An epiphany!

It came to me while I was driving home from work on Monday.  I had been thinking about the last several months with Amelia and wondering what we could have done differently that would have changed this nightmare.  I had begun to think about the fact that we didn't really take any action last year and that maybe our inaction was what really fueled the fire for this year.  About the time I was right in the middle of the pity party, blaming myself, I heard (though not with my ears) or felt the words, "Turn it over.  Turn over the situation and turn over Amelia". 

I have always known that these children are not really mine.  They are only on loan to me.  God created them and they belong to Him.  He has allowed Dan and I to cooperate with Him to bring life to them.  We are charged with their care for only a short time.  Our job is to love them, to nurture them, to take care of all of their needs but most importantly, we are to do all we can to get them to heaven.  But somehow, these facts get lost in our day to day lives.  I am the parent and therefore I take on this authoritative attitude that stings of pride.  After all, I'm sure I know better than God, right?  No.

When I was pregnant with Nathan, after having suffered several miscarriages, my sister-in-law gave me a small blue book called "A Mothers' Manual" by A. Francis Coomes, S.J.  This book is filled with wonderful prayers for mom and moms to be.  I found a prayer in there that I had never heard before...at least at that time in my life (young(er) and no parental experience at all!) that was called "Consecration of a Child to Mary".  I immediately prayed that prayer for my unborn son.

I have since prayed that prayer for each of my children.  I've given them over to the protection of the Blessed Mother.  There is no one better to mother them.  My desire is that she can fill in the gaps (or gaping holes) when I fall short.  And I do, often.

Right now, I don't know what to do about Amelia.  I am doing all that I know to do, but I feel as though I am falling so short, as her mother.  I need Mary to fill in the gaps for me now. 

I have prayed these two very special prayers again for all of my kids, but especially for Amelia right now.  I know that Mary heard that prayer the first time I prayed it for her, and I'm in no way suggesting that Mary has stopped protecting her or has withdrawn her protection or that it somehow didn't "take" the first time.  I pray this prayer again and hand her over to the Blessed Mother as a reminder to ME, that I am not in control, that she isn't really mine anyway, that God IS in control.  Perhaps God wants me to surrender her again....to stop trying to figure out every single detail.  God is already in the midst of this struggle.  While I was wanting someone at the school to come along side Amelia to help her through this...God is reminding me that HE (and His Precious Mother) are already along side her....they've never left!

These are the two prayers:

Consecration of a Child to Mary

Holy Mary, mother of God and mother of all the faithful, I place my little child under your motherly protection.  To you I completely consecrate my child, body and soul.  Take her under your care and keep her always.  Protect her in her infancy and keep her sound in body and mind.  Guard her youth and keep her heart pure, her thoughts ever holy and directed to God and the things of God.  Protect her always throughout life--in her joys and sorrows, in her successes and failures, in her dealings with others.  Always and in all things be a true mother to her, Mary, and preserve her.  I commend her entirely to you.  Remember, Mother Mary, that through this act of consecration she becomes in a special way your child as well as mine; guard her and keep her as your very own.  Amen.

For Protection of One's Children

Holy Mother Mary, by virtue of your divine motherhood you have become mother of us all.  I place the dear ones God has given me under your loving protection.  Be a protecting mother to my children.  Guard their bodies and keep their thoughts ever holy in the sight of their creator and God.  Guard their hearts and keep them pure and strong and happy in the love of God.  Guard always their souls, and preserve in them faithfully the glorious image of God they received in Baptism.  Always, Mother, protect them and keep them under your motherly care.  Supply in your all-wise motherhood for my poor human deficiencies and protect them from all evil.  Amen.

Mary is NOT a hindrance!

For the last few days, my spiritual reading has consisted mostly of the wonderful work by St. Louis DeMonfort, "The Secret of Mary".  I've read it several times before but each time I'm blessed with a new insight of our Blessed Mother.  This morning, I read this (emphasis mine):

No Hindrance to Our Union with God

21.  Let us not imagine, then, as some do who are misled by erroneous teachings, that Mary, being a creature, is a hindrance to our union with the Creator.  It is no longer Mary who lives, it is Jesus Christ, it is God alone who lives in her.  Her transformation into God surpasses that of St. Paul [Galations 2:20] and of the other Saints more than the heavens surpass the earth by their height.  Mary is made for God alone, and far from ever detaining a soul in herself, she casts the soul upon God and unites it with Him so much the more perfectly as the soul is more perfectly united to her.  Mary is the admirable echo of God.  When we say, "Mary," she answers, "God."  When, with St. Elizabeth, we call her "Blessed," she glorifies God.  If the falsely enlightened, whom the devil has so miserably illusioned, even in prayer, had known how to find Mary, and through her to find Jesus, and through Jesus, God the Father, they would not have had such terrible falls.  The Saints tell us that when we have once found Mary, and through Mary, Jesus, and through Jesus, God the Father, we have found all good.  He who says all, excepts nothing;  all grace and all friendship with God, all safety from God's enemies, all truth to crush falsehoods, all facility to overcome difficulties in the way of salvation, all comfort and all joy amidst the bitterness of life.

It's funny to me that most of the disagreements that come from my Protestant friends seem to stem form Mary.  She seems to be the one of the biggest stumbling blocks.  Clearly, that's how satan wants it.  Even as a cradle Catholic, I have had my issues with Marian Doctrine.  Some of it has  been because of a lack of understanding of the true teaching of the Church.  In the past, I allowed the opinions  and arguments of non Catholics and their keen ability (while not intentional..necessarily) to twist the teachings to affect my understanding.

As I come, little by little, to a more mature understanding, I've learned to turn it all over to God!  Everything I read about the Blessed Mother points to Jesus.  The Wedding at Cana clearly exemplifies this when she states, "Do whatever He tells you".  I finally came to a point where I asked God to change my heart to where He wanted it to be on this subject.  I submitted to the teachings of the Church, admitted my lack of understanding and left it there.

I have been attacked, in the past, of blindly following the teachings of the Church.  Of not being able to have my own thought or opinion....of being told what to think and believe.  On the contrary.   I believe that the Magisterium of the Church was planned and intentional by God.  In my opinion, over the centuries, the Church has already done the study, the praying, the interpretation and have come to the conclusions that they have by the aid of the Holy Spirit.  I can rely on that without a doubt.  Therefore I can say, "The Church has come to this conclusion and I submit to that."  They have already done the research and I can confidently say, "I choose to submit". 

God has gently brought me to the place where I am today and I have absolutely NO DOUBTS about where He has lead me.  I feel more confident and sure as each days passes.

Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!

May Crowning repost

In honor of our Blessed Mother and the month of May, I decided to repost a May Crowing craft that I did in 2010.  This was an easy, kid friendly craft to help celebrate Mary's month.  Enjoy....


I can't believe that we are half way through the month of May! It seems as though the last few months have flown by and I can hardly recall what we've done! Thank goodness for this blog! I can at least click through my last several months worth of posts and see that we were, in fact, quite busy!

We didn't have (or at least not yet) a May Crowning "celebration", but we did manage to make a few things for our Blessed Mother statue that I wanted to share with you.

Just a few simple beads and some wire!

I know they should actually be made of flowers, but I thought this looked more like a crown.

Isn't she beautiful! (yes..I realize she has no thumbs....but this statue has been through a lot!)

I found some blue flowers at the craft store that I thought would make a nice wreath.

I used some of the floral foam and just cut the stems off and stuck them in.

I think it looks pretty good!

Nothing is glued on, so I hope it all stays put!

The girls have been singing "Immaculate Mary" in the bathtub over the last few nights....does that count towards a May Crowning celebration???

Our Lady of the Rosary...

....Pray for us!

Photo Credit

Eighteenth Rose

I have been reading The Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis De Montfort. This is an incredible book. This wonderful Saint explains the mysteries of Jesus and Mary by using the symbol of a "Mystical Rose Tree". I want to share with you the Eighteenth Rose:

The Hail Mary - Blessings

This heavenly salutation draws down upon us the blessings of Jesus and Mary in abundance, for it is infallible truth that Jesus and Mary reward in a marvelous way those who glorify them. They repay us a hundredfold for the praises that we give them. "I love them that love me.....that I may enrich them that love me and fill their treasures." (Proverbs 8:17,21). Jesus and Mary have always said: "We love those who love us; we enrich them and fill their treasuries to overflowing." "He who soweth in blessings, shall also reap blessings." (Cor. 9:6).
Now, if we say the Hail Mary properly, is not this a way to love, bless and glorify Jesus and Mary? In each Hail Mary we bless both Jesus and Mary: "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of they womb, Jesus."
By each Hail Mary we give Our Lady the same honor that God gave her when He sent the Archangel Gabriel to greet her for Him. How could anyone possibly think that Jesus and Mary, who often do good to those that curse them, could ever curse those that bless and honor them by the Hail Mary?
Both Saint Bernard and Saint Bonaventure say that the Queen of Heaven is certainly no less grateful and conscientious than gracious and well-mannered people of this world. Just as she excels in all other perfections, she surpasses us all in the virtue of gratitude; so she would never let us honor her with love and respect without repaying us one hundredfold. Saint Bonaventure says that Mary will greet us with grace if we greet her with the Hail Mary.
Who could possibly understand the graces and blessings which the greeting and tender regard of Our Lady effect in us? From the very first instant that Saint Elizabeth heard the greeting that the Mother of God gave her, she was filled with the Holy Spirit and the child in her womb leaped for joy. If we make ourselves worthy of the greeting and blessings of Our Lady we shall certainly be filled with graces and a flood of spiritual consolations will come down into our souls.

May Crowning

I can't believe that we are half way through the month of May! It seems as though the last few months have flown by and I can hardly recall what we've done! Thank goodness for this blog! I can at least click through my last several months worth of posts and see that we were, in fact, quite busy!

We didn't have (or at least not yet) a May Crowning "celebration", but we did manage to make a few things for our Blessed Mother statue that I wanted to share with you.

Just a few simple beads and some wire!

I know they should actually be made of flowers, but I thought this looked more like a crown.

Isn't she beautiful!  (yes..I realize she has no thumbs....but this statue has been through a lot!)

I found some blue flowers at the craft store that I thought would make a nice wreath.

I used some of the floral foam and just cut the stems off and stuck them in.

I think it looks pretty good!

Nothing is glued on, so I hope it all stays put!

The girls have been singing "Immaculate Mary" in the bathtub over the last few nights....does that count towards a May Crowning celebration???

Tub Time Worship!

Definition of a successful day: Throw the girls in the tub with some bubble bath and some Dora the Explorer bath toys.....run to the kitchen to put away the leftovers from dinner....run back to the tub to wash their hair but on the way, stop to listen to them singing, "Immaculate Mary, your praises we sing..........."!

2nd Week of Advent

We have been moving very slowly at our house lately (Thank you, Barbara & Judy!). Although we've had a lot to do, we've tried not to tire ourselves out by doing it all at once! For instance, we bought our tree the day after Thanksgiving. It lived in our backyard for two days, until we had time to bring it inside. Then, to slow things down even further, we didn't decorate it at all for over a week! We just let it deliver that glorious smell that I love so much! We finally got around to putting the lights and decorations on it this past Sunday.

St. Nicholas visited our house on Saturday night! He always brings new Christmas pajamas and some chocolate gold coins! Here is a photo of the kids in there new pj's....

We had our annual St. Nicholas/gingerbread decorating party over the weekend! It is always a real hit with the kids! We start off by praying the Rosary, which moves right into the potluck and then the decorating. This year, my kids barely had the gingerbread house decorated when they began eating it! The good news....I don't have that sugar-filled, gloppy, messy, sticky thing hanging around until I have to throw it away!

Sunday night, we were treated to a call from the North Pole! Santa called to talk with each of the kids. I think Nathan was the most excited of all of them! If you're interested in having Santa call your children, you can make those arrangements at http://www.santaspeaks.com/!

We don't have a lot going on this week....except Olivia is home from school today (and I'm home from work) with an earache. I can't call the doctor until 8:30am. We just can't seem to get well around here. I'm starting to tire of the constant co-pays, the antibiotics, the making up homework issue...and.....I guess knowing there are little germs living in this house that I can't seem to get rid of! Waaa, waaaa, waaaa....whine, whine, whine!

As I look back over the last year...I'm amazed that it's gone by so quickly! At this time last year, I had just finished my last chemo and was walking around....bald! I have much to be thankful for this year...and although it might not seem like it, I am extremely thankful to God for my health, for my husband and children, for my job and health care! We have a roof over our heads and food in the pantry. I am also thankful that we can afford medicine when we are sick!

So, as we celebrate this beautiful Feast of the Immaculate Conception, let us be ever more thankful to God and to our Blessed Mother for all that we have.

Happy Birthday, Mother!

photo of Our Lady of Medjugorje, courtesy of Catholic Pilgrim

Morning Devotion

During some devotion time this morning, I came across this passage and wanted to share it....

One must do everything with Mary. That is we must try to imitate, in our own human way, all the virtues--the perfection--the Holy Spirit fashioned in her.
We must, in each action, consider how Mary did this or that, or how she would do it in our circumstances. Hence, we must examine the virtues she practiced, and meditate on them. Particularly we must concern ourself with her lively faith, which made her believe the words of the angel, without the least hesitation; with her deep humility, which made her hide herself, be silent, submit to everything, and put herself in the last place; and with her truly divine purity which never had its equal and never will this side of heaven!
Here I must cry out again that Mary is the unique mold of God, most suitable to produce living images of God at little cost and in little time! A soul who has found this mold, and loses himself in it, is soon transformed into Jesus Christ, Whom this mold perfectly represents.

--True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis de Monfort, Chapter XVI

How often do I hesitate? How often do I question God? How often do I try to wrestle my will into God's will? This spiritual reading will make for some very interesting reflection today and a very interesting examination of conscience before bed!!!

Our Lady of the America's, Pray for us.

Oh Immaculate Mother, Queen of our country, open our hearts, our homes, and our land to the coming of Jesus, your Divine Son. With Him, reign over us, O heavenly Lady, so pure and so bright with the radiance of Gods light shining in and about you. Be our leader against the powers of evil set upon wresting the world of souls, redeemed at such a great cost by the sufferings of your Son and of yourself, in union with Him, from that same Savior, Who loves us with infinite charity.
We gather about you, O chaste and holy Mother, Virgin Immaculate, Patroness of our beloved Land, determined to fight under your banner of holy purity against the wickedness that would make all the world an abyss of evil, without God and without your loving maternal care.
We consecrate our hearts, our homes, our Land to your Most Pure Heart, O great Queen, that the kingdom of your Son, our Redeemer and our God, may be firmly established in us.
We ask no special sign of you, sweet Mother, for we believe in your great love for us, and we place in you our entire confidence. We promise to honor you by faith, love, and the purity of our lives according to your desire.
Reign over us, then, O Virgin Immaculate, with your Son Jesus Christ. May His Divine Heart and your most chaste Heart be ever enthroned and glorified among us. Use us, your children of America, as your instruments of peace among men and nations. Work your miracle of grace in us, so that we may be a glory to the Blessed Trinity, Who created, redeemed, and sanctifies us.
May your valiant spouse, St. Joseph, with the holy Angels and Saints, assist you and us in "renewing the face of the earth." Then when our work is over, come, Holy Immaculate Mother, and as our Victorious Queen, lead us to the eternal kingdom, where your Son reigns forever as King.
Amen

Our Lady of Fatima

We're getting ready to celebrate Our Lady of Fatima's Feast Day tomorrow! Our plans are very simple.....praying our family rosary, enjoying a special treat and watching The Day the Sun Danced!

The girls have been begging me to make these Snow Cloud Meringue Cookies. Sometimes I avoid things because they sound complicated. I'm happy to say that these were NOT complicated at all! Extremely easy!!! This recipe is from a book I got for the girls for Christmas....it's called The Usborne Little Book of Christmas Cooking. I love Usborne books!!

Anyway, here is the recipe....

2 egg whites, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

sugar sprinkles

That's all!! I think it took me 15 minutes from start to finish!! Preheat your oven to 225 degrees. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the egg whites until the thick/stiff peak stage. Add the sugar a tablespoon at a time. Whisk well (batter will be shiny). Scoop a teaspoon at a time of the meringue onto the cookie sheet. Sprinkle with your favorite sugar sprinkles. Bake them for 40 minutes, then turn off the oven and let them sit inside for another 15 minutes.

Even if they don't come out perfect....they are delicious cookies! This recipe isn't exactly on Weight Watchers...but if I substituted Splenda for the sugar....I should be good to go!

Here's how they turned out....

There are 31 yummy recipes in this little book....I'd like to try them all!

Either this camera is bad.....or (the more likely scenario) I haven't a clue how to adjust the settings so I can take decent pictures. Sigh....

Another bad picture. I wanted to show how shiny the batter is....because apparently, this is very important in order for the meringue to be the correct consistency so it can "dry" out properly and become crunchy. But all you can see here is that the batter is WHITE. Oh well...I tried.

Here is our finished product before going into the oven. These are supposed to be more uniform in shape....but I had two little girls pulling on my legs so they could see better and....well...this is what I could manage. The girls did the sprinkles....we picked blue in honor of the Blessed Mother! Since they need to be in the oven for about an hour...and we started too late, I promised that they can have this special treat for breakfast! I apologize in advance to their teachers!!

And lastly, I thought I would share one more picture from today.....I let the girls go outside to play while Nathan was doing his homework! I went outside to check on them. Olivia said they were playing "hide and seek". This is where I found Amelia hiding.....in my Camellia tree!!

She's my little monkey!!

The Blessed Mother and....weeds!

The weather here in Jacksonville has been truly lovely! I know some of my very dear friends are still dealing with the muck and slush of winter and I really am sorry about that! Keep in mind though that you have some natural air conditioning when fall comes along. Here in Jax, we are still knee deep in haze, hot, humid, sweat and mosquitoes well into December! These spring days have been incredible....breezy, cool in the morning and very warm in the afternoon...and NO HUMIDITY!
Today, the kids played outside almost all day! Nathan came in with a handful of the most beautiful weeds I've ever seen! Since they were the color of Lent, I thought I would put them in water and use them for decoration. I don't think you can tell they're weeds unless you look hard. What do you think?

**Don't stare at the picture too closely or you might notice that Mary has no thumbs....don't ask!!!**

It is an honor to serve!!!

I belong to a ministry at our parish called the Altar Rosary Society. I think in some circles it is also called the Altar Rosary Guild. This is a ministry dedicated to prayer, service, education and social activities. We pray the Rosary every day and we serve our our Lord, our parish and our pastor by cleaning and maintaining the sanctuary (and other areas) on a weekly basis. Our pastor commissioned this ministry specifically because he did not really want a "cleaning service" dusting the Tabernacle. I couldn't agree more. To me, it is a privilege to clean our church and take care of decorating as well as the maintaining the altar linens. I clean on the 3rd Saturday of the month....today was my day. Along with the regular cleaning, today we did the BIG cleaning for Christmas. We do two BIG cleanings a year...Christmas and Easter. I wanted to share with you some pictures of our girls at work...

This is Terry working hard to dust the candlesticks on the back altar. What an honor it is to be this close to the Blessed Sacrament! We all feel a peacefulness when working near the Tabernacle. It can be a time of quiet reflection while you work.

There was someone straightening up the Advent Wreath, but, she ducked out before I took the picture....camera shy.

The statue of Our Lady is up too high to do any real cleaning, although I should have gotten a picture of Anne up there with the vacuum! I think Fr. Fred would have had a heart attack! Isn't she lovely? She watches over us as we do our cleaning!

This is the statue on the opposite side. Our Lord watches over us as well. Sometimes, when praying during mass, I imagine Him speaking directly to me. Silly, I know, but He has such a loving expression on His face.

One of the things that I helped work on today was removing all of the cushions from the pews and dusting them. I hit "pay dirt" today...look what was under one cushion!!! Brand spanking new crayons and tons of Cheerios! Mommy's and Daddy's, if you're going to bring food into church for your young ones....please remember to look around a little before you leave to make sure you haven't forgotten anything!!!!!

This is Maryann patiently changing the belt on the vacuum! Our vacuum's take a lickin but they keep on tickin!!
This is Diane, one of my very best friends in the world! As I cleaned the pews, she vacuumed the cushions. This is a hard and sweaty job, but as you can see, we work with a smile on our faces!

Our cleaning supplies

Here's Terry, cleaning under the cushions on the altar rail. You know, when I was a kid, there were no cushions on the altar rail...you had to kneel on the hard marble!!!

Trying to scrape off the wax from the bottom of the Easter candle.

These are our lists that we work from. Each sheet has a different area of the church (main vestibule, adoration chapel, choir loft, etc...) with a list of each job that needs to be done in that area. When you decide what you want to do...you initial it so a job doesn't get done twice. We had a lot of work to do today!!

Maryann vacuuming the pew cushions....notice the smile!!!

We sweep all the dirt and garbage (yes, we find garbage in the pews....among other very gross things) out to the center aisle and then vacuum it all up.

Although this picture does NOT do it justice, this wood carving on the front of the main altar is gorgeous! It is three dimensional and is very striking when the lighting is just right.

Very simple decorations for Advent.

This is one of two beautiful (but subtle) guardian angels that adorn each side of the tabernacle. It's like they are silently keeping watch over us.

When I got home from church today...there was a small package waiting for me! It was from a wonderful online friend! She sent me the cutest Rudolph bell ornament! I know it's hard to see but he's right in the middle of the picture with the bright red nose! He has gold, sparkling antlers! I absolutely love him! Thank you Therese!!

Well, I know this was a long post but I wanted to share with you this ministry that I love so very much. Since chemo started in September, I have not been doing any cleaning because my wonderful friend Jane said she would take my week while I'm recovering. As a matter of fact, today was my first day back....and I must say....it kicked my behind! Thank you Jane for taking my cleaning day. I love and appreciate you!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Our Lady....pray for us!

Our Lady of Guadalupe, who blessed Mexico and all the Americas by your appearance to Juan Diego, intercede for the holy Church, protect the pope, and help everyone who invokes you in their necessities.
O mystical rose, hear our prayers and our petitions, especially for the particular one we are praying for at this moment (mention your request).
Since you are the ever Virgin Mary and Mother of the true God, obtain for us from your most holy Son the grace of keeping our faith, sweet hope in the midst of the bitterness of life, burning charity, and the precious gift of final perseverance.
Amen.

Dragging today!

I'm very tired and sluggish today. The heartburn has subsided...this is good. Today, I feel like I have the flu. Every bone aches and it seems as though every muscle is struggling to survive any movement. Whether I just walk across the room or actually attempt to do something constructive, my muscles spasm and shake which make me feel very unstable. I just need to hang on for a few more days and it will all start to get better.
The kids are home and I'm glad...I missed them. I'm glad my sister-in-law and her family were kind enough to take our kids for the weekend. This really helps me to be able to navigate these first few days of the chemo.

We enjoyed the concert last night. It was in an outdoor amphitheatre and the weather was wonderful. By the time it was over, I was definitely worn out. I slept the whole 40 minute drive home. I had the most wonderful experience as we were walking out! This woman with beautiful short, red hair came up to me and said, "I just have to hug you....I had my final treatment last month and I'm free!! You'll get there too!!!" What a wonderful show of support! I'm not often hugged by strangers but, this was a welcome and joyous encounter. These are surely the moments that I believe God has intended me to cherish forever throughout this journey.

Tonight as we were just settling in, a wonderful neighbor called and it seems that we are next on the list for our traveling Madonna. Our parish has two statues that travel around our parish all year long. We usually sign up for two times a year. I'm so glad she's here with us for the week. This will be a time for special rosaries and special times for the kids! The best part was hearing my little ones say "Mother Mary is here!!" as soon as my husband brought the big box in the house. Perhaps sharing my burden with the Blessed Mother this week is just what the doctor ordered and just what the Master Physician had in mind for all eternity. Maybe tonight I can go to bed dreaming of being wrapped in my Mother's mantle. Sweet dreams everyone.

An Election Prayer to Mary

O Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, at this most critical time, we entrust the United States of America to your loving care. Most Holy Mother, we beg you to reclaim this land for the glory of your Son. Overwhelmed with the burden of the sins of our nation, we cry to you from the depths of our hearts and seek refuge in your motherly protection. Look down with mercy upon us and touch the hearts of our people. Open our minds to the great worth of human life and to the responsibilities that accompany human freedom. Free us from the falsehoods that lead to the evil of abortion and threaten the sanctity of family life. Grant our country the wisdom to proclaim that God’s law is the foundation on which this nation was founded, and that He alone is the True Source of our cherished rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. O Merciful Mother, give us the courage to reject the culture of death and the strength to build a new Culture of Life.

Picture sharing...

We decided to celebrate the Blessed Mother's Birthday this year and make a cake for her. The girls and I baked a bundt cake and I made some blue frosting....you know...to match her flowing robes. Anyway, it was great fun as we did this on Sunday night...sort of helped me to keep my mind off of the fiasco that was to come on Monday. I swear I took a picture of the finished product, but somehow, it's not there now. Our Lady kept watch over the the girls as they worked.

It's important to Dan and I that our kids are at least familiar with the liturgical year. It might seem unnecessary to some, but I want them to know why the colors of the church turn purple in Advent and Lent. I want them to know (and be insterested in) why we strip the altar on Good Friday and why we celebrate the things we do. I would like them to come to know, as I have, the wonderful Saints of our faith who show great strength and virtue. These are the heros and heroines that our kids should identify with. We can learn things together about our faith....and it's fun! I want to pass my faith on to them so they can do the same for their children. In the end, we really have nothing else. Money, property, family photos and heirlooms....these are all nice...but they can't take it with them to heaven (or the other place for that matter!!). What they take in their heart and soul can and will go with them for eternity!!