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.