Pure words...clear thoughts... from a little mouth

...of a wholesome person. Tonight as I was coming back to Madge's bed to kiss her goodnight she began to ask if our bodies are just another mystery (we have been talking about the mystery of the Eucharist). She said that it is a mystery how a baby is in a mom's tummy, and that it is a mystery of who she is. She said, "I know I am Maddy and I have a body, but I cannot see the inside of my body." "It is like Jesus says," she said, "'Blessed are those who do not see and still believe.'" You have it, Madge, and we love you.

Rejoice, Our Lord is Risen! Praying...

Prayers for a Wife and Mother

A Wife's Prayer
O merciful Lord God, who in the beginning did take Eve out of the side of Adam and did give her to him as a helpmate: grant me grace to live worthy of the honorable estate of matrimony to which Thou has called me, that I may love my husband with a pure and chaste love, acknowledging him as my head, and truly reverencing and obeying him in all good things; that thereby I may please him, and live with him in all Christian serenity. Keep me from all worldliness and vanity. Help me, O Lord, that I may, under him, prudently and discreetly guide and govern his household. Let no fault of mine aggravate any sins by which he may be especially tempted; enable me to soothe him in perplexity, to cheer him in difficulty, to refresh him in weariness, and, as far as may be, to advise him in doubt. [Give me understanding so to fulfill my part in the education of our children, that they may be our joy in this world and our glory in the next.] Grant that our perfect union here may be the beginning of the still more perfect and blissful union hereafter in Thy kingdom; and this I pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer for Motherhood (To St. Gerard Majella)
Good St. Gerard, powerful intercessor before the throne of God, wonder-worker of our day, I call upon you and seek your aid. You know that our marriage has not as yet been blessed with a child and how much my husband and I desire this gift. Please present our fervent pleas to the Creator of life from whom all parenthood proceeds and beseech Him to bless us with a child whom we may raise as His child and heir of heaven. Amen.

Parents' Prayers for Their Children
O God the Father of mankind, who has given unto me these my children, and committed them to my charge to bring them up for Thee, and to prepare them for eternal life: help me with Thy heavenly grace, that I may be able to fulfill this most sacred duty and stewardship. Teach me both what to give and what to withhold; when to reprove and when to forbear; make me to be gentle, yet firm; considerate and watchful; and deliver me equally from the weakness of indulgence, and the excess of severity; and grant that, both by word and example, I may be careful to lead them in the ways of wisdom and true piety, so that at last I may, with them, be admitted to the unspeakable joys of our true home in heaven, in the company of the blessed Angels and Saints. Amen.
O Heavenly Father, I commend my children to Thy care. Be Thou their God and Father; and mercifully supply whatever is lacking in me through frailty or negligence. Strengthen them to overcome the corruption of the world, whether from within or without; and deliver them from the secret snares of the enemy. Pour Thy grace into their hearts, and strengthen and multiply in them the gifts of Thy Holy Spirit, that they may daily grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ; and so, faithfully serving Thee here, may come to rejoice in Thy presence hereafter. Amen.

Prayer of Spouses for Each Other
Lord Jesus, grant that my spouse and I may have a true and understanding love for each other. Grant that we may both be filled with faith and trust. Give us the grace to live with each other in peace and harmony. May we always bear with one another's weaknesses and grow from each other's strengths. Help us to forgive one another's failings and grant us patience, kindness, cheerfulness and the spirit of placing the well-being of one another ahead of self. May the love that brought us together grow and mature with each passing year. Bring us both ever closer to You through our love for each other. Let our love grow to perfection. Amen.

Consecration to the Holy Family
O Jesus, our most loving Redeemer, who having come to enlighten the world with Thy teaching and example, did will to pass the greater part of Thy life in humility and subjection to Mary and Joseph in the poor home of Nazareth, thus sanctifying the Family that was to be an example for all Christian families, graciously receive our family as it dedicates and consecrates itself to Thee this day. Do Thou protect us, guard us and establish amongst us Thy holy fear, true peace and concord in Christian love: in order that by living according to the divine pattern of Thy family we may be able, all of us without exception, to attain to eternal happiness.
O Mary, dear Mother of Jesus and Mother of us, by the kindly intercession make this our humble offering acceptable in the sight of Jesus, and obtain for us His graces and blessings.
O Saint Joseph, most holy Guardian of Jesus and Mary, help us by thy prayers in all our spiritual and temporal needs; that so we may be enabled to praise our divine Savior Jesus, together with Mary and thee, for all eternity.
Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be three times. Amen.

Consecration of Families to the Sacred Heart
O most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thou didst reveal to the blessed Margaret Mary Thy desire to rule over Christian families; behold, in order to please Thee, we stand before Thee this day, to proclaim Thy full sovereignty over our family. We desire henceforth to live Thy life, we desire that the virtues, to which Thou hast promised peace on earth, may flower in the bosom of our family; we desire to keep far from us the spirit of the world, which Thou hast condemned. Thou art King of our hearts by our love of Thee alone, with which our hearts are on fire and whose flame we shall nourish by frequent reception of the Holy Eucharist.
Be pleased, O Sacred Heart, to preside over our gathering together, to bless our spiritual and temporal affairs, to ward off all annoyance from us, to bless our joys and comfort our sorrows. If any of us has ever been so unhappy as to fall into the misery of displeasing Thee, grant that he may remember, O Heart of Jesus, that Thou art full of goodness and mercy toward the repentant sinner. And when the hour of separation strikes and death enters our family circle, whether we go or whether we stay, we shall all bow meekly before Thine eternal decrees. This shall be our consolation, to remember that the day will come, when our entire family, once more united in heaven, shall be able to sing of Thy glory and Thy goodness forever.
May the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the glorious Patriarch Saint Joseph vouchsafe to offer Thee this our act of consecration, and to keep the memory thereof alive in us all the days of our lives. Glory to the Heart of Jesus, our King and our Father! Amen.

Prayer for the Family
O God of goodness and mercy, to Thy fatherly guidance we commend our family, our household and all our belongings. We commit all to Thy love and keeping; do Thou fill this house with Thy blessings even as Thou didst fill the holy House of Nazareth with Thy presence.
Keep far from us, above all else, the blemish of sin, and do Thou alone reign in our midst by Thy law, by Thy most holy love and by the exercise of every Christian virtue. Let each one of us obey Thee, love Thee and set himself to follow in his own life Thine example, that of Mary, Thy Mother and our Mother most loving, and that of Thy blameless guardian, Saint Joseph.
Protect us and our house from all evils and misfortunes, but grant that we may be ever resigned to Thy divine will even in the sorrows which it shall please Thee to send us. Finally give unto all of us the grace to live in perfect harmony and in the fullness of love toward our neighbor. Grant that every one of us may deserve by a holy life the comfort of Thy holy Sacraments at the hour of death. O Jesus, bless us and protect us.
O Mary, Mother of grace and of mercy, defend us against the wicked spirit, reconcile us with Thy Son, commit us to His keeping, that so we may be made worthy of His promises. (Prayers from Catholic World Mission)

Our Penelope

Looking at Penelope this morning as she smiled and kicked her legs on the bed, I realize how much she has become a part of our life that I can't imagine our life without her!

Our Nature Walk

There is nothing like a nature walk with 3 energetic little people, sun-screened up, wearing hats, sun glasses, and filled with enthusiasm to enjoy life and the smallest things: sunshine, tiny flowers, shiny leaves, buds, the laughter of other children in the neighborhood. We enjoyed a beautiful nature walk today through our area. Penelope fell asleep in the jogger as the three big kids trekked along. As soon as we got home, we spread out our discoveries and wrote and drew about our findings, while investigating our finds with the magnifying glasses. Afterwards, we glued Madge's and Peach's entries into their nature journals. (We had fun looking at their nature journal and their entry from this time last year.) What a beautiful morning. Thank you, Lord, for the small moments that make the biggest impact on our lives.

Joy. Peace. Hope

"Enjoy in peace the joy God is giving you, without worrying about the future. He is reserving for you, I am sure, new graces and many consolations."

St. Therese, The Little Flower

 

I remember one mom talking about "rainbows" of "hope" in the small moments of life. They are to grab on to and thank God for. We never know when the strongstorm will arrive or how strong it will be, so take hold of God's grace, and enjoy the joy of life. I am enjoying these moments of life, especially the beautiful 4 human gifts above whose laughter, happiness and pure JOY radiates any darkened sky. They love. And, I will soak up their rays of love that will penetrate any moment. A breeze through a window, hot sun rays, a hot cup of coffee or tea. These are life's rainbows, God's whispers of love. Enjoy them. 

Home

Thanks to a sweet big sister, who is a sweet big helper (washing dishes in the kitchen after showers tonight) while Pita helped set the table (telling Mommy to not "look" in the kitchen while she was preparing the dinner table), Little Caleb chose an apron and got ready to scrub dishes with soap, as Madge taught. Just one more moment that makes me grateful for these times at home with our 4 sweet little people, who make me laugh and grow in many ways. They are such sincere teachers; what would our lives be without each gift? As home and school meld, how much we appreciate the classroom of LiFe, here in the heart of our home.