62 Days to Go

(okay, I had a cute baby ticker, with baby turning in the womb and counting down the days, but it suddenly stopped working and I don't know anything about code, and what have you, to make it start working again. trust me, it was cute. sigh.)

Only 62 days left to go! That sort of sounds like a lot, but when you think about it, it's really not. I am really starting to feel pregnant, you know what I mean? The first two trimesters went really great, I mean, I felt really great. Which was wonderful because last time I was pregnant I was really miserable the whole time. So, it was a happy surprise to feel so good. But that was then and this is now. I am sooo tired. And I feel so big. I have varicose veins in my left leg that are getting worse and worse even with the compression panty-hose that I finally gave in and started wearing last week. I think one of the hardest things I have to do each day is crawl in and out of my van to buckle my 4 year old in. He just can't reach down to do it himself, and he's in the way back seat of my van, so I have to literally get in the car to do it. At least 6 times a day. That one is killing me.

I really shouldn't complain. I am healthy. The baby is healthy. There are people with real medical problems and other difficulties in pregnancy, so I just have no room to complain, but it's nice to unload a little. Keep us in your prayers!

How Long?

I just wanted to share one of my favorite songs with you all. This song is on an album that I listen to almost every day: Mark Mallett's Let the Lord Know . I even have an autographed copy! I am such a goofball. I love every song on it but this one always moves me tremendously. I would have shared it sooner, but the last time I checked out You Tube they didn't have anything out there. Today he blogged about it and I was so excited to discover he has some videos out there now!

From his liner notes on this song:

"This was written shortly before we began the album...A very personal song of longing to see Jesus face to face; to leave this world of material dust, temptation, and sorrow behind...And enter into that glory which waits us."

I think I've written about Mark before. I link to his website on my sidebar. I love his music and also his fantastic blog which you can check out here.

Don't forget to go to my sidebar and pause the music so you can hear this awesome song. If you like it you should also check out his Song for Karol, a tribute to the late great Pope John Paul II.

40 Days for Life - First Baby Saved!

The following is from an e-mail forwarded to me through a group I'm on. God is working through these prayer vigils. It is amazing! Thank you Jesus for every life saved!

From: "David Bereit, 40 Days for Life"

What a way to start the day!

The fall 40 Days for Life campaign was barely hours old when we received an e-mail from Jennifer in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. She and a few others had arrived at 6:30 Wednesday morning to pray at the abortion center.

A couple arrived in the parking lot, got out of their car and walked towards the building. "Joe gave them a flyer," said Jennifer, "and she brought it into the clinic. About 10 minutes later they came out of the clinic and went to the car.

"The woman argued with the man for a time, but then they got in the car and left. "This lady looked at us praying and blessed herself with the sign of the cross," Jennifer said. "We saved our first baby!"

Shortly there after, a text message appeared on my phone from Chris, the campaign director from New York City: "David! 1st 40 Days turnaround!" Later in the day, another life was saved at the same location.

Nance, organizer of the Grimes and Waller county, Texas, 40 Days for Life efforts e-mailed, "a BABY SAVED from Planned Parenthood in Houston!!!"

While driving to the 40 Days for Life kickoff event in South Bend, Indiana tonight, I received an excited call from the Indianapolis campaign leader. A first time 40 Days for Life volunteer was praying outside the Planned Parenthood abortion facility this morning when a car leaving the center pulled over and the occupants beckoned for her to come near. The volunteer nervously approached and was told by the mother in the vehicle, "Your prayers are working. My daughter just decided to not have an abortion."

We are hearing amazing success stories like this from all across North America......So let's spread the news!

Here's today's devotional from Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life...

Pray for those who work in the abortion industry, and for those who have repented of committing abortion sand have resolved to defend life.

SCRIPTURE:

Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last. The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man."-- Luke 23:46-47

REFLECTION by Fr. Frank Pavone, Priests for Life:

"Those of us who have participated in the killing of unborn children are the Centurions of today. We have dropped our swords against the unborn child. Now we must recognize the depth of our guilt and deal with the ramifications... To revitalize our humanity we need to forgive and be forgiven, to reconcile and be healed." These words come from a brochure of the Society of Centurions, an organization for former abortion providers. These words convey in a beautiful and moving way what is happening across the nation as hundreds of abortionists and their staff members experience repentance, conversion, and healing. How does this conversion begin? Dr. Philip Ney writes, "The factors that changed their opinion on performing abortions, in the following order of frequency, were: evidence of the infant's humanity, a spiritual experience, personal distress, evidence of the mother's distress, scientific articles, being accepted as a person, a personal relationship with a pro-lifer, pro-life pickets." (The Centurion's Pathway, p. 77). The journey is not easy. But the Jesus who heals us calls us to face the truth of what we've done, make restitution where possible, and engage in the hard work of mending relationships. Let's pray for the Centurions; may their numbers increase!

PRAYER:

Lord, we thank you for those who have repented of committing abortions and have resolved to defend life. We too repent and resolve. We repent of every instance in which fear has made us silent when we should have spoken. We repent of the ongoing bloodshed in our land, and for thinking that we can deprive the unborn of protection but keep it for ourselves. We resolve that we will advance the cause of righteous candidates for public office, and that we will be more afraid of offending you by our silence than of offending others by our speech. We resolve that we will proclaim your name to the nations, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

My First Award!

Thanks to Therese over at The Musings of a Mom for giving me my first award. My understanding is that the words mean something like "this blog makes us close." Well, I really appreciate finding Therese's blog and even more so that she found mine! Ha ha! I look forward to many more posts!! Thanks again, Therese.

The rules say I am supposed to give this out to 8 bloggers, but, hey, I don't even know 8 people in real life, much less that many bloggers. So I will just forward it to these two girls who have been reading me faithfully, and I them, since I first discovered the blogosphere:

Andrea at Momma in Flip Flops and Mandy at ...Life's about a dream.

They have been my most loyal readers (and commenters - that's how I know they read, hint, hint, if you've also been reading all along but never said anything!) since I started this blog and I definitely feel that our blogs make us close.

Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is

You all know that I have been advertising the 40 Days for Life on my sidebar for a few weeks now. Well, reminder time - it starts this Wednesday, Sept. 24th. You can participate simply by committing to pray and fast for these 40 days to bring an end to abortion. You can also go here and find participating locations in your area and sign up to join a peaceful prayer vigil outside an abortion clinic. Also, don't forget my friend Sarah who is organizing a Rosary for Life by assigning participants a decade to pray each day for the intention of ending abortion.

If you've been reading my blog for awhile you will remember that I used to be pro-choice. In the last year, especially, I have really felt called to do as much as I can to bring about an end to this holocaust that is happening in our country. I look at it as restitution for my past indifference. I have talked about it, I have shared my story, I have prayed... but one thing I haven't done is attend a rally or prayer vigil right outside an abortion clinic. I've really felt in my heart that it was something I needed to do, but, to be honest, I've been kind of scared to.

So when the representatives organizing the local vigil in my area came to speak at Mass this Sunday, I, again, felt a strong pull to do it. But the excuses started coming...and the biggest one was finding a babysitter to watch my kids while I am there. Of course, when God wants you to do something, He doesn't concern Himself too much with our excuses. I looked at the sign up sheet and realized that the day my parish is covering is Tuesday, which is the day that all of my kids are in school, including the baby who goes to a morning babysitting program at the pre-school. I still didn't really want to do it by myself, but it felt like I would be telling God "no" at this point, which I don't ever want to do. I told myself that I wouldn't be alone, just with people I don't know yet. So I signed up for the 10-11 shift every Tuesday of the 40 days.

Later that day I had one of those moments when everything comes together and it just confirms that you are doing exactly what He wants you to do. I got an e-mail from my friend Kathy that afternoon. She had been at a different Mass than me and she, and another friend, had signed up for the Tuesday 10-11 shifts, did I want to do it too? I could hardly believe it! They had signed up for the exact same time slot when they could have chosen any time that day! I think that because I took the plunge, and answered God's call without the safety net of a group of friends to do it with, He made sure I would have that group of friends anyway.

So, I am putting my money where my mouth is. I will let you all know how it goes, what it's like, what I saw, what I felt... And I am again urging everyone to participate in some way. Click here for more information.

Me and My First Baby Meme

Andrea tagged me for this fun meme. This ought to be interesting...


1. Were you married at the time? Not yet when he was conceived, but we were engaged! We were married by the time he was born.

2. What were your reactions when you found out you were pregnant? Complete and total shock.

3. How old were you? 28 (29 by the time he was born)

4. How did you find out you were pregnant? I went to the doctor because I thought I had an awful flu. I had always had irregular periods, it wasn't unusual for me to go a couple months without one, so when they asked about my LMP, and I said it had been a while, it still didn't seem likely to me even though they raised eyebrows. I thought it was ridiculous that they made me take a pregnancy test.

5. Who did you tell first? John. And then my mom. I was afraid to tell my mom. Even though I was 28 years old I was pretty sure she'd be upset that I had gotten pregnant before the wedding. Turns out she was actually very happy to hear the news that a grandchild was on the way.

6. Did you want to find out the sex? No.

7. Due date: December 14th, 1999

8. Did you deliver early or late? 11 days early.

9. Did you have morning sickness? No. I didn't understand what all that fuss was about. It wasn't until my 3rd pregnancy that I got to experience the joy of gaining that sympathy!

10. What did you crave? Mexican food. But I crave that all the time anyway. :-)

11. Who irritated you the most? I don't recall anything bothering me. My 1st pregnancy was really smooth sailing.

12. What was your first child's sex? Male.

13. How many pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy? I only gained 15 pounds. I went from 120 to 135. Isn't that disgusting??? Don't ask me what I weigh now, but I haven't been a size 6 in a loooong time!!

14. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? Not real ones. They thought that he wasn't growing enough, but it turns out he was just little. Still, I got to go through the agony of 7 sonograms and fetal monitoring every other day for the last few weeks of my pregnancy. They drove me crazy. I knew in my heart nothing was wrong.

15. Where did you give birth? Birthing center in Annapolis.

16. How many hours were you in labor? I think it was 5 total, but the funny thing is, I was so concerned with not being one of those people who go to the birthing center (or hospital) too soon, so I stayed home forever and then almost didn't make it. I practically had that baby in the car. He came 30 minutes after getting to the center.

17. Who drove you to the hospital? My husband John drove me to the birthing center.

18. Who watched? John, midwife Mari, and my awesome awesome doula Brenda! Brenda is like a family member now.

19. Was it vaginal or c-section? Vaginal. You can't do anything surgical or anything like that at the birthing center.

20. Did you take medicine to ease the pain? No, I didn't want to anyway, but you can't do that at the birthing center either. And, actually, there wouldn't have been time. Honestly, I am way more afraid of a needle in my back than I am of having a baby.

21. How much did your child weigh? 5 lbs. 10 oz. Did I mention he was little?

22. What did you name him/her? Jacob Thomas

23. How old is your first born today? 8 (he'll be 9 soon, I can't believe it!!!)

Tag five mommies:

Oh, I don't know. If you play along let me know!!

Testimony of an Abortion Survivor

I saw this video on Therese's blog, The Musings of a Mom. What an incredible story! This woman, Gianna Jessen, is an abortion survivor. That's right, her mother tried to abort her at 7 1/2 months gestation. This video is from an appearance on Hannity & Colmes. And may I say that I find Alan Colmes unbelievable. Saying to her face that he does not think the Born Alive Infant Protection Act would be necessary!!! It's offensive!

ABC's of Homemaking

Well, I've been feeling like I need to lighten up here on the blog, but I don't really have anything to say lately. I lead a very boring life and I've already told you about my favorite TV programs, so I thought I'd try this ABC's of Homemaking meme that I've seen everywhere including, but not limited to, Sharon's, Andrea's, and Mandy's blogs.

Aprons - Y/N? If yes, what does your favorite look like? I have a blue one. It's just plain blue and I only wear it if I am cooking for a holiday meal, and guests are coming, so I don't want to get my outfit all messed up. That has been, like, twice I think!

Baking- Favorite thing to bake? TV dinners? Ha ha! Just kidding. I microwave those. Still, I want to answer chicken or something like that. I'm not much of a dessert maker. If I ever bake dessert it's out of a box, or the pre-cut cookie dough, or something like that.

Clothes line - Y/N? No. But I loved Mandy's answer: "I think I would love it for the first three loads and then I would think it was a load of crap."

Donuts - Have you ever made them? Yes, I made apple-cider donuts once and they were delicious! I should make them again sometime...

Everyday - One homemaking thing you do everyday. Well, a lot of the things I do everyday are covered elsewhere on this list, so I'm gonna go with sweep under the kitchen table, which I actually do, like, 10,000 times a day!

Freezer - Do you use a deep freeze? No deep freeze, but I do have an extra refrigerator in my garage, and both the fridge and freezer are always filled. I have no idea how I would manage without the extra space!

Garbage Disposer Y/N? Yes! I have lived in two places in my life that didn't have one and all I can say is...yuck! Having to scoop up that little drain strainer to dump the little pieces of food in the garbage made me gag every time. I will never go without one again!

Handbook - What's your favorite homemaking resource? Yeah, I don't really use anything. I do read Hints from Heloise every week in the paper, but I don't think I've ever used one of the hints. I guess everything I do I learned from doing chores at home when I was younger.

Junk Drawer - Y/N? If yes, where is it? Every drawer in my house is a junk drawer. I wish I were kidding, but sadly I am not.

Kitchen - color & decorating scheme. Oh, I love my kitchen! We just re-did it 5 years ago. I can't say there is a scheme per se, though we do have roosters on the rugs and kitchen towels, but that had more to do with the colors than the roosters. Anyway, it's painted tan on top with white wainscot on the bottom. The backsplash is a random pattern of burgundy, navy, tan, white and sage green tiles. White cabinets and appliances. Dark gray counter tops.

Love - what is your favorite part of homemaking? Hammering in the nails. Oh wait, I guess that's home building. Yeah, I don't really love homemaking, thanks. But I do appreciate a clean house at the end!

Mop - Y/N? Okay, I'm busted. Sorry, I cheat. I have a cleaning lady. I don't clean toilets either. Ever.

Nylons, machine or hand wash? I machine wash them, and then when I put them on they usually get a run in them right away, so I throw them away and buy a new pair. I should just cut out the middle man and go straight for the trash. Especially since I only wear them once every 2 years or so!

Oven - Do you use the window or open the oven to check? I use the window. There is always a toddler or small child hovering nearby so I open it as little as possible.

Pizza - what do you put on yours? Pepperoni, green pepper and onion when I'm ordering. When we make it at home we usually have "junk" pizza and use up all the veggies in the fridge - we'll have carrots, celery, onion, zucchini, peppers... you name it. If it's in my fridge, and there's not enough left to use anywhere else, we'll make junk pizza. The kids love it!

Quiet - what do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment? Ha! ha ha ha ha! Hold on let me catch my breath...ha ha ha! Next question?

Recipe Card Box - Y/N? No, I have recipe notebooks. Big, huge, three-ring binders that I have been putting recipe clippings in for the last 20 or so years! I used to love to cook, but ask me what I make now that I have kids. Ummm, yeah, Hamburger Helper.

Style of house - what style is your house? 4 bedroom colonial. It's very cookie-cutter, suburban neighborhood, Joe Everyman's house.

Tablecloths and napkins? No tablecloth (unless it's one of those holidays I mentioned earlier) and yes, we use napkins, but they are paper (unless aforementioned holiday).

Under the kitchen sink - organized or toxic wasteland? Actually, it's practically empty - too many little hands wanting to get in there and go through everything. The only thing in there are packages of sponges.

Vacuum - how many times per week? Let's try, how many times per day? At least twice, probably more if a certain 2 foot high someone has gotten into the boxes of cereal again, which is very, very likely.

Wash - how many loads of laundry do you do per week? This meme should be called the Let's Get More And More Depressed As We Answer Questions About Household Drudgery And See How Completely Boring Our Lives Really Are meme. I'm just kidding, I had fun reading the other ladies' answers. I probably do about 8 normal loads, but I have a bed-wetter, so you can add 5 - 7 extra small loads to that.

Do you keep a daily list of things to do that you cross off? I couldn't figure out, at first, how this question got here. Where is the X? And then I realized "cross" things off. Very clever you meme author you! Um, yeah I keep a list in my head. We do have a white board schedule hanging in the kitchen that I rely on heavily, but that's for appointments or paperwork that needs completing or whatever. The rest is in my airtight noggin, which means I regularly forget things, including where I put my keys. Did I ever tell you the story of losing my keys on Halloween day? All of the kids had parties at their respective schools and I couldn't find my keys anywhere, though I was sure I had just had them. I freaked out and called a neighbor to drive the older kids to the elementary school and then called another friend who goes to the same pre-school to see if she had room to take my 3 year old too. I was so upset though because I was supposed to help at the various parties and watch all the parades, etc. etc. I was actually crying and really hyper. Well, when my neighbor drove up to get the older kids he said, "oh, I see you found your keys!" I look out the door and my car is running. Then I remembered: I had come out 15 minutes earlier to warm the car up because it was really cold and I didn't want the baby to have to sit in the cold car. So I looked at my neighbor and in all seriousness said, "Yes, I just found them." Well, I wasn't lying! I had just found them. How embarrassing is that? Oh, wait, what was the question????

Yard - Who does what? Our philosophy in the yard and in the house is: if it needs doing, and you are there and able to do it, then do it. So, a lot of times I will mow the lawn if I get a chance. Usually John does it though because it's hard to get a chance to sneeze around here. I do the planting and weeding, but John is a big fan of trimming and pruning. He trims and prunes everything within an inch of it's life. As soon as something turns slightly brown he's all, "can I trim that back now?" For Heaven's sake, give the stuff a chance! But he's a whiz with our roses. Mostly because roses like pruning! The kids do all the raking in the fall. We don't have to do a thing with the leaves. They would consider the opportunity to rake to be a prize.

What is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed? Oh wait, I get it, ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ as in sleeping!! Funny! My last homemaking task of the day is to leave my hubby happy. You can make of that what you want, but I think you all have dirty minds! Ha ha!

If you play along, let me know, but you probably already have, because, as far as I can tell, this meme has been going around for 50 years and I am just now getting to it! (well, it seems like 50 years based on some of the questions don't you think? I mean, aprons???)

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on SNL

I'm sure you've all heard about it, but if you haven't actually seen this yet, well, you just have to. It doesn't matter what your politics are, this was just hilariously funny! (Don't forget to go to my sidebar and pause the music so you can hear the video).

Our Lady of Sorrows

"It is from the heart of Mary that we must learn, to love, to pray, to
suffer, and to hope."

I saw this card over at He Gently Calls Us today. That's 2 posts in a row now that I have had to share something I saw over there because I was so moved. If you haven't visited yet, you should really go and check out all of her archives. Such beautiful cards!!!

Carrying Christ

I was checking out my dear friend Kay's blog - He Gently Calls Us - and she had this beautiful card and a quote from Caryll Houselander regarding Our Lady. The quote was: "The one thing she did is the one thing that we all have to do, namely, to bear Christ into the world."

This immediately reminded me of a beautiful poem a friend once shared with me called Carrying Christ. And so, of course, I wanted to share it with you all as well. The author is unknown.

CARRYING CHRIST

Into the hillside country Mary went / Carrying Christ.

And all along the road, the Christ she carried

Generously bestowed His grace on those she met.

She was content to hide His love for her.

But about her glowed such joy

That into stormy hearts Love flowed

And even to the unborn John, Christ’s grace was sent.


Christ in His Sacrament of Love each day

Dwells in my soul a little space

And then I walk life’s crowded highway, jostling people

Who seldom think of God.

To these I pray that I might carry Christ,

For it may be some would never know of Him

Except through me.

Nancy Pelosi vs. the Catholic Church

I saw this on Sardonic Catholic Dad. I just had to share it as well. It's such a great analysis of how ridiculous, and terrible, the pro-choice argument is, especially from Catholic politicians for Heaven's sake! But it's also humorous. Don't forget to go to my sidebar and pause the music so you can hear the video.

Just to clear up any confusion left on this subject...

Aborted baby at 10 weeks

Sorry, I haven't posted in awhile. I have actually been struggling with this post. I don't usually like to be controversial, but I feel really called to share the image above with you all. It's time to clear up any confusion about the reality of abortion. You see, there are far too many people like Nancy Pelosi and Joseph Biden who think it is a matter of faith as to when life begins. Senator Biden says that he himself believes it begins at conception, but that this is a religious belief and he cannot impose his religion on others. This is nonsense. It is a cold hard fact that life begins at conception. Maybe in the time of St. Augustine they didn't know for sure - they didn't have ultra-sound and other modern technology to show the truth. But even then the Church cautioned to err on the side of goodness and that abortion was wrong. They may not have known for sure when life began, but the Church still taught that it was wrong. The word actually used is evil. Well, now we know. There is no more mistaking it. Senator Biden's belief that he cannot force his views on others is ridiculous. If he saw someone beating their child would he not stop and impose his views then? Would he consider child abuse a choice? I imagine not. Then how can anyone who believes that life does begin at conception (and, again, let me stress that it's not a belief, but a fact); how does he not fight to stop what is then clearly homicide???

I'm pretty sure there are at least a few Catholics who read my blog and think along the same lines as Mr. Biden and Mrs. Pelosi. It is for them that I am publishing the photo above. I first saw it on Mark Mallett's blog and I began wondering if I should share it too. I wasn't convinced though until I read these testimonies that he shared today. As Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life says, "America will not reject abortion until America sees abortion." For more images you can visit http://www.abortionno.org/.

Prayer Partners

My friend Sarah just started a prayer blog. The idea is to have Prayer Partners sign up who pledge to pray for the intentions on the list. Or you can just go visit and put a specific intention on the list to be prayed for. Enlarge your prayer circle instantly! Or you could go out and pray for the intentions on the list without signing up to be a Prayer Partner - no problem if you want to remain anonymous! She also has some great links to some other prayer sites. The blog is called Lord Hear Our Prayer. I've signed up as a Prayer Partner and I encourage anyone who feels called to sign up as well.

Also, this is the same friend I mentioned before who is organizing a Rosary for Life to pray for the unborn during the 40 Days For Life Campaign. If you'd like to contact her to take part in this special project you can also reach her through her blog.

Getting some perspective...

After reading the following article I am completely ashamed of any complaining I have ever done in my life. Especially any complaining I may have done about Mass being difficult to attend because of my young children, or the time the a/c wasn't working very well there and it was so hot...

Young African woman crawls 2.5 miles to attend Sunday Mass

Olivia (Photo courtesy of AVAN)
Valencia, Aug 28, 2008 / 01:42 am (CNA).- The Little Sisters of the Abandoned Elderly in Chissano (Mozambique) took into their home this week a 25 year-old African young girl named Olivia, who despite not being baptized at the time and not having any legs, crawled 2.5 miles every Sunday to attend Mass.

According to the AVAN news agency, the nuns said that one day, they saw “something moving on the ground far away,” and when they drew near they saw, “to our surprise, that it was a young woman.”

“We were able to talk to her through a lady who was walking by and who translated into Portuguese what she was saying to us” in her dialect, they said.
The sisters said that although “the sand from the road burned the palms of her hands during the hottest times of the year,” the young woman crawled to Mass, “giving witness of perseverance and heroic faith.”

The young woman received baptismal preparation from a catechist, who periodically visited her at home. After she was recently baptized, one of the benefactors of the sisters donated a wheel chair for Olivia.

You can read the article online here.

Interview with an Atheist

Oh, I am still laughing so hard I have tears streaming down my face. I saw this over on American Papist: Not Your Average Catholic. This is so hilarious. WARNING: Contains Adult Humor. Also, don't forget to go to my sidebar and pause the music so you can hear the video.