Jake's Cross Country Meet

Jake made the core team of cross-country this week and raced in his first meet.  Not starting out life as an athlete, he is sure making up some ground!

His dad is training for a marathon in December.  So he is inviting Jake to do some of his training with him.  Boy, Jake is about to come into his best years with his dad.  Ron is so knowledgable about athletics and effective and efficient training.  I bet Jake sees real progress due to his father's help.  How irreplaceable is a father!

Daily Mass

   After several years of not attending daily Mass, due to the baby in my arms and massive schooling responsibilities, I am now back on track.  Oh, what a difference it makes!  Not attending is truly a sacrifice.
    Even if I accomplish nothing else all year, attending daily Mass will be worth it all!

What is Philosophy?

    Philosophy might seem aloof, detached from real life or the real affairs of human activity.  But quite the opposite, philosophy has everything to do with our real lives.  Philosophy is the questioning and probing of the essential human life questions:  Who am I?  Where am I going?  What really matters?  Our answers to these questions, whether they come through our faith or through other means, determine our most important life choices.  As John Paul II writes:

    "In different parts of the world, with their different cultures, there arise at the same time the fundamental questions which pervade human life: Who am I?  Where have I come from and where am I going?  Why is there evil?  What is there after this life?  . . . These are the questions which have their common source in the quest for meaning which has always compelled the human  heart.  In fact, the answer given to these questions decides the direction which people seek to give to their lives."
     (John Paul II, Fides et Ratio, para.1)

Gotta Love Big Families

    We have an awesome babysitter who is from a big family--she is the sixth of nine children.  Well, I ask her if they do immunizations--Sebastian had just gotten his.  I was just making small talk.
     This sweet girl chuckles and says: "My Mom used to waive a few of them, including the one for chicken pox, on moral grounds.  But finally, the doctor convinced her to give it to me when I was two years old.  We came home and I was all cranky and miserable.  Mom told the family what happened.  The oldest child cried out, 'But Mom!  Don't you remember?  She has HAD the chicken pox!!!"

"How was your day?"

   I laughed so hard at how LONG it took five kids to answer my question, "How was your day?"  They had completed their first day of school and all had lots to report.  But TWO HOURS later I had to call an end to it so I could get dinner going and get them started on their homework.
   Having six children is just SO MANY!  Think about how many collective hours it is when we are all spending 8 am-3 pm in different places/classrooms, etc.  Ron at work, 5 kids in various classrooms, and then Sebastian and I together: that is approximately 7x7, plus a few more for Ron who doesn't get home till later.  That is over 50 man-hours!  No wonder it takes so long to de-brief!

Did you know. . . ?

   Some of my favorite family members are waging war against sex trafficking.  I have relatives that are giving their lives to end this horrible slavery.
    But did you know that Planned Parenthood aids and abets sex trafficking?  Today I heard a shocking testimony from a former employee of PP that she was trained to help, aid and abet sex trafficking, and not get caught.
   So sad!  So horrible!

"Life is Sacred"

"My Generation Will End Abortion"

"Planned Parenthood Profits From Abortion"

Planned Parenthood is truly Anti-woman, Anti-personal dignity.  If I were pro-choice (which I am not), I would SERIOUSLY be considering how to provide an alternative to PP, since PP is so horrific, it is going down.  Truly, it cannot survive.  It is too corrupt--extracting baby parts, and "dissecting" aborted babies, mutilating them and saying, "How cool!"  It is just horrific.  Anything too corrupt cannot last.  And PP cannot last.  If I were pro-choice, I would be scrambling to be finding an alternative to PP for legal abortions.  Otherwise, I am convinced Roe v.Wade will be overturned.
 

Quote from St. Claude Colombiere

"You love all your enemies, and you love them very tenderly, with the exception of only one; and you willingly forgive that one there all the evil he has done to you, with the exception of one sole insult; and still you do not intend to take other revenge for it, if only that you would make for hum a little less good and fewer signs of esteem than before.  If you are in this disposition, you have no Christian charity, no love for your neighbor.  The authentic virtues are limited neither to certain times, nor to certain actions, nor to certain particular subjects.  The one who possesses them is disposed to practice them in all things, in all encounters, with regard to all kinds of people, and in all ways."
     

Our Scent Garden

     There's nothing I love quite so much. . . as new plants for my garden!

     I am planting a "scent" garden for Clare, who has a supersonic sense of smell, and for whom lovely scents are as good as therapy!  Today we planted 6 French Lavender, 2 mint, 3 eucalyptus.  Then I planted some new basil and oregano, as well as some flowers for our front walkway--lantana and "firecrackers"--not really sure what these orange blooming plants are, but they're pretty!
      I look forward to sending Clare out on days in which school was hard and she is miserable, and telling her, "Go harvest the mint, please."  She will come back inside, so happy!  Mint grows like crazy.  So she can just whack away at it, and never hurt it, never deplete it.  I love it!

Pope Francis: "Open Doors"

Pope Francis says:
     "How much good we can do, if only we try to speak this language of hospitality. . . .  This requires open doors, especially the doors of our heart . . . [and] welcoming those who do not think as we do, who do not have faith or who have lost it; welcoming the persecuted, the unemployed; welcoming different cultures. . . welcoming sinners. . . ."
     Why was Christ baptized?  Why did He ask John to give Him a sinner's baptism, the mark of repentance?  What did Christ have to repent of?
    Christ was baptized in order to identify with sinners.  He came, not to heal the well, but the sick.  He came to serve not the rich of heart, but the poor of heart.  We too, following His example, are called to reach out and love with all our hearts those who are in need of Christ's saving love.  Christ just might come to them and save them through our love.

Spiritual Growth

    A major advantage that people of faith have, people with an active spiritual life, is that, when hardships come, they have a way of coping.  They might have the wisdom to see that the hardship is minor, in contrast to their many blessings.  They might have a practice of gratitude.  They might imagine heaven, or belonging to God, and consequently see their problems in a much smaller scale.  As a result, people with productive spiritual lives are rich.  They have a worthy asset.  Their non-spiritual counterparts are impoverished people indeed.  I always feel so sorry for secular people.  They seem so miserable--judging others with a critical eye, always looking out for the protection of their mighty egos, being fixated on goods like reputation or wealth that can so easily slip through their fingers.  How miserable.  
    It is one thing to accept hardships in our lives and not let them ruffle us too much.  But it is another huge jump forward in the spiritual life to see one's hardships as blessings.  To see them as the actual source of goodness in one's life (all the while remaining hardships) is a matter of spiritual mastery.  How almost impossible this is to the natural self, not only to accept a hardship, but to welcome it!
     The Christian faith, and I believe the Christian faith alone, affords the chance to attain this spiritual genius.  The cross, according to Scripture, is life-giving.  The cross, while remaining awful, is what opens heaven for people who do not deserve it.  The cross is what God uses to give wonderful gifts to people who have been mean to God, who have shunned God, who have fallen short, over and over, of God's hope for them.  The cross IS mercy.   When a person, even a sinner, even a wretched person far from God, says, "Yes" to the cross, and "Yes" to God's mercy, then she finds immediate love and forgiveness.  Then, when she has crosses in her life, she can, not only live with them, putting them into perspective, but actually welcome them, embracing them as life-giving.  Crosses in our lives are sources of grace.  They are fonts of humility, joy, peace, surrender, and intimacy with the Lord.  The greatest spiritual wisdom is to not just accept our crosses, but actually cling to them.
     God, grant me the grace I need to embrace my crosses.  How desperately I need your help to tread such heights!

Clare's Evaluation

     Clare and I have been at an evaluation center several times this week, testing her for learning differences such as dyslexia, as well as spectrum issues, including asbergers (no longer in the DSM as an official diagnosis) and autism.
      I am overjoyed to report that she has no signs at all of being on the spectrum!  I am so, so happy!  She has some behaviors that could be, but that could be explained in other ways.  But the clinician said that she shows signs that are the exact opposite of autism, that are mutually exclusive with autism (concern for other people's feelings, awareness of their difference from you, being able to say the same thing multiple ways, significant levels of self-awareness and introspection, etc.).
     Driving home, I explained to Clare: "The clinician found that you are an A++ in being able to be a good friend to other people!"  Clare beamed.  We then spent the next half hour talking about making friends, and whom she might want to seek out.  Oh, the relief.  It was such a good talk.
     This has been a very positive experience.  She is taking away from it that she is normal, that she is capable of great relationships, that her siblings make her mad but that is normal, and that she has some learning differences but that that has no bearing on her intelligence.  So she, her teachers and I are now equipped to deal with her differences and odd, off-beat way with new eyes and better skills.  Yes, she is unusual in how she learns and how her brain works.  We will meet with the clinician to talk about next steps.  But overall, it seems manageable, and I am so, so grateful!    

Happy Birthday, Sebastian!

   It is amazing to think that Sebastian is ONE YEAR OLD!  He is so precious: his little blond curls, his sweet, husky voice, his gentle demeanor.  He toddles, peeking around chairs and smiling at you.  He plays with his very, very favorite thing, balls, any and all the time: soccer balls, footballs, exercise balls, beach balls, you name it.  He learned to kick a soccer ball before he learned to walk!  Holding an adult's hands, he kicked away!

    His best party trick is waving to people.  He had a virtual waving ministry in Italy.  That country has so few children.  People were just wowed and melted into puddles, seeing him wave at them.  He lit up the whole country, waving to people of all kinds--punk rockers, grandparents, store keepers.  He had them all beaming and waving back at him.
   

    Thinking back to a year ago--we've come a long way!  What an angel he's been--chubby cheeks baby! 

God Bless you, Little Man!

Vacation. . . is wonderful!

   We had a wonderful vacation with some of the Hunt-Hendrixes.  Such fun in Roma!

  

Our immediate family also had such a blast in Sardinia--pure joy! 

We have had many, many summers with no vacation.  I have worked around the clock for years and years at a time.  Sometimes we have tried to take a week off, but children made it mostly work anyway.    This time, it was a true shock to my system to rest, to take a vacation.  It was almost startling.  I am so grateful!

There's Failure and Then There's Failure

     Some failure is just so good for our souls.  Failing to pull it off perfectly, failing to make the impression we wanted, failing to secure the title or money or status or approval that we were longing for.
    I've been begging God recently for the grace to not be prickly with people who have hurt me or let me down.  I just want to be okay with shortcomings--my own, and other people's.  I sometimes hold us all to such impossibly high standards!  I love saying, "No problem!" even to big omissions.
    But then there's failure--failing to find God, failing to give ourselves to God, failing to make time for God, failing to orient our lives around God.  That is what I want to avoid at all costs.
    These two kinds of failure are related: once we've given our lives to God and avoided the second kind of failure, we can enjoy the first kind of failure to an unlimited degree!
   

Summer Rome Program

     The Summer Rome Program at UD ended exceptionally well.  The students raved about all aspects of it and thoroughly enjoyed their travels throughout Italy and beyond.
     Teaching my class on the Philosophy of the Human Person was a delight.  I enjoyed every minute of it and look forward to another semester of it this fall at UD in Irving.
     My family thrived this summer:
     Jake and played lots of tennis, and although he often beat me, I progressed as fast as he did, keeping him ever on his toes.

     Mary made lots of cupcakes from scratch, even making them in the outdoor forno oven one time.  That takes guts!

     Clare had something of a conversion, renewing her Catholic identity and desiring to become a saint.  She has solidified her future vocation as becoming a licensed professional who can help children who have behavior problems.  Her siblings received her new desire to be holy and happy, and new friendships among the siblings are emerging.

    Leigh won the "Best Attitude" award and never had even a single moment of being out of line.  She is chipper, generous, and always willing to work.  Having younger siblings has definitely helped burn off the spoiled youngest child syndrome that youngest children can have.  (What are we going to do about Sebastian??)

     Annie was a delight, constantly entertaining.  While she regressed some this year because of Sebastian coming on the scene and stealing some of her spotlight, and so we are hard at work, correcting that.  But she is responding well, and is always ready to perform, sing, and have a blast.

     Sebastian arrived a baby in arms.  But now he walks, says a few words, eats regular food and milk with the rest of the kids, and sleeps all night (usually).  He was a total delight!

    Here we are at the end of the time in Rome.  I loved my class!

     This cafe is where I finished my preparations each morning before teaching at the Angelicum (Thomas Aquinas' university).

    What a blessing!!!!