Hope...and Somehow Things Always Work Out

Today, I felt God's touch through our pastor's homily.  Actually, from the 2 sentences I actually heard from our pastor's homily.  I missed the readings and the Gospel because of 3 children that are outnumbering us and making it impossible challenging to actually pay attention while we are at church.

Kate has found her voice...and her screech!  Once she realized that the church echoes, it was all over!  Now , distraction with crackers, or toys, or nursing only lasts so long.

Luke is that very difficult 3 year old stage of a rambunctious little boy.  Sitting still for him is a challenge.  Playing quietly with the trucks he chooses to bring is a challenge.  He does not whisper and he is very wiggly.

Peter is Peter.  He is always wiggly.  He does not whisper.  He is obsessing over several phrases and sounds and says them over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.  It.is.so.annoying!  Then there is always the random standing up and turning around.  I always feel bad for the people around us.  Although, really, most people that are regulars know who we are, (we're pretty hard to miss), so I guess if they choose to sit around us it just is what it is.

Trying to keep the three of them quiet is so much work.  Paying attention is so hard, so bits and pieces of things is all that we hear.  The very few bits and pieces that I heard today....it was an extra difficult day....came from our pastor's homily and included the word hope multiple times and the idea that 'somehow things always seem to work themselves out.'

It was a good message for me after the week we just came off of.  Thankfully, the difficult moment that we faced seemed to have fizzled out.  By tomorrow afternoon we should know for sure.  While I feel a great amount of relief, I'm still dealing with and trying to work through the whirlwind of emotions I'm still feeling.  I feel like a boxer that won a fight but still has to deal with all the cuts and bruises and pain in the days that follow.

But I will choose to focus on the (very few) words I heard this morning:  "Hope"...."and somehow things always work out."

...and I'm making a visual rewards chart for Peter for Mass next week to see if we can improve his behavior.    And I think we will be sitting in the back for a while.  And I think Kate and Luke will be spending  a lot of time in the 'cry room'.  Peter might end up there, too!
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Did God inspire you to do something that made a difference?  Or did God inspire someone else to make a difference in your life?  If He has, please share your post and link up below to join my 2012 Advent Challenge!


 

Be Anxious for Nothing...

Today I have been seeking God's comfort.  When I started the 2012 Advent Challenge, I expected my own contribution to be a lot of warm, fuzzy moments because that's the way the first few days of Advent started for me.  That's not the way it ended up after Wednesday.  It still hasn't been resolved so I still can't explain it fully, yet.  But the post is already written and saved.

It has been a challenge to function on any "normal" level when something so big preoccupies my minds and  my heart feels like an elephant is sitting on it.  I feel like everything needs to be put on hold until this issue is resolved.  Although, even once the resolution comes the effects of what we have been through will still have to be dealt with and we may need to make some changes because of it.

But for today...for Living in This Moment in the Eyes of Faith...God spoke to me through a facebook post from a young woman that I have never met but is someone we have a special connection to.  Let me explain it a little!

A couple of years ago, a visiting missionary priest from Rwanda, Fr. Leonard, came to our parish.  He shared about his country, and a donation was taken up that day.  But it didn't end there.  Fr. Leonard was doing advanced studies in a seminary about an hour away from our parish.  After his visit, some people were inspired to connect our Parish school with a service project to raise money to help some Rwandan children attend school for the year.  Our school ended up sponsoring 10 children, doing a fundraiser later in the year to send soccer balls to the Rwandan children, and now we hold a yearly Variety Show to raise the funds to continue sponsoring the same 10 children in their schooling.

Fr. Leonard has visited our parish many times since that first day.  He is such a joy filled priest!  Jay was very inspired when Fr. Leonard first came and had started a dialogue that has led to a warm friendship with our family.  Before it was set up with the school to sponsor the school children, Jay asked him if there was anyone we could personally help with schooling.  Fr. Leonard had a niece that was in the middle of their equivalent to college whose father had fallen ill and needed financial help.  We had the blessing, along with a couple of our friends, to help Stella finish her degree.  We corresponded with Stella by email several times a year.  She is a faithful, hard working young woman!

It was her post that inspired me today...like a whisper from God that touched my heart.

"Be anxious for nothing but in everything, by prayer and petition,with thanksgiving,present your requests to God, and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts. Phil.4:6-7"

..."and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts."  My take, and how it comforts me, is that despite all the craziness that attacks our lives right now, God's peace can still be in our hearts.  And not only be present in our hearts, but guard our hearts!  Why guard?  Because when we are hurting it can be like an open door for spiritual attacks to come and rip away the peace we so desperately need even more when we are struggling with something in our lives.  We have definitely experienced those attacks here in the last day and a half!

So, special thanks to Stella.  Ironically, her inspiration to me comes on a day that I will be giving Fr. Leonard something that I felt inspired to give to Stella a couple of weeks ago.

The short story is that at the Variety Show that raised money for Rwanda a couple of weeks ago, one of our parishioners was selling Silpada jewelry and offering all the profits as a donation.  She was also raffling off the hostess bonus and the winner would receive the money towards free jewelry that the party generated.  The night of the Variety Show, I ordered something for Sarah that Ellie desperately wanted to give her and I ordered something that Andrew had picked out for his girlfriend for Christmas.  I had the thought of wanting to get something for Stella, but the jewelry I was eyeing did not fit into my budget!

So...guess what happened!  I was the winner of the drawing!  I never win anything either!  I got to go on a shopping spree with a little over $300!  I got the bracelet for Stella I was eyeing, 2 pairs of earrings for friends that God put on my heart that I don't ever exchange gifts with,  a pair of earrings for Ellie, a pair of earrings for a family Yankee Swap we do at Christmas, and, I even got a pair of earrings for myself!  I have wanted a nice pair of snowflake earrings for a couple of years...Silpada had them and they were on clearance!  That made it feel even better!

I have to wrap the bracelet and a faith book that Jay wanted to give her.  We will see Fr. Leonard tonight and he is heading to Rwanda in a couple of weeks to celebrate a wedding for his family.  Perfect timing:)

That's how God used someone to inspire me today...and how God used me to bless someone else!

Do you have a story about inspiring or being inspired by God to share?  Link up below with the post to share and inspire others:)

When Things Get Bumpy

I'm reeling today from a situation that happened yesterday.  I can't explain the details here yet, but I have shed many tears and muttered many prayers to try and work through it all.

So....since it's still my 2012 Advent Challenge no matter how I feel.....I guess the question is "How do I see God work and find God's inspiration when I'm feeling so sad(and angry, and fearful, and discouraged)?"

For today, I would have to say that I have found God underneath all the yucky feelings in a level of peace that I know would only be possible with God.  I have found the introspection and desire to do things the right way....work through my feelings, confront the people that need to be confronted in a (mostly) calm, rational way, and to work to forgive and not allow bitterness to take root in my heart.  I reached out to people that had professional information to help me, too.  I am not willing to just sit back and be a victim.

At the same time, it's not easy to accept the reality that I have no real control about the chance of a repeat appearance in the future of this same situation.

It was incredibly difficult to get out of bed this morning...and not only because the sleep I got was broken and restless.  Facing the day was not easy, but it had to be done.

Advent is a time of penance....and my Advent penance has definitely been provided!  I would have rather given up chocolate!

"I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me"....I have repeated this phrase many times today.

I am trying to see how God can bring good out of the situation we find ourselves in and I am trying to praise Him through it all!
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Has God inspired you to do something special or meaningful today(or recently:) for someone....or has someone done something inspired for you?  Please consider linking up and sharing that experience below!

Soaking in the Good Moments

I'm continuing with my 2012 Advent Challenge of Living in the Moment Through the Eyes of Faith.  My inspiration for today came from Mothering From Scratch in today's post titled 'Delayed Gratification'.  Melinda wrote about her teenage daughter and used a present day moment to launch into the idea that someday her daughter would come to understand and appreciate all the time, love and boundaries they gave her.

Melinda's post was encouraging to me since I often have the same thoughts about my own teenagers, especially my oldest.  I know that Mike dismisses my worry with his teenage confidence.  He often overlooks the privileges that he takes for granted(like having a family that loves him, a house to live in, a car to drive, the opportunity to go to college, etc.)....although I am guilty of that offense at times as well.  He usually doesn't see all the thought that goes into cooking a special meal with him in mind, or buying him a little something because he was on my heart....or trying to rack my brain to find a Christmas present that will please him because he likes to be "surprised"....or trying to stay positive and patient even when his attitude is less than desirable.

Sometimes I feel so frustrated that it makes me just want to give up and just wait until he matures and grows out of this stage!  (Do parenting stages ever really end?)

Someday....probably not until he is a parent himself...he will understand.  Hopefully he will see my perseverance with his ups and downs as an act of love.  Hopefully he will see our Wednesday trips to the store, or the zoo, or to lunch as proof of how loved he was...even when he didn't want to feel it!

I have to adjust my attitude as well, and soak in the "good moments" to be more resilient to the not-so-good moments!

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If you feel like God inspired you today, or recently, consider linking up below to share your story and encourage others to see God working in their every day lives, too:)

Choices and Opportunities

I am excited to blog today because of the way that God has funneled the ideas in my head for this post. I am continuing my Advent 2012 challenge: Live in the Moment Through the Eyes of Faith! I am having a link up for each day for anyone that wants to share how God is working in and through our lives. Maybe it's an act of kindness or generosity or a word of hope or wisdom you have been inspired to do for someone...or something inspired that someone did/said to you or someone close to you? I invite you to link up at the end of this post:)

Today's inspiration for me actually began this morning with a not-so-stellar 'mommy moment'. I was in the kitchen trying to make lunches, prep a crock pot dinner, and get ready for work. It never fails that either Kate or Luke or both of them together don't sleep well Monday nights so, getting up earlier on Tuesday mornings to get out of the house on time, never seems to happen as it should. I was also worrying about Mike who has been a little down lately and trying to figure out how to help him.

Anyway, amidst the 'normal chaos', Ellie picks this morning to be extra chatty about miscellaneous things. (Ironically, Ellie only said 'da da' until she was 2...we always say she has been making up for lost time ever since!) With minutes to go before Jay and the girls left for school, her 243rd comment of the day ,"Mom, why do football players want to jump into the crowd during football games?", threw me over the edge.  I was feeling overwhelmed and snapped at her that I didn't know and I didn't really care at that moment. It's definitely not going to get me nominated for 'mom of the year'.

 I had the random thought that, if life were like a game show where a buzzer went off every time I had a non-loving moment, that would have been one of them!:(

Fast forward to lunch time when I was checking my emails, facebook and blog....when I noticed that my friend, Anne-Marie,  had joined my link-up from yesterday.(Thank-you, thank-you!:)

Anyway....some of the things she said really made me think. The gist of how it touched me is that if I'm not bring life giving love to my family, then all the other 'extra stuff' I could do for them really doesn't matter. So what if I can give them clean clothes, or food for their bellies, or gifts from their wish list if I can't fill them with the most important and very first need.....love?

We can't build joyous events without a foundation of love. Picture a pyramid in your head...please:) Make it red and green to designate it a Christmas pyramid. At the top is the actual Christmas celebration...but if we don't have a good base about why we celebrate in the first place then that pyramid will come tumbling down with the inevitable stress that excitement, change of routine, too much sugar and not enough sleep will bring. 

If God is the base of our pyramid and the next block is prayer and love, we will be off to a great start. If we find a way to concentrate on that, then we will get the grace to complete the other blocks that we would like to form our pyramid with...like shopping, baking, wrapping, etc. And, more importantly, if we concentrate on God as our base, then we won't fall apart if the blocks we wanted to get to in our 'master plan' don't happen in the perfect way...or even happen at all!

 Let's face it, low expectations are needed sometimes! But wouldn't a simpler, quiet Christmas be better than a busy Christmas with a melting down, Mama? I think, as moms, we have all these great thoughts and ideas in our heads and then crack when we don't live up to our own expectations! But did our family really want or need all those presents, activities,decorations, ___________ (fill in the blank).

Is that really what God wants for our families?

~What do we really want our kids' memories to be when they are adults?
~Us stressed out and freaking out because we took on too much and expect perfection?
~Will anyone really remember those uncleaned nooks or disorganized cabinets?
~Isn't it the "warm fuzzies" we want them to hold in their heart...the feelings of closeness and love?(in spite of the inevitable meltdowns and squirmishes...there is no perfection!)

Start with the bare minimum...then anything else we feel inspired to do will be bonus points!

Today, I chose poorly and allowed my stress to overtake the much more important focus of my daughter's feelings. I feel bad that I hurt her feelings and am looking forward to her coming home from school so I can apologize.

Isn't it a blessing that I have the opportunity to make my afternoon better than my morning?

Just like this Christmas is an opportunity to make it into what it needs to be for our family based on our circumstances this year!
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 Did God touch you in a special way that you want to share? Consider linking up below!

2012 Advent Challenge

A friend of mine forwarded me a story.  I thought it was great and fit in with the way I've felt God moving in my life lately and it certainly fits with my theme of Living in the Moment Through the Eyes of Faith!  What if, for this season of Advent, (of waiting and of hope), we really tried to be aware of the way God is working in our life?  Not only in the big things, but in the little things?  And what if we shared these moments with each other to give God the 'shout out' and to share the moments that He amazes us to encourage each other and give each other hope?

I think it could be a great way to search for God in this special month....

What do you think?

I will start.  It's only something small today, but God can do such amazing things no matter what the size!

This morning, my friend, Janine, popped into my head.  Her amazing family lives about an hour from us and we don't see her and her husband and their 16(!) children very often.  (She could actually have 17 children by now but I haven't gotten her Christmas card yet...or even 18 since she's had 2 sets of twins!)  But, Janine and her husband, Jay, are the kind of friends that when we do get together every couple of years, it just feels like we picked right up where we left off.  Great people!

Fast forward to this afternoon, and she is the friend who sent me the following story.  Definitely a God-incidence...at least I think so! Plus, what she sent inspired me to suggest sharing the way God is moving in our lives during Advent, aka Advent Challenge 2012!

I am seriously stretching my technical ability by trying to start a link party!  Hopefully it works!

If you feel inspired to join in at any time this Advent, just link on up!  The goal is to be more aware and to praise God for His influence in our lives and to bring encouragement and hope to each other through our experiences!

Here's the story...hope it inspries you, too!

"Friends are God's way of taking care of us."
This was written by a Metro Denver Hospice Physician:

I was driving home from a meeting this evening about 5, stuck in traffic on Colorado Blvd ., and the car started to choke and splutter and die - I barely managed to coast, cursing, into a gas station, glad only that I would not be blocking traffic and would have a somewhat warm spot to wait for the tow truck. It wouldn't even turn over. Before I could make the call, I saw a woman walking out of the " quickie mart " building, and it looked like she slipped on some ice and fell into a Gas pump, so I got out to see if she was okay

When I got there, it looked more like she had been overcome by sobs than that she had fallen; she was a young woman who looked really haggard with dark circles under her eyes. She dropped something as I helped her up, and I picked it up to give it to her. It was a nickel.

At that moment, everything came into focus for me: the crying woman, the ancient Suburban crammed full of stuff with 3 kids in the back (1 in a car seat), and the gas pump reading $4.95.

I asked her if she was okay and if she needed help, and she just kept saying " don't want my kids to see me crying," so we stood on the other side of the pump from her car. She said she was driving to California and that things were very hard for her right now. So I asked, "And you were praying?" That made her back a away from me a little, but I assured her I was not a crazy person and said, "He heard you, and He sent me."

I took out my card and swiped it through the card reader on the pump so she could fill up her car completely, and while it was fuelling , walked to the next door McDonald's and bought 2 big bags of food, some gift certificates for more, and a big cup of coffee. She gave the food to the kids in the car, who attacked it like wolves, and we stood by the pump eating fries and talking a little.

She told me her name, and that she lived in Kansas City Her boyfriend left 2 months ago and she had not been able to make ends meet. She knew she wouldn't have money to pay rent Jan 1, and finally in desperation had finally called her parents, with whom she had not spoken in about 5 years. They lived in California and said she could come live with them and try to get on her feet there.

So she packed up everything she owned in the car. She told the kids they were going to California for Christmas, but not that they were going to live there.

I gave her my gloves, a little hug and said a quick prayer with her for safety on the road. As I was walking over to my car, she said, "So, are you like an angel or something?"

This definitely made me cry. I said, "Sweetie, at this time of year angels are really busy, so sometimes God uses regular people."

It was so incredible to be a part of someone else's miracle. And of course, you guessed it, when I got in my car it started right away and got me home with no problem. I'll put it in the shop tomorrow to check, but I suspect the mechanic won't find anything wrong.

Sometimes the angels fly close enough to you that you can hear the flutter of their wings...

It's December!

Happy December!  This is such a special month!  So much excitement, lots of special traditions, yummy cookies and cakes and pies, special family time....a jam packed month for sure!

Last night we watched Unaccompanied Minors(Jon's request) and today we put up our Christmas tree.  It went well for the most part....there was one accidental elbow between Mike and Ellie and Luke threw a candle into the Christmas bin and broke a decorative candle holder.  No major arguments or problems!

I just love Christmas lights.  There is something just so magical about the glow of the Christmas tree lights and the lights around our living room windows!  Definitely one of my favorite things!

Another momentous occasion took place today!  Kate took her very first step:)  She is 17 days shy of her first birthday!  (Where the heck did that year go!)  She got so excited when I started cheering for her!  Then she took her second step to daddy(and he just melted:).  Yep, he's wrapped around another baby girl's finger!