At a young age I had learned from my parents that life was a wonderful gift, and that openness to life was not something to be taken lightly. I am here holding my new baby sister, Mary... it was not just me and her... there were two sisters and two brothers between us... one of the twin brothers, Lincoln, only lived a few days. So at age 7... I had already experienced loss, as I watched my mother greive the loss of her premature son, and remember my parents going to the cemetary to bury him on a gray morning.
I found this and thought it was so beautiful, and so true! It is not hard to see our Lord in the tiny precious newborn, and to realize that He "knew them" and "formed them" in their mother's womb! We are each called by God to be His and to serve Him and to be a part of His Bride the Church!
Pregnancy was always a special time for me... special yet always after my first mischarriage a scarey time too! How I was thrilled when after waiting 7 months... I was getting trained as a volunteer at Birthright - a prolife group of women that work one on one with girls giving them pregnancy tests and counseling - learning how to do a pregnancy test on myself... I was pregnant!
I have 3 daughters now married and they all were open and excited for LIFE! Each one was pregnant on their first cycle after marriage... both Maria and Ruth celebrated their first anniversary with a 2 month old! And Nancy is now due to have her baby in mid June, and also have a special gift on their first anniversary on August 28th! They cherish each life they are blessed with, and put much prayer and concern into the welfare of their little ones in the womb!
In order to prevent pregnancy, which was vital for her health and that of the baby...Ruth not only learned the Creighton Model Method, but is now a trained instructor who works with couples in learning how to understand their cycles the natural way! http://www.creightonmodel.com/ to read more about this wonderful help for women to know themselves and to use only natural means to "plan" their families. Plan yet God is always in the picture, and it allows Him to truly be the one planning your family! And doesn't He know what is best for us? Now Ruth uses this to help others and as a part of her own life! When first told no more children.. she thought only of unnatural methods of the pill or other forms of birth control, or even sterilization! I told her that she would not be happy with any of those, and now she is even prayerfully looking at more children in the future! Each life that they welcome into their family will truly be a gift! How can there be any doubt of that?
Maria posed for these in her apartment shortly before she had her first daughter, Therese... I loved the natural light, and she loved her new baby already! Don't we as mother's have a relationship with our new life within us... as soon as we know that they are there? That is why I was so devastated by my losses... two of them were when I was 5 months along, and had heard the heart beat a few times already! And that relationship has continued for me... I pray for them every day by name and feel that they are my "angels" with me and helping me on this journey! Christopher, Thomas, Joseph, William, Robert and Mary pray for your mother... as you bow at the feet of Our Loving and Forgiving Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Maria had done Creighton Model, and charted before she got married as has Nancy! Maria discovered that she has a condition that would require her to have shots of progesterone in early pregnancy... to prevent her from having a mischarriage! I have been asked by some if this is taking things into your own hands in the same way that artificial birth control does! How can being open to life and cherishing that life to the point that you are informed about your own body, and take a totally natural suppliment to promote the safety and health of that new life within you... in any way come close to taking a pill to abort a fertilized egg, or putting a device in your uterus to abort a fertilized egg, or using a barrier to prevent the egg and the sperm to come together.. because for some reason you are not ready to have a baby? NO! Taking a shot of progesterone two times a week to give you a better chance to carry the baby is not taking things into your own hands! It is using the modern day information to keep that baby healthy and safe, because you love life and want to care for it every way possible!
I just googled this.. Church teaching progesterone therapy and came across this wonderful news letter - http://www.nccbuscc.org/prolife/issues/nfp/forum_winter-spring08.pdf Check it out if you want to continue deeper...
Nancy, being a teacher and having MEA off, decided to come home for the day and spend some time with her farmer dad! I feel a bit like the Visitation... knowing that she is newly pregnant and feeling the joy and peace that are a part of that knowledge! She is older than her sisters... much like I was when I married and had my first child at 28! Nancy will be 29, so she is taking a lot of my history to heart too! I have often thought that if I had lived now... a generation after I had my children that I might have been helped with this new knowledge and been able to prevent some of my losses. I strongly encouraged Nancy to go in earlier than the usual after you miss your second period...armed with the knowledge of her sister, Maria, and my history too! She was told that 10% of pregnancies end in mischarriage, by the Creighton Model doctor that she met with, but with the progesterone shots in early pregnancy that can go down to 6-8%... that's huge! Nancy commented on how they looked at her charts and pinpointed the exact day that they conceived! How wonderful is this understanding of Nancy's body and cycle... it is wonderful to see how we are miraculously made! So Nancy was started on shots and now her husband is giving them to her! Talk about a group effort on giving this baby the best chance possible to be here healthy and safe! Life is a gift!
It was a delight to finally meet the wonderful...Gianna! I had heard about her and her mother through my girls since she was in her mother's womb! I have permission to share with you this beautiful story of seing the Face of Our Lord in the life placed in the womb of her mom! She met a man, who wooed her and they started dating... early in the relationship his true intentions became apparent, and she was raped by him! She a strong Catholic girl had planned to save her virginity for her future husband, but now this happened to her without any provocation! Then the discovery of her pregnancy as the result of this horrendous act! What have we all been told over and over about the reason to legalize abortion? In case a woman gets raped!
For her mom... there was not a moments hesitation that this was a life, and there was a reason for her to be here! The thought of taking the life of this baby was never given a moment's consideration, and what could have been a very painful memory everytime that she remembered this new life within her... she began to love and nurture and anticipate that she would be a mother! Having met this beautiful Catholic young woman and her family and of course precious Gianna - named after St Gianna Molla, the prolife saint I have written about in the past...
see http://www.saintgianna.org/ to refresh your memory of her giving life to her fourth child rather than get an abortion and save her own life... I know that every healthy thing she could do to bring her baby here was done, and she continues to be a very careful mom and caring mom - using a lot of natural things with her so that she can know that she is giving her the best! It is beautiful to behold! They came here to can with me, and they left the sugar out of the applesauce! That is crazy healthy!
The world is a brighter place with Gianna in it, and of course my sweet granddaughter, Therese, who is just 2 months younger than Gianna... Abortion is never the answer, and Gianna is the poster child for that Truth! Her story needs to be sung to the highest heavens!
Psalm 24 from mass today:
Lord,this is the people that longs to see your face.
The Lord's is the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Who can ascend the mountains of the Lord?
or who may stand in his holy place?
He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
Lord, this is the people that long to see your face.
He shall receive a blessing from the Lord,
a reward from God his savior.
I always was filled with joy to have diapers on the clothesline... I had a baby in the house! Maria's fuzzy buns type diapers are a beauty to behold too! But I know that she loves to have her baby in the house too! She is so much like her mother in that way! And I think that it is a good way!
Lord, the emotion runs so deep when it comes to those that we fed in our womb...that cord is never truly cut for us as mothers! We continue to nurture and love our children and their children our whole lives through. Now that they are away from us physically and making their own lives with their husbands or communities... we can only pray, but that is so much! That is a gift to remember them in prayer every day! We see your hand on their lives and rejoice with them and cry with them! May we always cherish all life and nurture it according to what is right and good! Thank you for the wisdom of your Church in showing us the ways that are the right ways for us to do this! May we never take things into our own hands, and start to mess with the beauty of your work and handiwork! Jesus, we trust in you! Thank you for allowing us to see you face to face in the gift of LIFE! Amen and Halleluia!
Bless-bless, Barb"Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom. Alleluia, alleluia."
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