Falling on His Grace

Wow, I was given my first award! How exciting! Thank you, Julie, for sharing the "Lovely Award" and the "Butterfly Award" with me. I appreciate your kindness. “These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.” I'd like to pass these awards onto: back to Julie at Joyful Days Cathy at A Bit of the Blarney Tracy at A Catholic Mom in Minnesota Barbara at Praying for Grace Winging It at The Bird House Lisa at Unexpected Journey Marie and Ginny at View from the Pews Sinéad at Time Well Wasted Since I am still new to blogging, I do not know if there are any formalities behind passing on these awards, such as if

Julie had posted a fantastic idea on her site as a way to remind President Obama about the evils of abortion. I will be shopping for my red envelope this week.

Andy (my hubbie), the two boys, and I were praying tonight before the boys' bedtime. Blaise (3 1/2 years) made it through all 5 prayers beautifully, to his credit, but showed his stubborn side... uh, his assertive side... during the "God bless"-es. We said "God bless Blaise, God bless Isaac, God bless Daddy, God bless Mommy," and as we were getting to "God bless Grandma and Grandpa W and ... A," Blaise interrupted and said, "No I want say Mommy Daddy again." So we started over with "God bless"-es. Then he did it again. The first 3 or 4 times were fine. After all, I can use all the prayers I can get. But by the 5th or 6th time, I knew I would need more prayers than he was going to give me if I let that continue on. So we gave him a warning that if he continued to whine.. uh, act so dramatically... he wouldn't get "Grandma's song." He continued to be assertive. So I finished the prayers and said goodnight.

I'm finding I'm having a difficult time posting lately, for two primary reasons: lack of time and lack of inspiration. Lack of inspiration is likely partially due to being so tired and worn down. So for a little while, my posts may be sporatic and fairly infrequent, but please do check back. This last weekend, my husband and I went to a pond hockey tournament with a bunch of his hockey friends. Me and a bunch of guys... and hockey all weekend. While it wouldn't be my first choice in a vacation, it was great. My parents took care of the boys (who apparently were in rare form in whining and disobedience all weekend), so I had no responsibilities except walking around with a digital SLR and two great lenses (my husband's friend's camera... only wish it was mine), with memory cards holding up to a total of around 3000 pictures. I probably took 1000-1200 pictures. I'll have to post a few of my pics once they're sent to me. And my husband's friends are

Reading one of Tracy's posts reminded me of a prayer I LOVED when I was in college. It is wonderful to take it out and pray it again! God of My Life Only in love can I find you, my God. In love the gates of my soul spring open, allowing me to breathe a new air of freedom and forget my own petty self In love my whole being streams forth out of the rigid confines of narrowness and anxious self-assertion, which makes me a prisoner of my own poverty and emptiness. In love all the powers of my soul flow out toward you, wanting never more to return, but to lose themselves completely in you, since by your love you are the inmost center of my heart, closer to me than I am to myself. But when I love you, when I manage to break out of the narrow circle of self and leave behind the restless agony of unanswered questions, when my blinded eyes no longer look merely from afar and from the outside upon your unapproachable brightness, and much more when you yourself, O Incomprehensible On

It has been a long 2 or 3 weeks. When it rains it pours (and it's finally warm enough for a few days to do that outside too!) Please allow me to list my reasons: 1) My husband started his second semester of classes, with 17 credits 2) My work has presented me with several challenges and "opportunities for growth" (luckily with the benefit of supportive bosses/colleagues) 3) There have been 2-3 bouts of illness making their way through our family (I thank the Lord my husband has not gotten sick yet and shows signs of continued health!) 4) Continued 3 1/2-year "marathon" with a strong-willed child and a now 2+ year old who is, by nature, more laid-back but aspires to be just like his older brother 5) Continuation of a cold winter (until the last couple days!) and promise of more of the same 6) Starting a new blog, something I'm new to and am excited about, but anxious about as well 7) All the above, combined with a tendency toward depression and/or anxiety,

I have watched the entirety of the movie Finding Forrester many times for the closing scene. For me, the climax of the movie is not necessarily where the producer meant for it to be but in an often-enough quoted portion of a letter William Forrester wrote to his young friend, read as the movie is drawing to a close: "We walk away from our dreams, afraid we may fail, or worse yet… afraid we may succeed." This line strikes me deep to my core. I am afraid of all I am capable of - of the hurt I am able to cause to others, and, even more so, of the good I can do. It is too easy to be content living a mediocre life, a luke-warm faith. But I must attempt to live outside of mediocrity, outside of my comfort zone, and follow my deep desires and the whispers in my soul that I believe must be coming from God. Life is so busy that it is often exhausting just getting through each day, especially when juggling a job, children, a marriage, prayer time (which, unfortunately, is all too