My thought for the day

"We will spoon feed you socialism until one day you will wake up Communists and don't even know it. We will never have to fire a shot."
                                    Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet Prime Minister

Just one of the many reasons why I have chosen to educate my children at home. Well done public schools.

Wisdom of a child

Tonight we as a nation stand on the brink. Tomorrow(hopefully, Lord Have Mercy not another hanging chad incident) we will know who will be at the helm for the next four years. Given my tendency towards fear and pessimism, I could probably wax poetic for hours about the possible horrible outcomes of tomorrow night and all the devastating things that could happen based on our decision as a country. However, with a tip of the hat to optimism and peacefulness of my soul, I will keep this to the point. My daughter approached me tonight to ask when election night was, and I explained that is was tomorrow, but that whomever won the election would not be inaugurated(yes, we discussed what that word meant!) until January. She then thoughtfully stood there for a few moments, and then explained to me the things she would tell the country if she were president. I wrote them down.

 

Presidential Advice from a 6 Year Old

 

1. There is one God

 

2. Love God

 

 

3. Be a Christian

 

4. If you don't get it right the first time, try again

 

5. Try not to sin

 

6. Treat your country right

 

7. Never fight

 

 

That said, I pray you will keep her words in mind, and GO VOTE. She in her innocent way sees so much more than I do, and I think if we all as a nation adhered to these 7 standards, we might just start to get it right. Lord have mercy. 

Mortality and Eternity

 Our bodies are so fragile, easily broken, marred or damaged in ways that are irreparable. Our souls are eternal, meant for perfection with Christ, blackened by my stubbornness and my middle of the night fears. I am shocked at my own unwillingness to embrace my mortality, my ability to place blinders on my soul so that I do not have to think about the reality too often. Death is so unnatural, so unreal in a way. So wrong. Devastating. Tonight I was told of the death of someone I knew as a little girl, no longer an individual who I have contact with, but someone who was a part of my childhood. Someone my age, with a husband, children perhaps, just gone. Car wreck. Happens too often, too quickly, too many people in too much of a hurry or selfishly wrapped up in their own lives to look around and see the families and hopes represented by those other cars around them. I too am guilty of this, hurry to make that light, why is that car just sitting there, answering the phone, changing the station, gosh we're late,....and all the while not thinking of the end goal. To love, be loved, show love. To find myself at the end of the day in the warm embrace of my family, knowing I am not promised another day. I forget. I brush it aside, push it under the veneer and worry about it in the darkness, not in the moments when I can make sure that if these were my final moments I would not regret them. The faces of my children, a haze of spilled milk, runny noses and dirty diapers that I forget I might not be allowed to clean tomorrow.

Sweet souls, designed by our Creator with love and delicate touches. Sweet soul who was too fragile to stay here with me, waits patiently for me and I for him. Blessed Savior who knew all this was too much for us to grapple with alone, and holds His cross on high for us.

My heart rebels against confrontation with death. I rage, I seek retribution, want Someone to make it right. I see myself gone, wondering how my children would cope, gasping and begging God to never make them have to try. I fear losing my parents, their absence in my life will be an overwhelming void that even now makes my breath catch. Remember losing my little one, how lost I felt and still feel from that. What if I one day must be alone without my husband of 11 years? What then. Friends, family.  I find myself not really believing that God would let anyone else go....that this broken, fractured world of ours cannot possibly endure anymore. I repeat over and again. Come quickly Lord Jesus. No more death. No more sorrow. No more pain.

It is an overwhelming sadness.

My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

There it is. Why I don't go absolutely crazy in the face of death. Why, as our society prepares to glamorize death, I want to remember that death has no more power. Its victories are limited to this world. 

"Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord! First and last alike receive your reward; rich and poor, rejoice together! Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!"

"Let no one grieve at his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again; for forgiveness has risen from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.
He has destroyed it by enduring it.

He destroyed Hades when He descended into it. He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh. Isaiah foretold this when he said, "You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below."

Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with. It was in an uproar because it is mocked. It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed. It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated. It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive. Hell took a body, and discovered God. It took earth, and encountered Heaven. It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.

O death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory?

Christ is Risen, and you, O death, are annihilated! Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down! Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice! Christ is Risen, and life is liberated! Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead; for Christ having risen from the dead, is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!" - Portions of the Paschal Homily of St. John Chrysostom

Come quickly Lord Jesus.

Words I wish I had in front of my eyes at all times....

 

 

Patience adorns the soul with diamonds which are not of the earth, but belong to the Jerusalem that is above.

 Patience is a SWEET WORD.

Patience is a SWEET BREATH.

 Patience is an INVINCIBLE WEAPON.

Patience is a PRICELESS ADORNMENT.

Patience is a BLESSING of God.

Patience is LOVE and OBEDIENCE.

 Patience INCREASES when a person takes God into account.

 

St. Raphael of Lesvos

 

A wave of my wand and a sprinkling of pixie dust....

A few days into our vacation, and I have only now had a moment to sit down. We have run hard here! The kids needed an early night, so to bed they all go and now Mom and Dad are spending a little time just relaxing...before we get going again tomorrow morning!!! I love vacation, I hate when they are over and I struggle to slow down long enough to appreciate them while I am on them. Soooooo....took a day or so to break my OCD strides, but after a fancy margarita this afternoon I just said to heck with it, let's just go with the flow here and see what we can see. Incidentally, we have seen a lot! From characters, to parades, to rides, to the castle we have had a wonderful first few days and I am already sad that the ending will come sooner than I would like!

I mean honestly, how can you not smile and be happy when you are watching Mickey and Goofy dancing around Cinderella's Castle?! And if that doesn't do it for ya, the princesses are right behind them to join in. I admit it, I love Disney World. I love my children's faces when they see something there that sparks their sense of wonder and amazement.

II love that they love to see these characters brought to life. I love the giggle of my son when he spotted Piglet on the Winnie-the-Pooh ride. I love that my fourteen month old, who hasn't been the most easiest to get along with person, dropped all the whining to say a joyful "HI!" to Snow White when she came to see us at lunch. I love that I packed my daughter shorts and t-shirts and she has primarily worn princess dresses. I want to wear a princess dress.

Let the countdown begin...

I fluctuate back and forth between gratitude for the reliable consistency of days at home with my family, and the eyeball clawing need to get out and do something different. As a family, we do not often have the time or funds to go on vacation....but let me tell you that after two years of pinching pennies and scraping together every dollar I could find the countdown to vacation is finally on. You know that feeling you used to get as a child on Christmas Eve? I haven't had that feeling in a LONG time, but I am getting it now as I start to prepare things around here for a highly anticipated getaway. The best part of this whole upcoming muchly needed break? My kids don't even know yet. I, me, overtalkative, oversharing, loud, obnoxious me has somehow managed to completely conceal from them our plans for vacation. I am so giddy and excited about the big reveal, which will take place moments before we load up in the car and head towards our destination!

Our family has waded through a lot in these last two years, extreme highs and devastating lows. Memories abound carrying with them joy and sorrow. We have made mistakes, we have drifted apart from each other and we have flung our arms around each other in adoration and gratitude. Most days we do the same God given things, the blessed comfort of routine that is so important to a little child. We don't have a lot of extra cash around here, and that's okay. And I am absolutely positive there are those who will scornfully say we shouldn't be spending what we have in this fashion on some silly vacation. To that I say, sometimes you don't know the whole story and probably shouldn't make judgements about situations to which you are only an outside observer.

Where are we going? It's a secret...for now. But, even though I am not posting a whole lot of pictures on this blog these days, I might feel inclined to post one once we reach our destination. Just a few days of keeping things under wraps around here and then my sweet family and I will be off to play and enjoy each other's company!

Rediscovering

As a full-time housewife and homeschooling mother, sometimes my days become a blur and at the end of them I wonder where they went. Most days, I become so wrapped up in the "to-do" list that I forget the simple act of responding to my 13 month old chanting "mama, mama, mama" or really watching my child when they say, "Hey, Mom, look what I can do!" or preparing a meal for the simple love of putting together nourishment that tastes good. When my days one after another start to take on this pattern, I find I really have to sit myself down and give myself a good talking to. This generally involves returning to a few books that have offered me the opportunity to reclaim the beauty and dignity of a simple day at home with my children. Years ago, shortly after my first child was born, my much wiser sister gave me a simple gift of a short book entitled The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy and Women's Work by Kathleen Norris. It is one that I have found myself returning to after each of my children, because it is so rich in its explanantion of the daily never ending tasks having eternal benefits. Through this book, I have been reminded over and over again that the things I see as nuisance are things to be done with love and gratitude. I cannot express what a wonderful experience it is to rediscover this book every few years! The other book I am coming back to at this particular time is by Molly Sabourin entitled Close to Home: One Orthodox Mother's Quest for Patience, Peace and Perseverance. Through her story of conversion, marriage and parenthood I have found that I am not the only one who feels a little tired some days! These two books have sat on my shelf for years, and yet I so often forget they are there and am pleasantly surprised to rediscovering how much encouragement I find each time I read them.

For me, the struggle is to be present for my family at this moment, because I am always thinking about what needs to be done next or how I am going to get each and every little thing finished before the clock hits bedtime. My children are so young, and it is so easy to believe that I will change diapers for the rest of my earthly life. Today, I want to take stock of just today and find the precious moments that will never be repeated and be a part of them. There are smiles on little faces that I want to have branded on my heart(especially when they are teenagers and I need to remember sweet smiling faces!!) and little hands and tiny toes to wonder at, abounding questions that never seem to end but I know that one day they will figure out I don't really know all the answers. I truly do not want to be one of those mother's who doesn't know how her children got to be so grown up all of a sudden. So, with these words said, I will extricate myself from this computer and go join the munchkins in a fleeting moment of life.

Ever changing

I have made some changes around here...namely starting fresh. Life has been rather trying these last few years and I have learned some things about myself along the way. No need to expound too much upon those things, as they were things I am sure God wanted to get across to me, not anyone reading this! I can sum up in a few hopefully brief sentences. For starters, I am a pessimist, I can see the negative or possible negative in almost any situation. This is a trait which has worsened the older I have gotten, and to be fair it has been nurtured by some particularly devastating moments. But I have allowed that pessimism to affect life too deeply and have forgotten to see the beauty of everyday life. And so, I start anew here on these pages. My desire is to make this a place of gratefulness, a place for me to express my joy and thankfulness for the everyday. To remind myself of all that is good in life and hopefully to share a little joy with anyone who stumbles upon this place.