A Game-Winning Goal

Beth's team won!!! It was so exciting....the score was 0-0 and we were in our second overtime, sudden death.
With a little over two minutes to play, someone passed the ball to Beth and she scored! Not only did they win, but we had the joy of Beth scoring the game-winning goal.
I yelled so much tonight, I'm hoarse. It was really cold outside during the game, only in the 30's and we were out there for over two hours, but it was worth it. The team they beat was ranked 25th in the nation, and fourth regionally, where Beth's team is not ranked nationally and is ranked 8th in the region. This team is our biggest competition every year and it was the first time in Beth's four years that they beat them on their field.
Next Tuesday, they will have the seminfinals for the conference tournament.

A peaceful, restful night to all....

Heading to Lexington

We're leaving in a few hours to drive to Lexington to Beth's soccer game. This is a big one! This game will determine if they finish the conference in first or second place. Beth is really nervous, poor darlin'! She knows her team is depending on her to score and she always gets fouled a lot because of it. Last Saturday, the game was so nasty that way, her coach finally took her out because she was afraid she would get injured and she wanted her to be able to play tonight.
I just pray that she (and her teammates) play their best and don't get hurt.

A blessed, peaceful Tuesday to all....

Praying for our country

I just finished saying a Divine Mercy Chaplet for the election. As I prayed, it came to my mind that I have never felt such a conviction that an election could be as important as this one. I feel the forces of evil are heavy at work.
Every time I think of the Freedom of Choice Act that Obama wants to push through if he is elected, I feel a bit sick, thinking about the babies that will die and their mothers who will be spiritually destroyed or damaged, perhaps without even realizing that it is happening to them.
I think how they want to force medical schools to teach young doctors how to perform abortions and how they want to force doctors and nurses to perform them against their consciences.
How can a man be supportive of killing babies who are born alive, despite an attempt to abort them? How could anyone look at a helpless baby and leave them to die? It pains my heart. I can't help but feel that there is something wrong with a person who condones such an abomination. How can we even think of having a man who thinks like this lead our country?
I pray that our dear Lord have mercy on our country. I pray that His will be done. I keep remembering Abraham pleading with God to spare Sodom...

Andy

We've had a relaxing day....
It started out with 11 AM Mass and a quick lunch out. Then we went up to Xavier University to watch the men's soccer game. Last summer, at our Bible Institute, we met a young man (Andy) who is a student at XU and on their soccer team. He's from Idaho, and he wasn't able to go home for the summer (in fact, he hasn't been home since last Christmas). He took a class on teaching the Bible and we started talking to him and took him out for lunch along with our friends Paul and Denise. His parents are immigrants from Romania and had to endure all sorts of things there because of their Christian faith. His parents have not been able to ever come here to visit or see him play (and this is his junior year) so we decided to go to some of his games and be his "family". So two weeks ago, Paul and Denise, and some of their kids, Will, Mark, Michael, John and I went to his game, and then today, Paul and Denise, and five of their kids and Mark and I and our boys went. After the game we took him out to dinner and spent over three hours there talking about different things and learning more about him and his life. He is a very nice young man and has strong moral values and beliefs. He is attending college on athletic and academic scholarships. We really enjoyed his company. Afterwards, Mark, Paul, Denise, and I were talking and decided that we are going to find some way to get his parents here next year for at least one weekend. Usually when they play at home, they have two games...one on Friday and one on Sunday. So we're hoping to get them here on one of those weekends next year. He really misses them and is so excited about getting to go home for Christmas. He has a younger brother who really misses him too. I can't imagine being his mom and only getting to see him three weeks a year....breaks my heart to think about!
We arrived home about 8 o'clock and now I've been catching up on some reading and have talked to Denise several times about what we can do to get Andy's parents here next year and some other things we can do here to help him out.
It's been a peaceful, blessed day.....
I hope and pray that all of you have had a joyful Sunday....filled with the His peace and love....

Novenas for the election

Tomorrow I will be joining a group of people who will be saying the Divine Mercy Chaplet everyday until election...that the dear Lord will have mercy on our country and give us the president we need.
Then Monday I will be starting the rosary novena to Our Lady of Victory that Fr. John Corapi has recommended that we do also for the election.

I feel our country is at a crossroads. So much is at stake and so many lives hang in the balance. Innocent human lives.

Dreary Friday

I'm in a contemplative mood today...
It's dreary and raining....one of those days where the temperatures become colder instead of warmer.
I was up early taking my mom to the hospital for some blood tests and now even though it's only midday, I'm ready for a nap. I think I'll curl up on the bed for a while and take one, then proceed with school for the day. I need to finish up with Michael today because we will be gone all day tomorrow for Beth's soccer game up near Toledo.

I find myself thinking about life so much lately. I keep reading everything about the election and I keep praying that our dear Lord will have mercy on our country....that He will not permit the progress that's been made in the prolife movement these last years to be swept away. The possibilities of what's ahead are daunting when I think of them.
But I keep remembering that He's in charge...it's all in His hands....and so I pray.

Last night Mark and I heard some of our neighbors fighting....a rarity here in our normally peaceful neighborhood. The couple sounded as if they had both been drinking and they were standing outside screaming at each other. They are new to the neighborhood and keep to themselves. I know they have young children and I found myself wondering if they were awake and listening. The woman kept screaming "I hate you!" to him and he just kept mumbling back to her. Lots of profanities started pouring out and finally he went back into the house.
She stood outside crying and then started taking a brick and throwing it at his car, hitting the sides. It seemed she was taking out all her frustrations throwing that brick....
Finally her sobs grew quieter and she went back into the house and turned out the lights.
I felt so bad for her.
Today the house seems quiet....the cars in the driveway are gone...and I wonder how they're all feeling.

Off to my nap....a peaceful, blessed Friday to all....

Today when I tried to talk to the person mentioned in my last post, I said that they were hurting my feelings, and their answer was "I can't help how you feel."
Wow....that just felt like another stab in my heart.
I don't think they meant it exactly as it sounded, but it sure didn't feel good to me.

A beautiful day here...the sky is bright blue and the air is so fall-like. I'm trying to enjoy it because the next three days are supposed to bring gray skies and rain.
The trees this year are definitely not the beautiful fall colors we're used to.
I have to be content with the beautiful days instead. I can't believe that tomorrow is only a week until Halloween. The month is flying quickly....
I'm off to take a walk with my darlin' husband...then return for a simple dinner, some schoolwork with the boys, and going to Adoration for one of the best hours of my week.

A blessed evening to all.....

A welcome, peaceful Sunday....

It's another beautiful fall day here and we're enjoying a quiet Sunday.
The past week has been another crazy one as my lack of blogging shows. Tuesday we went to Beth's soccer game that was 70 miles away and that took up the afternoon and evening. They won 3-0 and Beth scored the third goal. John went with us and I did school with him in the car.
Wednesday, I had to take my mom to the hospital for tests, followed by Mass, some schoolwork, laundry. Then for the evening, Will's Irish band was in town so we went to hear them play. That included the exciting announcement that Will's sister, Liz, is engaged to be married. So hopefully, we will have another wedding to go to next summer.
Thursday was it's normal craziness plus I went to a jewelry party hosted by my sister-in-law. I ended my day by going to Adoration for some late evening prayer....always a blessing.
Friday was spent doing my normal Friday things plus getting the boys' haircuts, doing a mailing for our ministry, and going to Adoration with Mark in the evening.
Saturday was nonstop rushing. We attended a funeral Mass in the morning for the mother of a friend. She was the mother of 11, including having a son who was a priest. He, unfortunately, had died 7 years ago of cancer, but we were graced with the presence of a dozen priests concelebrating. It was a beautiful Mass...
We rushed from Mass to go to Beth's soccer game which was also Senior Day. Unfortunately, Beth did not feel well at all and so some of the joy was taken from the day for her. She played the entire game but I don't know how she managed. They won 1-0, but the whole team did not play their best. At halftime, the seniors were honored and Mark and I walked out on the field with her. They read out all of her accomplishments playing soccer these last four years, including her GPA of 3.8, the highest on her team. Her teammates gave her gifts and Mark and I brought her red roses. My sister, Paulette, attended, along with my brother, Bill, and his wife, and my brother, Chuck, and his wife, Kathy, (who is Mark's sister) and Mark's sister, Terri, and her husband. So she had a big cheering section and I would have enjoyed it so much more if only me darlin' daughter had been feeling better.
After the game we went home and I made a quick dinner since we hadn't eaten all day. After dinner, we took Michael to a party and then Mark, John, and I went to a fundraiser for some friends of ours. After we left our party, we went to pick up Michael at his party and arrived home about 12:30 AM....I was exhausted!
Today has been blessed with simply going to morning Mass and spending a peaceful afternoon at home.
I have a big pot of chicken noodle soup on the stove, simmering away, and it smells heavenly....

Tomorrow will be another busy Monday with Tuesday being another soccer day. Beth's game is 150 miles away, so the afternoon and evening will spent going there. Once again, John and I will doing school in the car. In the last 5 weeks, we have put over 3000 miles on my van...something which usually takes about 4 months.....so you can see that we've been doing a lot of soccer game driving. We're so thankful that gasoline prices have gone down these last two weeks...it's really helped the budget!

A blessed, peaceful week to you all....may you be strengthened in the knowledge of His love....

Brag post

Me darlin' daughter has been named her conference's Woman Soccer Player of the Week!!!! Woohoo!!!!
Way to go, Beth!!
She really has worked hard and deserves this....I'm so proud of her!!

A beautiful fall day

What a beautiful day it was here!!!
Mark and I got up early to drive to Beth's soccer game in Anderson, IN. It was a perfect day to go....the trees are beginning to change color and the sky was that gorgeous blue that October brings.
Beth's team won their game 7-0. She scored the seventh goal.....it was a very frustrating game for her. She was fouled many times, pulled down by her shorts and shirt, kicked in the face, and got a split lip. Crazy....and not one foul was called. She was so happy to get that goal....
Usually her coach doesn't let them run up the score that high, but she was annoyed by how nasty the other team was playing and the fact that the refs were letting them get away with it.
Mark and I went out to dinner alone tonight....the first time we'd done that in several months. The boys were out all day to a corn maze and park with Mark's sister and her husband.

My mom did come home from the hospital. They still don't know what's wrong with her, but she feels a bit better. She still has the headache, but it's not quite as bad. None of the pain medication they've tried seems to help. I think she's resigning herself to living with it.
I ran a bunch of errands yesterday that I had been wanting to do all week, went to Adoration, and made dinner for my parents (and us), and did a ton of laundry.
Hopefully, next week, I can get back in gear with my schoolwork with John....we only did the bare essentials this past week.

A blessed, peaceful Sunday to you all.....

dust in the wind....

What a week I'm having! One of those where I feel as if everything is totally out of my control. I know the good Lord is teaching me something. Though my week has not gone at all like I planned or hoped, I do have a peace about it all.
My own little personal crisis and the whole world around us seems to be floundering, but His peace is here.....

We are but His flowers that fade.

A restful night to all.....

Update

Shortly after I updated this morning, I received a call that my dad had called an ambulance for my mother. She had gotten up with the bad headache again and her legs were numb and she couldn't walk. She was shaking so badly that she couldn't stop and my dad became frightened. She said she felt like she was in a haze.
When the ambulance arrived, her blood pressure was high, but they couldn't find anything else wrong. They took her to the hospital and once again, they ran a bunch of tests, but still they can't figure out what's causing her symptoms. The pain is still bad and her legs still somewhat numb, but her blood pressure came back down to normal, and she hasn't had a stroke, which was their first thought. They decided to keep her overnight and do some more testing tomorrow. It's so frustrating and sad to watch her in so much pain and nothing seems to help.
Thank you again, everyone, for your prayers. They mean so much to me....what a gift you all are!

I had another day of little schoolwork finished and I know I will spend a good part of tomorrow at the hospital again.

A blessed, peaceful night to all....

Thank you for the prayers for me and my mom.
She did stay home last night. She decided that since the tests were all negative, she would just try to deal with the pain at home. Her doctor was going to call her again today and check on her. I'm going to stop in after Mass and see how she's doing.
Busy day ahead....lots of errands to do and schoolwork to catch on since I didn't get any finished yesterday. I am thankful that day is over.

A blessed Tuesday to all......may you feel the love of our dear Lady of the Holy Rosary.....

My poor mom

I've had a long day and I'm dead tired but I came home to the news that my poor mom isn't doing well today. She always has a headache....she's had that problem for over ten years now....a constant headache that doesn't go away and nothing helps. The doctors can't find a reason for it.
Today, however, she woke up with a terrible headache, so bad that my dad said she just kept crying and that's not like my mom at all. She went to the doctor who sent her to the hospital for some tests, but the tests came back showing nothing. They can't figure it out. They gave her some medication and sent her home for now but I just talked to her and the medicine isn't helping at all. The doctor is going to call at the end of his day, and if she isn't better, he wants to admit her to the hospital. I have a feeling that I'm going to have a long evening.
Please say a prayer for her (and a little one for me too).
God's blessings on you all.....