Snow, The Capitol, and Singing..Oh My!!

 We had planned to go to our capitol, Topeka, to support a house bill and represent our submitted testimony. We didn't plan on a snowstorm. We really deliberated about going...I didn't want to risk it with the kids, so we prayed and Don even drove around to try and decide if we should even try. After he returned, we decided it should be alright. A few miles after leaving our city, the snow really started to blow and visibility was very limited. The thing that was most concerning was the semi-truck drivers' recklessness.We witnessed 3 near accidents that I believe our pleading to God at that moment prevented. It's been a looong time since I have been so worried and on the edge of my seat. Once we were about half-way, things cleared up and we made it safe and sound. Unfortunately, our hearing was cancelled due to a lengthy prior session, so mostly due to the weather and to attend the hearing that was rescheduled for the next day, we spent the night. I was so bummed and depressed....this was the last place I wanted to be!! The snow was coming down and we were stuck in a hotel room with 6 kids who had spent part of the day in the car and another part of the day wandering around government buildings. And to top it off, the hotel had a swimming pool, but we had NO swimming suits! The kids were all great sports though, and we made the most of the evening. We bought a card game at Walmart called "Would you Rather", it's an odd game, but the kids loved it. For the first time, I saw the effects of no television. We thought the kids would love to watch tv, but after about an hour, they turned it off and told us they were bored!! Are these My kids?? Instead we completely explored the hotel, prayed for safety and our house bill, read the bible(Gideon's isn't quite the same!!) and the check-in clerk treated the kids to juice,bananas, pens and paper. The next day was MUCH better, my mood lifted as the sun began to shine. We had a wonderful tour of the capital, complete with the famous singing tour guide. Our hearing was a blessing to witness, our 2 beautiful ladies that gave testimonies, were AMAZING!!! God cleared our paths that day both at the Capitol and the roads as we travelled home. I am so very happy to be blogging this from my very warm, albeit loud, home sweet home.

A Muslim Cries out to Jesus

http://www.cbn.com/media/player/index.aspx?s=/vod/AL32v1_WS

Thanks for sharing, Josette!!! I totally sobbed when I saw this on your blog!!

The Easy Part

For the last several nights, Benny has been waking up in the night and wandering into our room and so our queen sized bed is now holding 4 occupants. I don't have to explain that Don and I are a little deprived of adequate rest. It was 3am Saturday morning, Don had to get up and bring Benny into our bed because he wouldn't stop crying from a bad dream, Don was so frustrated and exasperated, because we had just put Charlie back to sleep 5 minutes before, he complained..."We'll NEVER get any sleep!!" And I sleepily said..."This is the easy part." He retorted..."What!?!" I said again, "It's the easy part, we know where they are and we can hold them and comfort them and keep them safe close to us....it won't be like that when their grown and we won't be sleeping then because we will wonder and worry about them....so you see, it's the easy part...here they are." He actually never heard me after the first few words because he had already drifted back to sleep. I laid there and thought about our crowded little bed and I could hear the other kids breathing and tossing in their rooms right across the hall and I had such a feeling of warmth and love for each of them and I thanked God for the "easy part".

Debt Free Dreams

Ever since Don and I read "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey 6 years ago, we have been inspired to become debt free. We sat down and really talked about where we were financially and where we wanted to be. We decided that our "dream home" that we lived in wasn't within our means after all. We were paying 50% of our paycheck to the mortgage company...that did not include our utilities either. Most finance experts suggest not exceeding 28% of your income including utilities.Our realtor talked us into purchasing the most expensive home we could possibly afford with the hope of eventually being able to afford it. This seemed logical to us at the time, but after reading countless finance books, we were just delusional to think this was going to work. We decided 6 years ago to find a house that we could live in within our means. It took 5 years of scouring our city to find one fit into that 28% with utilities and one that we both agreed on. We did things a little backwards though, we found the house BEFORE selling our old home. This was part in compromise to Don, he didn't want to have to rent or move our stuff twice, and also because our new home was bank owned and they didn't accept contingencies. We both agreed this was foolish and will never do that again.

With all that now behind us we still have credit card debt and a car loan to payoff. The first thing Dave recommends doing is establishing an emergency savings fund in the amount of $1,000. We have done that and we are on the second step which is creating a debt snowball. This is achieved by attacking your smallest debt and making minimum payments on your other debts and applying any extra funds to that smallest one until it's eliminated and then moving up to the next smallest one and applying all those same funds to that one debt and so on until they are all payed off. The next step is to save 3-6 months of living expenses in savings. This will help if there are layoffs or unexpected illness or any other curve balls life should throw at us. After that 15% of income should be allocated to retirement. Then comes college funding, paying off your home early and finally building wealth so you can give like never before. The cool thing is that it's all biblically-  based. I am excited to coordinate a Financial Peace Course at our parish coming in March, it's a great opportunity to help others while at the same time helping ourselves through the awesome support that the classes provide. One of the most inspiring results of FPU was it's affect on Habitat for Humanity. They had a 33% delinquency rate from their homeowners making their very modest mortgage payments. They have now required that every client attend FPU, their delinquency ratio is now 0%. The program changes lives, I am blessed to have had friends go through the program and tell me about how they have completely changed their futures and the future of their children. Dave's motto is "If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else!"

Redefining Happiness

    Last night I was blessed to yet again witness the wisdom, knowledge, understanding, dedication to faith, and just downright goodness of a group of mothers I am privileged to walk with in my journey. I am one of the oldest moms in the group and each and every time I am blown away with how these young moms are eons and eons beyond where I was at their age, and quite frankly probably where I am today!! I have a feeling that these young moms will accomplish many great things now and in the future.

    As I think about them, I hearken(old fogey terminology) back to my youth and think about when Don and I were first married. If an angel would have popped out of the closet at our wedding reception and told me that someday....I would be covered in stretch marks from my shoulders to my knees, burdened with too much debt (through the help of Dave Ramsey..we are trying to eradicate) sporting more wrinkles than I could count, a permanent baby bag for a belly, a messy house in the same neighborhood I grew up in, 2 vehicles that I will never be able to parallel park, and a constant volume just a decibel above insanity and be completely happy, I would have torn up the marriage certificate, shook Don's hand and said, "Nice knowing you, but that's not exactly what I had planned."

   We(cough cough)...I had dreams of making enough money to buy our dream house, furnishings, vacation homes, 3 or maybe 4 perfect children(2 boys & 2 girls) that we would send on to the "best" colleges. God must have just been rollin' around laughing in Heaven! Don't get me wrong, we still hope to have 3 or 4 perfect children...we are thinking of adoption. That was before I realized that we are called to live for God's will not our own. I had a re-version back to my Catholic faith and for the first time, I took a deep long look at it and saw the beauty of it's truth and light. And I knew I could never be the same. It took me 10 years to find an acceptable level of contentment, and that took many challenges to break me enough to accept it. Every year it gets a tad better..it takes many Masses and lots of time pouring my heart out to my Love in Adoration.  In some ways, I know I will never be content and the whole time Don just wishing I would be. I don't walk around with a huge smile and sweetness exuding from me, but I can lose it one minute, hollering at the kids to stop fighting or pick up their stuff, and the very next moment, scoop up a little one(or big one) and cover them with unleashed affection..all without blinking an eye.....that defines happiness for me, a little bit of hectic insanity mixed up with plenty of cuddles, acceptance...and contentment.

Pray for Missions

As you may already know, Don and I are praying about a call to missionary life, we have given ourselves 2.5 years to pray and decide. We have so many obstacles preventing this from happening right now, but we know if it's God's will, the obstacles will be cleared. I wanted to share the blogs of 2 families that could really use your support in the way of prayers. The first blog is of my friends, the Alvarez family who are en route to the Philippines, the second is the Eckstine Family who reside in St. Lucia in the Caribbean. Currently, I am so moved by this recent development of the Eckstine Family(click name to read post) and here is the blog of The Alvarez Family(click to view blog). Both of these families are Catholic and went through Family Missions Company(click to view website) Right now, our family shares in the missions of these families by offering a small financial donation, which we believe shares in their work. This also helps sustain us as we contemplate our vocations. They are truly living the scripture verse in Matthew 28:19, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ."

Perfect Parenting

After Don and I became parents, I had it all planned out. I was very idealistic and I knew everything there was to know about parenting...because I read many books...isn't that what makes a perfect parent?
Well anyway, one of the things we decided was that our children would NOT play with violent things, such as guns, knives, swords,....not even water guns, hence they may get the wrong impression. One day as I was giving my perfect first son, Noah, a snack of graham crackers, he created something with it. A gun!! "What is that, Noah?", I asked. "It's a gun, Mommy, isn't it great?" I took it as a fluke and went on with our "perfect" life. For breakfast the next morning, Noah showed me his toast eaten into the shape of a gun, and so it went he made them out of EVERYTHING from play-doh to mashed potatoes! It was then that a revelation occurred to me. Guns are built into the DNA of most males and to deny them is futile, because they will make them, build them, or eat their food into the shape of them. God has a sense of humor, because he gave me 5 of these creatures to totally drive this "revelation" home!  So, as I sit here in my less than perfect home, with my less than perfect family, in my less than perfect body, I giggle at my boys charging through the house with their nerf guns trying to outrun cabin fever and reminiscing of my old ideals of "perfect parenting". Don even gave Noah his old archery set for Christmas, his parents still had from when he was a teenager. Noah has been asking me about taking archery lessons..I think I'm going to have to look into it. Anyone know of archery lessons anywhere??  The less perfect our life becomes, the happier we are. I remember calling my Mom up one day on the phone when I was in my early 30's and exclaiming..."Mom, I don't know anything at all..absolutely nothing!!" She said, "Ah, that is the beginning of wisdom." Well, I'm almost in my 40's and I feel the same way, but instead of letting it get me down, it excites me, and I love to learn, and I realize that there's an opportunity to learn every time I listen to someone, or read, go to confession, or pray, or listen, go to Mass, or pray, watch my children, or listen.....
St. Augustine says, "This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfections."