It seems that the Lord is VERY kind and merciful

Happy Easter! and Happy Mother’s Day!!

In my last post, I boldly challenged myself (and anyone else!) to avoid excessive computer use for the duration of Lent. The goal was to use my computer for online bill pay and occasional email only – what bliss! what freedom. I could tell a difference even the night before I began! Because I knew the next day I wouldn’t end up chaining myself to my desk, I was joyful and my soul felt light; which to me was highly indicative that my own immoderate computer use was weighing me down emotionally and spiritually. Now, I know myself. I’m easily eager to tackle big goals and then I bite off more than I can chew and then I throw my arms up in the air in submission and THEN I give up the whole thing. So naturally, I was concerned that I wouldn’t do well and I admit that later in Lent, I slipped and fell quite a bit. The success I did have, however, did wonders for my family and my soul. I focused more on Andrew and Liam and our house was much happier. I prayed more and reflected more – I worked on the habit of “praying without ceasing” by offering Christ my actions and thoughts each day. Instead of sighing to myself in exhaustion and defeat, I would ask God to be with me and the graces were so abundant! I read somewhere that the Virgin Mary said that there are so many graces that the Lord is ready and willing to give, but people don’t ask for them or aren’t open to receiving them.

My favorite spiritual goal, fueled by the life experiences and wise insights of a friend, is to be  continuously aware that God is working his plan non-stop in my own life and in the life of my family. Though I know He has always been, it became SUPER clear to me just over a week ago when disaster struck. To make a terribly long story short, I was cozily settled in for a girls night to watch the Royol Wedding at my aunt’s house when the next door neighbor called; I heard only a few crucial bits on speaker phone: “Do you know the owner of the Honda Accord parked outside? … a drunk driver crashed into it and…” I jumped up from the couch and dashed outside to see our lovely family car crumpled like aluminum foil with the front of an old SUV smashed into the tail. I was dizzy from the whirlwind of commotion, but from the start of it all to the moment we finally laid our heads to rest that night, God’s grace was overwhelmingly present. The driver of the SUV was able to walk out of his car, the police were GREAT, it was nice and easy to communicate with our wonderful insurance company, and somehow both Andrew and I felt uncannily calm and collected in the midst of the whole crisis. Because we live in the same town as most of Andrew’s family, I was in very supportive company who offered to clean out the car, contact Andrew, and gave plenty of hugs while I worked with the local PD. My parents-in-law immediately and graciously offered us their van so we could still tote Liam around – our second vehicle is a modest Ford Ranger that could hardly accomodate a little one safely and we are searching hopefully for a new-to-us vehicle. Though a few routines are out of whack and life is a little different, the whole situation has been wrapped in God’s mercy. Andrew put it beautifully after I apologized to him for parking on such a busy street, “If the drunk driver hadn’t hit our parked car with nobody in it, he could have kept going and hit moving car with SOMEbody in it. Thanks be to God that everyone is safe.”

Another bittersweet flavor to last week was that, after much discernment and heartbreak, Andrew and I decided to return our dog Jack to the animal shelter. We had him for just under two months and though he was a bouncy, happy sort of dog, he was more exuberant than we could manage; even after his 2 mile walks and what started off as a pleasure became a hassle that prevented any quality family time we previously had. We’ve missed having Jack around, but the stress of having him has been relieved. We get to spend time together as a whole family and Andrew, who had been Jack’s primary caretaker, isn’t burdened with having to tame an excitable dog.      

The Lord IS kind and merciful and He gives and takes away. Though the past week has been a HUGE emotional gauntlet for Andrew and me, I can’t tell you how much closer we became. We truly clung to each other and acknowledged over and over again that we need each other in both trials and joys. What a blessing! God is wonderful and loving to us and we understand much better now the importance of faith and family.

Snapshot of Life!

• I haven’t announced here yet, but Andrew and I are expecting a second little soul to grace our family around October 15th! I’m about 17 weeks right now and feeling fantastic. I’ve been much more active during this pregnancy than when I was expecting Liam and I am in great company too! I have five friends who are all having babies soon – July, August, September, and another in October just the week before me. The summer will be a little rough being “out to here” in the sweltering sun, but the delight and joy far surpasses anything the heat throws at me 🙂
• In what seems to have been the beginning stages of NESTING, I decided the other day that we needed to rearrange our living room. Thanks be to God that we have wood floors so our couch and loveseat slid around super easily for this prego mama. Rearranging was a big thing for us growing up – it provides a refreshing perspective that makes you feel like you have a whole new room!
• Speaking of Home Improvements: after a long, hot summer and a frigid winter spent in this house, we finally had our attic reinsulated. Twelve inches of pink stuff later, our A/C didn’t kick on for two days because of the way the house held the temperature. What relief! I can’t wait to see how much lower our electric bills will be over the next few months. We couldn’t have done it at a better time either – the forecast for our area is supposed to be WAY on the warm side next week.