Post Lent

                                             Easter Vigil @ St. Michael Parish in Exeter, NH

What an experience this Lenten journey has been for myself and my family.  This is the first year that I've truly looked forward to participating in each Mass offered during Holy Week.  We even snuck in a Living Stations of the Cross on Friday afternoon.  The kids were such troopers.  They sat through Holy Thursday Mass (my absolute favorite service of the year!), the Stations on Friday, Good Friday Veneration, and finally, last but definitely not least, they made it through most of the Easter Vigil.  I was so proud of them.  They continued to ask questions throughout each Mass.  We, of course, shushed them at every second, but hearing them being interested in all they were witnessing was very moving to me as a mother.  I was brought to tears on Thursday when I found out that Zep's Kindergarten teacher's performed a mock Last Supper, complete with washing of their feet and all.  I think it truly helped him relate to the Mass and also to what Jesus and his Apostles experienced on the night before Jesus was crucified.  Hubby and I finally stuck to our promise to view the Passion of Christ as soon as the kids were in bed on Good Friday.  I still can't watch that movie all the way through.  I have to cover my eyes and sob silently.  Seeing Mary watching her son being tortured in such a horrific way was too hard for me to fathom. I kept picturing my own sons receiving the same torture, and wondered if I could put my trust in God through it all.  This is why Mary is my go to gal for parenting advice! 

The high point of Holy Week was without a doubt witnessing my dear friend enter the Church.  I tried so hard to control the tears.  But as I watched her walk away from receiving the Body and Blood of  Christ for the first time, I saw tears streaming down her face.  I lost it!  Completely lost it!  It didn't help that her husband was practically sobbing during the entire Mass.  What joy he must have been feeling!  It was in this moment, watching Kate receive the Eucharist, that I realized how often I take it for granted.  I am so blessed to be able to receive my Savior in such a special way.  The Church makes this sacrament available to us daily, although I rarely make it more than 2 or 3 times a week.  Definitely makes me rethink the priority I place on attending daily Mass. 

So...how did our Lenten sacrifices and add-on's go???  Well, I'd like to say we rocked them all, but we didn't!  We were lucky to get in one Stations of the Cross a week.  Hubby did the best of all of us and kept to his Lenten sacrifice pretty diligently.  He's still unwilling to share!  I was doing okay until I had a bit of an NFP blunder.  And well, you know what happens where there is a screw-up on the charts!!  As it turns out, it wasn't in God's plan for us to have baby #4 right now.  Although, I'm secretly hoping that it'll be in his plans sooner than later!  And well, the blogging...you can look back to see that I failed miserably in that department!  But overall, we all feel that Lent was a success! 

In other news...there are only 15 days left of school!  I'm planning on finding the highest point in Alabama and screaming, "Freedom!" as loudly as possible as soon as Kindergarten graduation is over!  Um, yes, I'm still THAT excited!