I've had it!

Fighting, Squabbling, and meanness. Not among, my kids, I was fed up with that long ago, but with my friends and fellow Homeschoolers. The reality is we will never ever see eye to eye, we have far too many differences to agree. BUT, and that is a BIG BUT, we are all children of God, we are all given the same dignity and freedom given by our Creator. 

He is a loving Father to us all, no matter what, really. Sure some of us know more about some things, and some of us do more in some areas, but these are ways WE show our love, not ways HE shoes his love. We should share that love, that mercy, that forgiveness, not hold our errors over each other. What if our Lord treated us that way? We are called to no less than Perfection, "You must be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect"- Matt 5:48

Tales from the X-files

Some readers may remember the Kasia's, my little X's imaginary, well, civilization. I've written about them before. The Kasia's are still living in our home, that is when they are not back at Chocolate Island on Mars, their native land.

Typical day around here involves at least 5 Kasia stories, like moms says, " Hey, Xai, Where are your shoes," hoping to get an answer like, under the couch, but instead gets, " Mom! Here's what happened. The Kasia's got mad and they took them to the back bathroom, and shoved them in the shower drain, they went down into the sewer and are gone forever." He says this in all seriousness and without even hesitating for a millisecond. Old sibling then chimes in, "Why does everything have to involve the Kasia's, I put the shoes away."

Well, the Kasia's have spread, now my Choir Director/Youth Minister asks about them, and she told our saint of a parish secretary about them, who jokingly said she would invoke the Kasia's next time Father walks into her office looking for something. Nice. No wonder Father has been looking at me funny for a few weeks now. He things my son needs an exorcism.

The Kasias are not just for trouble, though. Tuesday was Youngup's birthday, he is a Kasia that has been given a name, not sure why, but Youngup it is. I was coerced into baking a cake, not that me baking takes much coercion. It came time to serve the cake, and I asked if Youngup was here, I still cannot see them, only the mess they make. I was informed Youngup had to go and take some Kasias to Afghanistan to take care of Tony, my brother-in-law, who had just deployed there. Tony's kids are in a bad state, to the point that they youngest does not want to turn 4 without his dad. But no need to worry, the Kasias are taking care of him.

"When we step into the family, by the act of being born, we do step into a world which is incalculable, into a world which has its own strange laws, into a world which could do without us, into a world we have not made. In other words, when we step into the family we step into a fairy-tale." Chesterton -Heretics, CW, I, p.143

Beauty

I've seriously been meditating on this all week, and hoping to write my thoughts, but then I read this. It is like someone has been peering into my head.

Some books never go out of style

Recently my daughter started reading the Anne of Green Gables series. I'm trilled, these books were my favorites when I was her age. Not only were they favorites, but I got completely lost in them, they preserved my girlhood and gave me a great love of poetry. How can a few books, especially lite reading, have an impact? Simple, they were good, and held my interest.

We read plenty of newer book, some good, some not-so-great, but again and again, my daughter comes back to my childhood favorites, The Secret Garden, the Little House books, Heidi and now my beloved Anne. Anne was a springboard book for me, Anne read poetry, Tennyson, in particular, so I read Tennyson. In reading Tennyson, I moved onto Wittman, and far more poets. I read and read, I loved the romance of it all, I loved the art in the books, I loved the time period written about, I loved escaping from my dull suburban life.

 I see my daughter excited in the same ways. Good literature can lead to whole new worlds, both real and imaginary. I see her imagination growing, as her understanding of history and culture also grow. I see her laughing as Anne dyes her read hair, and she will cry when Matthew dies, just like I did. And I see her maturing, as she can experience though the books joy and sorrow, while she is in a safe, loving home, but at the same time is being prepared for her own sorrows and joys. 

Squeaky Clean

My son made his First confession this morning. Despite being nervous, and having a 4 year old brother who would not behave, he did great. I love being a mom just for moments like this. He came out, all smiles, and announced, "My  soul was so clean I could jump super high." He then announced he needed a shower, so his body was as clean as his soul. After a shower, he asked for the first time in months, if his siblings would play the "Jesus Game" with him. This game is where the 3 act act out different scenes from the Life of Christ. A little sacramental grace goes a long way, my boy is squeaky clean once more!

Saint Teresa Saves the Day!

Life has been rough here, long story short, I now have a little job, which is good, but the decision to find one took a lot out of me. Just when I thought I knew what was going on with life, plans changed a bit, as far as I can see for now. Every time I get used to an idea, or there seems to be a "plan" things change, and they keep changing, more on that another time.

What does that have to to with the esteemed Doctor of the Church you ask, she made me laugh and put it all in perspective. While I was sitting and pouting, repeating my favorite line from Jeremiah, "You duped me, Oh Lord, and I have allowed myself to be duped, you were too strong for me, and you triumphed" Now, I know my life is not the context of the twentieth book of Jeremiah, but, this is how I felt. Along comes St. Teresa to brighten the day. "(of God) If this is the way you treat your friends, it's no wonder you have so few" 

I have not laughed like I did in a while, I laughed till I cried, and they cried a bit too, just because I needed to. Again, I'm not a Saint, hopefully one day I will be, but let's all hope I have plenty of time to work on it. I feel so much better knowing the Saints were not always thrilled with the plan God set before them, or the constant change of plans, perhaps. 

But Teresa does not stop with this above mentioned moment of wit, or honesty as it may be, she silenced my blabbing heart.

Let nothing disturb you
Let nothing frighten you
Everything passes
God never changes
Patience obtains all
Whoever has God wants for nothing
God alone is enough.

~~ St. Teresa of Avila

Enough Said.

If ever in Wheaton....

Stop by the Wade Center. I stopped in after a performance my children attended at the Wheaton College.  I cannot say enough about how lovely the Wade center is. First of all it is a center dedicated to the study of Chesterton, Sayers, Tolkein, Lewis, Barfield, Williams and MacDonald. That alone is enough, but it is so much more than that. There is a library with an enormous collection of the author's books. But far from being a library, it is a charming English style cottage with plush furniture and artifacts from the the authors. 

My children were charmed with the wardrobe that belonged to CS Lewis that is housed in the main room, complete with furs, of course. The wardrobe is carved exactly in the same way as the one in the Narnia books. And speaking of those books, there is a collection of the Art of Narnia, although much of it is out on loan right now. 

In the middle of the main room there is a case dedicated to the centennial Chesterton works, Orthodoxy and The Man Who was Thursday. My kid loved the Chesterton Ornament, that they had admired in Gilbert. I loved reading the beautifully handwritten letter from Chesterton to Frances Blogg, his future wife. The handwriting alone struck me as loving and beautiful. 

I cannot wait to visit again, and maybe visit the research/reading room for some quiet mom time. Will you join me?