I Love the Ronald Regan Part

One Week

 One week.

Oh, how the world the way we know it can change in one week.

Actually, that change happens in one day.

My beautiful friend Sarah's death has caused a whirlwind of emotions 

and feelings for hundreds, if not thousands of people.

I could not even make it through Mass today without crying, thinking about 

how last Sunday morning was like any other ordinary Sunday morning

for Sarah and her family, for me, and how 

this Sunday is not.

 The people that pulled together were amazing.

Funds were set up immediately 

HERE

and 

HERE

(to help support her children) 

The response has been incredible!

I can't help but think of the lives Sarah has touched, 

both in life and in death, 

because of the way she lived her life.

Another blogger wrote 

a beautiful birthday post for Sarah

HERE

The amount of prayers offered for Sarah and her family 

just on this site are awesome, and to think there's even 

more we don't know about!

Someone even anonymously set up an Etsy account

selling anchor bracelets

HERE

Because of her last post, 

back in April

HERE

Sarah had just completed her last bead creation

The Anchor!

Her words here:

"I love the symbol of the anchor for hope. It is very powerful.  Hope is the virtue of having confidence in God's mercy that we will be in heaven with Him someday.  When we have that hope, nothing in life can move us. We are anchored in God.  Now that is something I need to pray for everyday and I hope you are inspired and reminded by this bead to pray too."

I am blessed (or my daughter is) to have this special bead (2 of them) in the rosary I 

ordered for my daughter's First Holy Communion in May.  

Something that was already a treasure because of the love 

and hard work Sarah put into her beads and rosaries, 

is even more a treasure now. 

I only wish I could have ordered more

for everyone in my family.

I remember when I used to do daycare, 

(before I had children)

I used to wear the rosary she gave me,

(they are that beautiful)

and one of the mothers was a teacher and 

she gave Sarah, only a teen at the time, a TON of orders!

I smile now, knowing all these people, 

and even more have these treasures forever.

 My heart is broken.

As I think is the case for all who knew Sarah.

I loved this article 

HERE

put out by the Fredricksburg, VA newspaper

If you have not read it yet, please take the time to do so,

it was written so well.

The part I keep thinking about most, is all the things, 

all the projects she was working on.

All the things left undone.

The sadness for her husband,

 family and close friends that will need to 

go through all these things.

I think about all the things in my life right now, 

if I died, that would be left undone.

Is my soul ready for a sudden tragic death?

Is yours?

I think many of us would like to think that there will be time.

I'm faithful, God will give me the time to prepare.

I'll find out I'm dying and I'll be able to make all things right.

BUT

There's no promise of that.

Unless you count the time right now.

God is giving us that time right now.

We are all called to be saints.

We are all called to be holy.

 God is merciful.

God is Mercy Himself.

Am I responding to His Mercy?

Am I responding to the chances He keeps giving me to 

make all things right with my soul?

 We are the Body of Christ, 

that is why Sarah's death has effected so many.

We are all connected through Christ.

It makes me also think about SIN, because if goodness and sadness 

can effect us all, then evil does too.

When we sin, we might tell ourselves 

"It effects no one."

But it does.

It effects us all.

This tragedy makes me want to try harder

to keep my eye on my treasure in Heaven, 

and what is waiting for us all.

 To have met Sarah as a teenager,( through her mother,
whom I met at a retreat and connected instantly with)
 to see her turn into such a beautiful young woman, wife & mother

 has been a gift to me.

What I do with that gift

 is in God's Mercy

and up to me to choose that, 

to live my life so that my soul is ready always.

 I love this picture of Sarah with her baby Faustina (age 1 now) 

because it reminds me of....

St Gianna Molla with her baby.

St Gianna, Pray for us

St Sarah, Pray for us

St Cecilia, Pray for us.

The good has to surpass all this sadness.

There is a lot of good and there is a lot of hope 

Anchored in LOVE.


(another great article written about Sarah
 HERE
 and about a shelter being named after her and her baby)

Expectations VS Reality in Motherhood

I was chosen among some amazing women to be a part of this project set up by 

Amy, at Go Forth and Mother

It's a year long effort to better our lives

You can check it out HERE

I'll show you who the other lovely ladies are, in this blog hop,
 at the end of this post.

Amy asked several of us to write for the kick off for this fun project and the first 

topic is:

Expectations VS Reality

in My Motherhood

(Make that Thankful Reality for me please!)

I always knew I wanted to be a wife and a mother.

I think I have been surprised by it all!

Motherhood is not as I imagined it, 

yet, so much more than I expected or hoped for.

I am most surprised in my motherhood by

How good I am at it.

And at the same time

How bad I am at it.

I think in motherhood,  no matter who you are, we are all faced daily

 (if not hourly or even moment to moment)

 with our accomplishments and our shortcomings

I'm not as skinny or organized as I'd like to be, 

supper is always late, there are toys all over the place,

 a ton of laundry to do at any given time, 

my floor is always dirty,

my kids don't nap and they all go to bed way too late.

I wish I had more time each day to spend with each and every child alone,

There never seems to be enough time and I'm always chasing after more of it.  

I'm not as patient as I'd like to be and yet 

I'm surprised at how patient I am.

I could go on and on and tell you what I'm NOT.

I know a priest, 

that, during Confession, he says, every single time,

"Praise God for all the good you do!"

(Fr Herron)

God has entrusted these children to me.

ME!

He does not make mistakes.

He knows I am what they need and they are what I need 

for my journey to sainthood

(we are all called to be saints with Him in heaven)

So stop comparing yourself to others 

Your kids love you just the way you are!

We can choose to dwell on our failings 

or we can try our best to overcome our weak areas

and Praise God for all the GOOD.

 Thankful I actually like myself!

I'm  not that bad!!

 Sure, I wish I were thinner, but I'm OK with ME.

 Give yourself a break and love who you are

and the way you look!

 Thankful for messy fudgsicle faces

 for big kids reading to little kids in jammies!

 Thankful for warm park days and silly kids

 Thankful for girls with freckles

And girls with dimple chins and rosey cheeks

 Thankful for wonderful summer camps for the girls

 (Sisters of Schoenstatt Camp)

This is part of my van load

And Vocations Camp for boys

(hosted by the lovely 12 Lives at the Lake + 1)

 Thankful for summer foods...

 Slumber parties with some awesome boys

 Thankful for this sweet boy.

After being away from home for 2 1/2 days,

Vocation Camp ended with Mass outside with the Bishop

(yes, that was really cool)

All the other boys (about 30 of them) 

sat away from their families, 

this boy sat with his family.

(Awwwwwww)

Yes, he's very very sweet

and I'm Thankful.

 Thankful for my Grandma (she turned 92 in July)

my sister and cousins...

 and aunties and parents (that's my dad with 4 of his 7 sisters)

 Thankful for a new 12 year old

who is beautiful, talented and just an awesome kid!

 Thankful for new recipes

(I'll have to do a "recipe" post)

 Thankful for vacations with grandparents 

for moments like these are treasures in our hearts

 Lots of fun memories from vacation

 Beach time

 and pool time (with cousins)

(and Spike the Dragon)
Thankful for my wonderful husband in charge of them all!

 Thankful for reading time on the porch with my oldest

(we are reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy)

 Thankful for my view from the porch

 and my view of the porch

 A closer look

(you're welcome)

 Thankful for this girl that took on the job of watering my flowers this year

 Thankful for mailboxes and the hope they bring

(we got home from vacation to find that deer had eaten the whole right side there!)

 Thankful for little boys too tired to go any further...

(because of that no nap thing)

 Thankful for swim lessons

(isn't this the cutest swim group ever?)

 Thankful for sisters with a growing relationship

 and littles that do everything together

 Thankful for 14 year old boys

 And girls not afraid of anything

 not even BUGS

 or ziplines....

 Thankful for kids that are not afraid to try anything

(as hard as that is sometimes!)

 Thankful for running 2 year olds

(really fast 2 year olds)
And the busy-ness of life.

 SO, sit back sometimes,

enjoy the view

 Be Thankful for your life

 And 

"Praise God for all the good you do."

Check out these other lovely ladies and see how their

expectations and reality come together!

 

July 21 - Amy @ Go Forth and Mother

July 22 - Julie @ These Walls

July 23 - Kelly @ This Ain't the Lyceum

July 24 - Sarah @ Fumbling Toward Grace

July 25 - Nichole @ Yackity Shmackity

July 26 - Colleen @ Martin Family Moments
July 27 - Lindsay @ Lindsay Sews

July 28 - Olivia @ To the Heights

July 29 - Ana @ Time Flies When You're Having Babies

July 30 - Jamie Jo @ Make Me a Saint

July 31 - Michele @ My Domestic Monastery