Christmas is for ALL God's Children

There was a rather scathing letter to the editor in our newspaper this week from a woman who decided she needed to scold society for their lack of focus on what Christmas is really all about. She was really upset at anyone who puts up their decorations early and stores that begin their holiday sales prior to Thanksgiving. Somewhere in the middle of her tirade she lost me, a fellow Christian. I mean, I do understand. Christmas is about the birth of Christ. There would be no Christmas had he not been born. Her message is correct but her method of delivery could use some polishing. She states that anyone who does not celebrate Christmas the proper way are greedy, pleasure-seeking hypocrites who do not deserve time off with their families for Christmas. "Christmas is only for Christians" she states. I’m not sure what she wants everyone else to do.

She was upset at the lack of reverence for the Christmas season. Well I have news for her. There is lack of reverence for Jesus all year round, not just at Christmas. There is lack of reverence within our own Catholic church, but not by all. It’s wonderful to try and spread the good news but when you resort to name-calling and disrespect then your message is going to fall on deaf ears. It’s best to lead by example and do it with charity. I am not offended, as the writer claimed I should be as a Christian, when someone says “Happy Holidays” to me. Why in the world would I be upset when someone is wishing me well? Do I wish that everyone knew Jesus? Sure I do. But I don’t hate those who choose to not see what I see. What right do I have to give up on them when God will never stop searching for his lost sheep?

Yes Christians are under attack, but they have been since the time of Christ. Thankfully Jesus chose those non-Christian hypocrites to spend time with. Where would we be if He had told the Apostles to only minister to the baptized followers instead of seeking out the Gentiles, the sinners and the hard-hearted?
As for me, I have embraced the Christmas season already this year. I am completely ok with seeing lights and decorations. The stores are full of color and the excitement is building. I refuse to let anyone put a damper on a time of year that is full of wonder and awe for children and adults alike. For some this is the one time of year they get to see their loved ones. Maybe they won’t go to church. Maybe they aren’t walking with Jesus right now. But they are still God’s children. He still loves them. He is a patient Father. And God is at work in their lives through the love they share with one another. He chooses to bless them even when they can’t hear him. For me the anticipation of Christmas must mirror, in a small way, the excitement that Mary and Joseph must have experienced at this point in her pregnancy. The birth of our Savior was still weeks away but she knew what was coming. She knew a miracle had occurred just by the fact that she was pregnant and a virgin.

It’s easy to look at the Christmas holidays as over-commercialized, secularized and exploited. It’s all of that but not limited to it. God does not want us to walk around angry and bitter at a time when we should be celebrating. As Christians we are called to show love, compassion, and understanding. He never promised it was going to be easy. In fact he assured us it would be hard.

God Bless

A Military wife's thoughts on Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran's Day. For some, it's a day off of work. For my kids there will be a special program at school in honor of our military. In many cities across the U.S. there will be parades and celebrations. And a lot of stores will have Veteran's Day sales this week. With a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye, I will read tributes to our soldiers on Facebook or blogs and read words like hero, sacrifice, honor and freedom. This is how Veteran's Day is honored every year in our community and in our country. It's good to have a day set aside to remember and pay tribute to all those who sacrifice so much to protect us every day.

For me, Veteran's Day will be much like any other day. I will clean and cook, do laundry, check my email, drop off and pick up kids, and run errands. My routine isn't too exciting and doesn't change much. But those are all the things my husband is missing the most. He longs for our mundane life. He would give anything to be here unloading the dishwasher or fixing me one of his famous omelets. He would love to sit here at the kitchen table tonight helping my daughter with her math homework. He would be more than happy to be here right now fixing our toilet that is broken. But mostly he just wishes he were here instead of there. He is in a foreign land living a life that I can't even imagine. His daily routine involves never leaving his quarters without strapping on a gun. He works 13-14 hour days, 7 days a week in a room without windows. He rarely gets a full nights sleep because the deafening noise of the fighter jets taking off outside his building wake him up. In his world the squeal of mortars in the distance is a daily occurrence and when they are closer than comfortable he stops and listens to hear if they land. He's always on guard, always aware, and never has the luxury to just relax and feel safe.

And yet my husband would say that he's luckier than many of his fellow soldiers. He's not out in the field facing the elements. He has a private room with heat/air, a refrigerator and Internet service which allows us to Skype daily. He gets 3 hot meals a day and free laundry service each week. Most days he gets to go to the gym for a quick workout and he's able to attend Mass on Sunday. All of those things make it bearable for him to get through each day. And each day he is one day closer to coming home.

I am so proud of my husband. He has given up so much over the years to train for a job that is so important. As much as my heart aches to be apart from him each day, I know that they need him. It's a small comfort on the days when I just long to remember how it feels to have him here. I want to hear his car pull in the driveway or be able to pick up the phone and call him whenever I want. I want to feel his touch and look in his eyes. I want to hear his voice when he's standing near me instead of through a crackled poor Internet connection. That day will eventually get here. We can get through this. The days will become weeks, the weeks will become months. Eventually he will come home and Life will return to normal.

May God Bless all military families today and every day!

Book Reviews!

About 10 minutes ago I received two wonderful books in the mail. I am extremely excited about both of them. You might be wondering how I can put "book review" in the title of this post when I clearly haven't had time in the past few minutes to read either book. Well that's because neither of them are the type of books that I will finish in a day, a week, or even a year. These are two books intentionally designed to be read slowly and even out of order if need be.

The first one is the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament 2nd Catholic Edition RSV with introduction, commentary and notes by Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch. I am so excited to have this brand new Bible to add to my growing collection of Catholic resources! It will be put to immediate use as I prepare in the next week to facilitate the Gospel of Matthew Bible Study by Jeff Cavins at my Parish. This New Testament bible is thicker than any of my other full Bibles because the majority of it is commentary. It includes a nice size concordance, an index of doctrines (WOW!), charts, maps, and topical essays. I sure hope I remember to feed my kids this week because I might just get lost in all this awesome information at my fingertips. I love learning my Catholic Faith!

The second but equally exciting book that I received today is Karen Edmisten's Through The Year With Mary. This is not a book that is meant to be read cover to cover. (That's going be hard!) It includes 365 reflections on our Mother Mary. There is a quote for every day of the year and a short commentary on each one. I love that it is dated! I'm not the most organized soccer mom on the block so this will keep me on track. It will take away the pressure to "keep up" with it daily. I can just turn to the one for today's date even if it's been a few days or a week since I've had time to look at it. I do the exact same thing with Proverbs. I love that there are 31 chapters and when I feel like I need some advice or a kick in the pants, I can turn to today's date in Proverbs and usually it's exactly what I need to hear. I'm sure Karen's new book will be the same way.

I have many of Scott Hahn's books on my shelf. Some I've already read and others are on my to-read list. I love to catch him on EWTN and listen to CD lecture's that he has recorded. He has taught me so much and is incredibly gifted in scripture study! I can't wait to begin reading what he has to say about Matthew's Gospel.

I've been following Karen's Blog for a few years now. I check in with her daily to laugh at her "Ramona" stories or to learn something I didn't know about my faith. Her first book, The Rosary, is an awesome, quick-read but is a wealth of information and understanding about our wonderful Catholic devotion given to us by our Blessed Mary.

Scott and Karen are two amazing writers. I know without question that I will learn something about my faith from anything they write. Both have incredible conversion stories that are must-reads!

I'm off to read and reflect on today's quote from Blessed Teresa of Calcutta and to try and stop myself from reading the entire book today!

Jesus, I Trust in You

Time flies when you're having fun right? Well, time is speeding by but I'm not sure it's because I'm having so much fun. Life is busy that's for sure. It's also hard and annoying and frustrating. It can make a person tired, stressed and grumpy. But in spite of all that, we are doing ok. We are holding our own while my husband is deployed. We are neck deep in soccer, homework, birthdays, orthodontist appointments, choir practice, and religious ed. We've had to deal with things breaking and sadly putting our kitty cat to sleep. The girls are all struggling a bit to adjust to school this year and I'm doing my best to keep on top of our hectic schedule, paying the bills and making sure everybody gets fed. So far, so good. I know we can handle this. I know we'll be ok. I also know that I can only do all this through prayer and offering all of this to our Lord. I have to trust him.

St. Faustina, in her Diary, wrote 120 times of her own misery, and ours. However, she wrote 240 times about her trust in the Lord. Wow, she set the bar pretty high. God handed her the gift of free will and she made the decision to trust him. In one way that sounds like such a simple thing to do and yet it's something I know that I will strive for the rest of my life. Only through prayer and grace will I achieve a fraction of the Faith that our blessed St. Faustina had. Trust means to hand it all over to him. Trust means to accept pain and suffering and hearthache. Trust means to obey His commands even if we don't like it or really understand it. Trust means to pray for those who anger us or sin against us, and mean it. Trust in God means to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him and fervently desire to someday be happy with Him forever in our Heavenly home. Another important "statistic" taken from St. Faustina's Diary is that she spoke of God's Mercy 1200 times. Ten times more than her suffering she spoke of His infinite Mercy. If we ask, if we trust him, if we obey him, God will forgive us our sins. I have so much to learn but one important thing I've come to accept is that God will forgive not only me but ALL people. Luke 23:34 says "And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." The brutal men who tortured our Lord were God's precious children. He loved them. No matter what they did, he wanted them to spend eternity with him in heaven. If only they would repent for what they did. If only they would choose to Trust God, he was willing to extend his Mercy. No matter how hard life gets in the next few months, I know that God will be with me every step of the way. I only have to open my heart and trust in Him.

Dear Lord, I ask that you protect and comfort my husband and the other soldiers with him. They are far from home and missing their families. Bring them home safely but not my will Lord, but yours be done.

Communication

Do you ever stop to think about all the different ways we have to communicate electronically with each other? Cell phones, cordless phones, email, pagers, instant messaging, social networking,and text messaging. We can leave voice mail and answering machine messages. Even getting online in our home is not restricted to the computer. We can also access the Internet through the Wii, the Nintendo DSi, the ipod Touch, and our cell phones thanks to wireless networking. It's amazing how far we've come in such a short amount of time. Communication has become very easy. Most of us probably take for granted that when we have something to tell someone we can usually get our message to them almost instantly by cell phone, leaving a voicemail or sending an email. It can be frustrating when we get used to that instant gratification and suddenly it's taken away from us. That is what I'm trying to get used to this week.

Mike arrived in Afghanistan this past week and although I've had some kind of communication from him daily, it has definitely been difficult and frustrating. The biggest problem is we keep missing each other. It's not like I can just pick up the phone and call him back when I miss his call. Although they have made huge improvements since the last time he was there, he is still somewhat restricted on phone or computer access. There is no private cell phone availability so I can't send him a quick text update. They have to take turns using the phone center and the computer center. Sometimes that means there are lines or nothing available to use. And when he finally gets a chance to use the computer it will be at the exact moment my internet screws up or we are not at home. It makes me wish I could just sit here at my desk waiting for the IM screen to pop up telling me he's online or have the phones within arms reach and fully charged so that I don't miss that call. But the reality of the situation is that he is working 12 hour shifts with limited free time to even attempt to call or get online. And he's 8 1/2 hours ahead of us. So when I'm going to bed, he's just starting his workday. I have errands to run and of course he tried to call the other night while we were at the Strassenfest with all of the the loud bands playing around us. I didn't hear the phone. Tonight we got lucky. He walked to the call center after getting up to start his day and there was no line! Better yet, we were home. The only bad thing was the call wasn't long enough. He got a few free 200 minute phone cards before he left but unfortunately that only gets him 20 minutes for the overseas call. So we got cut off before saying goodbye. I'm not complaining though. It was great to talk to him.

It should get better once he's in his permanent housing. We are told he will be able to get Internet access and the video portion of Skype should work in his room. That will be wonderful. He will not only be able to talk to us without having to use a phone but we'll also get to see each other. I'm sure there will still be times when everything will not work correctly. He's on the other side of the world and technology can only do so much under the conditions there. But we'll take what we can get.

I've thought a lot this week about how hard it must have been to be a miltary wife years ago. Soldiers would leave home for war and sometimes they wouldn't hear anything until they walked back in the door a year or two later. I can't imagine how hard it must have been never knowing if they would ever come home. And sometimes they didn't come home. Remembering those military families and all that they sacrificed makes my frustrations this week seem rather small.

God Bless our soldiers and their families.

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the divine power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Relax, It’s just a game!

My daughter had a great softball season this year. I saw her grow as a player thanks to her wonderful coaches. They never failed to encourage, teach and guide the girls on the team. They treated every player with respect and continued to help them improve at every game. But what I witnessed on other teams from coaches and parents was not always pleasant. Luckily I saw a lot more good than bad but the bad sometimes leaves me shaking my head in confusion.

Why is it that adults can take something as simple as summer recreational league softball and make it so complicated? For the past 8 weeks I’ve sat in the bleachers at the ballpark and witnessed what is great about summer. Kids meeting at the ball field to play a game. I’ve seen them laugh with their opponents, who in many cases are their school friends. Most of them work hard, show up on time and try their best to pull off a win. And whatever happens at the end, they always congratulate the other team for playing a great game. Kids get it. They know it’s a game. They want to win but more than anything else they want to have fun with their friends. They want to be a part of a team and share the wins and the losses.

Unfortunately I’ve witnessed too many times this summer adults who don’t get it. It’s not fun for them. It’s serious. It’s business. They want to win and they get mad when things don’t go their way. I’ve seen coaches yell at kids and punch fences when a ball is missed. They argue with the umpires and at least once this season a coach was ejected for screaming in the umpires face. And the saddest part of all of this bad behavior is they not only did it in front of other parents, they did it in front of the kids. Although I witness similar behavior at times in the bleachers, I feel like coaches need to set the example. Winning isn’t everything. It’s fun to win. It’s important to play hard and do your best. But things aren’t always going to go the way you hoped. Sometimes the umpire, who is human, is not going to call things the way you think you see them from the sidelines. I don’t always agree with the call either. But there is no excuse for being disrespectful during a game to anyone. Sometimes the best players are going to have a bad night. Sometimes they will miss an easy catch and other times they will make an amazing play. And sometimes the girls at the bottom of the batting roster will get hits you didn’t expect. That’s what makes this such a great sport. Everyone on the ball field counts. Everyone is important; the coaches, the umpire, and every player. Even when they make mistakes.

Tonight was the end of the season for my daughter’s junior league softball team. I should be jumping for joy because her team came home with the championship. And don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy for them. They lost only once in the regular season and once in the double-elimination tournament. They persevered and made it to the final game. I watched these girls work hard and get better and better all summer long. We were all set to face a tough opponent tonight. Our games had been pushed back twice because of rain but with clear skies today we were finally ready to play. However, when we arrived at the ball field, we learned that the other team was not planning to be there. So by forfeit we were declared the winners. I’m proud of our girls. The entire team was there and ready to play. They wanted to play their final game. But it wasn’t to be. I am also proud of the two girls on the other team who showed up thinking they were going to have a game. They were the only ones to walk out on the field and accept their runner-up trophy. The whole time I was snapping pictures I couldn’t help thinking that this just wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. There was no joyful atmosphere. There was no excitement after a night of fighting to win OR lose to a worthy opponent. They were happy to get their trophy but wishing it wasn’t by default.

There was a lot of talk tonight about why things turned out the way they did but I’m not going to spread rumors on this forum. All I know is that the parents who did show up with their girls were unaware of what was going on. The coach obviously didn’t communicate with the team. They didn’t tell our coaches anything. They just didn’t show up. The whole situation was not handled correctly. None of it was fair to the players. They deserve better.

Coaches who think that winning is everything, don’t belong in the game.

May - The Month of Mary

May is the month that we in the Catholic Church recall and reflect on Mary's role in salvation history. We don't worship Mary, but we do honor her as the greatest Saint in heaven. All of our Marian prayers and devotions point directly to Jesus. I have challenged myself to pray the Rosary every day in the month of May. I pray it occasionally but not daily and I don't really know why I resist it. I desperately want to fall in love with praying the Rosary. I want to understand those who crave it, those who wouldn't let the day end without praying this wonderful devotional. I continue to be a work in progress. I am encouraged by the great Saints who all had a devotion to Mary and the Holy Rosary.

Today I attended a May crowning and Marian music festival at my home parish sponsored by our local Catholic High School students and faculty. It was a beautiful celebration from beginning to end. The choirs and instrumental musicians did a wonderful job with the sacred music devoted to our Blessed Mother. The readings reflecting on Seven Mysteries are some of the most important Scriptures in the New Testament. What struck me the most was how respectful it was. There was NO CLAPPING after any of the students performed which I was so thankful for. It wasn't a school performance although they all did an amazing job and deserve our deepest gratitude. It was an amazing opportunity to reflect on Our Lady and all that she did for us. I want to thank all the students, faculty, parents and board members of John Paul The Great Catholic High School for giving me and all that attended this wonderful experience.