Happy Birthday Grandma!

We are so thankful for Grandma, who turned *70* on July 19! We celebrated lots, with visits from Uncle Andy and Aunt Tresa, and an upcoming visit from Uncle Keith and co.
Happy Birthday Grandma; we love you so!





Two cakes and counting...

Alleluia! He Is Risen Indeed!

Christmas Trains with Grandma

Today the boys and Grandma and I went to the botanical gardens to see the Christmas train exhibit.It was beautiful!
Today and tomorrow our weather is so warm that the snow is melting and everything is all wet, melty, mushy, and very foggy.Quite a nice finale for 2010, I would say! We are looking forward to a weekend of relaxing and celebrating the beginning of 2011!

Vigil for Nascent Life

Tonight we attended our Bishop's beautiful prayer vigil for the unborn:

The Holy Father called for Catholics around the world to participate in the vigil for unborn babies, which coincides with first vespers on the eve of the first Sunday of Advent.

Pope Benedict called for the vigil to pray for the unborn and their parents, for an end to abortion and embryo-destroying research, and for recognition of the dignity of all human life. The Vigil for Nascent Human Life will include prayers for overturning laws that permit the destruction of innocent lives and for the healing of those who have acted against innocent human life.

The vigil for the unborn comes at the beginning of Advent, a time of preparation for the birth of Christ.

“The season of preparation for Christmas is an appropriate time for invoking divine protection over every human being called into existence and for thanking God for the gift of life we received from our parents,” the pope said at the end of his Angelus November 14.

An evening prayer vigil will be held November 27 in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and Pope Benedict asked that parishes and religious communities, associations, and movements around the world host vigils of their own.

The service was special and powerful. I think it's remarkable that Pope Benedict requested Bishops in all the dioceses worldwide to hold this prayer vigil, this weekend at the beginning of our Church year. I'm expecting great things to result, for sure.

Then I came home and read this article about a dad whose disabled son has radically changed his view of the value of human life. Coincidence? Of course not.

I've spent a lot of energy over the years trying to make sense of my mom's disability from a massive stroke at such an early age, and how such a random tragedy could possibly be part of a bigger plan. I don't imagine for a minute that I could figure out God's plans, of course--but that doesn't stop me from at least trying to piece together some sort of explanation. And with my apologies to St. Thomas Aquinas for such a simplistic take on his teaching, here's what helps me understand how sad things fit into a bigger, glorious, supremely good plan...

God doesn't cause or will sadness, sickness, or disability. When He created the world, those things did not exist; even human death was not in His plan. He made us--then and now--to love Him and to be happy with Him forever. But He also created us to have free will, of course--without it, we'd be more like puppets than the fully alive, fully human, loving beings He wanted us to be.
And we all know what Adam and Eve chose to do with their free will. We've been paying for it ever since--all death, pain, and suffering (even work!) resulted from that tasty apple (pomegranate?). In the instant that Evil entered God's world, He began working to set things back on track. And all of salvation history is the amazing, incredible story of how His plan has unfolded.

In the meantime, we're stuck the pain and suffering of this life on earth. Fortunately, our life is not all that long--just a speck, after all, compared to eternity. And in the midst of our pain and suffering, God is with us as much as we allow Him to be, constantly bringing beauty, love, and blessings from each of our little trials. He loves and blesses us in startling, amazing ways that we would never imagine. It even turns out, as I'm only just barely starting to understand, that our earthly suffering helps play a part in God's plan for the redemption of the world.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." ~ Ephesians 3:20-21

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" ~ Philippians 4:4

The Holy Father's Vigil for Life addresses such a critical need in our time, and throughout human history. Most of us have far too little esteem for our own worth as human beings. We may be too small or too weak or too disabled to "contribute to society" in a way that can be measured or seen. But that doesn't take anything away from our sacredness as eternal children of our Creator. We are not random products of evolution and natural selection; we are each miraculous...unique...beloved...precious...eternal. What we do--what happens to each of us--matters. Life is short; we must love one another seriously, deeply, with everything we've got.

Thy Will Be Done! ♥

My New Favorite Picture

worth at least a thousand words...

Mom's Favorite Brother

Thanks for coming up from Texas to see us, Uncle Keith!! What a great time we had...hope you come back again soon! :)

Happy Birthday Grandma!

We love you!

Happy Mother's Day

...to my dear Mom.
Mom, I love you so much and I am so glad you are up here in the frozen arctic Midwest with us! I promise I'll try my best to get you back to your beloved Texas someday, somehow!

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

Our celebration dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise...

We love Grandma and we're so glad it's so easy to see her on her birthday and every other day--instead of going all the way to TX!!! :)

Retro Thursday

My mom, July 1988, on her 47th birthday:
We got the bike fixed up as her birthday present, and gave her a BIG surprise party with all her work colleagues, which completely surprised her.

Okay, if you insist, I'll post those photos too:

See how surprised she was, walking in the front door with an armful of pool chemicals, to find her house full of her co-workers! She was totally shocked, but she loved it. This kind of thing would make me nervous, I think--stressing about whether I left any dishes in the sink--but my mom is such an outgoing, "people" person that she loves any kind of party, any time.

I love my sweet mom so much!