Monday, August 12, 2013

Another Weekend Flies On By!

Another busy weekend has flown by in the 'wink of an eye'!  On Saturday, we had the senior youth group from our parish over for a cookout/cookie making afternoon.  Jay is the leader of the group and was working on making baby feet shaped sugar cookies to sell at the Masses over the weekend.  The money raised will go to our local Pro-Life office to be used for a special project.

The Pro-Life office is having a banner made and purchasing a cell phone.  The banner will be used outside the abortion clinic in our diocese on the 2 days per week it is open.  The banner will say..."Don't lose hope....", "How can we help?"....., "Text ###-###-####".

There are moms choosing abortion because of fear.  They are overwhelmed at being pregnant, don't know what they are going to do, ashamed to tell their families, in the middle of school and don't know how they will finish, etc., etc.  These moms need love and help....and that's what the program in our diocese is trying to do!

There will be trained people to communicate with the mom.  There will be a medical van with staffed with professional volunteers a couple of miles down the road from the clinic offering on the spot ultrasounds and health assessments.  There will be a volunteer from social services ready to sit down with mom to help her determine any state assistance she is eligible to receive.  There are also a couple of 'sponsor parishes' ready for the call to help with all the practical needs a woman might need....a men's group ready to help paint or strip wallpaper to help create a nursery, a woman's group ready to help purchase what a newborn needs, daycare providers willing to offer services at a discounted rate and other members of the parish willing to sponsor the difference until mom can get on her feet.  There will also be support throughout the pregnancy if mom chooses adoption.

I'm really proud of the enthusiasm of the kids for this project!  The love and service it provides reminds me of the Bible passage:
If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?

On Sunday, Jay helped with cookie sales, Sarah had a quick meeting at the Church, and Andrew wanted to go and purchase a laptop for school.  We got a few hours just to hang out and play in the pool and sandbox with the little kids, too.  

Jay made a great dinner with scallops prepared two ways!  After clean-up, bath times and getting the little ones off to bed, we watched 'Here Comes the Boom' with Kevin James.  It was a funny, family friendly, uplifting movie!   It's so nice when we can all watch things together!

I hope your weekend was great and you are energized for the week ahead!  

I can't believe it's the middle of August!  I really have to get going with this school shopping!