Please Pray

for my friend Kim, her son and her family. Her son was hit by a roadside bomb while on patrol in Iraq last week. He was with two other Marines, one who was killed and the other who was hit in the head and whose survival is precarious. Kim's son was hit in his lower body and is in Rammstein in Germany awaiting return to the US for treatments. Kim has been at work and been a trooper, but all prayers of strength for this mother are greatly appreciated.

Glory and Praise to Our God

Who alone gives light to our days
Many are the blessings He bears
To those who trust in His ways
~Dan Schutte

Our dear sister in Christ, MaryEllen, has passed on from this world at approximately 9:15 last evening surrounded by her daughter, sisters and many friends. The Lord ended the earthly life of one of His greatest evangelists, a woman whose faith moved mountains and energized children and youth for years. I thought of the lyrics above from Dan Schutte's Glory and Praise to Our God when I learned of MaryEllen's homecoming. MaryEllen was always trusting of God's direction, even when it was scary or contrary to what she wanted. We were immensely blessed by her life and are touched to know she received God's greatest blessing at last. And now, MaryEllen, because I know how much pride you took in being Irish, I send you home with this blessing:

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
the rains fall soft upon your fields
and, until we meet again,
may God hold youin the palm of his hand.

God, who raised Jesus from the dead, will give new life to our own mortal bodies through his Spirit living in us.
~Romans 8:11

Something I'm Thankful For

but probably won't see this year are snowflakes. They are all unique and remind me that God's love extends to all creation even though we are not all the same and often go ways God doesn't want us to.

Apology

I apologize for my post yesterday. It was childish and selfish and I realize that, but I am not going to delete it as we all need reminders sometimes of our negative ways to help deter us from going down those roads again.

I am ashamed of my post even more so because in the midst of all of this happening, one of my friends is losing her battle with cancer. I actually like to think of it as her winning her battle to get to heaven, but cancer is a horrible way to get to this everlasting reward. She will be leaving behind a six-year-old little girl, many students whose lives she touched in Miami and Raleigh and many teens she counseled as a youth leader. One of these former teens wrote in a guest book at a support site that when she was a teen, this woman's faith scared her it was so strong, this former teen went on to say that now she is so thankful for that kind of faith and that my friend is one of the most influential people in her life. After learning of her imminent return to the Father, I immediately offered up my suffering for her. So I might not be able to get up to see my parents and I had 24 hours of sickness, she has endured much more than I have. How dare I throw myself a pity party while she struggles through her last few hours.

So, again, I am sorry for my childish discourse yesterday. May you all have a blessed Thanksgiving.

I am

feeling like a loser. I got food poisoning so I missed a day and a half of work on a short work week. Plus, now, my car won't start. I know the battery is dead because nothing is working on it. I can't figure out what happened except maybe yesterday when I was sick and getting the baby out of the car her door didn't close all the way or something and left a light on which ran the battery out? Now, this isn't a huge deal except that tomorrow is the day before Thanksgiving. I won't be able to get this replaced. My mom just sent me gas money to come and visit over the weekend, but it looks like now, unless somebody comes and picks me and the baby up and brings us back, we won't be going. I feel like the ultimate holiday loser! How do these things happen to me?

It Happened...

Rutgers lost its first game of the season last night. The good news is they will still probably get a bowl game invitation and now the pressure of being unbeaten is removed. Our home was a little bit sad this morning with this news, but we are very thankful that we live in a country where we have the freedom to root for whatever team we would like!

Teetering

on the brink of a cold/sinus infection/allergies. Boy that wipes you out. Shelby and Jeff are both well, so I count myself very lucky. It's much better for me to be sick than one of them.

Cleveland Rocks

The Browns won their game today! We got to 3 and 7. Just for the record, all of Shelby's teams won this week! Go Browns!

Every Mama Needs A Friend

So, I've created a blog dedicated to my own product reviews and shout-outs. It's called A Mama's Friend and I also plan to include reviews of great movies, books, cds, and shows for kids and families. I hope you'll stop on by when you get a chance!

God Bless Sister Isaac

Sister Isaac Koenig is recognized as an Albert Schweitzer Honors Scholar on Nov. 9. This award is given annually by the UNCW Honors Scholars Program and Randall Library to a person from the area who exemplifies the attributes or interests of Albert Schweitzer. UNCW/Caroline Cropp

Sister Isaac is a member of our parish and she runs the Tileston Outreach Clinic as well as the outreach programs that provide staffing to the soup kitchen, clothes and furniture for the needy, placement for people being released from prison and others. Her caring and loving nature is known by all members of St Mary Parish. Congratulations on this honor!

The Little Football Team That Could

Go Scarlet Knights! Some may have doubted you in the past and even laughed at your efforts, but you perservered. Now 9-0, you stand proud of your achievements but careful as pride comes before the fall. Thanks for a great season so far!

My Little Ogre Princess

I am a Disney Princess. I took the quiz and I am Belle. No shocker there with my nose always in a book and all this looking for inner beauty I do.

Shelby, my sweet baby girl is not a Disney Princess. Oh, don't get me wrong, she's a princess alright. She has all the cutest little girl outfits, lots of pink and purple, and I'm sure her father has plans to give her a car for her 16th birthday. But Shelby is a princess of a different sort altogether. Shelby is a Dreamworks Princess. More specifically Princess Fiona. She's beautiful but don't expect her to see it. She loves the outdoors. She likes sports (just try to get her attention when hockey or football are on--especially Rutgers or Wisconsin football). And she can burp like a boy--er, champ. And while she is a beautiful baby, there is this matter of her temperment which is normally cheerful and sweet, but once we've crossed the point of no-return, she's an ogre.

So, here's to my little Ogre princess. I wouldn't have her any other way.

Seeing It Again

People have told me since Shelby was born what a beautiful baby she is. Her skin is olive and she bore no stork bites and since she was breech and a c-section baby her head has always had perfect shape and she bore none of the battle scars of a naturally delivered baby. Of course we thought she was beautiful, but we could not believe how complete strangers would approach us (and still do) to share their thoughts on her.

Perhaps the sweetest stories of this have come with my encounters with children with her. When Shelby was just a few weeks old, I had to go to an outpatient center in the hospital to get my blood drawn. While we were waiting, Shelby was in her carseat asleep, a mother with two young boys came in. The oldest was about four and he casually walked by her carseat, sneaking a peek as he did. I pretended not to notice as he obviously didn't want to be found out. A short while later, he came by again and this time, stopped and bent over, close to her face. He looked up at me, looked me right in the eye and whispered, almost reverantly, "She's so beautiful." I smiled back at him and said thank you. It warmed me how sweetly he had examined her and how he saw in her little sleeping face all the innocence and gentleness we all see in newborns. He was in awe of the power and beauty of new life. He helped me to appreciate what so many had told me before. Physically, yes, Shelby is beautiful, but she is also a reminder of the beauty of newness that God gives us in the form of these tiny little babies.

As Promised

Here is Daddy holding Bumblebee Shelby on her First Halloween!