My Sides are splitting!

Another case of you might cry if you do not laugh! 

H/t: too many to mention!

Double speak?

I think I'm preaching to the Choir a bit, we all know kids are gifts, right? But I am getting tired of being told my MY CHURCH kids are not welcome. You know, the looks when they make noise, the "oh, sorry, adults only" message at devotions, I can tolerate these, but today, I am mad. I was told that I could not bring my kids with me to a meeting. Now I know that kids do not belong everywhere, trust me, I leave them home ALL THE TIME. This was different, it was a 45 minute meeting and my boys brought entertainment, they actually behaved, too. I had not choice either. Well, that was two weeks ago, today my boys, were accused of defacing the church. They were the only kids who coudl have possible doen it, no other children are ever in the room. Normally, to quote Bill Crosby, there would be beatings. This time, though, I really doubt they were to blame. I was with them, watching them, and they were not being trouble, I find it hard to believe they scuffed the walls. Now before you say, sure lady, not YOUR kids, hear me out. I am the first to blame them for any mess within 100 feet. But this time, I cannot see who they could have, they just didn't have the time or opportunity. 

The bigger problem is one I've felt for years, you have to chose to be a parent or to be involved in church. From my early teens I wondered why young adults were not involved in parishes. Now I know, once you have kids, the welcome sign disappears. The irony is that this ministry is to help women in crisis pregnancies, a Pro-life ministry, yet the double message, no children welcome. Being a good faithful law abiding Catholic woman means that sometimes, YOU HAVE KIDS. When will our culture wake up and realize that? There has to be a way to be both involved in a church and a parent. Thanks for listening to my rant. Next week, Cry rooms and the Culture of Death!

Stations of the Cross and Kids

As much as I love the devotion of the Stations of The Cross, it can be hard to get away to do them by myself. Not to mention the fact that kids like doing the stations. It can be hard, though to take a 4 year old and a 7 year old that cannot stop talking to pray the stations. They both feel the need to talk about what they think happened. This is not bad, but disruptive to the elderly lady who is there by herself. A few years back I came up with a solution. Pray them at home.

Of course this seems obvious, it is. We however, have added a few little things to keep the the ADD at bay. First of all, we make the preparation last a few days. One day we color the pictures that I have copied from  Lent and Easter in the Domestic Church. The next day, we walk around the house and decide out path for the stations. We then tape up the pictures, and hope hyper 4 year old does not rip them down. The last day of the project, we pray the stations, walking from room to room and through the halls that have the pictures. We sing Stabat Mater, and do short meditations, all the while the kids are talking, usually about what they think was happening on the road to Calvary. We only spend about 30 minutes doing the stations, longer than that and we lose  someone. For us, it has been the perfect solution. We pray the stations, the kids get to experience them, and the elderly lady at church gets the silence that after years of kids, she deserves.

Getting old stinks

The primary reason is you have to witness even older friends suffer the things that come with age. Yesterday, a woman I credit more than any other person with helping me become who I am, was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. I know this woman well enough to know she will embrace her cross with great joy, seeing God in her pain. That does not take away the worry I will have or the fear of losing her. Again my selfishness shows. It's all about me, my need for her. 

I was 13 when I met her, and threw up on her shoes. Nice intro, but she tenderly cared for me and drove me home from church. For some reason, God has let us keep in touch though my rough teen years, rebellious college days and the chaos of my life as a wife and mother. I have so many moments of joy and learning from her. She is who I would like to be as I age, Please pray for my friend, I still have so much to learn from her.

Favorite Quotes from Favorite Saints

Today two of my favorite saints to quote have their Feast Day. Enjoy!

Nothing seems tiresome or painful when you are working for a Master who pays well; who rewards even a cup of cold water given in love of Him - St. Dominic Savio

It is Most Laudable for a woman to be devout, but she must remember she is a housewife and sometimes she must leave God in the altar to find him in her housekeeping- St. Frances of Rome

How to Handle an Economic Crisis

If you don't laugh, you'll end up crying!

H/T: to my friend Julie

Where there there is saddness, Joy

This weekend has been hard, two of my best friends had miscarriages, one yesterday, the second, today. For lack of a better way of putting it, I'm tremendously sad for them. I cannot imagine their  sorrow, loss or pain, but I can feel mine. It seems so selfish of me, to mourn their babies.  I was so excited for them, they both were delighted to welcome a new little life into their lives, and I was delighted to witness their joy and eager to meet their little one. That life is gone. 

How can the sorrow of a promise never fulfilled be soothed? I long for the perfect words to say to them, for the right glance or embrace to make it better, but I know, I have little to offer. I have never felt this pain firsthand, thank God. I feel even worse that I put off pregnancy while so many of my friends long for a baby, it just feels selfish of me. I know that that is how it has to be for now, but still, I wish I could take away their longing. 

Moments like this are beyond my understanding, I am not meant to see how this fits in God's plan for my friends. It is not a crisis of faith, or a moment of doubt, just a lack of knowledge, but faith picks up where knowledge leaves off.