February 22, 2010

Jesus said to them "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Food
Mr. Fix-It came home today and confessed quickly that he had a "slip" today. Yes, it happens. They had a birthday lunch and next thing you know there was a chocolate chip cookie in his mouth. After dinner, Race Car asked if he could have a dessert. Habits die hard. But then I said "Yes" and pulled out the Kashi Oatmeal Raisin Flax cookies and he enjoyed it.

"Stuff" Detachment
I let go of three more big books. "What to expect when you are expecting", "What to expect during baby's 1st year" and a different 1st year book. Who knows if we will have more children, but heck after 4 children, what are they going to tell me that I don't already know. I'll donate them so a newly pregnant mother can poor over ever word just like I did 8 years ago.

Spiritual Growth
Interestingly, this has become my favorite part of my blog. Next would be "stuff" detachment and then the food. Isn't that interesting considering the title of my blog. I am just so pleasantly surprised that the family has been so easy going.

Today has been filled with a couple wonderful blessings. I hope there is someone out there reading this because I think this is so cool. We got a late start as we all slept in after the busy weekend. The kids had a little school done, but I knew Mass would only help my day flow more smoothly instead of hindering it. So, we went. Two awesome things happened.

First, after Mass, Artsy said she wanted to go up to the front of the church. I was confused until she showed me a red construction heart folded in half. I thought she made it for one of the old timers since we had made a few Valentine cookies for them the week before. She wanted to put it up by the statue of Jesus. As we got up there, I figured I better look inside to make sure it was okay. It read: "I luv you Jesus. Yes!"
She opened the heart and set it by the candles. I told her that it may be gone the next time we come and she said "I hope so. I want Jesus to take it." This was all on her own. I had no idea she even made it let alone brought it with her until after Mass.

The second thing happened when this kind old-timer came over and asked if he could take us to lunch. Who does that? Who invites a woman and her four little kids to have lunch? The church is attached to an elderly care center, where they serve meals. We have come to get to know this man over the last few months. This isn't our home parish, so we only see him at daily Mass. I have always encouraged the kids to be of service while we are there since there are so many elderly people. So, they hold door, smile, and chat (which isn't hard for any of them). And every once in awhile he will give one of them a coin of some sort when they hold the door for him. He has 5 grown children of his own. The kids were thrilled beyond thrilled to eat somewhere other than home, especially when he got them some Oreo pudding. Oh boy. I certainly couldn't put the kibosh on that one.

You know, I so often question our choice to homeschool and if it is the right choice. Today, I felt I received a resounding "yes" from the Lord, at least for now. These are priceless opportunities for them. Our goal is to lead our children to Heaven. Of course, there are a lot of other things in addition to this that we hope for, but none of them compare to an eternity with the King of Kings. Maybe, God will call us to private or public school in the future, but for today I have been reassured that we are following the Lord's will.

Today's Menu
Breakfast: Oatmeal made with whole milk, mashed banana, and cinnamon, Jone's Brand sausage links

Lunch: Hamburger, turkey/cheese sandwich, pineapple, goldfish, and the Oreo pudding

Snack: Sliced apples

Dinner: Leftover Chicken soup, egg noodles, fresh vege tray with dip, oranges, homemade white bread, Kashi Oatmeal Raisin Flax Cookie.