Congratulations on these New Catholics!

To Rachel and Paul Balducci and their boys Elliot, Ethan, Charlie and August: a new baby boy on July 16th: Henry Ephrem. Check out his pix here!

To Ann Elise and Daver and their children Duncan and Marissa: a new baby boy on July 18th: Russell Tobias. Take a look at him here!

As for our new little Catholic, he is 3 lbs 3 oz and growing strong. We hope to soon be getting a date and time for his arrival. We have not settled on a name, we really need to meet him first, but he is very active and his sister now seems to have figured out that he is on the way.

St. Joseph, Pray for us.

Oh, St. Joseph,
whose protection is so great, so prompt, so strong,
before the throne of God,
I place in you all my interests and desires.
Oh, St. Joseph,
do assist me by your powerful intercession,
and obtain for me from your Divine Son
all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
So that, having engaged here below your heavenly power,
I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most Loving of Fathers.
Oh, St. Joseph,
I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms;
I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart.
Press Him in my name and kiss His fine Head for me and
Ask Him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath.
St. Joseph, Patron of departed souls - pray for me.

Amen.

God Shed His Grace on Thee

Dear women of faith in this nation,

May we unite this day in prayer for our world sisters who do not enjoy the privileges that we have been blest with.

Let us shed ourselves of the useless energy that we put into debates and judgements on our neighbors
over their choices of schooling for their children,
or family sleeping arrangements,
or breast feeding versus bottle feeding,
or mom's employment outside of the home,
or material possessions.

Let us put our lives and cares in the presence of God and seek discernment for ourselves. With our needs in the tender care of the Lord, Our God, our way will be made clear and our spirits will know peace. We must support, encourage and pray for one another. We must ask for God's will in all things and trust in His perfect will for ourselves and others.

I beseech each of you to to bind yourself in prayer to those who do not rest in the blessings that we know:
The mother in Darfur whose pregnancy was conceived as a result of rape.
The mother in Afghanistan who risks her life by teaching her daughters how to read.
The orphans of mothers killed in Iraq.
The heartbroken mother in China who has abandoned her baby girl.
The migrant workers in our own country who live in horrific housing conditions.
The victims of human trafficking.
The victims of abortion.
The women who work 20 hour days making clothing sold in our country.
For all human needs.

Remember these souls and hold them close in your prayers. God loves them too.

The Good Saint said "with privilege comes responsibility." I stand convicted.

Let us not forget that
God so loved the WORLD that He gave his only begotten son that who so believeth, believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jn 3:16

May the power of the Holy Spirit guide the leaders of our nation.

Peace and All Good to you this July 4th, 2007

My First Real Mother's Day

will be this Friday, July 6, 2007. This will be the first birthday of my daughter. I look back at the trials and blessings of the last year and wonder sometimes how we overcame it all. God blessed our family with our daughter but also with faith, extended family, wonderful friends, and any variety of random angels.

You Can Change the Way You Listen

Lynn Johnston has done it again!

Thank you Lynn for including Shannon in your strip. She is a wonderful addition and her message today to the kids who tease her is one all people should be wise to remember not only for people with disabililties, but for people who are less educated and people learning the language as well.

I am reminded of an African immigrant my mother and I encountered working at a local pizza take-out a few years ago. He told the story of people's impatience as he attempted to speak to them in English, which was his third language. If people changed the way they listened they would realize that here was a person who felt privileged to be in the US and was attempting to learn our language as a way to assimilate. These are the same people who are angered when Hispanic immigrants refuse to learn English.

If we all changed the way we listen to one another, perhaps we would find a better way to get along with one another. And as parents, we would set a better example for our children.

Cruelty

How do we teach our children to be kind, compassionate and caring people?

Do we read them stories of Jesus? Do we take them with us when we perform charitable acts? Do we speak kind words to friends, strangers and enemies alike? Do we model being this kind of person every day of our lives?

Pretty much you have to do all that and more.

Today I saw this. And I thank Lynn Johnston for being so open about how people who are different in any way continue to be treated.

My goal as a mother is not just to raise my own kind, caring and compassionate children, but to be a model of this to other children and adults as well. I hope that the children I raise here at home will be examples all their lives of how to treat others. It's a tall order, but the more of us parents that do it, the sooner our world will change....for the better.

Pray for baby Kaleb.

This video moved me to tears not just because I have a baby a few months older than Kaleb or because in a few months I will have a second but because I am a mother at all. I have to ask God why did this happen to this little boy? I know I will never have an answer to that question. And I know his parents will not either. But it is his mother's testament of faith that amazes me. The prognosis is not good, but she believes that God is guiding her family.

Remember, if you are tired or angry, put the baby down and walk away. Do not shake him or her even once.

And please continue to pray for this brave family.

Affirmed

I am in the desert.
New home. New City. New aquaintences.
New church, new community.
My 3 AM adoration hour became too challenging at 50 minutes away.
I am not serving in the music ministry.
I am praying. I am listening.
I am thirsting for my God.
I pray a perpetual rosary.
The rosary bracelet around my wrist bears a medal of Padre Pio.
I know little of him,
but
at Mass this past Sunday,
when I opened the hymnal
a postcard with a picture of Padre Pio fell out.
Written were the words:
"All of your prayers are heard and answered."
Thank you Padre Pio for praying in communion with me.
Thank you My Lord for hearing and answering my pleas.
I am affirmed.
My cup runneth over.
I need to find out a little more about Padre Pio.

Transitions

We are out of our old house and into our new one.
It's a lovely house on a pretty street.
The neighbors are nice.
I keep wondering when I will be home.
It's not ingratitude,
It's just that when I am out and about,
and I think of home
I think of my old house.
The smells and views that gave me comfort.
I wonder what it must have been like for the Israelites during the Babylonian exile.
Perhaps we are all in exile in this life.
The rhythm of our earthly days
are the stepping stones
to home.
Peace and all joy to you.

For those who have lost....

Dear Lord,
We ask for your graciuos blessing
upon the families of all of the victims
of the Virginia Tech tradgedy.
May you comfort their sorrows and grant them
the strength and courage to carry on.
We pray also for the souls of those whose earthly lives were ended.
May your mercy be upon us always.
We place our hope in you.
In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit,
Amen.
Mary and Joseph,
Pray for us.
St. Monica,
Pray for us.

Alleluia

He is Risen.
He is Risen indeed.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

Side Bar Review

Do you have several children? Are they all of the same sex? If you do, or even if you don't you'll love to visit Rachel and all the Balduccis over at Testosterhome. They are a house of mom (Rachel), dad (Paul), four growing boys and a new baby (sex not revealed until birth) due this summer.

Life is chaotic, fun and family-oriented in this home. And if you ever wonder how to hold back a son who wants to watch his brother's first confession because he "might want to be a priest" and would need to know what confession is like, there actually is an answer here.

Rachel is funny and poignant at the same time. Her writing style is very outgoing and conversational. When reading her work I feel as if she is telling me the story over a cup of coffee. I especially love when she shares some of her boys' artwork or notes.

Surf on over and check her out! I know you'll love her!

A couple of years ago, my mother and I were sharing lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Southport when we heard the news that John Paul II had passed on from his earthly life.

When Shelby was born last summer, I purchased a John Paul (or Juan Paolo II) candle for her in the ethnic foods aisle of a grocery store.

And now, we proudly share the loveliness of John Paul II for all to know the man that so many of us felt might be pope for quite a long time and was.

After his death, I read an interview with Billy Graham where he mourned the passing of JPII whom he considered a close friend despite doctrinal differences. He also felt that one of the pope's greatest gifts to humanity was showing us how to suffer and how to die. I remember this interview with great affection and think of how right Reverend Graham was. Of all the things the Pope taught, the acceptance of God's will at the end of life and the embrace of the "life of the world to come" was one of the most amazing.

Just Like Us

When my mom talks about the couple that purchased my parents' home, the same thought always goes through my head, "They're just like us."

Never in their wildest dreams did they think they would own a home like that, and when we go around looking at homes, we often feel the same way.

They have a toddler and are awaiting baby number two. Now, Shelby is not a toddler yet, but we know the anxiety of having an increasingly active child and another on his or her way.

They are young professionals who boworred to their limit and then some to make their dream come true. And I can hear in my parents' voices that they worry about that despite not trying to. Just like parents' everywhere do.

When the realtors told my parents to "sell the house as is," they meant don't fix the hole my brothers put in the wall almost 10 years ago or the ceiling leak from the shower that had been present as long as I could remember. My dad couldn't live with that because, "people like Kristen and Jeff" could get over a bad paint choice, but those repairs would appear too daunting. So the ceiling and wall were patched.

I'm not at all surprised my parents sold the house to a couple just like Jeff and I. And this couple is not that different from my parents in 1983 either. When a bidding war unexpectedly broke out over the house, God must have allowed that to happen in order to let this family move into our old family home and show my parents how much they wanted it for their own. And once that was done, I know my parents feel better knowing the people who were just like us, just wanting a better life for their children and hopefully trusting in God that it will happen.

They Paved Paradise and Put up a Parking Lot

If you loved the house so much, why'd you sell it? you ask.
Well I tried to put it in God's hands. I honestly didn't think anyone would want it.

When we moved in 23 years ago our little subdivision was surrounded by hundreds of acres of farmland and pine forest. There were hawks circling in the sky and covies of quail rustled through the yard. We awakened each morning to the coos of mourning doves. Those were the sounds. Occasionally a car drove by or a plane flew overhead, but for the most part, the only sounds were those made by the breath of nature.

For fifteen years, the changes were slow. When a grocery store popped up at the end of the road it seemed harmless enough despite the fact that it devoured 15 acres of trees. The farmland and pine forest sold. A school was built followed by hundreds of homes and townhomes.

The quail fled, the mourning doves left and the dominant sounds became those of cars and heat/air conditioning units. The 500 acres of pine forest across the street were burned to the ground from the inside out before local residents knew what was happening.

One sad morning when the forest was cleared, we observed two hawks atop one of our trees. They seemed shell shocked, and were reminiscent of the old commercial of the Indian with the tear in his eye.

Houses were piled one on top of the other. Walking my dog descending into that neighborhood the vision reminded me of the rooftops of London as seen by Peter Pan. The indigenous pine trees that bear sturdy deep roots were replaced by lovely ornamental trees that topple over at the slightest breeze and require four landscapers to ever so delicately restore and tie them into position.

What is the message here my dear friends?

ONLY GOD CAN GROW A TREE. They grow in His time according to His plan, not ours.

New people who move in do not feel the loss. They have no familiar knowledge of what once was. This is a good move for the family living in our old house. It will be a wonderful environment for their children and they will have more positive educational opportunities.

In letting go and moving on I am challenged and convicted to share the lessons to be learned.

I need not look far for God says it all in His Word:

"Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees" - Revelations 7:3

May the Grace and Peace of the Lord be with you.

Don't it always seem to go
that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone?
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.-Joni Mitchell