01.26.06
Major Educational Event…
My eldest dd, who is 13, in 7th grade, somewhat lacking in academic motivation desired by her maternal unit, and grounded from tv, just came to me and asked for tomorrow’s assignment sheet. I asked if today’s sheet was completed, and upon confirmation of this glorious news by dd, I asked why she wanted tomorrow’s sheet only to be told… are you sitting down?… that she wanted to get a head start on tomorrow’s lessons.
Do you hear it? The Gloria? Angels are in thunderous chorus, all around the ceiling in our classroom…
She was rewarded (because the angels were purely reflective of maternal joy and in no way adequate in her mind) with a certificate for 30 minutes of free time to present and use at any time of her choosing, AND her grounding was immediately revoked. The other children were present… think it’ll rub off? Nah… I didn’t think so either…
Some People…
| So if you have been following my other blog, you know of the events of last Saturday. The celebration of a Sacrament in Mass often prolongs the Mass, unless it is an infant baptism which goes rather quickly. The fact that we would be celebrating three Sacraments for one child, and two for three others and an adult, was posted in the bulletin. If anyone wanted to avoid an unusually long mass (understandable, especially with small children or some other circumstance), the information was there and I sure wouldn’t have blamed them for choosing the Sunday morning Mass instead.
All that background to preface a conversation my husband had at work yesterday, and relayed to me this morning. Someone from our parish saw him, came up and said to him that their son/daughter was in Mass last Saturday and was complaining about how the Mass was so long because of ‘ your family’. I told him how ugly I thought that was, and he said well that they said it sort of in jest. I still think it was very unkind, inconsiderate and hurtful. Evidently he thought so too, but I guess he was checking his reaction against mine. At first, I was hurt… I mean come on, I’m human. However that feeling quickly gave way to other feelings… feelings of pity for that person who was at Mass with us on Saturday and was so consumed by the passage of time that they missed the presence of the Holy Spirit. Sorrow that our reception of the Sacraments did not remind them of their own reception, and the precious gifts they have been given. |
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01.13.06
The Trenches…
With the holidays over, we are officially back in the trenches. Juggling is an essential part of life in the trenches. There is simply no better analogy for trying to manage lessons, grading, planning, laundry, cooking, cleaning, music lessons, music practice, church obligations, husband support, emotional health and well-being of children, spiritual growth, referreeing of said children, and any number of other unexpected events without having one or more of them crash into your head, which of course only disrupts your rhythym to such an extent that you end up buried underneath the lot. Excavation, naturally, takes exponentially more time than the slip ever did and we end up wondering why days, months, and years of this leave us looking like shell-shocked hags asking where the time went.
Yet, when an outsider looking in might suggest that sending the children to public school and reclaiming your life might do you a world of good, the hag transforms instantaneously into a ferocious lioness protecting her pack, snarling at any who would dare to suggest abandoning all that she holds dear. For in truth, while the above list may seem mundane, they are the accoutrements of priorities in a life… the outward visible works that result from tightly held values, faith, hope, dreams, some of which (if not all) often stem at their root from a deep desire to grow in godliness. Priorities which are worth all the sacrifices, pain, and suffering that a life of service can hold.
The trenches are much like tea bags, or the proverbial crucible… heat is applied and the true contents are revealed… either to be purified and strengthened bringing good to all those around them, or to be scorned and tossed away… forgotten along with the rest of the days refuse.
The heat is still on… I pray that at days end, I am not found among the latter.
