The Magic of...

We just returned from a wonderful whirlwind of a trip to Disney World. Now my childhood memories of Disney are magical, wonderful memories. My children's memories will be magical and wonderful as well. However, the whole time there I felt a constant tugging of wanting more. I had to constantly stop and thank God for all that I had. I should have just felt so wonderful just being there. Not wanting to be picked to be in the "special seating, or whatever." Why aren't we ever satisfied with what God has given to us? Why do we always want what someone else has? We are constantly fighting our "self." For those of you that have read The King of the Golden City you are familiar with "self" and how we need to form that self so that we can say no to it and not let it ruin our every day. How many of the families I saw were teaching their children just the opposite and giving them all that they asked for. What we need to be teaching our children is how to form themselves to not always get what they want, but to not want for things as well. It is a hard lesson for us as adults as well. It was when I finally stopped wanting and made a conscious effort to give no more mind to the temptations that my family was awarded a "move to the front of the line" pass.

We must turn to God in prayer each day and ask for help in being content with all the blessings He has in store for us. Enjoy the struggles as well as the easy times, for they are all filled with roses from Heaven!

Beginning on Monday the 27th several leaders of the Catholic Church are asking us to pray the Rosary nightly (some are even saying at 9:00 PM) for the upcoming election so that our country will elect the people who believe that EVERY life is worth living. Please pray for our country and that God will hear us all on our knees begging for His help for us all! Join all of us in prayer just as the apostles prayed for 9 days while waiting for Christ.

The Coolest Thing...

Today one of the coolest things happened. My son who is 81/2 months old did not want to come to me and let his daddy leave. It wasn't as if he was just playing around. He actually had such a grip that I had to pry away his fingers from his father's shirt. Now, go back about a year and a half ago. When we found out that we were going to have another child, my husband being the wonderful provider that he is, was a little concerned as to how we were going to be able to "do it." (to say the least) We have three daughters and when we are pregnant, we never find out what sex our baby is. So needless to say we always have as many hospital staff in the room as possible because everyone is as excited as we are to find out the surprise. I have to say that with this birth you could hear the cheering down the halls I'm sure because out popped a beautiful bouncing baby boy! All the months of my husband's doubts seemed to just melt away at the sight of this incredible gift. Now back to today. The fact that my son would not let go and kept screaming when my husband was trying to give him back to me has made my husband the happiest dad on earth!!! I couldn't have been happier with the fact that this little creature has so much love for his father and his father has so much happiness from that. Imagine when we stop to show God our love for him and fight not to let go, how happy that makes Him. Things are always getting in the way of our grip on our Father, don't let go. It took my husband all that he had to give up this moment so he could go coach soccer. What an incredible gift our family received today with just this one instant.

Daily Roses...

I have just come home from a mom's night out with my home school support group. We were all there to get help and ideas on what to do with our toddlers while schooling the older children. One mom in particular was really needing our advice and while I listened to everyone discuss their lives, I realized that the place for us to find most of our roses, is in our daily lives. One mom said that at the end of the night part of her examination of conscience is to go through her mind and think of one special thing that each child did that day. How many of us go through each day and are so preoccupied with what is on our list that we miss all the roses that God is sending us. What a wonderful idea to stop at the end of each day and count all the blessings that have been sent to us that day. What an even better idea to stop and take the time to thank God for each one and to let Him know that we do it all for His Glory. For without Him, we are nothing.
I have been called to start this blog for sometime. I have a different blog for my family, but I feel this one is to be about so much more than updates and pictures. This is to help all who read it to find the roses that God is sending their way. The reason I chose the roses is because I was sent roses the one time I asked Him to send me a sign. Not just any sign mind you, but a VERY specific sign. When we were discerning homeschooling, I wasn't sure it was part of God's plan for our lives. I prayed a novena to St. Therese and asked for roses to be sent my way as an answer to know we were making the right decision. I boldly asked for white if our children were to stay in school and red if we were to begin homeschooling. I finished my novena on Sat. and foolishly spent the day looking for roses. Of course I found none. Sunday morning after mass I was sharing my confusion with a very dear friend. On Monday afternoon, I realized I had a message from my friend from Sunday. I called back to see what she needed and she asked if I had seen her blouse. I did not remember her sweater. She then told me that it was covered in roses and she had gone back at the last minute to change into it before coming to Mass. I had not told her about the color of the roses, so I anxiously asked her what color they were. Of course to my excitement she told me they were red and the whole blouse was covered in them. The next morning as I was praying I thanked God for sending me the sign and then realized that He sent my friend Theresa with the blouse! How blind are we and how much do we miss while we are busy with our daily distractions. Remember that we all have one goal in this life and it is to make it to Heaven. Pray for me on my journey and I will be praying for all of you. May God bless you with many roses and may you see each one!