October 15th National Day of Rememberance

Holy Mother of God, hear the prayers of the Church for all mothers,especially those wearied by life and overcome by the suffering they bear for their children.

October 15th is the National Day of Remembrance for pregnancy and infant loss. This includes all babies who have died because of miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, or any other infant death. I did not know this, but Angie at Bring the Rain has a wonderful post about it. This is dear to our heart this year as we lost our little Elizabeth on April 14th. This has been a very painful loss for her family as well as her extended family. The pain of losing any child, no matter how little they are, is real and is difficult to get over.

The loss of Elizabeth made me think about other losses we have had in our family. My mother lost a child between my older sister and my older brother. Until losing Elizabeth, I never thought about this miscarriage. But this was one of my siblings, who is now in heaven and is rejoicing with my Mother. My oldest brother and his wife lost a child between my niece and nephew and my older sister also lost her first child early on in the pregnancy. These are all little angels in heaven waiting for us to join them.

I ask the Lord to give you all comfort today, as we pray for your loss. May your little ones be sitting with Jesus, interceding on our behalf!

Lenten Promises

The season of Lent has begun. A time for prayer and fasting as we prepare for Easter. While we have talked about lent in our home in the past, it has been different this year with our son being in school. He is attending a catholic school and he is always coming home with little tidbits of religious information; for example God doesn't have favorites. This is big for a little kid because everything is about what is your favorite. It has been interesting to see his development in this area and makes me glad that we decided to send him to this school.

On Monday morning he did not want to go to school. This was extremely unusual for him. He has never wanted to stay home before. After quite a bit of discussion and persuasion, he was finally dressed and off to school. That night while giving him a bath, we talked about it. Come to find out, he didn't want to go to school because he thought it was Ash Wednesday and he did not want ashes put on his forehead! I told him that he had had them before, why would he not want them this time. Since he is only five and I don't think I took him last year, he could not remember having them before. (I know, shame on me, I went on the way home from work and did not take him.) It was useless talking to him because he had made up his mind, there would be no ashes on this boys forehead.

On Wednesday morning, I told him I would see him at church. He again said he was not going to walk up to get them. He was going to stay in the pew. I told him he had to obey his teacher. When I got to church, the children were spread out in the church. The children were sitting with their school families. (This is a group of students, one from each grade, that does different activities together through out the school year.) My son's cousin is the oldest in his school family. I was hoping that there was not going to be a problem. Luckily there wasn't. He went up and got the ashes with no problem! When I asked him about it that night he said it was okay, but he was disappointed because his were "too light and didn't last very long."

Also Wednesday morning he informed me that he was going to have home lunch for forty days in a row! This was definitely going to be a problem, since I did not have much to send him to eat that day. When I told him I didn't have much for his lunch he said he meant he was going to take a snack everyday for 40 days. Boy, was I relieved! Instead he told me that he was going to not eat PopTarts for breakfast for 40 days. This morning when Daddy made him one without thinking, he said that he could not eat it! I was proud of him.

It was really sweet this morning when I overheard him talking to his little sister. He asked her "What is your lenten promise?" I didn't hear what she said but it made me think. I have always thought about it as what am I going to give up or do without. What am I going to deprive myself of this year. It is so much more beautiful and more like a personal gift to God, if you think of it as a promise. A lenten promise! My son has taught me a beautiful lenten lesson.

Ash Wednesday

"Remember, man, you are dust, and to dust you will return."

The season of lent begins tomorrow, on Ash Wednesday. The time of the year when we should reflect on our lives and make sacrifices so that we can experience the grandeur of God at Easter. I pray that God works with me during this lent to prepare for the glorious Easter that is to come!