"The Lord will provide." my parents motto welcoming 11 children carried forth for generations!

After some comments about Ruth and Paul's 6... I am reminded of something I heard from my parents over the years and witnessed first hand... "The Lord will provide."  Growing up the oldest of 11 and my dad serving the Lord as a Protestant minister and later as a Deacon in the Catholic Church... my mother was wise and thrifty with shopping and cooking our meals, and amazed at the wonderful 9 bedroom home we were blessed with when we all 13 moved from Michigan to Minneapolis.  "When you look to the Lord to provide... He is very generous."  How powerful and life-giving were those lessons we learned in our family provided for by a generous and loving God!  We were so enriched by all our siblings to share our journey with, and never went without!
http://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/the-amazing-story-of-13-becoming.html

Our family in the glorious red flocked dining room in our home just blocks from Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis... our parish after our conversion - all 13 of us was the glorious Basilica of St Mary!  As a new Catholic talk about seeing God all around me there.  Daily mass of witnessing Jesus coming to me in Body, Blood and the Word!


There is so much today in the readings from mass!  The guilty and the innocent are equally loved and cared for in their times of distress!  If we humbly trust in Him as Susanna did, as she was falsely accused of adultery by evil men... we will find justice even if only in heaven forever with Jesus, Mary and the Saints and Angels.  For Susanna it was justice and saving her from being put to death.  Thanks young man of God, Daniel!  Such a great wonderful reading... Daniel 13

Pat's family also welcomed 10 children and trusted in the Lord providing for their needs.  Pat felt loved and always provided for, and it is so fun to see that his mother matched her kids, too!   I am sure that she sewed all of the clothes, too!  I have to say that I did that for my 5 time to time, but that would only be half as many as she had to sew! 

It is so wonderful and special to see the openness to life carried forth and along with that is the Truth that the Lord will provide for our needs as we trust in Him!  It was something that Pat shared with conviction to someone, who said that he couldn't understand how Ruth and Paul could afford 6 children..."It all depends upon your priorities!  You don't need the new flashy car or pickup every other year, or the big expensive vacation, or perfect home or boat or toys.  Siblings are more valuable by far!"  Yes!!!!

The Gospel today is the woman found guilty in the very act of adultery.  Reading some reflections on it... maybe Jesus was writing some of the sins of the men that came and asked if they should stone her.  So that when he finally spoke to their question and said; "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw the first stone at her."  Convicted they all went away without punishing her according to the law!  "Woman, where are they?  Has no one condemned you?"  "No one, sir."  "Neither do I condemn you.  Go, and from now on do not sin any more."  John 8

How true, that when we humbly leave the confessional after being forgiven/healed that we long to leave and sin no more!

Bubble sink for our little sweet 5 month old Evangeline today.  Having fun with baby shampoo and her long thick hair in the front!

Thank you, Jesus, for so much wonderful Truth all around me from generations we witness how you  love us and provide for our every need and answer all our prayers in times of need like John and Patrick!

http://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/johns-cancer-stories.html

http://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/the-story-of-little-lamb-grandson.html

We are so overwhelmed by all that you do for us as we long to love and serve you in one another!  All the love and mercy we receive may we return to those closest to us in our domestic Church/family!  Jesus, we trust in you!  The Lord will provide!  Amen

Relax and trust is a motto to live by as Jesus provides for our needs!  How I love to have Our Lady with us as we pray to her throughout our day.  A special moment today in the calving barn saying a "Hail Mary" together with the men!  Yes, she brings comfort to us in our times of need, and brings our petitions to her Son, Jesus!

 I had to snap a few of the cute calves in the fog while I was over there.  Ruth predicted that there would be 120 calves born by time she had Joy, and it happened on the day she came home from the hospital, so 120+ calves welcomed them home!

 A cute pair...

 Love it when they eat hay for the first time... super adorable!

#100 is quite interested in the camera and photogenic.

Super cute with the help of her sister!

I love this sharing by Paul today

"In honor of World Autism Awareness Day, I ask that today you take a moment to reflect on how to be kind and patient with those who are different than you. As many know, Simon is on the Autism Spectrum. Like all of us he has his challenges and has been blessed with gifts. I don't know many kids who take inventing, robotics, math, historical documentaries and science this serious! He's got a tender heart of gold. When dealing with him (as well as all kids), treat with care. We are proud of the young man that he's growing to be."

Laura Daigle - Trust in you.

Third day - Trust in Jesus

"I got the JOY, JOY, JOY, JOY down in my house!" Big sister Mary on the way to see her new baby sister.

So special to see her dressed in pink when we went back to see her yesterday afternoon.  She will be coming home today with mom, who has noticed that she prefers to be in someone's arms and not in her bed.  There will be many arms to hold her!

this is one lucky little girl... to have her whole life ahead of her living on the farm surrounded by such a loving lively happy family.  I am reminded of Paul's words to Saint John Paul II just two days after their wedding in Rome as they knelt before him to have their marriage blessed by him..."Please, bless us with a happy healthy family."  How he continues to bless them with an ongoing answer to this prayer as he watches over Ruth and Joy and now they are both safe and glowing with health and happiness/joy at the life they will share as mother and daughter, and father and daughter, and sister to 5!

We had just come from mass and sharing rolls in the church basement.   Paul and the 5 pitched in with helping with the cleanup and got some rolls for mom and Eucharist to share with her.  A family picture had to be taken as they were all dressed up for Sunday!  Ruth is now home with her baby, hopefully resting, while dad helps get homework done before Super Sunday tonight with a Christian rock band.  The day to day life of a family filled with love for one more!

We have had some family days supreme with the joy and celebration all around our gatherings of welcoming new little Joy Jean into our family!  Pat was saying that our words on the barn for the last year says it all!  "Family time is the Best!"

Our Jacuzzi in our new bathroom got christened by the kids in swim suits and too much soap!  All 10 got a really good bath eventually after some homemade pizza and fun making a fort in the grove.

Joy seems to be comfortable and relaxed with her biggest brother, Simon!

 Balloons too!?!?

Running around the circle is always good to let off steam for the 6 boys, and one of the girls here and there.

It was pretty sweet to see Paul wearing the tie from Nancy's wedding to honor her on this her birthday!  Happy Birthday, Nancy Anna, we love you so much!  So excited to think that you will be spending some time with your sister, the nun, Little Sister Hallel!

Mary and her class made these blankets for the hospital, and was happy to find the one she had made for her very own baby sister!  Mary realizes that she is such a lucky girl to have another baby sister to grow her love in her family.  She is probably the only girl in her class who has a baby sister to go with her baby blanket!

Grandpa Pat, shows Mary and Therese the tabernacle as he gets out Jesus/Body/Eucharist for Mary and her family to take to her mom.  Is there anything better for a family than for them to share Jesus?  No, not to the highest heavens!

Every time her siblings come to visit... they push her down the halls and give her a "joy ride!"  She seems to love to be on the move and to be held by her loving family!

The girls - Mary will be 11 in a couple weeks, than Rose will be 5 on May 1, and Joy 2 days old.  Paul says that the girls come in the spring and the boys summer/fall.  And as Simon says they have a pattern... boy, girl, boy, girl, boy, girl. 

Luke's first experience of being a big brother!  Such lucky kids to have many siblings - nothing is better or more important in our lives!  Having brothers and sisters can not compare to stuff or things or new this or that, or vacations, or toys big or small!  Someone started to say to Pat about how could they afford having 6 kids!  "It all has to do with priorities.  You don't have to have the flashy new car every few years or the big vacation or the boat.  Nothing can compare to family!" 

Such a work of art and a sign to the world of the beauty of being open to family and raising LIGHTS!  I walked into church with a woman I have known as she grew up along side my kids.  "I just love to see families big and beautiful like that.  It makes me so happy and it is so good to see.  I am divorced and I haven't been able to see my 14 year old son for an entire year!"  I was so very sad for her, and prayed for her through mass.  So hoping that as the first petition Paul read during mass could be answered..."That the LIGHT and LIFE which enters the world can pierce the darkness."  Looking at this happy healthy family is such a beacon in the darkness of he attack of Satan on the family!

Each child is a gift and reminds us of what is the most important job we are given to protect and cherish all LIFE from conception to natural death!  Welcome JOY Jean... a new light has entered the world!

 The baby whisperer... Pat loves to sleep with the babies, and has a way of getting them to share his dreams!

He is so in love with having little 5 month old, Evangeline Mary, here sharing our big wonderful home just 3 miles from the farm!  She is loving her grandpa Pat, too!  Today at mass we ended up in the front row, and grandpa turned her facing the front and she was enraptured by the music!  It was so touching to see her taking it all in and being so much a part of the mass at her tender age.  I refrained from snapping a lot of pictures... you have to take my verbal picture of it all.


The raising of Lazarus is such a powerful Gospel!  To see Simon and Mary standing on either side of father holding the candles as he shared Christ through The Word was also a special time for me!  Jesus, how I am once again so filled with Faith and Family and Farm...such a beautiful combination for our growing family!  Jesus, we trust in you.  Amen

Doing the stations of the Cross on Friday night - Romeo holding the crucifix that my Crafty Nancy made for me years ago!  Today she is 35 years old today!  She is such an amazing mother/wife/daughter/sister/teacher/accomplished blogger/and wonderful Catholic woman who shares her Faith in her family and with all around her and throughout the world!  We love you, Nancy Anna, have a wonderful day and 35th year ahead!  Bless-bless, Barbara Luke/mom

The 12th Station- Jesus dies on the cross...

Baby Nancy with her dad when she was about 1.  She does look a lot like our Evangeline!
https://www.wordonfire.org/resources/blog/st-john-paul-ii-the-heroic-pope/4958/  It is also the anniversary of the death of my hero, St John Paul II, here is something to read if you like.

Danielle Rose - The Saint that is just me

Eric Clapton - Holy Mother

"Joy is going to hear her name a lot at mass." Therese on the way back from visiting her cousin for the first time

Such a masterpiece, work of art is this!  How we have longed for this day when we could meet our newest little member/grandchild #15/boy-girl-boy-girl-boy-girl...as Simon says; "The pattern works!" 

Therese finished her blanket/the cross-stitch Lanoue family that she made from the pattern to the stitching, picked out the fabric, and then sewed the blanket complete with pink cow pattern.  Picture prefect family!  On the way home from the hospital this morning where Maria and her 5 visited Ruth and Little Joy and presented her with her special blanket made with a lot of love, prayers and thoughts!

5 months apart... Evangeline meeting her sweet new friend/cousin, Joy!  Yes, they will grow up together, and share that with older cousin, Josephine!  Therese has big plans on helping grandma pick out matching outfits for the big moment when they are all together!

 With over 100 pictures already.. I might not say much today, but put picture after picture. 

Oldest brother, Simon, was very sweet with her and his new glasses are nice, too!  There are 12 1/2years between them, so they will have about 6 years together. 

 We have a new sister, and she is so special!!!

 Holding Dave's finger...

Dave is s baby lover!

We got a dose of modern day thought of... I need to take care of me, and not overdo it with the kids and the family while we were gathered in Ruth's room this morning.   I was told that 15 grandkids are just a crazy lot, when her one granddaughter keeps her running.  I was told that I should "change the locks on my doors" so that I wouldn't have a house full of family and constant filling up and emptying again.  What?  I love to have my house full of family, and yes I do like my new found peace and quiet as  I am now put out to pasture.  Ruth was told that she should take more time in the hospital so that she doesn't have to go home and face the other 5 for another day longer.  It was a bit disheartening, but knowing that my daughters and I all look at family the same... it gave us smiles in the presence of such banter that kind of shook it's head at our openness to LIFE and raising them as LIGHTS!

 Therese is a super baby lover!

 Patrick and Romeo pondering new life!

 Our two youngest granddaughters are 5 months apart... in a few years that will disappear as nothing separates them!

Both were a bit fussy at this point.  It was the first time I heard our new little girlie cry!  Yes, she has a healthy one!


On the way home from seeing Joy this morning, Therese pointed out that baby Joy will hear her name often at mass..."joyful and joy are used a lot at mass.  How about rejoice? "  Yes, just as Simon (most especially during the Stations), Mary, of course, David, Rose again, Luke and now JOY hear their names throughout mass on a regular basis.  Such a special gift to them, and always amazes me at how much they are paying attention to what is being said, read, and prayed during mass.  It shows me that sharing our Faith with JOY as a family instills in them a love and respect for our beliefs and Faith in The Catholic Church!

Never too often can we be blessed with new wonderful little grandchildren.  Yes, each meal is a production feeding 10 today... but I wouldn't change a thing and when I have my alone time... it sure is peaceful and wonderful., too.  Without the crazy times, the peaceful times would not be near as peaceful!

Grandparents supreme!  Humbly we pray for each of our grandchildren with each new day!

A work of art - Joy Jean Lanoue!


Jesus, thank you for showing us the True way to happiness  by embracing our Most Cherished Cross and finding LOVE/LIFE/LIGHT!  JOY fills us with great happiness! Jesus, we trust in you.  Bless-bless, Barb