How does "no" change to "yes"???

I was looking through my archives and came across this in draft form.  It was originally written May 2010.

The work of the Holy Spirit, of course!

Here's the story...

So, I'm sitting in Mass on Good Shepherd Sunday listening to Father's homily.  This in and of itself is remarkable enough.  The two oldest boys were in the Children's Liturgy and Doodlebug wanted nothing to do with me.  He wants daddy lately, only during Mass though.  So I got to listen (should have known something was up at this point...)  And listen I did.  Well, sort of anyway.

About halfway through I hear HIM.  "Have another baby".  Plain as day.  My response was a little less than thrilled, "NO!".
In Mass.
In His church.
While listening to the words of the Holy Spirit.

I said no.
Talk about a lack of obedience.

Not one to be easily put off, He pulled out the big guns.  The Professor.

Over lunch later that day, The Professor says (looking at the crib mattress in the foyer - returned the night before by my SIL), "mommy, we should save that mattress for the next baby."

Needless to say this threw me for a loop.  Not sure how to respond, I take another bite to buy some time.  I formulate a response along the lines of "we don't know God's plans for our family, but daddy and I are praying about it and it's up to God if He wants us to have another baby."  He's only 6, so we haven't explained much about how babies come to be, nor about NFP.

Curious, I ask him, "how long have you been thinking about another baby?  Is this something you've been thinking about for a while, or only just today?"

"Today."

Input from the rest of the peanut gallery is in favor of another brother, not a sister, but specifically a brother.

I'm embarrassed to say that I was a little less than enthusiastic.  My response was to give the Lord a laundry list of things I needed Him to do before I would listen.  Great, huh?

I guess I was smart enough to put the one thing that mattered on that list though.  "If this is truly Your plan, please work on my heart."

And He did.

Slowly but steadily over the next several weeks, there came a steady thaw.  I went from "absolutely not", to "well, if it's Your will, then I guess so.  I certainly don't want to make You mad, but I'm not happy about this.", to " I want to be obedient, so OK."  to "please send us a baby.  Healthy physically, emotionally and spiritually."  (I've learned from others' misfortunes to carefully word that prayer).

So here I sit hoping that He will deliver soon.  The boys are all excited about the prospects of another boy in the house.

Updated June 3,2012

Well..."soon"  turned into a year.  He did eventually send us another son.  Healthy in all respects as asked for.  Please believe that MANY prayers of Thanksgiving have been offered up for this grace. 

In the meantime He had more plans for us.  God's plans are of course always perfect.  In fact, He got us involved in exactly that...God's Plan for a Joy Filled Marriage.  It's a program put together by Christopher West based on John Paul II Theology of the Body.  It's a marriage prep program that focuses on the sacramental rather than the secular side of marriage.  It's wonderful.  I can't say enough good things about this program.  If you have the chance to get involved, you won't regret it.  We were approached by our parish's NFP teaching couple, also good friends of ours to be presenters for it.  We've since presented it twice, once while I was quite pregnant!  Quite an impact it had too. 

BTW... the list of things that I needed Him to do...they (almost) all got done.  And in hindsight, my timing would not have been good.  His is so much better.  Oh how He loves us!

Maybe there's something to it...

The frequent reception of the Sacraments, I mean. I've managed recently to work in daily Mass three times a week in between dropping Velcro Boy off at school and the gym. Of course everything else is suffering, but I think that is necessary at this time.

But, I digress...

I made it to two (out of 3 ) Masses last week plus Reconciliation and I found the difference in myself to be amazing!  I was more patient and tolerant.  I recognized several occasions when I ordinarily would have lost my calm...but I didn't.  I felt less stressed too.

We've been to Mass twice this week so far (other than Sunday, of course), once as a family and once on my own and so far it's been a pretty OK week.  Of course there are a few more coming up too...

We might even get to an Extraordinary Form Mass for the Easter liturgy!  Let's pray Doodlebug naps Saturday (he's been dropping them lately :( and I'm soooo not ready for that) so we can let him skip nap on Sunday.

Daybook February 15, 2010

For Today...

February 15, 2010

Outside my window... Clear sunny sky.  Puffy white clouds.  ~70 degrees.  It's beautiful.  Just a tad bit too chilly to open the windows, but at least we don't have to have long sleeves on inside for once ;)

I am thinking...that little boys like buttons on keyboards a bit too much ;)

I am thankful for...taking this week off school.  We did 4 weeks, and now I need to get some other things done (like the Jesus tree and the book shopping list I mentioned last week ~ insert sheepish look here ;)

From the learning rooms... Presidents Day reading today, Lenten reading begins Wednesday along with the Jesus tree!

From the kitchen...turkey barley soup for lunch.

On weight-loss...I'm even.  For 5 weeks of weight ins, I'm only down a pound :(  Not so good, but better than up :)
 
I am wearing... black pants and blue short-sleeves that could be described as stonewear blue.

I am creating...lots of things!
1.  A Jesus tree!  I finally got the branch cut out.  I'm sewing it on today and will get started on the ornaments.  Better hurry, Lent starts Wednesday!  (How did that happen???)



2.  A Lenten countdown calendar similar (I hope) to this one found here! (The second one down)

3. Plans for Lent.  Lots and lots of plans



I am going...to make lunch very soon.

I am reading...nothing right now. 

I am hoping...these kids get better soon!  Doodlebug is still sick (I'm thinking a trip to the doctor may be in order), and now the other two are sick also.  Fortunately not as bad, just some sniffles.  I had throat for a few days, but it seems to have gone away.  Thank God!

I am hearing...some very annoying toys, so I'm thinking a lot about this article.  I think I feel a toy purge coming on.  Several people are doing a 40 bags in 40 days challenge, but I don't think I have that much I can get rid of.  I just did a purge recently.

Around the house...those annoying toys...

One of my favorite things...crafting ~ I'm going to have some fun soon.

A few plans for the rest of the week: cleaning, shopping, crafting, sewing, laundry, laundry, laundry....

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

 

Doodlebug's new shoes!

Aren't they just the cutest piggies you ever did see?!?

To check out more daybooks visit Peggy!

Daybook January 25, 2010

For Today...

January 25, 2010


Outside my window... icky looking skies and cooler weather.  Yuck to the first, but Yippee to the second :)  We've been having warmer weather lately, so the return to cooler is nice.  The skies preceding the cold front aren't so nice though.  It's been raining most of the day today, so we're inside :(

I am thinking...that I'm totally overwhelmed and not sure where to go from here.  But this is another post in itself.

I am thankful for...tylenol and ibuprophen.  Other wise I couldn't deal with my TMJ pain.

From the learning rooms... we started on some American History via living books.  We're working on moving from the Pilgrims to the colonies.  The Professor is enjoying it so far.  The World History and timeline programs came in recently.  Now to find the time to review them and get them set-up for use.  I also got a Teach yourself Piano program that just came in.  I need to review that too.


From the kitchen...baked chicken and pasta casserole & salad for dinner.

On weight-loss...I'm even with where I was the week before last.  Down 2.8 total.
 
I am wearing... black shorts and blue v-neck shirt.  Barefeet.  Tomorrow may be pants and long sleeves.

I am creating...trying to create order.  And a liturgical notebook.  I'm busily pulling ideas from others' blogs to create a notebook of ideas of things to do for the various feast days that we celebrate.  We haven't been very successful at doing much for them in the past, I want to do better this year.  Part of living more deliberately.

I am going...to start a Jesus tree soon!

I am reading...nothing at the moment!

I am hoping...to get some clarity soon.  I've been feeling very frustrated, and disordered lately.

I am hearing...kids complaining. 

Around the house...starting to prepare for Lent.

One of my favorite things..."eating" my baby.  He has the cutest giggle!

A few plans for the rest of the week: school, grocery shopping, a meeting to determine the intervention Velcro Boy needs for speech therapy.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

The Professor reading the Atlas!

To view more daybooks, please visit Peggy!

Daybook January 4, 2010

For Today...

January 3, 2010


I can't believe that another year is already gone and another one is here.  Time goes too fast.

Outside my window... Darkness again.  The daytime was beautiful though.  Clear blue sky.  Cold as the dickens (for south Florida ~58 degrees.)  The days are passing too fast lately.  I feel like life is spinning (nearly) out of control and that I can't catch up. 

I am thinking...that I want to live more deliberately this year.  I feel that I've been just drifting along, more-or-less just reacting to things that come up or happen.  Rather than having a prayerfully thought out plan or goals that I would like to meet for the year(insert the sound of God laughing).

I am thankful for...blogging!  I've gotten so many wonderful ideas for schooling, and living the liturgical year that I can't even begin to thank all the lovely ladies that give of themselves so freely.

From the learning rooms... back to school (finally)!  We took the last 3 weeks off (mistake??)  We start back tomorrow.  And I'm looking forward to getting into a routine again.  We're doing full days for 3 days per week for a while, so we can enjoy the beautiful weather that is sometimes a Florida winter.  I'm not sure how long this will go on though.

I created a bit of a household schedule and as long as *I* stick to it, it works quite well.  The problem is not getting distracted by this wonderful machine I'm typing on right now ;)  In addition, The Professor and I sat down and discussed his subjects and revised the way we do our school days.  I think we came up with a workable routine.


I'm also revising (again) how I do the lesson plans.  It drives me nuts to plan out to do a certain amount of work each week, not get to some of it, and have to flip backwards in the plan book to see what was planned when we're into a new week.  So I was doing a new plan each week.  Time consuming!  So I decided, last night no less, that I *think* I can live with making a month's worth of plans.  That way I can change the plans if we get behind, or ahead which does happen, and hopefully not drive myself too crazy.

From the kitchen...chicken with duck sauce, brown rice and mixed veggies.

On weight-loss...I started out this year with the same resolve I started last year.  To get healthier and lose some weight in the process.  My goal last year: 40 pounds.  Real results:  12 pounds lost.  Not so great.  Good start though.  A vacation half-way through the year got me off course and I never got back on again.  So, I'm starting this year with a more realistic goal:  18 pounds.  By May 31st.  I think it's quite doable.  About a pound per week, with a few set-backs allowed.  I'm also renewing my goals of eating healthier and getting some exercise.  I want to feel better as well as like the scale a bit more.  So, I joined the same gym that hubby goes to.  They have a kids club and everything.  While I sweat, they get to play.

I've eliminated high fructose corn syrup, partly and fully hydrogenated oils and interestified oils as well.  There are one or two products in the house that still have these items, and some slip past on occasion.

I am wearing... jeans and a purple sweatshirt.  It's chilly!

I am creating...a very long list of projects and some organization.  I have so many things that have piled up on me that I want to do that I decided they might actually get done if I were to put it all down on "paper".  I started a list.  It's a very long list.



I'm also working on some reorganization.  The bookshelves need a major overhaul.  Especially now that my blockade to keep Doodlebug from the "big kid" books no longer works.  Fortunately it doesn't seem to be necessary either.  He is so good with books most of the time that I'm not too concerned.  The books with tabs and flaps and pull outs, that's a different story.

I am going...to bed soon.  I'm tired tonight.  I have been a lot lately.

I am reading...nothing right now.  I finished the other books I was reading, so I'm taking a bit to get a reading list together for this year.  Any suggestions??

I am hoping...for a productive, peaceful and purposeful new year.

I am hearing...blessed silence.  Which is something the Professor also likes!  Leaving Wal-Mart today (after a marathon shopping trip), he's sitting in the car with his brothers while I'm finishing loading the car.  I get in, and before I start the engine, he says "mommy, I like the sound of silence."

Around the house...it's still Christmas.  And it will be for another week.  Sunday ends Christmas season with the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, and we're celebrating Epiphany here on Saturday with a 3 Kings get-together with the family. 

One of my favorite things...cuddling with my kids.  I've been able to do a lot of that lately with all the books we've been reading lately.  So many books...so little time.

A few plans for the rest of the week: School, visit the gym (never been, want to see the lay of the land prior to my first work out), my first gym workout, MOM's meeting, Epiphany celebration, knocking out some of my short-term projects.

Here is picture thought I am sharing... nada!  No new pictures, except for Christmas.  I need to break out the camera again.



To view more daybooks, please visit Peggy!