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Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Lent 2014





Cheers to Lent!

I just love cooking and having a glass of wine.
Is that a Southern thing? If so, I really can't ever leave the South!

So in-case you missed it.  Baby bump is growing fast and baby boy is moving, moving, moving.

We are getting ready for Lent and for our baby. Cleaning, purging, organizing. It all feels so in-line with this liturgical season that is upon us. Add to it these crazy cold days (icicles today!!! insane!!!) and I just can't imagine a better way to enter these last weeks of pregnancy.

Birthday track records around here are 41 weeks gestation, to the day. So, AFTER Easter has passed but BEFORE May 1st (hooray!) we will have a baby, if it goes the same as the last two times, which looks so pathetic written down! So many mommas due for their third fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth right now and all have so many varying stories for each pregnancy (Sweet Victoria - thinking of you!) that I just sorta snicker at myself, thinking it will all go as it has before, BUT preparing for 41 weeks is better than preparing for 38, 'cause honey, those last days are MILES long.

Auntie Leila, of course, gives good tips.

I'm really focusing on my internal thought this year. TWO friends in one week have pointed-out that our journey to Heaven is about the interior life - like, think of how St. Therese is the patron of missionaries. She never left the convent. Her interior love and fervent prayers for missionaries so aided them that she became their patron. Incredible.

Stay prayerful friends. Stay focused - on Jesus, not yourself. It's so easy to THINK that we are focused on Jesus but really we somehow get wrapped-up in what we are/are not doing.



For instance - our Rita has been up since 7:00am, has a head cold, rested but never napped and after allowing her an hour to fall asleep on her own, Tyler went to lay with her to help her to settle down and fall asleep. Within minutes (literally) both of them fell asleep. Now, we had planned on praying Night Prayer together, but our sick toddler needed a parent and Tyler willingly offered to lay with her so that I could have quiet time alone. It isn't ideal - it isn't "doing" our night prayer - it is doing something so selfless though. It's giving up his quiet time so that our girl can rest and recover and so that I can have time to unwind. It was an interior, selfless decision. It was a corporal work of mercy: "visit the sick." How awesome!
Sadly, my immediate response was "But we didn't pray!!!" In my quest to "do the right thing" and sort-of accomplish my list, I pushed aside the importance of the corporal works of mercy (HELLO self!) and it became about my good Catholic check-list rather than living my God-given vocation. Abysmal fail - Lent is just in time. Not to say regular prayer isn't important, however with two sick kids that becomes our priority - worship through service.

My little Jo is up and crying now.
May your Ash Wednesday be blessed!

1 comment:

  1. I'm just browsing some of your past posts here, and I love the example of your husband's corporal work of mercy. It's easy to get caught up in checking off our to-do lists, even spiritual ones . . . . But I'd hardly say you had an "abysmal fail." Be gentle on yourself, hon! :-)

    ReplyDelete

So glad to hear from you! All conversation is welcomed, within good reason and kind intentions.