-1-
"Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ra"... LilBro has been having a rough morning. Well, I guess it started last night. It was his turn to blow out the candle in the Advent wreath, and he got too close and burned his lip. Then, this morning, he fell and scraped his nose. And he just now bit the inside of his cheek. Rough morning for the not-quite-three-year-old. So, what to do when life is hitting you so hard? Seek out comfort in your favorite place: Mom's lap. As he lay in my arms, looking so very miserable, I started to sing the little Irish song my Grandpa used to sing to me. And just for a moment, the veil that separates us from those who have gone on ahead of us was lifted, and the three of us were here together: Grandpa, LilBro and me.
-2-
I love "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." It was on t.v. the other night, and I recorded it for the kids. It's playing right now in the background. I think this is the third time it's played since yesterday morning. My favorite part: yesterday, Princess called to me in the other room so excited... "Mama, you need to come here RIGHT NOW. Rudolph is going to pull Santa's sleigh! Mama, he's helping Santa!" And you know, I was just as happy about that as she was!
-3-
I've been fielding a lot of "interesting" questions lately from BigBro and Princess: "If the scientists say the universe was created by the Big Bang and the Bible says God created the universe, who's right?" "Did Jesus really make everything?" "How does the sperm get inside the Mom's belly to meet up with the egg and make a baby?"
Let's just say I've been really grateful that I am the one getting these questions. Grateful that we are homeschooling, that we are together nearly all the time, and so I am the natural recipient of these types of questions. Grateful that my kids feel that they can ask me anything. Grateful to my faith for the answers. I am not so sure I would have been able to answer all these questions as confidently a few years ago.
-4-
Have you ever had a prayer answered, and then been too chicken to carry through with your end of the deal? While I was at mass this morning, that thought came into my head. I've been praying for nearly a year now for help finding a new Spiritual Director. Last Friday morning, after mass, I had a conversation with a woman who suggested a friend of hers. She checked with her friend, got the ok to give me her contact info, and I've been sitting on that info since Monday night. Yes... it's been an unusually busy week, and I want to have some time to make this phone call somewhat uninterrupted. But I also think that my shyness and insecurities are playing at least a little role here.
Need to make that phone call a priority for this afternoon.
-5-
My friend and I are doing "kid swaps" so that we can get some free time to ourselves every other week. It's the same homeschooling family that we do the overnight kid swaps once a month so we can get good couple time. We started doing the same thing once a week during the day for 3.5 hours. It makes a big difference knowing that I have some time I can schedule as I want (or just run errands solo!). Today, I have her kids while she picks up her husband at the airport (he's been gone since Saturday) and has a little time reconnecting with him without the kids. I smile every time I think about this little gift I get to give her today.
It's really neat when giving a kindness really is as good as receiving one.
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Tonight is the first meeting of our new Marriage and More group. Our parish has 4 existing groups, which have been together anywhere from 3-15 years. It is a spiritually-based marriage support group. I have been really looking forward to it. We have 5 couples committed and one maybe couple. The Deacon and his wife will run tonight's meeting, and after that, we are on our own to take the group wherever we want.
-7-
I've been reading the Gospel According to Matthew this Advent, and I have to say that it is exactly what I've needed to read. I have a full post on this in the works, but Chapter 5 is really challenging me. Anger = Murder. Lust = Adultery. Love your enemies. No, really, love your enemies. Challenging stuff.
Last night, I was wandering in the religion section of the bookstore, and happened across Anne Rice's memoir of her conversion back to Catholicism. I have never been an Anne Rice fan (vampires creep me out) but I can't resist conversion stories. I stood there and skimmed through the final 1/3 of the book, where she talks about what brought her back home to the Church, and how it has changed her fiction since then. She had a whole section on Matthew, specifically Chapter 5 and the challenge it lays down. She put into words much of what has been in my head all week: this Christianity thing is not easy, not one little bit.
More on this later; there's too much here for a "quick take."
Happy Friday!
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