On Protection...

Yesterday we found a terrifying insect in our home climbing up the kitchen wall...

One of my daughters came around the corner looking for me. From the look on her face and the pitch of her scream I knew it was a whopper. What could it be? A spider? A scorpion? Then, my son started to scream as well. Could it be a snake? Could a snake be in our house? As I rounded the corner I understood why everyone was hysterical. There was a mammoth, tremendously scary looking, red-headed centipede wiggling all of its mean parts at us. Yuck and yikes!

I told my son to watch him and I'd go into the garage to get a tool to "git" him. The screams continued as I looked for the pic ax. I thought my husband had already left for work but he was getting off the phone wondering what was going on. By this time I was hollering myself...

My husband came around the corner seeing me with the raised pic ax thinking it must be a snake! He saw the centipede and said, "Why are you all screaming?" He scooped the centipede into the dust pan to take it outside. I thought what do you mean why were we all screaming? Did you see the size of that thing? They move fast, too, hence the necessary pic ax.

My children discussed the centipede with me for the remainder of the day...

"Mom, what if they travel in pairs?"
"Mom, what if that was one of many spring centipedes."
"Mom, I accidently left the garage door open for a few minutes. Do you think another one came in?"

And I am thinking, I wonder what people do for entertainment without sweet children at home?

Then, comes the painful part of the story...

"Mom, what if while I am sleeping, he crawls up my wall and gets on me and I wake up with him on my chest?!?"

It is hard not to laugh at this particular child since he is such a worrier...

"Well, I said, if there is another centipede then Jesus will protect you from it."

Silence on my son's part as he is thinking this through.

Then comes the question I have been painfully dreading.

"Well, if Jesus will protect me from the centipede then why was Rose not protected from the accident?"

His question is met with my silence. I have to choke back the tears and the anger.

"Well," I said. "I don't know why God allowed the accident to happen to Rose. All I know is that God was with her every second she needed Him. God was there to protect Rose."

This answer would sound too simple and stupid for a non-believer but for one who has faith it is an invitation for trusting God when it seems impossible to accept what one has been dealt...

All I can say about faith is God has revealed Himself to me in many ways over my life so I know without a doubt He exists. Since I know for a fact He exists I can then focus my energy on trusting and loving Him instead of spending it on doubting and trying to convince others He is not here.

Our amazing counselor, Diana, reminded me that faith is trusting when we do not have the answers. She reminded me there is some reason why the God of the Universe who can do ANYTHING did not spare our daughter's life here on earth. Since I do not know now or probably ever will while I am here on this earth why our sweetest Rose was taken from us I have to trust that God had a reason for why she was allowed to pass from us.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

-Proverbs 3:5

On Sharing Grief...

There are many things that are too painful to share here that I must keep in my personal journal. Things I'm sure most people would not want to read or know where to file. So like a true southern girl, I put on my smile for others and grieve mostly behind closed doors, after everyone has gone to bed. It is okay though. This is what I prefer.

I've noticed many people avoid grief. It is messy and uncontrollable at times. As for myself my meter that is supposed to tell me what is appropriate to share with others seems to be broken! Anyone who knows me knows these things... I tend to share more than the average person does and if you are the person standing behind me at the grocery you might get an earful as well :)

So with my broken meter, realizing I'm far too forth coming with my thoughts and feelings, the Lord in his infinite goodness knew I would need to be this way to help me grieve the loss of our Rose. Talking about her and sharing her with others has really helped me process things. Praise God for finding a purpose for my broken meter...

Good Friday

"Life eternal,

death defiant,

Bowed his head -

the world was silent

Through his death

came life anew."

Station 11

Jesus is nailed to the Cross

O Sacred Head Surrounded

O Sacred Head surrounded
By crown of piercing thorn!
O bleeding Head so wounded,
Reviled and put to scorn!
Death's pallid hue comes o'er Thee,
The glow of life decays,
Yet angel hosts adore thee,
And tremble as they gaze.

In this, Thy bitter passion,
Good Shepherd think of me,
With Thy most sweet compassion,
Unworthy though I be:
Beneath Thy cross abiding,
Forever would I rest;
In Thy dear love confiding,
And with Thy presence blest.

Lyrics: O Sacred Head Surrounded
Latin: Salve caput cruentatum, St. Bernard

Remembering Rose...

March 19

Rose's birthday...

the feast of St. Joseph...

patron saint of families...

God will wipe away every tear from their eyes,

and there will be no more death, sadness, crying

or pain.

-Revelation 21:4

A Favorite Prayer

My Lord God,

I have no idea where I am going
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself,
And the fact that I think I am following
your will does not mean that I am
actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please
you does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire in all
that I am doing.
And I know that if I do this, you
will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always
though I may seem to be lost
and in the shadow of death, I will
not fear, for you are ever with me
and you will never leave me
to face my perils alone.

-thomas merton

Mother T on NFP

Mother Theresa's take on love...

"I know that couples have to plan their family and for that there is natural family planning. The way to plan the family is natural family planning, not contraception. In destroying the power of giving life, through contraception, a husband or wife is doing something to self. This turns the attention to self and so it destroys the gifts of love in him or her. In loving, the husband and wife must turn the attention to each other as happens in natural family planning, and not to self, as happens in contraception. Once that living love is destroyed by contraception, abortion follows very easily.

I also know that there are great problems in the world — that many spouses do not love each other enough to practice natural family planning. We cannot solve all the problems in the world, but let us never bring in the worst problem of all, and that is to destroy love. And this is what happens when we tell people to practice contraception and abortion."

Mother Teresa, “Mother Teresa Goes to Washington.” National Prayer Breakfast, Washington, D.C., (February 5, 1994).