of cells" not a baby. My heart breaks for these women. They were victims of the abortion just like their children and their hearts usually break when they come to this understanding. Most of them spend the rest of their life beating themselves up and grieving for the child that they lost.

Then, you have those women who come to the same realizations, but the pain is so great that it is unbearable. So, in order to keep this pain from ripping them apart inside, they employ a very common defense mechanism...denial. If they deny that abortion is murder, then they did not commit murder. If they deny that a fetus is actually a child, then nobody was murdered. And they have to defend this belief with everything they've got, including their vote.

Now, does that mean that every Catholic woman who voted for Obama has had or has been party to an abortion? No. I believe that some of them are products of their environment and some of them aren't really Catholic. If I was raised vegetarian and still like to eat vegetables along with my chicken, pork and beef, can I call myself a vegetarian? Well, who's going to stop me? I find it incredibly disappointing to see people who call themselves Catholic supporting anyone who is in favor of abortion because even though our faith education might have been lacking during our formative years, the resources we have available to us now are pretty clear.

But, being a member of the Catholic Church isn't like joining a club or a group even though a lot of people see it that way. It is the gift Our Lord gave us to never be separated from Him. And that gift teaches us to love the sinner, hate the sin. We need to pray for those women still in pain from their abortions. Those women who still hate themselves so much even if all you can see is the hatred they pile on you. Those women who lie to themselves to protect themselves from the unbearable grief they can't bear to feel even though all you hear are the lies they tell others. Those women who probably couldn't even keep reading this far without feeling rage rise up inside of them. Pray that someday they will seek forgiveness for the part they played, true repentance and that they will have the courage to admit that abortion not only hurts babies, but hurts women too.

We can't change minds until we change hearts. We know these women are in pain. We know they are so fragile they can't even admit that pain to themselves. We know our new president-elect wants to sign FOCA as soon as he slides into that oval office. Let's implore St. Martin de Porres to turn his heart to the beauty of these innocent lives. Let's ask our perfect mother in Heaven to soften the hearts of these mothers who hide their pain behind a wall of anger and/or "reason". Let's change hearts and minds by being honest about the damage abortion does to everyone involved.

It is remarkable how even today his influence can still move us toward the things of heaven. Sad to say, not all of us understand these spiritual values as well as we should, nor do we give them a proper place in our lives. Many of us, in fact, strongly attracted by sin, may look upon these values as of little moment, even something of a nuisance, or we ignore them altogether. It is deeply rewarding for men striving for salvation to follow in Christ's footsteps and to obey God's commandments. If only everyone could learn this lesson from the example that Martin gave us.

~from a homily by Blessed Pope John XXIII given at the canonization of Saint Martin de Porres

Go say "hello"...

...and congratulations to Nikki's newest little girl. She is beautiful!!! Let's pray her through a safe homecoming this Christmas!

Divine Providence

Ever have one of those moments when you find yourself doing something while you wonder "why am I doing this" only to have the reason made perfectly clear to you later? That would have been me the other night. The boys were off to fencing for the evening, so the girls and I decided to head to the book store for some browsing and some hot chocolate. As we were driving to the store located in the ritzy neighborhood, I remember asking myself... why are you driving all the way over there? There was another store closer to the house but in the opposite direction with hot chocolate just as tasty. I really couldn't think of a good reason to be heading down the path I was and yet, here I was, on that road.

The girls and I decided to do our browsing first and after they chose a few items to peruse, we sat down. When I stood up, it felt like God had turned the knob all the way up on the gravity machine. Something was dragging me back down. Scary. I fought through it long enough to get all of us out of the store and my husband on the cell phone. He has had experience with these symptoms and thought I was probably on the verge of fainting so he told me to put my head between my knees and hang on; he would be there as soon as he could get the boys in the car. It took him about 10 minutes by my watch. Ten minutes to drive 1 mile mostly because of uncooperative traffic lights. The fencing club was that close. He came like a knight in a shining automobile with Gatorade already in hand (courtesy of my fencer who didn't get to finish his lesson). And even though she will never know this, I have tremendous thanks in my heart for the woman in the white SUV who watched me from her car until she saw him arrive.

Later that night, Shortcake felt bad. She thought that going to the bookstore was what made me sick and that we should have just stayed home. I told her about my doubts on the way there; that I thought we should have gone to the other store. I also shared with her that it was only in looking back on the situation that we could see God's plan. He guided us to the place closest to Daddy who was the only one who could take care of the situation in a simple way. Sure, an ambulance could have done the trick too, but I don't consider that a simple solution!

The story continues....

So, as much as I hate to go to the doctor, I had to concede that maybe it was time to give her a call. They were able to work me in yesterday afternoon. Feeling too scared to drive myself, Husband piled everyone in the van and drove us all down there. He dropped me off and then bravely took on the challenge of entertaining four kids all by himself. As we pulled up, we noticed some people standing across the street and down a little ways from the building I was heading to. We read their signs and saw that they were 40 Days for Lifers. So after he fueled the kiddos with a little ice cream, they went and prayed and held signs with them. The kids loved it! There were smiles and waves (frowns and revving engines, too) but the kids thought it was a blast. I could tell that Husband was also feeling energized and animated as he told me about their experience. They had planned on just saying "hello" but were handed signs and even took over by themselves until the next group arrived. We have been participating during this campaign by offering little sacrifices and prayers here at home, but hadn't expected to be able to participate in this way. What a blessing. I wish I could have been there with them.

When I look back on everything that has happened the past few days, it is easy to see God's hand. A hand that guided me closer to my husband both physically and spiritually. Thank you, Lord for your goodness and for bringing good out of what could have been a very difficult situation.



P.S. I just wanted to give everyone a heads up that there will probably be no coloring pages for this week or the next. I had one half-done for St. John Capistrano and if I get around to finishing it I will post it even though his feast day has passed. Next week we have Book Club, out of town guests, an All Saints Party, Shortcake's First Holy Communion and a family Sacrament Celebration for Shortcake and The Professor, Sunshine and their cousins who were Confirmed. I know. If you don't hear from me for a while, just say a prayer that the nice men in the white coats don't get stuck in traffic! Bye!

Call me Switzerland!

It sure is cold here in the Alps.

There has been a discussion going on that lots of people have referenced, linked to, commented on, refused to comment on, etc….

Here is how I see both sides of this discussion:

1. Women who have been surprised by pregnancy are very sensitive to the phrase “responsible parenthood” (as the Church in all her wisdom understands that phrase, not the worldly definition which seems to beat down on all of us like a steel-driver who just got his rhythm going) because they feel as though someone is pointing the finger at them saying, “OBVIOUSLY you aren’t a responsible parent who cares about those children’s needs, just some kind of baby making factory.” We should be sensitive to their feelings because chances are they have been pointed at, ridiculed, made to feel embarrassed or worse, by friends, family, parishioners, even total strangers, in real life.

2. The women who have prayerfully chosen to use some method of Church approved natural family planning for reasons based on the wisdom of the Church regarding their particular situation be it medical, psychological or financial and have never been surprised by the blessing of an unexpected new soul are very sensitive to the phrase “using NFP with a contraceptive mentality” because they feel as though someone is pointing the finger at them saying, “You must be a selfish parent who either doesn’t trust God enough to take care of your concerns or someone who prefers dollar signs instead of souls.” We should be sensitive to their feelings because chances are they have been accused of deliberately limiting their family size so as to enjoy material luxuries or of simply not trusting God to provide by friends, family, fellow parishioners, even total strangers. (My personal pet peeve are those who talk about abusing NFP instead of using the “contraceptive” phrase. There is no possible way to abuse NFP. People can choose to use it for selfish reasons, but that does not equate NFP to contraception. No one but God can know the true motivations behind a couple's choice to not seek to add to their family but NFP never says “no” to God’s will.)

3. Both groups of women are striving to live the Church’s mandate to be “open to life” and neither should be made to feel as though her situation makes her less “Catholic” than the other or less interested in working towards the sanctity of her soul and those souls entrusted to her.

4. These kinds of discussions are necessary in order to spread the truth of the Church’s teachings to those who might not have any knowledge on the subject, or who might have been misinformed (there is an awful lot of bad theology out there!) but because of these sensitivities, some women are going to get more insulted by perceived judgments and misinterpretations. Emotions should be checked at the click of the combox and if not, certainly before the click to publish. There is nothing wrong in saying to yourself, “This subject is too near and dear to my heart to trust my head to engage.” In this battle that we all struggle with over how much is too much, we have to ask ourselves if this is the right hill to die on.

Can I live?

What a courageous man. He must have gotten that from his mother.

I had to pass this along! Please share it gently. You never know who might be dealing with the "sickness of mourning" stemming from a decision that they once made or one that was made for them.

From rosetta stone and decrease to increase