We Needed More Room!!

For years I have longed for more room in my house, especially on holidays. As a family of eight we always just made do. There was no other choice.

We have an Amish table that we expand for family gatherings as pictured above. The table is turned sideways from it's normal orientation. But we can't expand it to its full length because there was no room long enough to accommodate it. And we have to still be able to open the oven. :-)

When the table is turned sideways (the only way we can seat 18 or so people on holidays) the person sitting in front of the refrigerator has to get up when we need something from the fridge. And the people sitting in front of the buffet table have to scoot in or get up when someone goes back for seconds, after we're all seated. Let's just say we are really crammed in on holidays.

I think the final straw for me was a few years ago on Christmas. My nephew Mitch wanted to lie down after dinner, without being separated from all the fun and activities. There was no room. He crawled under a coffee table. That was the only space. I remember navigating around the legs of the table to pull an afghan over him. In my mind I thought that's enough. We need more space.

So....good news. We are building a big new room on the back of our house. I can't believe it. It's so exciting.

God has been very good to us. May this extra space be used for His glory. More pictures to come.

The Joy of Grandchildren...

My oldest grandson has turned two. Since he loves choochoos his godmother and I made him this train shaped cake (courtesy of Wilton cake pans), complete with his own photo in the engineer's window.

But the cutest scene of all was Blaise trying to blow out his birthday candle. Sometimes we forget that the first couple years of life are full of entirely new experiences. Babies and toddlers are processing new information and learning new things all the time!

Even at two Blaise knew that he was to blow out his birthday candle. I love his attempts here. He knew that forcefully expelling air had something to do with inhaling and something to do with the configuration of his mouth. You can see him experimenting. Then, to his own surprise, he blew it out.

I love the look of sudden realization as he sees the extinguished candle and then enjoys the applause of the people who love him.

Then he kind of repeats what he did with his mouth as if to say without words-- this is what I did!

Just too cute. What a joy grandchildren are! God is good. All the time!

"Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"---"What shall I do, sir?"

Happy Feast of Saint Paul!

Paul was given three miraculous and amazing signs that God was speaking to him.

First, "...a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me." Then, the voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And the response, "I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting."

Finally, the blindness. Saul was so moved he didn't eat or drink for three days!

Since Saul immediately said, "What shall I do, sir?" we can assume that his conversion was immediate. Yet the Lord still left him blind for three days.

Perhaps the continued blindness was less for Paul's sake than for Ananias and the other Christians who were terrified of Paul. Even when the Lord spoke directly to Ananias and asked him to find Saul that Ananias might lay his hands on him and heal him, Ananius replied, "Lord I have heard from many sources about this man, what evil things he has done to your holy ones in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to imprison all who call upon your name."

The Lord then explained, "Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and children of Israel..."

So Ananias found Saul blind, just as the Lord had said. He prayed over him and Saul received his sight, after which he was baptized. Perhaps Ananias himself baptized Saul.

When the early Christians heard the story of Paul's conversion and miracle of his sight returning, surely it was then that their fear of Paul dissolved. What a convincing sign that Paul had indeed been chosen by God for the spread of the Gospel.

May we all turn to God and say with Paul, "What shall I do, sir?" And then follow his instructions that his most perfect will might be done in each of our lives.

Learn more about Saint Paul from Bishop Robert Barron.

Other inspiring videos from Bishop Barron can be found at https://www.wordonfire.org/

Saint Francis de Sales-- Today's Memorial

A bishop and Doctor of the Church, Saint Francis de Sales lived from 1567-1622. He was canonized a saint just 33 years after his death.

Saint Francis de Sales was known to be a kind and wise spiritual director. He gave spiritual direction to Saint Jane de Chantal. More than 2,000 of his letters still exist, some of the best of which are published in the book Thy Will Be Done: Letters to Persons in the World. He is the patron saint of journalist and other writers. (I would say bloggers would come under other writers.)

From his classic work Introduction to the Devout Life Saint Francis De Sales writes, "...meekness, temperance, integrity and humility are virtues that must mark all our actions in life...We must always have on hand a good supply of these general virtues since we must use them almost constantly." Later he goes on, "Those who appear in public as angels but are devils in their own homes greatly fail in this regard. (These quotes are found in In Conversation with God, Daily Meditations Volume Six: Special Feasts: January-June, a series I highly recommend, by the way.)

Find out more about Saint Francis de Sales from the following video from Catholic.org.

More Than 58 Million Have Died. We Will Never Know Who They Were.

More than 58 million babies have died since January 22, 1973, the infamous Roe v. Wade ruling by the Supreme Court. 58 million. Let that sink in. The above video conveys the enormity of this tragedy.

Before 1973 most states had laws against abortion. A referendum attempting to legalize abortion had recently failed in Michigan. The people of Michigan had spoken. Then, the Supreme Court of the United States invented a "right to abortion." It was not in the Constitution. They made it up with all kinds of legalese about privacy, etc. Never mind. They made it up. Let's call it as it was. It was an outrageous ruling that entirely usurped the authority of the people. I remember my parents were furious.

All the scientific knowledge we have of the unborn confirms their personhood. They are alive. They have beating hearts. They feel pain. We were all once unborn.

The arguments in favor of legal abortion just don't make sense any more. On Twitter someone argued with me about whether or not a fetus has a beating heart at 21 days. I told her to look it up. She came back and said, well, something is beating but it's not really a heart. I did not argue with her, assuming she was a woman wounded by abortion. Turned out she eventually acknowledged she had indeed had an abortion.

If it's beating, and will eventually be a heart, why is it not a heart when it starts beating? So....it's what will become a heart, it's beating, ....but it isn't a real heart until when? It isn't a real heart, in their minds, until they decide it is. That doesn't make any scientific sense. What it is at 21 days is what it is at 40 weeks.

But those who argue in favor of abortion don't use facts. That's because there are no facts on their side. They assert vague, nonsensical things about choice, rights, personhood, whatever.

The fetus is not part of the woman's body. It has its own body. Period. To assert otherwise is nonsense. To kill a human being in any stage of existence is barbaric. It's immoral.

To assert that abortion is wrong but still something a person should be legally allowed to do is to abdicate one's responsibility as a citizen of a moral, civilized society. The unborn are human beings. They must be protected by law. There is no other ethical choice on the matter.

Grandsons!

In the past two years God has blessed us with three grandsons. Three! In two different families.

All three were born in December about a year apart.  Thus we celebrated Joey's first birthday this year!

Complete with Little Blue Truck cupcakes.

And Baby Jude was brought into the world, making Blaise a big brother...

Look at this face!

And Blaise turned two! Choo-choo cake compliments of me and daughter Mary. Yes, that is Blaise in the engineer's window.

To his own and everyone else's surprise, Blaise blew out his candle. Cheers all around.

What an incredible delight all three grandsons are. I can hardly keep from smiling any time I'm around them, or even think about them.

Blaise coming up with new words and word combinations every day...  Joey smiling constantly and just starting to walk....and Baby Jude, the most peaceful baby around, seldom crying, already smiling and making eye contact.

How I have been blessed. Six children and now three grandchildren. God is good. All the time.