Friday, September 29, 2006

On my knees, in praise and thanks.

Last night, Mr. Bereit single handedly DOUBLED our funds raised from last year. He was amazing. I really would not do it justice to try to capture in words what he brought to our little pro-life community last night. I still feel a bit speechless.

I was motivated, moved, and humbled. It was a call to action. It was a call to step outside of our comfort zones. It's easy to write a check, or say a quick prayer and wash your hands. It is not easy to do what we should be doing, what we are called to do by the Good Shepherd Himself, to take care of His flock, those that are weaker and more vulnerable than we.

Our director, a board member and I got to have lunch with David before the banquet and talk with him a bit, asking him what we could do right here in our little community. He had some wonderful ideas that you will be hearing about here and there in the future as we start to implement them. :)

I was so happy last night to be surrounded by Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Mormons, and Christians; people who have different doctrines and don't always see eye to eye. But, all were people who know that this is the greatest American tragedy and, as my Uncle Jim (who was a spy for the CIA and worked directly with the Russian KGB) says, quite frankly, is a bigger threat than communism.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Crossroads slideshow

Steve and I are feverishly working to get the slideshow done for the banquet tomorrow night!

Some quotes that we are putting in it:


"This is what the LORD says: 'Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls'".
Jeremiah 6:16


If it's not a baby, you're not pregnant.
Author unknown

"It is a povery to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
Mother Teresa


"Being pro-life doesn't save babies, acting pro-life does."
Dennis Green

And my personal favorite....


"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you. "
Jeremiah 1:5


On Friday, I'll post about how the banquet went. We have been gearing up for this fundraiser banquet for a while. My four hour shift today was a little on the stressful side, as we're coming down to the wire! Please pray for open hearts and open pocket books. This ministry is amazing and I have been so blessed to have been a part of it, to have been able to witness miracles, love, and transformation of hearts right before my eyes.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Cedar River Genocide....I mean, Clinic.

Shepherd and I got in the car at a little after seven o'clock this morning to drive about an hour a half away to an abortion clinic. We met about seven other Catholics and Protestants outside and prayed like nobody's business. So much so, in fact, that they didn't get any business the whole two hours we were there! I had Shepherd in the bjorn on the front of me, both of us carried a rosary in our hands. Some held signs. Beautiful, peaceful, pro-life signs. This was not a demonstration. This was just another Tuesday outside the clinic.

We were invited to do this by a woman who has been instrumental in the pro-life movement in Yakima. She is under the umbrella of 'Human Life' and has been doing this now for about six years. She tries to organize groups of Christians to go and pray on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. They just had a save last week. The girl came over to them and broke down crying. This woman, now a friend, held that girl and told her that God was here with her now. If she'd let Him, He would walk right alongside her and she would never have to be alone again.

How beautiful.

Our message is not one of hate. It is not one of judgement. It is not one of violence, revenge or wrath. It is a message of hope. Of love. Of forgiveness. A message of life and of Christ.

The fundraiser dinner for Crossroads is coming up on Thursday night. I have really struggled with feelings of resentment-- resentment about how many Catholics (and Christians) SAY they are pro-life, SAY they care, SAY that their hearts break about abortion, about the stopping of a beating heart, and yet they do nothing. They are not willing to take the time, not willing to look silly or feel embarrassed by standing on a sidewalk, attending a pro-life banquet dinner, or even to just stand up for what they 'believe in'. I don't expect people to slap bumper stickers all over their cars, or stand in the street with blow horns. I just expect that when they are asked how they feel about someone murdering an innocent, tiny life that God created, they say, "It's wrong. Period. Jesus said so. The end".

Well, and if I'm being honest, I expect them to do everything they realistically can to educate others and to serve Him. A girl can dream, can't she?

David Bereit http://www.davidbereit.com is coming to speak at our fundraiser dinner. I am SO excited. Excited to meet him and to seek his counsel about what I can do around here to make a difference. An army of one? I suppose that's all it takes, right?

A final note; I cannot imagine how it must have felt, for those employees to walk outside of the clinic this morning, cigarettes in hand, seeing these same sweet, non-violent, sign-holding retired people that they are used to seeing and then looking over to see a new face. One, young 27 year old mother, with her happy baby strapped to the front of her, smiling at them and secretly praying for the day that they are walking right alongside her, like Miss Norma McCorvey, aka Jane Roe.

God works miracles. Every. Single. Day.

Monday, September 25, 2006

well-rounded femininity

How do you know your beautiful daughter is going to grow up to be a nicely well-rounded young woman?

When, after being asked to go pick out her two favorite books, she proudly walks into the room with "Sleeping Beauty" and "Everybody Poops".

That's our girl.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Roasting swine and dancing evangelicals

We just got back from a pig roast at the school. Yeah, you read that right. A pig roast. We crazy folk out west do that sort of thing with swine. We dig a hole. We put a whole pig on a stick. Then? Then we set it on fire and eat it when it's muscle, fat and flesh start to fall off of it's body. Okay, so it's a tiny bit more refined than that, but not much.

This dinner was donated by one of our local chiropractors at last year's auction. He is Hawaiian and apparently they do this sort of thing all the time over there. It was actually quite fun and no one got to (had to) see the actual 'roasting process'. Praise God.

Also tonight, while dining on swine, one of our friends (who recently converted to Catholicism, after attending Princeton Theological Seminary to become a Protestant minister!) leaned over to me and said, "Hey, you know why evangelicals are so against pre-marital sex? It might lead to dancing."

Now that, my friends, was worth smelling singed and salted swine mixed with the yummy smells of an old school gymnasium.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

No, you're not crazy.

Yes, I did blog about a touchy subject earlier today. You likely read it. You likely thought to yourself, "Whoa, that's some pretty pithy stuff."

Yeah, it was. Pithy. Full of Pithiness.

So, until I have had time to digest it more and pray on it EVEN MORE, I'll hold off on asking for input.

Stay tuned.....

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Top Ten

10. The amount of times I picked something out of Shepherd's mouth today.

9. The times I check my blog to see if someone posted on it--just to have some human contact!

8. The daily occurrences of me having to break up fights between Paxton and Ella over who gets to open the door or sit on the toilet first.

7. The loads of laundry I did today.

6. The big glasses of ice water I have had today.

5. The weeks on my calendar that are booked SOLID.

4. The amount of dishtowels this family goes through in any given day.

3. The amount of people in my life that actually rsvp to ANYTHING.

2. The Hail Mary's we managed to get through successfully during our "family decade" this evening.

1. The amount of fabulous husbands I have....and always will.

My life is busy. My life is blessed. My life can be summed up in a top ten list.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Maiden Voyage Masterpieces









Disturbing P.C.

No, not a personal computer. I'm talking about political correctness. You know, that phenomenon where you have to pretend that there really isn't a HUGE PINK ELEPHANT POOPING IN YOUR LIVING ROOM?

This whole thing going on with the Muslims who are outraged at the Pope for quoting someone else is really disturbing me. It has been on my mind a lot lately. I guess to speak more generally, this whole notion of having to be "p.c." is bothering me. If some stereotypes aren't true, then how exactly is it that a person or a group can become stereotyped? And, why exactly should the Holy Father be apologizing again? I missed that. In this instance, it seems many of the people of Islam are retaliating by doing exactly what it is that they were offended by being associated with just a week ago.

Disturbing.

My Aunt Meredith has this wonderful saying I have heard many times; " If you're always looking to be offended, you always will be." Right on, Auntie M, right on. At one of our staff meetings at my volunteer counseling job, I suggested that, at the fundraising banquet that we have coming up, we acknowledge all the mothers in the room who have chosen life (we are a pro-life crisis pregnancy center). Another of the volunteers quickly pipes up, "Well, I don't think that's a good idea at all. It puts people on the spot. And besides, some women can't even get pregnant." Hmmm. I, of course, reply back with "Oh, it all has to be so dang p.c. nowadays, doesn't it?" She fires back, "It's not p.c.! It's just being courteous."

Okay, let me get this straight. I cannot compliment or thank person "A" publicly because there might be someone in the room who can't do what I am complimenting person "A" on, or chose not to do what I am thanking person "A" for doing? Yeah, just wanted to get that straight. Forget it. This topic exhausts me.

So...I took my little brother's senior pictures this past weekend. It was a ton of fun AND I figured out that I am pretty decent photographer! Of course, Kellen was a great subject to work with and laughs so easily that it really was a ton of fun. I just keep adding things to the list of stuff I have been willing to try. Both my mom and my mother-in-law paid me some beautiful compliments about the photos. The sad thing is, while I am proud of myself and excited about this newly discovered ability, I keep thinking about all the things I still can't do. What is that? Why are we so self critical? To keep us humble. To remind us not to take ourselves too seriously, I suppose. My mom and I had a really good talk about this very thing while she was here. We just have to give it to God and know that our perceptions of ourselves are NEVER going to be accurate (which in no way means that we shouldn't treat our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit, and feed, clothe, and excercise them accordingly! It just means that when looking in the mirror, we might as well be wearing big red clown noses and hula skirts. We are that distorted. )

Oh, an update about our over-commited household; we decided to scale back. We are no longer going to put clothes away, dress the children, feed the dog, or vacuum. Ahhh....that feels so much better. That stuff was really beginning to stress me out.

Friday, September 15, 2006

I can only imagine....

Our Lady of Sorrows. I can only imagine.

What must it have been like, to see your precious son, your first and only child, crucified? Nailed to the cross, bloodied, exhausted, and in complete agony.

I can only imagine.

Teach me grace. Teach me peace. Teach me mercy. Teach me to follow the Lord and His will for me, even when, especially when, I know it will cause me pain. Teach me this self sacrifice.

Thank you, beautiful Mother. We love you.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

another quotable

Paxton: (last night, as I am bringing him his beloved, and missing since yesterday, stuffed Pooh Bear) Mom! That's what I'm talking about!

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

quotable

Me: Paxton, have you seen the baby's nail clippers?

Paxton: Yeah, they're on the counter right there. (Pauses, then with serious a face says) Mom, you can always ask me-- cuz' I know everything.

Oh, okay.

Coming or Going?

I have yet to decide for sure which one applies to this family. I was gone from Thursday to Sunday and Steve left yesterday and will be gone until late Friday night. Our poor children are going to forget Who's on first.

I went to the Oregon Coast last weekend to watch my little sister, whom I just met about two months ago, compete for the title of "Cranberry Queen" (similar to Junior Miss), and to watch my little brother, who I also just met, play in the Cranberry Bowl (highschool football). I also met their mother for the first time. I cannot believe how well it went. I prayed so long and so hard beforehand for grace, to be able to emulate our Blessed Mother. It was surreal to be in 'their' territory. I am so glad I was, though. At the end of the day, all we have is family. That's it. I cannot wait to begin this wonderful adventure of adding members to mine. No matter the circumstances, I am glad to just welcome more family.

Steve left for San Jose yesterday. He flew out of a neighboring town's small airport and volunteered to be "bumped", thereby scoring us TWO FREE TICKETS, roundtrip, to anywhere Alaska flies. We decided to go Boston (or maybe Maine) for our next vacation. Yay! Um, do you think it'll be cold there in late January? Hey, a little snow pack never hurt anybody!

We already booked Noni to come and stay. That will be so nice. I always have to do a little "damage control" after we take a vacation, but it's all worth it. Slumber parties, story telling under blankets with flashlights, dressing up, making cookies, and trips to the dollar store are Noni's games, 'The Spoiler' is her name. They so love it when Noni's here that they are actually disappointed when we come home. Seriously. Now that we have three children, we're going to have to start bringing out the big guns if we want to vacation anywhere other than the trusty fallback 'camping in the backyard'-- pulling sitters into our home instead of packing five people in two different directions. Our babysitting pool just got a lot smaller with the birth of our third.

So, I decided that, since we can't figure out whether we're coming or going, it would be helpful to make a list of all the activities and committees of which we are a part. Are you ready? Me: SAC (school finance), PTO, (school) Auction Decoration Chairperson, Crossroads (volunteer crisis pregnancy center), RCIA, and Book Club/Bible Study. Steve: bi-weekly Bible Study, Fiberactive committee, Committee to elect a local PUD Commissioner, RCIA, and technology maintenance for the school's lab--which has proven to be a bit more demanding than we thought. Then, at a glance, I can see that every. single. weekend. for the next five weeks is full.

So.. something is going to have to give. I just haven't figured out what yet. Maybe the kids?

A blogger friend blogged about a month ago about "doing too much", keeping us away from the home and from taking care of our own families. I have figured out that my activities are the equivalent of having a part time job on top of my full time job as Mom. I need to re-evaluate. I have and always will believe that when you serve others you serve God. We have been blessed financially and been blessed that Steve works from home most of the time. We've been blessed with healthy children and with personal talents that enable us to contribute in great ways. We have been blessed that, for the most part, we are willing to step outside of ourselves and our comfort zones and do something new, if it will be beneficial to others. I really like that about us.

What I don't like? Worrying that we are sacrificing "us" because we are doing too much for others.

There is a balance to be struck. I know that. But first, I need to sign Ella up for dance classes, Paxton for soccer, and myself for piano lessons. Is that too much? Yeah, on second thought, maybe we'll just stick to playing with playdough. They have plenty of time to hone their respective athletic abilities. No rush. I'm still trying to figure out how to throw a ball.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Did he really just say that?

Ella: (loudly whining) I just can't find my shoes anywhere!

Paxton: (playing with blocks in another room) Well, that's not a surpise.

Uh-oh.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

The Sahara Desert or my living room?

I really can't tell you which one is hotter.

Our air conditioner broke at about midnight last night. Currently, it is eighty six degrees INSIDE. Whoa. I am developing a whole new appreciation for those that have no air conditioning, or no home at all. Can I still gripe, though?

The baby hasn't stopped crying all afternoon, Paxton has been wearing only underwear and a polyester Bob The Builder dress up shirt for the last hour and my mascara is currently melting off of my eyelashes. I just looked out the window to find Ella riding on her Barbie trike, wearing her princess dress, pink helmet, and Paxton's (size 12) tennis shoes.

Fall, anyone? Autumn? Harvest? Wicked cold nights with wool socks, sweaters and hot cocoa? A girl can dream.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Two kinds of people

Wally, from U-Build-It, this morning:

"There are two kinds of people; those whose homes reflect who they are and what their values are, and those who just want to keep the rain off their asses."

Thank you, and goodnight.

Monday, September 04, 2006

Imaginative play and worldly contributions

For as long as I have been a parent (about 4 1/2 years now), I have thought that imaginative play was important, yes, but certainly not instrumental in character development. I just thought it was a good release from the day to day challenges of constant learning, memorizing, discussing, and then more learning. Oh, no, how wrong I have been.

I had a nice morning with the kids; organizing, laundering, cleaning, and baking blueberry pie. I told the kids that they were free to play with whatever they wanted, but that whatever they did it had to be together and without fighting--no small feat for a precocious almost 3-year-old and a sensitive 4-year-old.

It was beautiful. We made magic wands for Ella's princess costumes and looked all over the house for random items that could be used for 'tools' for Paxton's costumes, including Bob (the Builder) and Thomas ( the Tank Engine). They danced around, fixed things, put sleeping spells on each other and laughed so hard. Together. They laughed together, being amused by each other. It was then that I had a parenting epiphany.

My children need imaginative play for so much more than an outlet. They need it to develop courage, strength, and character. Courage in the face of adversity or despair. Strength to be who they really are, even if everyone around them questions their ability. Character to be able to laugh, to be light-hearted, compassionate, to be a light to those without character. What a beautiful thing to watch them develop those things that make us who we are.

Recently, I have had the opportunity to really contemplate what it is that I want my children to be, my goals for them.

To say that I want my children to be 'team players' sounds so corny. But, it's true. I do. I want them to see someone in need and not think twice about helping them. I want my children to have a sense of humor and be able to laugh together and with us. I want them to be independent and able to take care of their needs when they are older, but I want them to always feel the importance of family, of hugs, of talking and encouragement. I want them to give complements freely and without hesitation and to care about making others feel appreciated. I want them to say 'please', 'thank you', 'excuse me' and 'I'm sorry' like the phrases are going out of style--because excellent manners take you much, much farther in the game of life.

I want my children to love God and want to serve Him and please Him above all others. I want them to pray hard, work hard, laugh hard, learn hard, sleep hard, try hard, love unconditionally and give of themselves, always. That, my friends, is character. Being the best you that you can be.

Imagine the possibilities. Then, play.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Are you sure I am qualified?

St. Rose school started four days ago. Since then, I have been at the school, at naptime everyday, working on getting invitations for our fundraising auction completed.That is on top of my usual Wednesday shift at Crossroads, having my mom visiting overnight, being at a candidate forum one night and having Steve be gone, in Seattle, two of those days.

How do you know you're overcommited? When you find yourself wishing you could get away with allowing your children a "Movie DAY". Not a movie night, or a movie afternoon, but a MOVIE DAY. Usually, Friday nights are 'family movie and pizza night', but today I really wanted a 'pajama, movie, pizza, chocolate cake, latte, silent children day'.

Must. Press. On. Must. Walk. Upright. All. Day.

I love that this is a three-day weekend and I love that a girlfriend and I are going shopping at the outlet malls ALL day tomorrow for school clothes for the kids. Ella isn't in school yet but, like Paxton, she, too, must be the clothing pioneer for the future girls in this family. I have carefully organized and saved ALL of the clothes for each sex into bins and labeled them. Can I tell you how much I love the fact that Steve can go out into the shed tomorrow morning and, because Shepherd is needing 9-12 mo. clothes, look up and see the bin with the corresponding size and grab it? I can then open it up and find AWESOME boys clothes that I haven't seen in, oh, about four years and be totally excited for Shepherd to have a whole 'new' wardrobe. Best of all? It's already paid for. Good thing I don't shop for or buy into 'fads'--else this whole plan of mine might not be so fruitful.

It's a nice weekend coming up. School clothes shopping, bbq's, play time at a friend's pool, Mass, and more work on auction stuff. We are so blessed to have lives that are wonderfully full with so many friends. I may complain about being busy but, at the end of the day, I wouldn't have it any other way. I don't work outside the home, so making sure we spend time with other families is really important to me. I want that to be modeled for my children. I don't have to leave the house every day or 'get a job' to get it, I just need to create it for my family and for myself--conscienciously create it.

So, there are days when I feel almost like Super Mom and there are days when I just wish it could be a Movie Day. Qualified to be a parent? I hope so.

Oh, exterminators came this morning and killed all of the Black Widows that have been mistakenly thinking that our home would be a perfect dwelling place in which they may procreate and become Overcommited Super Moms themselves.