Peace & Balance

There's a feeling of joy & delight when one accomplishes small tasks, such as getting the checkbook to balance, having a freshly mowed lawn or a sink with no dirty dishes in it.

Today I experienced it again when all of the socks in the laundry matched.

The eyes [don't] have it...

...well now they do! AJ now has reading glasses. After struggling with reading and getting him to read, we decided to take him in to have his eyes tested. We found out his left eye wasn't cooperating with the right eye. The optometrist discovered that he is far-sighted in his left eye and that required reading glasses.

He is so proud of the glasses he chose and there has been such an improvement in his reading as well as his willingness to read. He says the glasses make it much easier and that they "make the words bigger!"

He now has the responsibility of caring for them and making sure they come home with him and that he brings them to school each day & he is doing a tremendous job! Look how big he looks!

Something to question...

What is it about Malt-o-meal & oatmeal that make them nearly impossible to remove when dried onto tabletops and countertops & why don't they make paint out of it? I spend so much time trying to get the stuff off of the table, but one touch against a wall & the paint is gone! I don't get it...

Halloween

I'm only 2 weeks behind...

The girls were fairies - AJ was a lumberjack, but kind of looked like a hobo axe-murderer - Ian was a pirate (that was the costume AJ wore when he was that size).

This isn't a costume...

Jason is in the Knights of Columbus and this is the uniform of a 4th degree knight.

(Although he's missing a sword and white gloves...we'll have to get those.)

He assisted at the All Souls Day Memorial service on Nov 1st.

40 days

Last week ended the "40 days For Life" campaign and almost 700 babies were saved (that we know of)! Praise God! (I think that's how many kids are in the 2 schools in our town!) The stories of hearts converted to choose not to abort the innocent life within them are just heartwarming and give a feeling of hope and courage to continue to pray for all who are affected by abortion. Not only were lives changed that carried babies, it helped parents, grandparents, workers in clinics and those passing by on the street that saw people standing in peaceful groups of prayer.

Pope John Paul II was a shining example of defeating evil with love when his quiet prayers and honesty in love brought communism to its knees.

Although I was unable to pray at an abortion clinic location, (there are none in our area), I learned much about the power of love and prayers during the past 40 days. I have learned more that many times when I feel tempted to stoke the fire with fire, I instead need to ask for the grace to snuff it out in a loving manner. I can't tell you how much better I feel by receiving grace rather than just winning an arguement!

So, even if my focus these last 40 days was on changing hearts from a culture of death to a culture of life, I think I learned more about love and the power it has over evil. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to Advent and it's 40 days of preparation for Christmas! I wonder where prayer, fasting and almsgiving will take me during that time?

The good, the bad and the really ugly

So often I hear what I need at that moment when I am in prayer, and today is just another example of that. I really should have nothing to complain about but there are days I find myself grumbling about too many things. As I grow in my relationship with the Lord, I am comforted and disturbed to know that I will be harassed more and more by the Enemy and his army. Why comforted?? Because I know that it ultimately will draw me closer to God, just as it did for the saints before us and from reading the Book of Job...

"The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
blessed be the name of the Lord!
We accept good things from God;
and should we not accept evil?" (Job 1:21b; 2:10b)

I have definitely had blessings and also things lost, and I have learned to be thankful for all of those experiences as I look back on them. In the same instance, as I learn to embrace the good things God is blessing me with, especially the healing of past wounds, I must know that I may be more under attack because there is one thing the devil does not want for us, and that's a loving, fruitful relationship with our Creator. I hope to grow so that rather than fear, or be irritated, or distracted by what the Enemy throws at me, I can know that I can look to God & have confidence that He will protect me; and that He allows some harassment to strengthen me so I can give the Glory to Him. Now I just have to continue to remember to discern whether I am being bothered or if I'm just being a grouch!