Our Lady of Czestochowa came for a visit

Last week a very special grace came to our community.  The traveling icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa visited our town, which has been traveling from town to town across the entire world since 2012 on a pilgrimage to inspire greater devotion to Jesus through Mary and to awaken Christians to the urgent calling to build a culture that protects life from conception to natural death.  The pilgrimage is officially called "The Ocean to Ocean Campaign in Defense of Life," which is being carried out through the pro-life missionary organization called Human Life International. The pilgrimage started in Russia, which is quite fitting, since Russia was the birthplace of abortion-on-demand and holds the staggering statistic of 8 abortions per Russian woman!

The icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa is also called the "Black Madonna" due to Mary's dark skin which was probably caused by candle smoke over the years.  According to tradition, the original icon was painted by St. Luke on the table belonging to the Holy Family.  Centuries later, St. Helena brought the icon from Jerusalem to Constantinople, and it eventually found its final home in Czestochowa, Poland.  The traveling icon that I was blessed to be able to see and touch is a beautiful replica of the original, and was blessed by the bishop of Czestochowa before it began its pilgrimage across the globe.

Here is a picture of the original icon in Poland:

Many miracles have been associated both with the original icon and with the newly painted icon made specifically for the "Ocean to Ocean Campaign in Defense of Life."  The original icon was often carried into battle, just like the Ark of the Covenant was carried into battle in the Old Testament, and brought about miraculous military victories over the years.  Many faithful Christians believe that asking for the intercession of Our Lady of Czestachowa aided in ending Communism in Poland, as well.  The new icon has been brought to many abortion clinics where faithful Christians have asked for Our Lady's intercession, resulting in many saved babies on the day the icon was present, and even the complete closure of a few clinics within days of the icon's visit.

I believe that I witnessed something miraculous at our own Planned Parenthood here in Helena.  Fr. Peter West, who is the priest that is caring for the icon on its pilgrimage, brought the icon to our Planned Parenthood the day before our 40 Days for Life campaign began.  A few days later was a scheduled abortion day at our Planned Parenthood.  A group of us came to pray at 8:00am.  The abortionist arrived, but no clients came for the first hour, which was very unusual (typically, the abortion clients arrive first-thing in the morning).  Three clients came later in the morning, but that was the lowest number we have seen on an abortion day.  Perhaps the extra intercession to Our Lady helped spare the lives of some unborn children in our town, just like in many others around the world!  Praise the Lord!

Here is Fr. West and a few of my pro-life friends praying at Helena's Planned Parenthood:

There is so much rich history regarding this icon.  If you'd like to read more, here are a couple of great links that I found:

http://www.hli.org/2013/08/history-black-madonna/

http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/czesto.htm

And for more information about the Ocean to Ocean Campaign, here is their website:

http://www.hli.org/hli_campaigns/ocean-ocean-pilgrimage/

Our First GIRL-toy!!!

This is noteworthy, this is memorable, this is worth pictures and blogging about...  

For 13 years I have been surrounded by boy-toys.  I have been in the middle of Nerf battles and pretended to have jet air raids more times than I can count.  But now, we finally have a girl-toy in our house!  The other day as we were strolling through the toy aisles at Target, I had an epiphany:  my boys need to learn how to be sensitive gentlemen rather than just war-mongers that blow everything up.  So, I turned down the "girl-aisle" and suggested to Nathanael that what his castle collection at home really needs is a princess for the knights to protect.  His eyes lit up, and he selected a Princess Sofia doll.

As soon as we got home we started some chivalry training, and that night Nathanael tucked Princess Sofia snugly in the castle dungeon, surrounded by brave knights willing to give their lives in order to protect her.  Yes, we still have some training to do, but hey, it's a start!  :)   

Three cheers for Sofia, the Princess!

Three cheers that chivalry is not dead at our house! :)

Caught in the act...

For years I have been trying to grow big, orange pumpkins to use for decorations in the Fall, and every year I only get a few teeeny-tiny green pumpkins.  So, last year I did some research and learned about hand-pollinating, where you take a male pumpkin flower and brush its pollen onto a female flower (just in case the bees and butterflies don't do their job well enough).

Male pumpkin flower

Female pumpkin flower

So I tried it this year.  I admit, it was a little embarrassing at first--I may have even blushed.  :}  My husband thought it was hilarious as he watched me go out to the garden many-a-morning to help my pumpkin plants mate. Apparently, he thought it was so funny that he even caught it on camera.  It was the only time I've seen him pick up my camera in 5 years!  :)  What a stinker.

Caught pollinating...

But, I do feel slightly vindicated now that I can see the fruits of my labor.  We got 10 big, beautiful pumpkins this year!  Some of them were still green when I had to bring them inside to avoid our early Montana frost, but even those have now turned orange.  The kids and I had so much fun watching them grow all summer, and now we have our very own pumpkins to decorate our home and to turn into "Saint-O-Lanterns" in October.

Proof that hand-pollinating worked!

Aren't they pretty?

They make our living room look so Autumnish :)

Here's the cutest pumpkin of all! :)

HAPPY FALL!!!

Joseph, our TEENAGER!

We now have a TEENAGER in our house, and Joseph celebrated his birthday in true teenage fashion.  He didn't want a party, nor presents, nor party favors (he wouldn't even let me bring treats to school this year!?!?).  He just wanted to invite a few buddies to go mountain biking with his ne mountain bike.

They had an epic time despite the strenuous uphill climb, despite the dangerous switch-backs, and even despite the 3 crashes involving scrapes, bruises, and a cactus impaled in a leg.  Danger and blood apparently make things more fun for boys.  Good thing they have their adventurous father to help make birthday parties like this one happen.

Here is Joseph with four of his best and bravest buddies!

From left to right:  Daniel, Isaiah, Aidan, Alex, and Joseph

Dear Joseph,

Daddy and I are so proud of the young man you have become...

Calm and confident,

Smart and witty,

Athletic and artsy,

Handsome and helpful.

You now where shoes bigger than your mom,

and deodorant daily like your dad :)

We trust you to mow the lawn

and babysit your brood of brothers.

How crazy, how wonderful.

We love you

our first teenager.

Farewell Summer

The kids are now back in school, but we are still reminiscing about our summer highlights.  Here are a handful of them from our last two trips of the summer.

First, we took a 12 hour trip to Aberdeen, SD to visit my side of the family for a week:

Isaiah and I had lots of fun splashing in Richmond Lake at Uncle Mike's house.

My brother Mike and his family live in the house I grew up in,

so going out to his house on the lake still feels like going home.

Joseph was so proud to learn how to ski this year!!!

It only took him 3 tries!  Perhaps snow-skiing talents helped him out a bit.

This was also Joseph's first year where he was big enough to ride

the go-carts by himself!  What a reminder to me that he's not my baby anymore.

In fact, he turned 13 this month!  CRAZY!!!

The boys loved spending time with their cousin Elizabeth;

especially getting her soaked in the bumper boats!

Michael had a blast bungee jumping for the 1st time!

Fishing with Grandpa Pat is always the favorite for the big boys!

They caught lots of delicious walleye, and even a few Northern Pike,

but Grandpa Pat refuses to let them bring a pike home.

Then we drove another 5 hours to Minneapolis to visit Paul's family for a week.

We rarely get to spend time with our Minnesota cousins,

so it was very special to spend a week getting reacquainted.

We took the big boys to a Minnesota Twins vs. the Detroit Tigers game.

Michael's is a die-hard Tiger's fan, so he was thrilled...

can you tell?

Miguel Cabrera is Michael's baseball hero.

Michael tells me that Miguel is a good Catholic because he has a rosary tattooed on his body.  Hmm. 

It was pretty cool to see him play in person rather than just on a TV screen!

My favorite part about the Twins game was sharing Super Nachos

with my sweet sister-in-law Rachel!

Dominic loved the ice cream and also the train ride to get to the game!

Paul's favorite part about the Twins game was flirting with me on the train ride :)

He and I were able to go on a couple of dates while we were on vacation, 

which was a huge blessing!  Flirting and dating helps our marriage so much...

we need to do that more often! 

We went to the Mall of America for a game of mini-golf

and a ride on a rollercoaster!

Aunt Rachel's brother let us play for a day at his swimming pool,

which was buckets of fun.

The big boys especially loved the diving board!

We also took a trip to the Komo Zoo

and Komo Town Amusement Park!

Kennedy liked hanging out with Michael and Joseph!

Holli and Natey became fast friends.

I love this photo of Natey...he looks terrified, but I promise you he was thrilled about all the rides.

We sure wish we lived closer to our MN family!

Isaiah was the best baby ever on this trip!!!

He is such a laid-back, happy little guy

no matter where he is.

Then we drove 16 hours to get back home to start school and schedules again!  In case you were curious, 16 hours is a reeeaaally long time in the car with 5 youngsters.  I was eternally grateful for books on tape and lollipops.  Seeing our family was well worth all those hours in the car (but I'm not sure we'll be taking another road trip for a reeeeaaallly long time...I'm still recovering!)  :)

Poem Explained

Perhaps it would be fruitful to explain the thoughts behind the last poem I posted, just to clarify that I do not regret getting married or having these beautiful boys the Lord has given my husband and me.  That is not the case at all.

However, I do go through periods of wondering who I am because, in reality, a mother gives all of herself to her vocation of wife and mother.  We sacrifice our wants (and sometimes even our needs) in order to nurture the souls placed in our care.  This sacrifice feels very natural to me and I know it is what I am called to do, but at times, I do feel like I've lost myself.  Sometimes I grieve a little bit over the talents I once thought I would use to do great things in this world, talents like oil painting, flute and guitar playing, Spanish speaking, picture taking, creative writing, and even sill things like ballet dancing.  I no longer have time for many of those talents, nor do I think I am meant to use any of them for any grandiose purpose anymore.

Perhaps God will allow me to use my talents and hobbies in small ways for His glory, and I'm learning to be OK with that.  Mother Teresa reminds me that I don't have to do great things, only small things with great love, and I can still do that as a mother.  I may have lost some of my talents, or the time to use them, but I have not lost the ability to love.  I can do that nearly every second of the day--I can love by changing a stinky diaper with a smile, by making a meal for a friend in need, by snuggling with a son whose heart is hurting...the list of little ways to love goes on forever.

It is true that some days I grieve over lost talents and dreams--like being a missionary in a 3rd world country, or being a great homeschooling mom, or leading the music ministry at church, or writing inspiring articles to convert even an atheist's soul, or painting masterpieces that would point people's hearts towards God... But lately God is teaching me to be content with being little.  In fact, I prayed the other day that I could become so little that I could fit into Jesus' side and hide within his glowing heart.  That dream I will hang onto to, for as long as I am found in His heart, I know I will not be lost.  And that's good enough for little me.

Lost and Found

Somewhere between "I do" and baby #5
I found myself lost.
No one told me that loving
came at such a cost.
I didn't realize it was happening--
just discovered it one day.
Giving myself to so many
my "self" went away.
So who am I now I wonder?
Who am I supposed to be?
I asked this to my Savior who said,
"You're lost and found in Me."