What I'm Reading...and Learning v2

The Book:  Courageous Generosity
The Topic:  Sacrifice

I'm an absolutely horrible Bible studier.  I have a hard time seeing things beneath the surface.  Thankfully, this book has a wonderful answers guide in the back.  I sometimes feel the need to check my answers to make sure I'm getting what I'm supposed to.  And then there are the times when I have no idea what I'm supposed to be getting, so I glance at it before I've even answered the question.

The other night was one of those nights where the answer guide came in very handy.  The book directed us to the story of Noah.

Genesis 6:19-20  Of all other living creatures you shall bring two into the ark, one male and one female, that you may keep them alive with you.

We're then told to read the events that unfolded after the earth dried out and Noah emerged from the ark.

Genesis 8: 20-22  Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and choosing from every clean animal and every clean bird, he offered holocausts on the altar. When the LORD smelled the sweet odor, he said to himself: "Never again will I doom the earth because of man, since the desires of man's heart are evil from the start; nor will I ever again strike down all living beings, as I have done. As long as the earth lasts, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."

The questions that followed these passages were, why do you think God would require a sacrifice in these circumstances?, and have you ever offered a sacrifice of Thanksgiving to God for a blessing that He has given you or your family?

It took me talking it over with hubby at dinner to finally "get it."  At least, how it applies to me.  Sure I understood that God wanted Noah to sacrifice the animals in Thanksgiving, but it was also a reminder to Noah of all that the flood cost God.  Now, how in the world this applied to me, I didn't know.  Sure, I sacrifice my time as often as possible to attend Mass and be with the Lord, I'll fast occasionally to remind myself of Christ on the cross, but when have I ever truly sacrificed in Thanksgiving as a reminder of what was lost to Christ?  I finally thought of Reconciliation and the graces that we receive as we leave our sins with Jesus and perform our penance.  In a sense, our penance is just what this book is talking about.  As I'm sitting in the church, repeating 10 Our Fathers, I am sacrificing my time, my words, my emotions to thank God for allowing me the gift of grace.  The gift of grace that He provided us when He allowed His son to die on a cross for all of us to have eternal life.  I think Lent is an exact example of this as well.  Sure, we all say we're giving up "whatever" because Jesus sacrificed for us, and we should sacrifice for him as well.  But do we really look at it as a sacrifice of Thanksgiving?  When I'm salivating over a huge piece of chocolate cake, knowing good and well that I can't eat it for another 30 or so more days, am I remembering in that moment to thank God?  I personally can answer, that no, I do not.  But after reading this section of the book, I'm definitely going to try harder?

How have you sacrificed in Thanksgiving for our God?  Think about it.

Out of the mouth of our boys...

Both of the boys, for quite some time now, have decided that they will someday marry God.  I'm pretty positive that they have no idea what this entails, except that they will become priests and say Mass.  And even that might be a strech of their knowledge. 

Today they announced that Sunshine should also marry God so she can be a priest as well.  I quickly went into the explanation that, "no, she wouldn't be a priest; she'd be a nun."  The boys were suddenly very excited.  "Oh, yes,"  Zep yelled,  "that way she can give us candy like Sister Madeline!"

It looks like the Sister Madeline needs to have a sit-down with our kids to explain what her job really is, and that it isn't solely dedicated to passing out candy to kids!

March 28th, 2011

Take Me Out to the Ball game!!!!

This soccer family went baseball for the spring!!  We wandered into the back of the park completely confused, having asked our resident professional baseball momma every possible question we could.  Do they need a bat? What color pants?  Do they have to have a belt?  What if he has no idea what to do?  etc...

Despite our complete ignorance...the season was awesome!  Bright Eyes did such a wonderful job at his first go-round with t-ball.  I really see some potential and hope that he wants to continue.  He was so great at getting behind the ball as it came his way.  He'd let it roll right into his glove and cover it quickly with his other hand!  We still have to work on the batting a bit; the poor kid can barely lift the lightest bat out there.  This is definitely our fault, since we've only, up to this point, let him practice with plastic bats.  I guess we should have thought of that!  :)  

B.E. was able to play with three of his best buddies!  I really hope he wants to continue playing, but with daddy coaching soccer, it'll be a hard sell!!!

March 26th - April 30th 2011

Stations of the Cross

March 21st, 2011

Kids in chairs...

Three years ago I captured this picture as my boys (Zep, 2 years old and B.E., 14 months) watched their favorite show at that time.  Good ol' Mickey Mouse! 

I used TV a lot then for a break, probably...most definitely, way too much.  I find it funny that as we've added another child to the mix the TV time has gone down to absolutely nothing.  I'm sure some of that has to do with not having cable, but we still have PBS folks...and that channel is packed with great kids' shows.  I think a lot of it is because we're not home as much and it just doesn't cross my mind anymore.  The boys do get to play their XBox 4 days a week, depending on their behavior, for a limited amount of time...and yet again, I'll admit that I am horrible when it comes to keeping up with those limits.  Next year, I'm making changes I tell ya!  Radical changes!  ;)

We had a lull in our afternoon yesterday and I thought I'd pop in a DVD for B.E. and Sunshine.  I dug all the way to the back of the stack for one of our old Baby Einstein movies.  I sat the kids down, turned on the movie, snapped a picture....just before Sunshine got bored and crawled right out of the room.  Yep, no interest AT ALL! 

I dug into the depths of our entertainment center and returned with nothing more than this picture!  It sure is cute to compare the two though, isn't it???

March 22nd, 2011

Reasons, seasons, and lifetimes...

If you've ever read this poem, you'll understand the title of this post. 

I've had many opportunities to review the friendships in my life.  From a young age, making friends and keeping friends was hard for me.  My dad was in the military, so I was accustomed to packing up my things every two years to experience a new place.  It's hard to make lasting friendships when you live places for such short time periods.  I think a part of me always kept people at arms length, so I wouldn't feel pain the next time the moving vans showed up at the door.  In some ways, I couldn't wait until it was time to move.  It's exciting...meeting new people, never leaving too much of an impact on anyone, saying goodbye to any problems you may have found in your current environment.  But it's always lonely.  My best friend growing up was my brother.  When the boxes were piled up in the house and my mom and dad were unpacking and organizing, I always knew I had my little bro to keep me company.  I guess having a best friend 4 years younger than yourself probably puts a burden on being able to relate to people your own age.

My first REAL best friend, one that was around for more than a couple years, was Ape (not her real name).  It was the beginning of my freshman year, 1994, at yet another new school.  She was the first person to pay me any attention.  For the next 3 years, we were inseparable.  My parents joked that they had gained another daughter.  We got our drivers licences together, skipped school together, dated together, and got in far too much trouble than any of my children will ever get in!  (are you laughing, mom?)  And then the summer before our senior year she threw a bombshell at me...she was pregnant.  It was in that instant that I knew I had lost my best friend.  I have no idea where she is today and haven't spoken to her in years.  She was my friend for a reason...to help me through the difficult high school years.

My second REAL best friend popped into my life in 2003.  I was a brand new engineer at the local power company.  We were required to attend a million training classes, and one day this beautiful Persian girl walked into class late.  Of course the entire class took notice.  We soon discovered that the girl was not only beautiful, but was also a nonstop talker.  I instantly despised her!  But for some reason, Nicole (not her name again) decided I was to be her friend.  Before long, her and I too were inseparable.  Our coworkers called us Siamese twins.  And fun?  Man did we have fun!  I remember sitting in our offices one day and deciding out of the blue to drive that evening to Nashville to see Simon and Garfunkel...never mind that we had to be at work the next morning.  To this day, that is the best girls trip I've ever been on.  Nicole was there the day my water broke with Zep, and she drove me to the hospital while I was in labor with Bright Eyes.  We also shared some very dark times together, but we were each other's rock.  I knew I could count on her for anything.  And she knew she could always count on me for peanut butter M&Ms whenever she was sad!  But, the beginning of 2007 our friendship ended abruptly.  We were both in different stages in our lives.  Her single and career driven, me married and now a stay-at-home mom.  We've tried several times since to rekindle what was, but the days of us ruling the town are over.  They're just memories that I can look back on with huge smiles and laughs.  She was my friend for a season.

My THIRD best friend is also my current best friend.  We bonded at a park over a bee stinger in 2005.  I recognized her from our church's cry room.  We were both pregnant and had due dates within a couple months from one another, but I looked like a whale and she looked like she was bloated from drinking too much the night before.  I managed to look beyond that though, and decided to stalk her until she became my friend!  Her oldest boy was the same age as Zep and now we were having second babies at the same time.  It was destiny, of course!  And truly, I believe God placed Kiki (not her real name) in my life for a reason.  When I'm insane, she's my sanity.  And when she's insane, well I just hand her a phone to throw!  ;)  We're going on 6 years of friendship now.  Our fight count is 0.5.  There was this one time she got a little mad at me, but I sucked up to her and made her forgive me.  We both had our third child last year...completely unplanned, I promise.  She'll confirm this with the frantic phone call she received from me....I think it went something like, "I'm {sobbing hysterically} preg {sobbing hysterically} nant!"  And her response was nothing less than what is expected from your best friend, "Holy shit!"  But, after that she managed to calm me down and help me see how exciting it would be.  Next year we'll be facing our first obstacle.  She'll be continuing her children at our awesome Catholic school, while I attempt to homeschool ours.  We both know that our friendship isn't based around the kids, but they're best friends and losing that will ultimately play a part in our friendship.  What's wonderful about Kiki though, is that she isn't just my friend...she's my family.  So, I'm not worried, because she'll be my friend for a lifetime!

Friends are wonderful and God desires us to share our lives with people...especially ones who inspire us and make us better people.  I've been blessed by each of my friends, whether they were there for a reason, a season, or will be around for a lifetime!

Must...write...post...

I'm slowly slipping into sleepy land right now.  We've been going strong all day.  Mowing the grass, trimming the spider bushes, digging up a tree that had roots the size of Texas.  I'm worn out.  My legs and arms look like I've been scourged.  Ask me about it, I'll show you.  I feel like I have one million tiny paper cuts all over my body.  I've told my hubby that this is proof that I worked my you know what off today! 

Thankfully, our wonderful friends had us over for dinner, so I was able to relax a bit and not cook.

But now, I can move no longer!  Good night world!