First Steps...First Stitches

Hi, my name is Isaiah, and I'm a walker...

I just learned how to walk.  Can you tell?

Yep, underneath that cute band-aid are some nasty stitches.

My mommy can't bear to look at them, so she covered them up.

Mommy now calls me "Band-Aid Boy" and she says I'm still cute.

I must be extra cute now because she is hugging me and kissing me a lot more than usual.

P.S.  And if you must know how I got the stitches, I fell at the park while trying to follow Mommy who had walked 10 feet away to throw something in the garbage.  Much to my dismay, I'm not very good at walking on sand and there was a brick retaining wall preventing me from getting to Mommy.  Darn bricks.  The park was so much fun until I fell.  Mommy and I both cried.  To be honest, I think I handled the whole affair much better than she did.  I'm perfectly fine and happy, but she still looks worried.  Pray for her.  Thanks.  :)

Queen of the May

May is the month that we honor all mothers on Mother's Day, but it is also the month that Catholics honor Mary, the Mother of God, the Mother of all Christians, in a special way. At the foot of the cross before Jesus died, he gave Mary to the apostle John as his mother, and John to Mary as her son. We are all called to be apostles; therefore, just like the apostle John we take Mary into the home of our hearts as our heavenly Mother, and we become her sons and daughters, asking her help in leading us closer to Christ and loving as Christ loved. That was and is Mary's only mission:  bringing Christ to the world and the world to Christ.

The school that our boys attend is a beautiful, traditional Catholic school that celebrates the month of May by crowning Mary and Jesus and laying flowers at their feet in honor of our love for them. Symbolically, we are crowning Jesus and Mary as King and Queen of our hearts. I love how the Catholic Church often uses tangible symbols and actions to represent intangible truths which help to remind our hearts of what is important, and to make the mysteries of the faith take root more deeply.

It was very touching to see all the students at the school bring a flower to lay at the feet of Jesus and Mary while we all sang the traditional hymn "Queen of the May," which dates back to the 13th century. My eyes welled up with tears; my heart overflowed with love for Mary as we sang.  It made me so thankful that our children have such a wonderful school to attend where they are receiving an excellent education and having their souls fed and led toward heaven all at the same time!

Our family was blessed to be able to crown Mary a second time as we attended our monthly family prayer group called "Our Mother of the Eucharist and Grace."  Our gathering was out at a horse ranch, owned by one of the families in our group, and it was such a joy to pray with so many other families and then afterwards to watch all the children feed the horses, climb on rocks, and play with barn kittens, while us adults enjoyed great fellowship with one another.  I think Mary was smiling upon this gathering of Catholic families striving to live their faith in such a busy, secular world.  I pray that she showered all of us with extra graces to give us the strength we need to live out God's will in our lives.

Mary has been close to my heart since I was a little girl.  I loved praying the rosary and even dreamed of wearing a black and white habit so that I could pray all day long and help bring souls to Jesus like Mary has asked us to do in countless apparitions.  There have been times in my life when I have almost tangibly felt Mary's presence and her mantle of peace surrounding me.   One of those times was my senior year of high school during a pilgrimage to Medjugorje where the Blessed Virgin has been appearing daily since 1981.  I was blessed to be present during one of her apparitions in 1997.  I was in St. James Church with hundreds of other pilgrims praying the rosary, and Mary appeared to a few of the visionaries in one of the upper steeple rooms in the church.  The moment she appeared, I think every single person in the church could feel a holy presence--at least I certainly could--I was covered with grace-filled goosebumps!

St. James Church in Medjugorje
How I long to go back there someday!

There have been other times when I have felt her motherly presence just as strongly as I did in Medjugorje, usually during times of sadness when she knew I needed a mother's embrace.  One such time was earlier month.  I was unable to sleep, filled with deep sadness, and needed to cry.  Not wanting to wake my husband, I walked quietly downstairs to the living room, wandering in the darkness of despair and feeling consumed with my failures--even to the point that I began to worry about my salvation.  In my heart I knew that Jesus is always filled with mercy, but still I didn't have the heart to turn to Him because I felt like my sadness and selfishness must terribly wound his Sacred Heart, which just made me feel even worse.  So I turned instead to His mother.  And she was there.  I begged her to be my mediator, to be at the Gate when I die and beg for the Lord's mercy for me, and to never let me fall out of the Heavenly Father's favor.  I felt like she held me and said, "Of course, I will.  I am your mother, and also the Queen of Heaven.  Someday I will take you to the King.  Do not worry; I will always be with you."  What a gift, what a treasure to have Mother Mary to comfort us like only a mother can; to shine light into our darkness with her smile, her warmth, and her tender, unconditional love.   Thank you, Mary, Queen of my Heart and Queen of the May!

QUEEN OF THE MAY

Bring flowers of the fairest
Bring flowers of the rarest
From garden and woodland
And hillside and vale
Our full hearts are swelling
Our glad voices telling
The praise of the loveliest
Rose of the vale

O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May
O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May

Our voices ascending,
In harmony blending
Oh thus may our hearts turn
Dear Mother, to thee
Oh thus shall we prove thee
How truly we love thee
How dark without Mary
Life's journey would be

O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May
O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May

Baby Isaiah turns ONE!!!

Our baby is no longer a baby, but a BIG ONE YEAR OLD!!!  Although Isaiah's arrival into my womb was a slight surprise (shhhh, don't tell my NFP instructor), I'm not surprised at all to find that I cannot imagine my life or our family without him in it.  He has been an easy, mellow fellow, a joy, and a blessing that God knew our family needed.

One big milestone that he met just this week is that he started walking!  OK, maybe "walking" is a slight exaggeration, but he is taking a few shuffle-steps from point A to point B, and then he usually decides that crawling is much faster so he purposely falls down.  I forgot how adorable is a baby on wobbly legs.  I just love it and want to scoop him up and kiss him every time he does it...and so I do!  :)

His birthday celebration was very low-key.  I'm almost embarrassed to admit that we didn't have a party and that I didn't even bake him a cake.  This is what happens with the 5th child.  He is loved every bit as much as the previous siblings, but there just isn't as much time for all the hoopla and planning.  I remember how important it used to be to me to have a "perfect party," with "perfect gifts" and "perfect pictures" to put in my baby's "perfect scrapbook."  Sigh.  It makes me tired just thinking about how hard I used to work for perfection.  Now my kids are stuck with a very imperfect mommy who doesn't have time to scrapbook or organize parties, but who still makes sure her kids feel very loved and special.

So, for Isaiah's special day, Grandma Jean was still here visiting and took our family out to Perkins for brunch.  We ordered Isaiah a chocolate muffin with a Reese's peanut butter cup on top, and he was perfectly pleased (I'm sure it tasted much better than anything I could attempt to cook anyway!)  He had no party guests, just his family.  No presents, just the presence of those who love him and thank God for him in our lives.  That was perfect enough for me, and I think he thought so too :)

Oh, how I love this sweet birthday boy...  I wonder what he will be when he grows up... I wonder if his hair will stay red...  I wonder if he will ever become a big brother or will he stay our baby forever...  I hope and pray that he will always know how much he is loved, and that no matter how old he is he will know that my arms will ALWAYS be open to embrace him!

Happy Birthday, Isaiah!

I LOVE YOU!!!

Easter Highlights

Another Easter, another reminder to praise God for the gift of His Son's sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice that saved us from our sins.  That truth alone gives us cause to rejoice every day, but on this day there is abundantly more to be thankful for.  Here's just a few of our reasons to give thanks this Easter...

Celebrating Mass as a family at our gorgeous Cathedral and receiving the real Body and Blood of our Risen Lord!  Nothing can top that.

Learning to love like Christ loved with this holy, handsome husband...

A visit from Paul's holy and helpful mom (a.k.a. "Grandma Jean")....

An Easter egg hunt in "the Treasure State" with treasured friends...

Easter morning surprises from Grandma...

Decorating Eggs and finding them Easter morning...

Resurrection rolls to remind us that "He has risen, just as He said!" (Matthew 28:6)

Yes, He has risen and by his stripes we are healed of our sins!  There is no greater gift.  Choosing to accept that gift and to live a life of gratitude for that gift every single day (yes, in all circumstances) is the real meaning of Easter for me.  Easter is full of so many truths and paradoxes:  Suffering leads to joy, death leads to life, and the cross leads to the crown.  I pray I can better understand and live these Easter truths this year and pass them on to my children all year through!   A happy and holy Easter to all of you!

VERY Belated Birthday Wish to my Baseball Lover

Our brown-eyed, baseball loving boy, Michael, turned 11 this month (April 3rd to be precise).  For his big day all he wanted was to have  few friends over to play a pick-up game of baseball and take turns playing the Wii.  Michael has always been so laid-back and easy to please, and oh how this mommy appreciates that!  I just loved watching him glow all day as he hung out with his brothers and his best friends.  My prayer for Michael in the coming year is for him to continue to grow in his faith and in his friendships.  Boy, if this kid could be as passionate about God as he is about sports, he might become the next St. Fransis Xavier and save more souls than the number of homeruns hit by his Detroit Tigers hero Miguel Cabrera!  :)

Here's our passionate boy with his brand-new bike.  He and his brother bike to and from baseball practice almost daily, and they recently joined a mountain biking team, so I'm sure he will be putting plenty of miles on these wheels!

Crown of Thorns Bread

We started a new tradition this year for our Good Friday meal, an idea that I found on the internet from another Catholic blogger.  It was a big hit with our boys because it tasted so delicious, but it also really hit home what Lent is all about...  It is called "Crown of Thorns Bread":

Ingredients Needed: 

Bread dough (your favorite recipe or Pillsbury bread sticks from a can)
Pretzel Sticks
1 egg

Make your favorite bread dough recipe, separate into 3 equal pieces, and roll into 3 ropes.  Or do it the cheater way like I did, and simply buy bread sticks from a can and braid them together.  Shape the braided dough into a circle, and pinch together at the end.  Don’t worry- it seriously doesn't have to be perfect.

Beat one egg, and brush across the top of the bread.  Bake according to dough directions.  Once it’s all baked, stick pretzel sticks in the bread all over to be the “thorns” poking out at different angles.  As my boys and I placed the pretzel sticks into the bread, we each took turns saying out loud some of the sins we committed during Lent that caused pain to Jesus, just like the thorns caused pain in his crown.  Then, as we started eating the bread and taking out the thorns, we said out load some of the loving sacrifices we did during Lent that took some of Jesus' pain away.  What a great reminder that every time we sin, it literally hurts of Savior, and every time we love we can truly bring him comfort and joy!!!

I served this bread with meatless soup, and it would also be a perfect meal to serve on Ash Wednesday too! 

Worst Lent Ever?

If I dared to be honest about my Lenten journey this year, I would have to say it was perhaps my worst Lent ever.  All the lofty goals and sacrifices I planned to accomplish failed almost entirely.  The busy-ness of our boys' schedules, trying to sell our home, looking for a new home, and just getting the daily chores done caused me to lose focus on prayer and penance and praise.  I have spent the last 37 days crying a lot, walking in darkness, and failing to see the light.  I am ashamed of myself for being such a wimp.  I wish I could start Lent all over again...  However, I find great consolation in the fact that Lent is about mercy, about Jesus' love for little souls who know that they are BIG sinners.  That's me!  Therefore, I have much to be thankful for this Lent.  I have a God who loves me even when I biff it big time---especially when I biff it---because that is the very reason He sent His Son.  This Lent I was reminded that I am a selfish, cowardly sinner very much in need of a Savior.  And thankfully I've got the most loving, merciful, and patient Savior Who forgives me again and again, and Who gives me His heart at every Mass in the Eucharist to fill me with all the graces I need to begin again.  Yes, this Lent I learned to trust in God's mercy.  So perhaps this wasn't the worst Lent ever, but rather, one of the best.

Encouraging words about "Mercy" found in St. Faustina's Diary, one of my greatest treasures:

“Let the greatest sinners place their trust in My mercy. They have the right before others to trust in the abyss of My mercy. My daughter, write about My mercy towards tormented souls. Souls that make an appeal to My mercy delight Me. To such souls I grant even more graces than they ask. I cannot punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to My compassion, but on the contrary, I justify him in My unfathomable and inscrutable mercy. Write: before I come as a just judge, I first open wide the door of My mercy. He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice…” (Jesus spoke these words to St. Faustina; Diary entry #1146)

” There is no misery that could be a match for My mercy, neither will misery exhaust it, because as it is being granted-it increases. The soul that trusts in My mercy is most fortunate, because I  myself take care of it.” (Jesus spoke these words to St. Faustina; Diary entry #1273)