Spending some time with Jesus!

A couple of years ago when I first was renewed in my faith I wanted to be as close to God as possible. At the time I was not Catholic but attending the Catholic church.  I knew that having a personal relationship with Jesus was so important to growing in my faith, but those Catholic people kept talking about the Sacraments. They talked all of the time about the Eucharist or communion and how integral it is to our faith. I kept thinking you are missing it people!! The most important thing is having a personal relationship with Christ. Then I realized something....  I was on fire in my faith for about a year, then I became the leader of a CRHP group, which is an incredibly spiritual women's retreat.  After becoming the director of this group my faith took off and grew like I could have never imagined.  I always attributed it to being part of this group. But I noticed something, the exact time, almost to the day, that I became the director I also became Catholic and took the Eucharist for the first time! Even though I did not truly understand that this was the body and blood of my Lord He was converting my life through it.  What better way to create a lasting and meaningful relationship with Christ then to be present with Him in the Eucharist! It all made so much sense. The Catholics weren't missing the point! They knew all along that Jesus is the answer to everything and that is why they give Him such reverence in the Eucharist!!

 The following year I started working with the teens and I was introduced to Adoration for the first time with beautiful praise and worship music. Adoration is when Jesus is fully present body, blood, soul and divinity through the Eucharist. I fell in love with spending time with Jesus in Adoration.  I remember one of my first experiences I knew Adoration was coming and I got so excited to see Jesus. I was kneeling on a hard gym floor and singing. As I sang my hands began to raise palms up just about at my waist level. Then I felt someone holding my hands and I knew it was Jesus there spending time with me. After that I was hooked!! I can say that Adoration is one of my absolute favorite things to do! At each retreat I can't wait for that moment. To me it feels like that moment when you go to the airport to pick up a dear friend or family member. You wait at the baggage claim and watch every person who walks in thinking "Are they here yet?" Then the person you love walks in and you run to great them. That is how I feel kneeling when the priest walks in with the monstrance. I just can't wait to see my sweet friend. Then I usually begin balling uncontrollably! :) The teens always laugh at me. It looks like I have some serious issue going on. Nope, I just love Him so much that it brings me to tears EVERY time!Sometimes I even feel a bit of jealousy of the priest. He gets to hold my Lord and carry Him in for everyone to share.

I could write for hours about amazing Adoration experiences. I have seen hearts converted, teens fall to their knees in tears, others go unconscious, and I have felt how amazing He is during every experience of Adoration. Most recently I took a group of teens to DCYC which is a huge Catholic youth conference in Waco. I would venture to say that it is one of the most spiritual places on Earth. The Holy Spirit is so ALIVE during this weekend.  Adoration on Saturday night is always the pinnacle of the weekend. The teens kneel and pray with so much love during this time.  We had a friend of a teen come with us who was not Catholic. We did not explain to her what was happening. She had such a moving experience that it scared her. She asked if she could go back to the hotel for the night and we agreed. The next morning she told me last night was amazing. She said I didn't know what was going on. I was praying then suddenly I felt myself drawn out of my body towards that Gold Thing (The Gold Thing was our Lord in the beautiful Monstrance, but she didn't know that). She said she saw herself on a shore and Jesus was drawing her near to Him.Then she asked me are they going to bring that Gold Thing out again today? I had to giggle if only she knew Who was in that Gold Thing. :)  I explained to her that she was in the presence of Christ last night and explained what Adoration is. After that she went home and told her parents that she wanted to become Catholic. I was amazed how God could work in her life when she didn't even understand what was happening at the time. Adoration is absolutely amazing! There are countless documented and undocumented miracles that have occurred in the presence of Christ during Adoration. If you are having any troubles or need prayer go to Him in Adoration and you will feel such a connection to Him.

Also talk to your kids about the Eucharist and explain to them what is happening each week at Mass. I tell my kids "Here comes the best part" (I got that from my sweet friend April). We go to a church that still uses the bells during Mass, which I love. The bells are meant to signify that Christ is present now in the Eucharist. In my church after the bells ring it is not uncommon to hear my three year old YELL "Mommy Jesus is here!!!" While I love her enthusiasm I would rather it weren't so loud!

Take your kids to see Jesus in the Eucharist as well. All churches have a Tabernacle that you can visit anytime. Sometimes when we go to church during the week I will take my kids through the back of the church to see Jesus. They kneel and talk to him for a few minutes. Then we light a candle. They just love it!! It is such a great teachable moment. I get a chance to explain to them why we genuflect and kneel, because we love Him so much! We need to show Him that we have reverence and love for Him. I pray that my kids have a similar experience of love and connection with our Lord. If you are looking for a better connection with Him go spend some time with Jesus in the Eucharist! You won't regret it!

Let it Be Done Unto Me

As I have said before I am very pregnant and anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new little man Eli.  I don't do very well with the waiting part.  For some reason my body does not go into labor on its own so I have a lot of experience in this department.  I have six great friends from High School and College who were all pregnant with me and due this summer. They have ALL had their babies now except for me. :) So I am next right?

When I am this pregnant and am feeling all of the pregnancy symptoms, fears, anxieties, etc. I always think about Mary.  I think about the fear and anguish she must have gone through. Here she was just a sweet little 14 year old girl working for her parents. Then, she was visited by an angel and told that she would not only become pregnant without being married, but her son would be the King, the Messiah, the man her family had been waiting on for generations. Mary was a good little Jewish girl and she knew exactly what the scriptures foretold about the Messiah. Can you imagine the weight she must have felt?  She could have said no. She could have run away from God's plan for her life, but she didn't. She said "Lord Let it be done unto my according to thy will." She openly said "yes" to God knowing that it would make her life difficult and challenging. I guess she knew that being the mother of the son of God would be well worth the pain and fear.

The part of this story that really comes to mind right now is the actual birth of Jesus. I am REAL pregnant. As my husband said yesterday "You remind me of the B 52s." I thought "this outfit doesn't look like anything they would wear" then he started singing "I got me a Chrysler it's a big as a whale!" Thanks friend love you too! So I am as big as a whale. When Mary was this pregnant she and Joseph made the long trek back to Bethlehem for the census on the BACK OF A DONKEY! Can you imagine? Your husbands says, "yeah I know you are real pregnant but I need you to ride on a donkey for a few days". Ummm no thanks! But again she willingly said "yes" and followed her husband. I think about all of the fear of the unknown you have right before giving birth. "Will I be a good Mom?", "Do I have every tiny little baby contraption to make this baby happy?" "Will the baby ever sleep again?", etc. Her fears would have been different though. "Will my baby be safe in this world?" after all he was nearly murdered right after being born by King Herrod. "Will I know how to care for the Son of God?", "Will my friends and family accept this pregnancy?", "How will my little man change the world?" I figure these thoughts must have been swirling in her head as she rode along on that donkey.

Then she goes into labor, not in a hospital, not even in a barn like we are used to seeing. She most likely gave birth to Jesus in the side of a cave. In Bethlehem caves were used as stables for animals. She was surrounded by animals and animal feces. It wasn't sterile, she didn't have her parents waiting in the next room to hug their new grand-baby, she didn't even have a doctor. All she had was her faithful husband and her in faith in God.

I believe we have so much to learn from Mary in this story. She led her life with Grace and love for God. Every decision she made was not for her own glory but for the glory of God. She loved Him and would follow Him wherever he leads. I pray that I can do the same. I pray that I can say "yes" to God with no limitations just as Mary did.

This is my first experience with a little boy. I just keep thinking what if I knew he was destined to change the world. How would I parent differently?  I actually had an extremely spiritual and sweet family friend tell my mother-in-law that her grandson would be a priest one day. Father Eli sounds pretty good doesn't it? That would be the ultimate dream of my life to know that I raised a man of God. Even if Eli is not called to be a priest I still want to look back and say that I raised a man of God. I can't wait to meet you tomorrow little Eli!

Keeping Faith Fun!

My last post was how to keep our own faith live rocking as parents.  After all you can't give what you don't have and our kiddos need us to share our faith with them. Today let's talk about how to keep kids active in their faith as well. What are some ways we can encourage them to have fun learning and living their faith?

This is definetely not the complete list but over the next couple of days I will share a few things that I do in my house:

The first is TV: Yes TV has become portrayed as the evil monster that will consume our children. Is this true? I think it can be, depending on what their little eyes are watching. They not only listen to what they hear but begin to include it in their daily vocabulary and interactions with others.
When we moved into our house 4 years ago an amazing thing happened. I used to be the biggest DVR junky ever! Especially after having my first child and being a stay at home mom. I was DVRing 20-30 shows per week and watching them. When we moved their was a big cable TV controversy in our town and the cable company said it would take them nearly 6 weeks to connect our cable. For a moment I thought I might die! What do you mean I have to live without cable for 6 whole weeks? I am pregnant how will I survive? It turns out I DID survive and we realized that we didn't really need cable anymore. So we called the cable company and canceled. It felt a bit liberating. I was no longer slave to "Grey's Anatomy" and all of the other shows that I felt compelled to watch weekly. It gave me a lot more time to read, pray and spend time with my kids. I feel this decision has changed my family! The only thing I miss these days is a bit of College football but we all make sacrifices right?

In our house the only children's programming that we have is PBS, which is full of good quality education. I am pretty sure Ella is reading at four years old because of  "Word World" and "Super Why"  and not from my fancy teaching skills. :) They have also learned so much about science, animals and nature thanks to "Sid the Science Kid".
The best thing is our house is not filled with garbage all of the time! I don't have to worry about the characters treating their parents with attitude or fawning over some rock star. All of the characters have good moral values. We are not able to watch children's programming 24 hours per day and there are NO toy commercials!! Did you know young children are the number one advertising marketing group in America? Sell it to the kids and the parents HAVE to buy it. My kids have no idea what cool toys are these days and I like it that way!!

Ella did ask me a question recently. "She said I know PBS has good shows for kids but how come they never tell anybody about God or Jesus?" I didn't really have an answer for this question. It is hard to explain to a four-year-old that not everyone believes in God and that some people are actually offended by him. So that brings me to our other show that is full of good Christian education and values.
The other show that my kids watch a lot of is "Veggie Tales"! If you haven't seen it you are really missing out!!!!!  The characters are all witty, talking vegetables, that teach bible stories and other moral issues. They cover a lot of the old testament stories. I have to admit that when I first starting learning about the bible I learned it all from Veggie Tales. I would read the stories and picture Larry the Cucumber hopping around in my mind. They sing songs and tell the stories in ways that the kids can understand. There is also just the right amount of adult intelligent humor that is NEVER inappropriate like other children's shows. Kids love it! Parents love it! We are all learning and becoming better Christians. What is not to love? So you are probably wondering, "What channel does Veggie Tales come on?" The sad answer is it doesn't. NBC was airing it on Saturday morning cartoons for a short period but it was canceled. I buy them from Family Christian for $5 or check them out for free at the library.