Rose learning to love a new baby with the help of older sister Mary and a dolly that her cousin Therese so selflessly gave to her for Mary's birthday... Mary also took this picture of Rose. A week from tomorrow when they go to the hospital to see her new brother wrapped up in a blanket and so tiny - I think that Rose will reach out in LOVE, and hold him very sweetly with adult supervision, of course.
We were able to practice having a new baby last night while Ruth was away teaching Faith Formation without Paul, as he is farming long and hard now. It was the smartest thing we could have ever done - to tell our kids that we would watch their family so that they could be the ones teaching these young kids. Ruth was describing the respect that she and Paul get when they share - Ruth spoke for about 10 minutes about how we need to thirst for the Lord..."I talked about the way I watch my kids faith mature, and then I brought it up to confirmation and told them that it is asking them to become adults in their faith." "I look around and they are quiet and listening... I think that they really respect Paul and I." Remembering the struggles Pat and I had with our classes and how they complained that we were boring, etc... it just seems so right that we allow Ruth and Paul to go and share with kids. It is also good for them to prepare and share too!
Rose having a lunch break outside with daddy the other day.
Ruth had to speak twice last night and after Faith Formation she was asked to come and speak, along with 2 other presenters, to the eagle scouts. Ruth shared about how Paul had been reminded early in college that if he wanted a pure and holy wife that he needed to deserve her in his own actions. What a beautiful reminder that we need to keep ourselves pure and holy for our future spouses. It struck me in the last few years that looking over the lives of Pat and I from before we met, then when we met and clicked, and now the 35 years of the sacrament of marriage... that Pat's clear black and white vision about only marrying a Catholic could have been instrumental in our family's conversion to the Catholic Church! I know how determined he is in accomplishing anything in his life, and I could see that his wish/prayer for his future wife was a definite contributing factor in my conversion/my entire family's conversion to the Catholic Church - all 13 of us! A man with a clear vision! The Catholic Church- the world needs LIGHTS! To me they go hand in hand.
A dolly with long lashes and eyes that open and close make for fascination of a little girl...
Lord, today we are lifted up to new heights of JOY and praise as your Word was shared with a genuine LOVE last evening with your youth/future Church! In the first reading in Romans 6 today St Paul tells us without hesitation - "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal LIFE in Christ Jesus our Lord." Lord, may we leave behind all that darkness/sin which makes us unworthy of those that look to us for direction and instruction on following Jesus down the narrow path carrying our Most Cherished Cross. Reminding our little ones that they find great JOY and freedom in purity, and they need to pray for their future spouse in the same way. May the seeds planted last evening by Ruth and John and all those that are teaching the youth/future Church take root and bear much fruit bathed in the Light and watered from the side of Jesus. May the earth take flame and a huge blaze reach up to heaven casting away the darkness and lies of Satan now and forever. Jesus, we trust in YOU. Amen and Hallelujah
Bless-bless, Barbara Luke
"The only way to approach faith is on our knees, through prayer. We should not only kneel but be prostate before him, falling on our faces, imploring, crying out for growth in faith, so that we may believe ever more firmly, not only in God, but in one another - we who are fashioned in God's image...Prostration is humility. It's an acknowledgement of who I am, and who he is. A 'prostrated Church' is a Church of what I call the humiliated: the poor, the forgotten, the lonely..."
Servant of God Catherine de Hueck Doherty(1985)
Lord, continue to be with the farmers and thank you for the bright sunlight today!
God's not dead by Newsboys... If there is a theme song for our battle with Maria's Patrick a year ago - this is truly it! His little 3 year old brother, David, would truly roar it out over and over in that month!
This looks like a good movie to see... God's not dead
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