Wisdom

In the aftermath of this election, let's be reminded of these wise words:

"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative
and independence.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them, what they could and
should do for themselves."

(Rev. William J.H. Beotchker, 1916)

Happy Birthday, Bubba!

Happy Birthday to my father-in-law. He's a great dad/grampa. We call him Bubba, not because of any discoloration on his neck, but because my dear daughter (a.k.a. Grandchild #1) couldn't say "grampa" very well, and it morphed into "Bubba". Unfortunately for dad, it stuck! Through all 9 grandchildren! He is forever Bubba.
Happy birthday, Dad.

At Last

I am having a love affair. It's dark, everyone is asleep and I'm alone with....my computer! It's spent 10 long days at the computer "hospital" and I have missed it so!! So much to catch up on, so little sleep....

Just for fun

I know this is just for fun, but it kinda fits....
My husband tells me I boggle his mind:)

You Are Boggle

You are an incredibly creative and resourceful person. You're able to dig deep and think outside the box to get things done. You are a non linear thinker. You don't like following directions You draw your inspiration from the strangest places sometimes. You're constantly inspired.

What Board Game Are You?

The Battle is Won

OK, I have recovered from my sadness over the election. Strangely, I am feeling kind of hopeful. Not because I believe we elected a "Savior" or "Messiah"...quite the opposite. But because the defeat of the values we, as conservative Catholics and pro-lifers, hold dear has the potential to recharge us, as I see happening throughout cyberspace. Sure, we lost that battle, and it was a big one, but the war between the Culture of Life and the Culture of Death still wages on, and seeing this new obstacle before us, many of us are committing ourselves to deeper, more consistent and more fervent prayer, peaceful protests, closer contact with our Congressmen, fasting and other sacrifices. In the end, we have the consolation of knowing that this battle is already won. Jesus Christ has already won this battle and so have we if we are true to him. I found these words, by Poor Clare nuns, so inspiring. I hope you do too:

I know that many of you have suffered a bereavement, the death of a dream. a sense of growing dismay and discouragement because values that you cherish are ignored and transgressed. Hold your heads up high, the important thing is that you chose to defend life, you chose to be a voice for life, the unborn, the vulnerable, marriage between one man and one woman....before God you made the right choice.

God himself has promised to comfort all who mourn and In the beginning of St John's gospel we read that the LIGHT shines in the darkness but the darkness has not overcome it..... let your light shine... you may think it small or insignificant, but your faith, your witness is needed by your even Christian brothers and sisters.

God can work through all things and he alone can bring good out of evil...All things pass, men come and men go, the glory of a man may be dust tomorrow, the world and its spirit are fickle and passing, love alone, God remains......

Do not allow the evil one to draw you into despondency and despair, we are called to the courage and sacrifice of a bloodless martyrdom, to be Gods witnesses in an ever increasing secular world. Alone we cannot but united together in him we can....

Do not exhaust yourselves with endless speculations and fill your minds with fears that have not even yet become realities, tomorrow the future is known to God alone...

Courage !!! your love, prayer and sacrifices are so needed by the church, look back over the centuries at our brothers and sisters in the faith who underwent persecution for love of Christ....but look also at the great number of souls who have been saved through their examples and prayers.

The Church has recently called us to look deeper into Gods word, let us respond to that for within his gospel, the gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ you will find all the answers... Offer your tears and disappointments to God , ask him to transform them all into grace for the future...Do not let fear direct and manipulate your lives but cling to HIM... no matter what may come. We are each without exception called to holiness and the nearer we grow to God the greater our light will shine. You are all so much in our hearts and prayers at this time....

God bless you all

Poor Clare Colettines TMD

Heavy Heart

I tried to keep hope alive until it was no longer possible. Blue, although traditionally Our Lady's color, is not my favorite today. I am sad, discouraged and even angry. How could we? I am also a bit fearful..government run health care?...homeschooling?...gay marriage?...unlimited abortion?...even infanticide!!! What does our future hold? I am feeling the despair that Marilyn describes here.

John McCain, in an eminently gracious manner, spoke very eloquently last night about his loss and Sen. Obama's win. Although bitterly disappointed, I am touched by his words and proud to call myself his fellow American.

Senator Obama and I have had and argued our differences, and he has prevailed. No doubt many of those differences remain. These are difficult times for our country, and I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.

I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together, to find the necessary compromises, to bridge our differences, and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited....

Tonight, more than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Senator Obama, I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president.

And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties but to believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.

Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history, we make history.

These are the words of a Christian man. These are unifying, peace-building, forgiving, magnanimous words. I wish I could be as generous hearted as he is. Right now, I cannot. I will pray for the grace to love my fellow Americans and my country the way John McCain does, and the way Our Lord would have me.
For today, though, I might join my boys in their intentional mispronunciation of our new President-elect's first name....BLECK Obama...
OK, OK I know that's not charitable, gracious nor appropriate. I will go to confession and pray for a more generous heart....tomorrow.

Choose Wisely...Choose Life

It has been a very busy, very eventful few days, with no time to sit at the computer (which is acting up right now...ugghh!), but the only thing on my heart right now is the election. I will write of the events of the past few days soon (hopefully someone will send me pictures, as my camera is still down.) But for now I want to say, VOTE! Please, please vote. Truly, lives depend on it.

There has been so much rhetoric, twisted logic, rationalization and frenzy in the media and the public at large, leading up to this election. The logic that makes the choice so very clear to me, is scarily mangled and deformed, prettied up with nice sounding words (masking the ugly truth beneath the surface) to attract and convince so many that the OPPOSITE choise is the best. It is truly frightening. The fingerprints of the evil one are all over it.

We have before us, as never before, a clear choice....life or death. Never has the gap been so wide, so distinct, so terrifying. Consider this quote by Huntley Brown:

"In an election there are many issues to consider but when a society gets abortion, same-sex marriage, embryonic stem-cell research, and human cloning wrong, economic concerns will soon not matter."

The lives that depend upon this election are not only the unborn or the disabled or the elderly, whom we as a society are obliged to protect. The lives that depend upon this election are our very own. When each and every life is not treasured and cherished for its own distinct potential, the cancer of the culture of death will spread and we will exterminate ourselves in the end, physically, spiritually, morally and even economically.

“A nation that destroys the life of an unborn child, who has been created for living and loving, who has been created in the image of God, is in a tremendous poverty.” – Mother Teresa.

Our loving God, in His wisdom, has granted us the gift of free will. He will not force us to love him, nor will he force us to choose one thing over another. He WILL, however, gently guide us, form our conscience, and lead us in His paths, if we let him. In the end, though, God will allow us to make the choice.

Recall the events in 1 Samuel, when the Israelites asked Samuel to anoint a King for them:

First God says in 1 Samuel 1:9 'Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.'

Then God says, 1 Samuel 1:18 ' When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.' 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel.

Dear God, let us not make the same mistake the Israelites made.

We will spend our day with candles lit, a Rosary CD as our background music (joining in whenever we can), praying that God will have mercy on our country.

click on the links below for excellent articles on this topic:
Danielle Bean
Vote for the Baby
Stop Drinking the Kool-Aid