New Year's Blessings

Once again, our family ends the year overflowing with thankfulness at the number of blessings God has given us!  Of course, He sent some challenges and crosses too, but we are learning that even those can become blessings if we rely on God’s grace to carry them.  One of our biggest blessings this year was the news that we are expecting another sweet son in the spring.  He will fit right in with his older brothers!  May God give Paul and me the grace to raise these boys to become holy gentlemen to love and serve Him as they grow up!  As we begin a New Year, I asked each member of my family to brainstorm what they were thankful for in 2012 and to ponder what might be some goals for 2013.  Here is the list we created, and perhaps you’d like to do the same with your family—

 

Paul:

·       Thankful list for 2012:  my compassionate wife, a healthy family, my broken wrist healing from my snowboard accident last February (I’m sure my jump in the terrain park looked cool though…until I landed), a good paying job with the FAA, and the exercise of taking my gun for long walks in the fall mountains for no apparent reason.   

·        Goals for 2013:  not to break anything while skiing this year (I’m retiring from my snowboard), a big (ok ANY) elk for Joseph’s first year of hunting, to welcome a new son into our family, and to win the weight loss competition with my brother Dann.

Maria:

·       Thankful list for 2012:  my holy husband who points me heavenward, great-behaved boys that make me smile every day, my supportive girlfriends who encourage me in my faith-journey, bubble baths, graces from the Eucharist, learning how to snow ski, and two books that have changed my soul for the better:  1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp, and The Diary of St. Faustina.

·       Goals for 2013:  to pray the rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy every day, to laugh more, to do some quilting, to love my family and my Savior more perfectly, to help others love Jesus more, to learn how to take better pictures for our family blog: (www.atotustuusfamily.blogspot.com).

Joseph:

·       Thankful list for 2012:  skiing the backside of Discovery Ski Hill, catching a 20 inch walleye with grandpa Pat, pitching in my baseball league, learning to play the violin, hanging out with my school buddies, altar serving, practicing archery with daddy, and mountain biking with friends.

·       Goals for 2013:  to ski more double-black diamonds, try out new ski hills, shoot my first deer or elk, become better at baseball, catch a world-record Northern Pike, make more paracord bracelets, and to grow in holiness.

Michael:

·       Thankful list for 2012:  skiing, becoming an altar server at the Cathedral, playing baseball with my classmates, going hunting with daddy, going fishing in SD with grandpa Pat, going to Silverwood Amusement Park with my friend Alex, camping in the mountains, and going mountain biking with my friends.

·       Goals for 2013:  to grow closer to Jesus, become better at skiing, baseball and piano, to be kinder to others, learn how to catch more fish, make more paracord bracelets, and to be a helpful big brother when the new baby comes.

Dominic:

·       Thankful list for 2012:  going to South Dakota to play with grandma, grandpa, and my cousins, starting Kindergarten at St. Andrew Catholic School, learning how to read, playing baseball, snow skiing, and building with Legos.

·       Goals for 2013:  to catch some big fish, go to grandma and grandpa’s house, play baseball, do more camping, and become better at playing the piano.

Nathanael:

·       Thankful list for 2012:  big brothers to play with, playing with anything that has wheels, reading books with mommy or daddy, my teddy and monkey to snuggle with at night, and a cat to chase around the house.

·       Goals for 2013:  to be a good big brother to the new baby, to be 100% potty trained, and to stop throwing tantrums when I don’t get what I want.

We pray that God blesses all of your families abundantly this year and helps you to see all the gifts you have to be thankful for!  This season reminds me that the greatest gifts of all to be thankful for are Jesus’ sacrificial love and His abundant mercy—to bring us those gifts is why He came to this earth on that Holy Night so long ago.  May we embrace those great gifts with all our hearts in this New Year, and may we learn to constantly say like St. Faustina did, “JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU!”