Today's reminder...

My days are filled with ups and downs as many of our days are. I find myself asking what I've done that my children fight so, or why I can't seem to do even the smallest things without worry or heartache. Then, something unexpected happens in the day to remind me that I am truly blessed. I know that I am blessed, but we all have our moments when we forget just how blessed we are. This Christmas season has been especially full of ups and downs.

The kids fight. It is true, sometimes they even say hateful things to each other. I know they don't mean it but it hurts to hear it anyway. And I get tired of hearing it. I try not to get into the middle of it because more often than not, my meddling makes things worse. So I listen until my blood starts to boil. This would be a down.

Then my dear hubby reminds me that we have 7 people in a fairly small house. There are bound to be times when we get on each others nerves. But we have often discussed the ups and downs of a larger house. In one respect it would solve the problem of me hearing too much of the petty bickering, which tends to irritate me so, but we have also seen families loose track of each other in a larger house. Kids downstairs, parents upstairs with very little interaction between them. That isn't what we want either.

Sometimes in our home things get broken, some days it seems like every time I turn around I'm picking up the pieces of hurt feelings rather than just the material object that has fallen victim to a rough-housing session. It happens, and although I am never happy about it I try to remember that a shattered heart is so much harder to mend then replacing what ever has been broken.

We have so much to worry about these days - well, actually older generations will tell you they had worries too, I don't mean to say that ours are so much bigger... but we worry, it is what we do - some of us let it take hold of us more than others but we all worry.

So here is the reminder: We are celebrating a birth, THE birth. It isn't about how much you buy, or get, or have but about how we try and better ourselves and make the season better for someone else. Pretty words, but hard to put into action when you walk down the isle of a store with all the STUFF tempting us, telling us that we just are not good parents, friends, family members, what ever if we don't buy this gadget or that. WE ARE CELEBRATING THE BIRTH OF OUR LORD, OUR KING, OUR SAVIOR. Without Him nothing else matters or is possible.
Focus on these pictures and remember that we are all very blessed no matter our circumstances.

And I'm pretty sure I'm stealing this but I can not remember for the life of me where I read or heard it: Blessings to you, be a blessing to others!



Our Lord and savior, born in a barn, laid in a pile of straw. Not in a nice soft bed, warm and cozy. Even in warm weather the outdoors would not be my choice for a birthing. A king, starting out and living His life with far less then most of us, and we complain.

The Holy Family, with all the worries and concerns of being parents, but doing what they believe is best, and facing an uncertain future with faith and hope.

We are blessed, I am blessed, and this Christmas season I am on a mission to make sure that I focus on that. Some days I succeed more than others, but it is my goal.

Blessings to you, be a blessing to others!

Because it's time for healing ...

An Ugly Pair of Shoes

I am wearing a pair of shoes.

They are ugly shoes.

Uncomfortable shoes.

I hate my shoes.

Each day I wear them, and each day I wish I had another pair.

Some days my shoes hurt so bad that I do not think I can take another step.

Yet, I continue to wear them.

I get funny looks wearing these shoes.

They are looks of sympathy.

To learn how awful my shoes are might make them uncomfortable.

To truly understand these shoes you must walk in them.

But, once you put them on, you can never take them off.

I now realize that I am not the only one who wears these shoes.

There are many pairs in the world.

Some women are like me and ache daily as they try and walk in them.

Some have learned how to walk in them so they don't hurt quite as much.

Some have worn the shoes so long that days will go by before they think of how much they hurt.

No woman deserves to wear these shoes.

Yet, because of the shoes I am a stronger woman.

These shoes have given me the strength to face anything.

They have made me who I am.

I will forever walk in the shoes of a woman who has lost a child.

Author Unknown

On December 6, 2008 in the wee morning hours we lost a baby. I didn't even know I was pregnant. What surprised me the most about this was that even though I didn't know I was pregnant yet, my heart was still crushed as I realized what was happening. Love is such an instantaneous thing when it comes to our babies.

This was the third baby we have lost in miscarriage. It does not get easier just because you know what's happening. It isn't easier to hear that something must have been terribly wrong. It gives only a little comfort to know that our little angels are with Jesus, because we are selfish and want them with us. I do believe they are well in the arms of our Lord and I do believe they are watching over us, waiting as we are, to be together again. So we have three angel babies watching over us now. I told my hubby that God must think we need lots of help.

As always, I went in search of answers on the Internet. Answers are not always found there, but I did find some comforting words and a site that does beautiful jewelry in memory of lost babies. I wanted to share, just in case anyone else might be needing it.

The poem above was one that really struck my heartstrings, and reminded me that as time passes there will be less pain. I also know from experience that even though these might be my shoes I wear many hats. And the hats that I wear often help me forget the pain the shoes cause. Those hats would be the hat of a mom to 5 beautiful children who are still with us, a wife to a loving husband, a daughter, a sister, a friend... there are many hats.

La Belle Dame has the beautiful jewelery.

God bless you and keep you in all your trials and joys!

Marian devotion...

Questions come up frequently as people learn I am Catholic. Tonight I'm going to discuss MY devotion to Mary and my understanding of the Churches teachings of the same.

The common complaint and/or question is that Catholics worship Mary or give her more devotion than she deserves.

My question to them is why wouldn't she deserve our devotion and our honor? Was it not God who honored her first by asking her to bear His son? That is indeed a great honor. And let's not forget that she then accepted his request. Would all of us do the same? I wonder if Gabriel came to us to ask a similar sacrifice, would we even believe? Mary is honored several times in the bible first by being asked to bear the son of God, then again they showed her honor when Elizabeth calls her blessed. And further when Elizabeth's child "jumped" in her womb as Mary approached. They did not put that in as a coincidence. Read Luke 1: 26-56

As we celebrate Advent - I find that I always think more of Mary than any other time. As a mother I look to her example, she gave us a good model to follow as we raise our own children. On the one hand, it might have been easier to mother the son of God, Jesus was teaching adults how to behave even as a young child. On the other hand, there were times when Jesus tested his mortal parents, were they just to assume that he would be fine when he disappeared to stay at the temple. The bible tells us they worried just the same as any of us. Mary is also an example in faith. She said yes, even though she clearly did not understand exactly how things were going to happen, she said YES!

I also have people question why I pray to Mary. When I pray the rosary, it is to ask her intersession. I do not pray TO Mary as if she is a goddess, but to ask for her to pray for me. That is no different than asking my neighbor to pray for me. The rosary is a great TOOL so that I may focus my mind, and my spirit on the task at hand. It is a prayer that can be memorized, which some people believe is not really praying. I have to ask - do they pray the Our Father? Do they remember that Jesus Himself prayed the same prayer THREE times in the Garden of Gethsemane?

In Matthew 6:7 it says - In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Which is where most people get the idea that repeating a prayer is not acceptable. What we are doing when we recite the rosary is not repeating ourselves because we think God did not hear us, it is to quiet ourselves, to train ourselves to be TOTALLY involved in our conversation with God. To enable us to do as the bible has directed us in 1 Thess 5:17 to "pray without ceasing". And when we quiet our minds and spirits we are open to hear what God has to say to us. I have gotten that quiet only a few times, most of the time I am like a hyper child whom God has to bop on the back of the head just to get my attention. I'm working on that one...

In 1 Kings 18: 26-29 we are given an example of the kind of repetitive prayer the verse in Matthew is talking about. 26 Taking the young bull that was turned over to them, they prepared it and called no Baal from morning to noon, saying, "Answer us, Baal!" But there was no sound and no one answering. And they hopped around the alter they had prepared. 27 When it was noon, Elijah taunted them: "Call louder, for he is a god and may be meditation, or may have retired, or may be on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened." 28 They called out louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until blood gushed over them. 29 Noon passed and they remained in a prophetic state until the time for offering sacrifice. But there was not a sound; no one answered, and no one was listening.

I find so much comfort in the examples Mary has given us on so many levels, I honor her, and thank her for being strong in faith, quiet in spirit, and confident. This is a shelf I have dedicated to her in my home.

Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of death.
Amen.

Please see the bottom of this blog for the rosary.