Wordless Wednesday

The Big Move

Well, we finally made it to Indiana and have unpacked almost everything and got our internet squared away.  God has truely blessed us in so many ways (see pictures below).  An unexpected thing came up in the move.  I will preface it by saying I do try to be detached from my things.  I try to excercise this virtue on a regular basis (by getting rid of things, not getting upset when things are broken, avoiding the mall etc...just to name a few).  But I found it to be very stressful to have 367 boxes to unpack (so much for being dilligent about getting rid of stuff!!).  And I found that my stress level has decreased significantly now that I have all of my things out, orderly and around me.  Apparently I have some more work to do in this area of detachment, do you?

More later, homeschooling is calling!

A Birth-Day book

Outside my window...the sun is shining and there is still a little snow left on the ground.

I am thinking...that I hope my three little babies recover soon from this latest illness they have.  My prayer life is active to this subject in the past couple of days.

I am thankful...for my husband and family.  Also for the fabulous friends that we have.

I am wearing...comfy sweats, again.  I think that I should be comfortable on my birthday!  I don't look great in them but it sure feels good to be comfortable.

I am reading...The Domestic Church: Room By Room A Study Guide for Mothers.  Written by Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle.  What a great book.  I have been working on the first chapter called The Foyer: Our Blessed Mother Mary and Motherhood.  I think it will take my some time to work through this chaper and have already found it to be helpful.

I am hearing...Dr. Ray on EWTN radio.  I enjoy the show "The Doctor is In" which airs on EWTN or Holy Spirit Radio at 1 PM weekdays.  Check it out.

Around the house...each room is in a different state of readiness for our impending move to Indiana which will occur in a little over 2 weeks.

Learning all the time...I am busy preparing to homeschool as the school out in Indy has a waiting list so we have decided to homeschool until we get in to the parish school (which is free, by the way!).

One of my favorite things...Dairy foods!  Which I can't have right now because my sweet baby boy who is nursing is allergic to it.  It is a sacrifice I am certainly willing to make for him but it is hard to do. 

I am creating...bags ready for our move that provides my children with everything they need for that week we are without our stuff.

A picture thought: made by my son Froggy.

Motherhood in the New Year

To paraphrase a few words from Donna-Marie Cooper-O'Boyle's Preface of the book The Domestic Church: Room by Room:  The gift of conceiving & carrying a human life within one's own body-under one's own heart-and then giving birth to and raising this little one is almost beyond words- and nothing short of a miracle.  The vocation of motherhood is a sublime privilege and an awesome responsibility.  We are partaking in a partnership with God and our husbands, through our marital vows.  In that partnership, we can experience a special communion with the mystery of life as he or she develops within our very being.  What a gift it is to be a mother. 

 The Catechism says: "The Christian home is the place where childeren receive the first proclamation of the faith.  For this reason the family home is rightly called 'the domestic church', a community of grace and prayer, a school of human virtues and of Christian charity" (CCC, 1666).

How beautiful and profound!  Life can be so messy I am happy when I come across such notions to meditate upon when I am in the thick of daily living.  It helps me so very much to hear and contemplate these ideas instead of my own some what selfish ideas.

The other idea this book reminded me of is to look at the example of our Blessed Mother and her generous heart.  "Mary's determination and generous heart sent her-alone, on foot, and pregnant-on a 3-day journey to help her cousin Elizabeth, who was much older and also expecting a child.  We can be sure that Mary prayed and reflected all throughout her journey because the blessedness of Jesus dwelled within the tabernacle of her womb." (The Domestic Church: Room by Room page 3).

Sometimes I find it overwhelming to follow Mary's example because she was so perfect, but I can immitate her in the little things I do (visiting someone in need instead of staying home and getting my things done) and it somehow doesn't seem so overwhelming.

So for this new year of 2010 I am looking forward to doing a better job of immitating our wonderful Blessed Mother in the little things I do each day. 

Thank you Donna-Marie for the inspiration and insight!  God bless you in your work.

As Christmas Approaches

Our household has sure been enjoying the Advent season.  Our special Elf has been letting Santa know about good and not so good behavior in the house as well as requests for gifts.  Our Advent wreath has been a focal point at dinner time with much anticipation as to whom will blow out the candle.  I have even gotten a couple requests to read the Advent prayers!  Emmanuel-God is with us these precious days before the celebration of the Incarnation.  Baking cookies this year was especially fun.  Then we got a snow storm dumping almost 2 feet of snow onto us this past weekend.  Preparation for Christmas Day is going well.  Today the children will do their gifts for eachother.  We decided that they will offer eachother tasks as gifts this year.  For example, "I will clean your room"  or "help with a chore".  That way the children can cooperate on household tasks instead of focusing on what things they get.  I hope it is a success.  It is such a joy to watch the children get so excited.  Our Advent Elf calendar has been fun too!  God bless and Happy last days of Advent to you!

To Move or Not To Move

The subject of whether we should relocate closer to my husband's office has been brought up many times over the past 3 years.  He lovingly commutes to Indianapolis (by lovingly I mean that it is a labor of love for him to do so as traveling these days is a hassle and that he sacrifices many a night's sleep trying to get home to us as often and quickly as possible).  Well, the subject came up again recently with a deal attached to it that needed to be seriosly considered.  In conjunction with these new considerations I had been feeling increasingly aware of our oldest boy's need to have his Dad around full time, not just on the weekends.  We talked about all of these things and decided to pray on it.
After many days of prayer and asking for God to show us His will I decided that I should just give it all to Jesus.  My worries, my concerns, my sadness at the thought of leaving my friends and family, the move itself, our son's needs, my husband's lonelyness... all of it.  And He answered me loud and clear-we are to move.
The new house is beautiful and much larger than ours, the catholic school is free and very conservative, the parish is vibrant, the pastor is orthodox (reminding of our good friend who is a priest), the town is wonderful, my mother is supportive and the list goes on....
So here we are getting ready for a major relocation.  We have such mixed feelings about it.  The outpouring of love from are friends has been so wonderful.  We are going to miss everyone so much what a fabulous community we have here.  We are also sad to leave the awesome school here, we have been so pleased with the formal and informal education given to our children at RLA.  Anyone who could go there should it is a gem.
God has blessed us richly both here and in Indiana.  We are so thankful to our wonderful heavenly Father for His generosity.

Wordless Wednesday

Woman's Daybook

Outside my window...the last of the fall leaves drop from the trees.

I am thinking...about some big decisions we will be making and praying for God's will to be shown to us.

I am thankful for...a husband who looks to God for guidance.

I am wearing...comfy sweats.

I am remembering...how blessed we are to be surrounded by such wonderful friends.

I am going...to stay home today.

I am reading...The Whole World Will Love Me by Dorothy Scallan

I am hoping...that my children fight their illnesses without complication.

On my mind...are the pros and cons of a change in residence.

From the learning rooms...are lots of stories and letter/number worksheets as well as first communion preparation.

Noticing that...my little ones make great efforts to be in the same room as I am in at all times.

Pondering these words..."be not afraid"

From the kitchen...leftover lasagne.

Around the house...are many unfinished chores/tasks which are calling to me to be completed.

One of my favorite things...the figurine set of the Holy Family pictured below:

From my picture journal...