Mother love

Last night there was a beautiful moon and as I was driving to pick up Michael from a friend's house, I was thinking of the newlyweds, Mike and Frances, who are on their honeymoon in Hawaii. I wondered if they were going to have a beautiful moonlit night there...
It made me think a bit about mother love. Mike's parents, Paul and Denise, are good friends of ours. They celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary last month. Several years ago, Paul had started saving money so that they could go to Hawaii for their 25th. Denise has always wanted to go there, and they couldn't afford it back in the days of their honeymoon, so he wanted to do this for their 25th.
But then last year, Mike and Frances became engaged and the money put aside for the Hawaiian trip was sidetracked into paying for tuxes, and dresses, shower gifts, and a beautiful rehearsal dinner. Ironically, Mike and Frances chose to go to Hawaii for their honeymoon.
But Denise's mother love has made her happy for them....that they get to go on this wonderful trip. She was talking to me last night, wondering how they were doing...hoping that they were having a great time and she's looking forward to seeing all their pictures of the places she is longing to see herself.
Mother love is like that...it makes us gladly sacrifice so that our children can be happy.
A little reflection of the love that our dear Blessed Mother feels for us...that our Heavenly Father showers upon us.

A blessed Thursday to all....

August 7th

I had been feeling a bit reflective last week as I wrote. Sometimes that old infertility stuff pokes me and gives me that feeling of inferiority. I try to think of it as old satan trying to discourage me.
However every August 7th reminds me of God's miracles in my life (if you haven't read about why this day is special to me go back to the first posts on my blog).
Last Thursday was August 7th again and I did have a moment when I was wondering if my life was fruitful...
I had noticed earlier in the week when I was outside in our yard that our cannas still hadn't bloomed this year...a bit late. Mark always plants a large round bed of cannas in our backyard. They remind him of his grandfather who always loved them.
However, last Thursday, just as I was wondering if my life was fruitful, I looked out our back window and there was the canna bed with four big beautiful blooms and the thought popped into my head that my life will bear fruit....all in His time and way. It felt like a little miracle from Him....a gentle reminder of His infinite love.

Busy Weekend

We had a crazy weekend starting with Friday.
Beth had played matchmaker two years ago with her boyfriend's brother, Mike, and a friend of hers from college, Frances. Mike also happens to be the son of our friends, Paul and Denise.
Mike and Frances were married on Friday and Beth was a bridesmaid.
It was a beautiful, crazy day and I enjoyed just about every minute of it.

Saturday was a day to play catch-up around here. I had not really cleaned our house in three weeks because of Bible Institute and another wedding the week before that. So Mark and I spent Saturday cleaning the house, doing laundry, ironing (that huge pile in my laundry room is now gone!), mowing the lawn, and making a big batch of barbecue after dinner. We were really tired, but a good kind of tired.

Sunday we went to 11 AM Mass, out to lunch, and then had churchhome at our house. Our friends Paul and Denise, Gina and Dave, came with their kids and we had some praise and worship, and Paul did a teaching on Luke 12 which we discussed. Afterwards, we served dinner to everyone (that's what the batch of barbecue was for) and enjoyed some fellowship. A very pleasant day....

Now it's back to that normal old Monday stuff....

Remembering

This week has definitely put me into a reflective mood...
Our 30th wedding anniversary on Tuesday.
Today is August 7th....the day each year that reminds me of God's plan for my life....the anniversary of losing Anthony (27 years ago); the anniversary of Beth's final adoption hearing (21 years ago) and the anniversary of the day we brought Michael home (16 years ago). All of them were on a Friday....more than a mere coincidence.
This year I am realizing this week that another stage of my life is beginning....menopause.(my apologies to the few guys who read this!)
It's a strange feeling....it's not that I'm going to miss the monthly cycle and all that it entails. But it does signify the next stage of my life and it represents the final door closing on the possibility of another baby. I was thinking the other day that if I live to be as old as my grandmothers (one was 91 and the other was 92), I will spend more of my adult life in menopause than before....strange thought. Of course, who knows what our dear Lord has planned....

Our anniversary on Tuesday made me look back and think about all the dreams Mark and I had on our wedding day.....all the dreams that have come true......all the ones that we've had to let go of.......all the dreams that have changed into new dreams.
On Tuesday evening, the song "Moon River" kept going through my head and so I hit youtube and found Andy Williams singing it and played it over and over....that really took me back to my childhood. My mother loved Andy Williams and Perry Como (Andy Williams grew up here in Cincinnati during his teen and young adult years and my mom used to work at an ice cream shop and he would come in and she would serve him). Their music would often be drifting through our house. I have old records and new CDs of their music and whenever my parents come over for dinner, I play them and I also play them when I'm in a reminiscent mood. When Mark and I were in our 20's, Perry Como was still touring and on three occasions he came to Cincinnati and we would buy tickets and take my parents to his concerts. They loved it and so did I....though often Mark and I were some of the youngest people there.
I always think their music is so beautiful and romantic.
So in my sentimental mood, I've been digging out music that I have from my childhood and torturing my children playing it at home and in the car....it's amazing how it brings me this peaceful, wistful, happy feeling....

A blessed, joyful day to you all....may you enjoy the peace that only He can give....

30 Years of Wedded Bliss

Today is our 30th wedding anniversary.
My dear husband had to work today but he brought me 30 roses....one for each year.
He also brought home roses to give to my mother tonight. A little thank you for giving him her daughter....
I am so thankful for every day he has been in my life....a true gift from our dear Lord..

Much Better

Thank you, everyone, for your prayers for my mom. I just arrived home from visiting with her, and she's doing much better. She's able to slowly walk around again and she's stopping her pain medication. She went to her regular doctor today and he has no clue what was causing the pain. She told me today that it was the worst pain she has ever experienced in her life and this is from a woman who had five babies, a bad heart attack, numerous surgeries, and third degree burns as a child. She is still having some discomfort, but it is much, much better....praise our Lord!

Off to make dinner...I hope all of you are having a blessed Monday....

An all-nighter....

We spent the whole day yesterday at the Bible Institute. It was a good but busy day there. It was Youth Day also so John spent his day there and Mark and I had lunch with a friend and then ended up taking out seven kids from Youth Day for dinner....that was fun!
After dinner, there was Mass (which was beautiful) and after Mass we went out for ice cream with Paul and Denise and their youngest son Mark. We arrived home about 11:30 to find that Michael was back home...yeah!!!! Normally, I would have missed him terribly all week but with being so busy, it had made it easier.
He was telling us all about his adventures, when the phone rang at 11:45. It was my dad saying that my mom was in terrible pain in her left leg. She couldn't bend it or walk and he was worried. I could tell that he was so upset, he couldn't decide what to do, so I told him we needed to take her to the hospital to get it checked. So Mark and I left to drive to their house (only three doors away) and meanwhile Dad had called an ambulance. She looked terrible....she was in so much pain that she was as pale as could be and I could tell she was fighting back tears.
We ended up being at the hospital all night....
They really couldn't figure out what was causing the pain. They did X-rays which showed that everything looked all right. The pain was originating in her knee which she had replaced nine years ago. They gave her a shot of morphine which didn't help at all. So after several hours, they gave her some other pain medication. This helped enough that she was able to walk with assistance, so they sent us home with a prescription and instructions to call her doctor on Monday morning. It was now 5 AM.
Getting her into the car seemed like torture, but we managed. When we arrived at their house, Mark drove the car into the yard to get as close to the front door as possible and he and my dad supported her all the way into the house. I could tell that the pain was still really bad, but she could at least move it now. After getting her situated in the house, they sent us home and we finally got to bed about 6 AM, the time we had originally planned on getting up this morning.
It's almost 11:30 and Mark is still sleeping and I've been awake about an hour.
I'm feeling so bad for my poor mom...she just seems to have one trial to bear after another these last three years. I hope that this some kind of arthritic flair up that will improve...the doctor seemed to think so, but I can't imagine it will happen too quickly, so I know that she is in for a rough week ahead and I know I will probably be kept busier too with helping her.
I'm going to call some of my siblings (none of them know anything about it) so that they can check in on them today. I would like to go up to the Bible Institute this afternoon for the closing sessions.

I hope all of you have a peaceful blessed weekend....