Paul was to give a talk on chastity last night at FF, and he was thinking about using a picture of little Dave sleeping under the Christmas tree - waiting for the Big Day!!! I had Dave show me how he gets his pillow and blanket and crawls under the tree... before I knew it he was truly fast asleep in the glow of the Christmas lights in the branches overhead. Laying on the floor to get the picture of him... he was truly under the Tree!!!... I could sense the feeling of wonder and safety Dave felt under there. How much anticipation is building in his little boy heart and mind as he counts the days of Advent until the arrival of... probably Santa, but also the baby Jesus is promoted as the reason for the season in our family! It speaks much of keeping yourself chaste for marriage - a Truth that is seldom heard these days! So disheartening to read a booklet I found on marriage at the Birthright office and the way that they have to approach the questions about living together of getting married after getting pregnant... the ideas of morals and looking to the Truth... that we are meant to enter marriage as virigins saved one for the other. Where did the world idea of sex and marriage get so warped and wrong? How special we feel as spouses when we open that gift meant just for us... when we give ourselves one to the other, and become one!!! The best gift in the world, and the glue that holds our marriages together as we embrace the motto of the Lamb - wounded, I will not cease to LOVE! Ever since Hallel wrote a letter to Nancy on the occassion of her engagement - Pat and I call each other Our Most Cherished Cross with great JOY and see that we truly do receive LIFE from each other! Not only the children we have been blessed with here and in heaven, but the rubbing away of our selfishness as Pat is the sandpaper that rubs off my rough edges! Ouch!
Ruth is so sweet with her little new baby girl, Rose Ida. The two of them reveal such a special bond, and the thankfulness that Ruth feels in being blessed with another perfect gift-from-God Child after being told no more... well, that it also a special waiting and trusting lesson of allowing her uterus to heal long enough using natural methods to prevent, and then trusting with prayer and vigilance to get the baby safely here! Ruth and Paul certainly can talk about waiting over and over in their marriage!!! There are so many blessings we receive when we sacrifice for the Truth and for LIFE! Jesus, shows us the Way through the wisdom of His Bride, the Church! It brings tears to my eyes to "see" the Love that little sweet Rose has for her mommy. She misses her when she is gone working a 12 hour shift at the hospital, and the look of sheer love and devotion that fills her face as she hugs her mom's neck is a thing of beauty to behold! The absence makes the heart grow fonder!!! I have great joy in knowing that all 3 of our married daughters are having the special gift and bond of nursing their babies now. They are all having that closeness and nourishing their babies to have that big cheeks and chubby healthiness! So special, and I have said that if I had known that John was to be my last... I probably would have had a very hard time, but as it was there were 3 lost after him, and then it was over. The Lord wanted to draw my eyes more and more to heaven, I guess. I guess the two brothers, William and Robert, that I carried for 5 months each after John, needed to be in heaven praying for him through his cancer/healing journey, and not standing at his bedside.
Dear Lord, how I am filled with wonder at the ways you touch our lives with your Way, your Truth, and your LIFE! We are so much more precious one to the other, if we truly wait with great anticipation for each gift we are given from YOU. If we wait for each other on our wedding night - what JOY and LOVE! If we wait for the children and are open to LIFE - we are blessed with each one, and our love grows and grows! If we wait for the problems of life to pass, and forgive and forget, and not throw up our hands and walk away from our spouse or family... the LIFE and LOVE will come after we embrace our Most Cherished Cross! Through the Cross we find eternal LIFE, O Lord! "God who is about to be born has no house, no cradle ready for him, so do you prepare your heart for his dwelling-place? Let it be warm with love, for the Babe is chillled; but still, if it only be tepid, the shivering infant will still bring greater heat. The more he suffers from the cold for us, the more strongly does he prove his love, and so deserves our love still more. In the rigorous winter weather which he bore for us, he chose to wear no clothes to protect him; but naked was he born, and naked died upon the cross for us, because, both his birth and death, he manifested the greatest excess of love." St John of Avila Yes, Lord! I want to prepare myself to be totally yours in all that I am. Jesus, I love you and worship you in my holy temple within - may your LIGHT pour forth upon all those in my domestic Church/family. Jesus, we trust in you. Amen and Halleluia
Bless-bless, Barb
Rose giving grandpa a kiss... we are all blessed by her presence and that of all our grandchildren!
"You must have ready a crib, then, in which to rock him to sleep, which symbolizes the repose of contemplation... He has many poor brethren, and those who love him must love them too, for his sake. Give them your alms, for they are the brothers of your Creator. When our Lord comes to be born in your soul, keep careful guard over him, and may he protect and save you for his mercy's sake."
St John of Avila (1569)
St Nicholas, pray for us and show the true meaning of the Season - the Child of God!!!
"Trust in the Lord forever! For the Lord is an eternal Rock." Isaiah 26
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaCR24-tkWI An amazing song by Danielle Rose called If I Touch HIM
The woman, who had the hemorrhage for 12 years - talk about waiting for healing!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment