12 year old gives awesome pro-life speech

And she was disqualified for it. But, after the controversy, the judge revoked her disqualification and Lia won the competition. This speech is not to be missed!




Read entire story here.

UPDATE: Although Lia did not win the regional contest, she discovered through her YouTube account that a woman who was considering abortion changed her mind after viewing Lia's speech! How wonderful! Read the full story here.

Fireproof

After a lovely Valentine's dinner out (and after we got home, put the kids to bed, returned a phone call and cleaned up) hubby and I watched the movie, "Fireproof." It was powerful. Although I felt the characters were difficult to warm up to at the beginning (probably because neither of them was being very nice!) and it had its cheesy moments, any negatives were far outweighed by the message and example of unconditional love. There were moments in this movie when the emotion was so raw and so real it startled me. Then there were comic moments that lightened the mood and released the tension I was feeling as I watched their marriage disintegrate.
I think everyone can see a piece of their own marriage and their own heart somewhere in this film. It shows how slippery is the slope that leads from annoyance and negativity to resentment, bitterness and unforgiveness. It shows even those of us whose marriages are good, that we must continue to persevere and work at love. Love is a choice, after all, and we can never love too much.
I also like Marilyn's idea about adapting "The Love Dare" to our relationship with our children.
Here is an excellent article about the movie from Catholic Exchange.

Also, an impressive quote from the above article:

...for 17 years Cameron has been happily married to Chelsea Noble, the actress who played his Growing Pains girlfriend, and they have six children...

Cameron said, “I love my wife. I promised to love and cherish her to the exclusion of anyone else. A lot of actors will justify a lot of stuff in the name of art. I don’t feel that way, so I won’t kiss any other woman other than my wife. I’ve had that conviction for years. And in this movie, there’s that touching and romantic scene where Caleb and Catherine come to some resolve in their marriage and Chelsea came in and played the role of Catherine in silhouette. How can you do a movie about marriage and your life without holding true to that?”

Happy Valentine's Day!

We are beginning to emerge from our fever-induced haze, finally. It's been a rough week. In addition to not feeling well physically, I was also beginning to feel like a major bit of a slacker when I saw the wonderful things Elizabeth and Jessica were doing this week...right down to the matching outfits!!! How did they do that?
Then I remembered that we actually do have our own Valentine's tradition. Each member of our family writes a "love note" to every other member on heart shaped colored paper. Some years I staple each person's hearts onto a ribbon to hang up in their doorways. They've left these streamers hanging up for weeks. Afterward, these precious notes are always tucked away in their "keepsake" boxes.














Then, since we were feeling a little better, I got ambitious and we made these:














Maybe I'm not such a slacker after all!
It was quite comical to read that Elizabeth's daughters think that Jessica rocks and want to live at her house. Jessica totally rocks. But so does Elizabeth. Totally.
Thank you to Elizabeth and Jessica for all the inspiration they provide!

Small Successes

1. I nursed, bathed and comforted a sick 6 year old boy (who refuses to take medicine because of a hyper gag reflex that causes him to throw everything up)through a croup, fever and headache virus...while suffering from the same virus myself.

2. I snagged (literally, I kind of jumped in front of someone to grab my copy--even though there didn't seem to be any danger of running out) a copy of "Fireproof" at Wal-mart for hubby and I to watch this Valentine's weekend.

3. I purchased a card for a dear friend who feels lonely on Valentine's Day.

Share your own small successes at Faith and Family Live.

Time for a change

I have decided enough is enough...of winter. Even though the snowbanks are still thigh-high and the calendar only reads Feb. 9, and poor little Punxatawney Phil saw his shadow, I have decided I've had enough of winter. So, I changed my blog background to something a little brighter and spring-ier. Next, I need to change my attitude. Where's the website for that?

Happy Birthday Victoria

Happy 7th birthday to my littlest niece and faithful fan! Have a great day, Tori!

I wondered....

Well, we are back home in the great frozen north! It is nice to be back with family and friends (and our dog...we missed our dog!), but I have to be honest. It was disheartening to see the snow banks grow taller and taller as we traveled north on I-91. How quickly we grew accustomed to the warmer weather and lack of snow in Virginia!:)
Anyway, when I wrote this post last Sunday, there was this little niggling thought in the back of my head that perhaps someone (my pastor) would take it the wrong way and be offended.
After Mass today, (at which our pastor gave a rousing and challenging homily!)we greeted Father as we were leaving the church. Before I could compliment him on his homily, he facetiously said, "Sorry I was too abstract. I read your blog." Now I should explain that I have known Father for 22+ years. He was ordained 2 weeks before my husband and I were married. And, while I deeply respect Father's wisdom and priestly gifts (of which he has many), we sometimes have an older pesky brother/younger sister dynamic in our relationship.
While I tried to explain that I did not mean any disrespect to him, he and dh made some comments to each other about hidden jabs...etc..etc..
So, I believe I need to make this clear. I truly enjoyed Fr. Fasano's Mass in Front Royal. I loved the Latin elements and his straightforward style. He is a gifted preacher and he inspired me. But, praising his gifts does not, in any way, detract from the gifts God has blessed our pastor with, or my appreciation of those gifts. As I tell my children (frequently), praising one of them is not an insult to the others. Everyone deserves to be recognized for their own special gifts. Therefore, my comments were only meant to recognize Fr. Fasano's gifts, not to disparage anyone else's.
Also, I should mention that this entire post applies to our former pastor also, who can also be a bit of a pesky older brother figure. We have been blessed with our pastors and truly do appreciate them and always pray for them.
There. That should cover it. :)