One True Faith

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Michael Voris is a modern-day John the Baptist. I am so thankful that he is using his time,talent and treasure to fight the devil.

poor Nana...

I hear Wendy, Michael and John from Peter Pan in my head. More sad new from our family. Nana's Little Lap Dog died yesterday. It was supposed to be an exciting day for the family. Little Lap Dog was expecting puppies and it seemed as if it was happening, but after almost two days of labor and one dead puppy, Nana and Poppie took Little Lap Dog to the vet for emergency surgery. Nana and Poppie were in the room with her and saw the Vet deliver three dead puppies and when the vet gave her medicine to wake her up, she didn't wake up. The Vet wasn't sure if there was something wrong with Little Lap Dog or maybe the puppies had died and become toxic. The Vet kept the puppies to try and figure it out. He is a friend of Poppie's (they are on a Agriculture Board together). The night before they had been on their way to see him, but after talking to him on the phone, they went back home. Nana know something was wrong, but we hadn't had little puppies in over 20 years. Little Lap Dog was having a hard time, but in the past, letting nature take it's course had always worked. Not this time. Nana and Poppie were both shocked and distraught. Little Lap Dog was Nana's buddy. It is hard to hear your Mother crying. I think as Nana and Poppie have gotten older, they have become more attached to their little creatures. The kids got a hard lesson last night. They were so sad. They didn't get to play with Little Lap Dog's puppies and Nana and Poppie were sad. Number One Daughter was up for hours. I kept trying to get her to sleep and she kept saying, "We didn't say all of our prayers and pray so I can say what you say." She finally went to sleep about 1:30 AM. Dealing with death is hard, but I want our children to know that we tell them the truth. How will they ever trust us if we lie to them? As a child, not knowing what happened to our animals when they were not there anymore was torture.

I'm trying not to read anything in to this, but...

Yesterday, the Pastor of the Church that we have been going to on on off for years, recently, more on, told us that he will be leaving and going to Chili in four months. When I first moved to town, this is the Church I went to. When I moved next door to another Catholic Church, I still kept going, but then I found a place for myself and became part of the community of the Catholic Church next door. When the Pastor left, and then the familiar Associate Pastor left, we went back to the Church down the street. Hubby didn't really like the church down the street, but when Fr. Joe came, it helped us all go to church as a family. Fr. Joe has made so many positive changes in the church down the street. The community had the reputation for being rather cold, it has warmed up in the past seven years. This attributed to Fr. Joe and the Holy Spirit. Almost three years ago, a friend Priest friend moved back to Austin to a parish close to our house. We changed churches and tried to be part of the community, but we never fit in. Our Priest friend had to make some hard decisions and asked to be re-assigned after two years. We then came back to the church down the street. I'm was happy about it, because we really like Fr. Joe. He has agreed to host a Holy Hour for the kids and spend time teaching them to talk to Jesus. I met with him, I was rather nervous, he seemed nice, but other than seeing him at Mass, I did not know him. He was so nice and generous with his time. He is also a wonderful confessor. Last night when we talked to the kids about Fr. Joe leaving, they were both hysterically crying. They don't understand, and neither do we. This is so hard, it is hard for us to fit in anywhere, the story of our lives before we met, and now as a married couple. We were just making a fresh start and now it will happen again.
Jesus I Trust in You!

The Healing Power of the Rosary

I was feeling crummy yesterday, I was on edge, so I sent the kids to the other room and I watched a movie (Apocolipto). Well, it didn't help my mood. I was at the point of tears several times yesterday. Last night I signed on to my favorite yahoo group (I learn so much there) and this was posted:

News Flash: WE WIN!
As we prepare to enter a new era in politics and perhaps society in general, keep something in mind: WE WIN! No matter what political party is in power at a given point in time, in the end those that remain faithful to Jesus Christ win the war. We may have to fight many battles outnumbered and even despised and looked upon as criminals and outcasts by a society that is unraveling and degenerating into something no one could have imagined.
What matters is that we run the race to the finish line and fight the good fight. Don’t “go with the flow,” for as the great Archbishop Fulton Sheen reminds us, “Dead bodies float downstream.” More than ever we shall have to be strong in the faith. Regular and worthy reception of the sacraments, constant prayer, and rigorous study of the faith is now essential, not merely a luxury.
The front line and primary battle is going to be the fight for life: the dignity of every human life from the moment of conception to the last moment of natural life. If we lose that one, every other battle space will be compromised. If the government succeeds in establishing abortion as an inalienable “right”, then the elderly and sick will be next. It will then be a short and slippery step to the government deciding who lives and dies regardless of their inherent human dignity.
If you don’t already pray the Rosary every day, please start at once. The prayer of the holy Rosary is the prayer of the holy Gospel, and that means it is the prayer of the Good News Who is Jesus Christ, the LIFE of the world. Many saints will be forged in the crucible of the coming years. Make sure you are among them.

God bless you,

Fr. John Corapi

I have since seen it on a couple of other blogs. The kids and I said a Divine Mercy Chaplet and a decade of the Rosary last night. Today was a better day. Thank You Jesus!

We did it!

The Kids and I finally made it to daily Mass. I've intended on going on several occasion, but it is not routine to stop everything, get ready and take the kids to Church, but hopefully it will be. I've had other Mothers tell me that going more than once a week helps the kids behave better on Sunday. We really need that, especially if we want Hubby to go to Church every week. They all did okay. Number Two Son did especially well. He was so cute, he pointed to the candles in front of Jesus and Mary and started singing his version of "Happy Birthday". The kids also got a prayer card for the Canonization of Blessed Basil Moreau:

Canonization Prayer
O God, you are most admirable in your saints. We ask, you grant us, through the intercession of basil Moreau, the Founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross, the favor we ask...we ask for the conversion of the Obama administration's position on the sanctity of Life...so that he may be glorified in the Church, and we may be led to imitate his virtues. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer
O God, who in your ineffible Providence,
chose your priest, Blessed Basil, to imitate the virtues of the Holy family and respond to the needs of the Church,grant we beseech you, that, supported by his prayers and example, we may have the strength to boldly confess the Cross of Christ as our only hope.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

Yes We Can!

I've been very sad the past few days. The reality of the inauguration tomorrow has really set in. I didn't cry on election night, but over the past few days, I have been very close.I was telling my husband tonight that Mr. Obama probably has more Americans praying for him than President Bush has had. I have found that liberals, in general, can be closed minded and not the most religious folks. I do not mean to generalize that everyone who voted for Mr. Obama is rude or not God fearing, but there are many liberal atheists in my part of town, that could care less about the dignity of human life. The media and many democrats were so terribly mean and rude to President Bush. The Republicans I know would not say the terrible things about our President. It is so sad and frightening that the Democratic party has been infiltrated by the devil. Tomorrow, the kids and I are going to Mass at Noon. We will pray for our elected officials, we will pray for the safety of Mr. Obama and especially for his conversion of heart. I do see the positive of Americans coming together and looking into the future with high hopes. God has put the economy, Gaza conflict, Iraq, Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan well above FOCA. I will not question God's plan, but it is my nature to try and rationalize. If Mr. Obama can win an election with, "Yes we can." Then the Pro-Life-from-conception-to-natural-death-movement can protect the most vulnerable of Americans, "Yes we Can!" Jesus I Trust in You.

Already???

It appears that Number Two Son, age 22 months, want to use the potty. I should be excited, but with the other two it has meant staying home for months so they could do what they wanted to do when they wanted to do it. Little Man is very good at taking all of his clothes off (it is January!) and then telling us ,"pee pee." He has actually gone in the potty a few times. So today we will dust off the little potty, get out the training pants and call his bluff.

I do

Since I found out I was pregnant with Number Two son a little over two years ago, I have been terrified of having another child. It was a challenging pregnancy, it made me appreciate the first two pregnancies (no-salt diet, IBS, etc...) and especially the beautiful, healthy baby when he was born. In a nutshell: I was still nursing number One Daughter, my progesterone was low so I had to supplement for the first trimester, I bled terrible after my first appointment PAP, we didn't hear the baby's heartbeat at 12 weeks, so I had an unscheduled ultrasound to make sure he was still alive, I had an allergic reaction to the progesterone and my milk dried up literally over night and I had to deal with a screaming toddler. I did my best to try and stay calm, but I was so afraid, when he was born, I cried not only for joy, but also for the huge weight that had been lifted from my shoulders. I was so relieved that he was okay. I did not completely trust that everything was okay, I had convinced myself that something was wrong with him. All the doctors said everything was fine. I woke up to check on him more. Sat by him longer when he took naps, hugged him longer and tighter I fretted more when he didn't hit the developmental milestones like the other two. You would have thought he was my first. I have been very closed to having more children, I am 41, after all. The problem with my fear is that when I married my dear husband, I promised him and God that I would be open to children. Not being open to children is a sin. I had a nice confession in December, I've been saying the Rosary with the kids a few nights a week and I've almost set up regular adoration with the kids and a Priest to guide them. For the past seven years I have been either pregnant or nursing or both. I can not tell the difference between regular PMS and pregnancy. So when my body finally turned back on, (yup, I haven't had a period since way before Number Two Son was born in March 2007) I pondered and actually thought about having another baby. I didn't have a panic attack as I thought I might (and have said many times) I was okay with it. I thank Jesus for that, maybe all those Chaplet's of Divine Mercy that I say at night when I can't sleep have actually helped me trust in Jesus. I don't mean to be skeptic, I just don't have much faith in myself. I resolve to be more positive, less self deprecating and to continue to trust Jesus!

guilty as charged

We met with our Pastor on Tuesday about scheduling guided adoration with the homeschool children. The first thing Number One Son told him when we greeted him at the door, "We didn't go to church on Christmas, we were too busy with our family." BUSTED! I'm curious if he knew it was a sin that needed confessing? It has been several weeks since Christmas and we have been to Sunday Mass, First Friday, New Yea's since then. Hmm, is little Mr. Unfocused eavesdropping? Dopes he have a 6th sense? Momma is very curious.

SMART Puppy

Today was late getting started and busy. Number One Son is acting strangely and Number One Daughter has been crying almost every hour. We went to Number Two Son's GodParent's and when we got home, I was trying to get ready for work, the kids were fighting over their new toys and Smart Puppy went in his crate and shut the door, I kid you not, he did it, ohh so smart puppy...

back to the old

Yesterday, we were there only family at park day, which is okay, because I get to play with the kids. We had fun. it was a little cold and we left after an hour or so. Number Two Son has been hitting, biting and crying, I'm not sure if he is tired, teething or adjusting to Hubby being back at work, whatever the reason, I hope he gets back to his sweet, loving self soon. Number One Son was not himself yesterday either. He is not a mean child, when he is, he is sick or emotionally upset. He might be having allergic/reflux/asthma symptoms that he can't talk about or maybe he is also adjusting to Daddy going back to work. Number One Daughter is doing great, she has become quite a helper and the best gift she could give me, no crying, has been at the top of her list of things to do. Everyone is better when there is no crying. Our house is tiny and has tile floors, crying reverberates and makes my head hurt. Number One Daughter asks whey I have a sad face, then she imitates me, furrowed brow and all. So cute, then I smile :)

Happy New Year

The past few days I've been out of focus, or only focused on one thing. Number One Nephew was riding his dad's 4 wheeler, hit a gate, flipped over it and ended up in Texas Children's Hospital for almost three days. He is home, but it was very scary that he "felt fine" but wasn't allowed to leave the hospital or eat solid foods because he had a small tear in his spleen and there was "fluid" in his abdomen. Thankfully, with lots of prayers, his hemoglobin started going up and they let him eat breakfast today (he couldn't eat in case he had to have emergency surgery). Little Sister is looking forward to a good night's sleep in her own bed, and then deservedly, she and Number One Niece are off to Casa Mare with the Girl Scouts. I hope that all we know learn a lesson from this. Ten year old boys can't be trusted with a high performance 4 wheeler. They are just too much fun to drive fast :) We all have more Peace about us. Number One Son and I went to church and first Friday Adoration and Number One Daughter and I went to Adoration for a little while tonight when I got home from work. I love life lessons when we can show our children that when you pray, God listens.