Nine months after we were asked to consider becoming foster parents, we received a little bundle of pinkness this past Monday. We got a call at 3:30pm, and by 6pm a social worker arrived at our door, baby in tow. She has quickly become part of the family, and the transition to having her in our home has been pretty much seamless. It just has God all over it.
We had been praying all along for whatever baby the Lord had in mind for us. It struck me that right around the time we said "yes" to becoming foster parents, her mom would have found out she was expecting. Of course, I can't divulge any details, and I can't post any pictures. Too bad, because she is cute as a button, and has stolen all our hearts. The other kids are all a big help, and the big girls have taken turns giving her bottles. Last evening I even had the luxury of reading a book while Bethany fed the baby. She is a natural with her, and beams when she spends time with her.
Other than being a bit sleep-deprived (though I had the most amazing, restorative nap this afternoon!) I am so enjoying this new adventure. It means being really organized so that everything gets done by the end of the day, and it means minimal knitting time (sigh), but it all feels so right. I never would have guessed a year ago that I would be doing this. It is a bit surreal, like I am walking around in someone else's life. At the same time, it feels very natural. Guess twenty-three years of parenting my own kids has left me with the ability and the wisdom to mother one more child. That, and God has provided lots of grace to do it.
Thank goodness it is March break now. A slower pace and lots of hands to help. Time to adjust to our new life together.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
A visit to Madonna House
Today turned out to be a beautifiul day to drive up to Madonna House for spiritual direction and some unexpected fellowship. The day was clear and sunny, the roads dry - if full of potholes. Upon arrival at the main house, Jesse found an icicle nearly his size and did what any little boy would do...posed with it as a weapon!
While I spoke with Fr. Robert, Jesse and Paul spent time in the Russian library in the dining room in the main house. Jesse made domino forts for his Lego guys, and Paul visited with whomever happened to pass through.
In the parking lot of the gift shop, I spied a slightly familiar face - it was one of the professors from the Academy whose blog I happened upon last week thanks to a mutual friend. I introduced myself and we watched as his toddler son negotiated the water and ice flooding the parking lot. It was good to put a name and face together with the real live person. :)
Then, when I went to the gift shop to pick up a couple of things, I said hello to my friend Rae who works there, and as I did so, I noticed that one of the other clients was looking in my direction. I didn't recognize him, and figured he was just a friendly "valley" type. He said my name as I passed by him, and introduced himself; he was one of Jeremy's mentors in high school, and one of the few people in his entire school career who had a memorable impact on his life. I didn't recognize him at first as it had been a few years since I'd seen him. We chatted for awhile - I found out he is actually from Barry's Bay - and I kept thinking how funny it was that I kept running in to all these people that I know, from all different places in my life.
On the way home, I was thinking about this, how Madonna House and its spirituality draws people from all walks of life, from all corners of the earth, to grow in the love of Jesus and His Mother. In the middle of backabush Ontario, a beautiful thing has been happening for several decades. It's worth the nearly three-hour trip through winding backroads to come to this place of peace and love. I always leave refreshed and ready to return to my vocation. It was good to get spiritual direction during Lent, to hear that I am on the right track with my Lenten efforts and to get some encouragement to keep persevering in the ways that I sense the Lord is leading me.
I love Madonna House and the ways in which its spirituality is easily transferable to home life. While we don't take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, there are elements of each of these in the life that we live. We try to live fairly simply, and that can be challenging in a suburban neighbourhood. We have tried to create a place of peace, a sacred space that is our home. People have often remarked how peaceful our home is. By God's grace it is indeed that - a refuge for any who come to our door. We try to be open and present, being just "us", nothing very extraordinary. All that to say, it is much easier to make the transition from spending the day out in the country at our little peaceful oasis of Madonna House, back to surburban life, when our home echoes what we left behind in Combermere. We have to live the Gospel wherever we are, and for us it is in the suburbs. Thank the Lord, though, that we get to experience a change of pace and a change of scenery every couple of months.
When it was Paul's turn, I joined Jesse in the dining room, and spent the next while chatting with a few old friends - some staff, and a couple that we run into every few years in various places. We also saw a young friend whom we had met at our Nazareth family retreats a few years ago and who is entering the Poor Clares later in the spring. Our supervisor from the fostering agency, also a friend of Madonna House, just happened to decide this morning that she was coming for a visit, so we got to see her too.
Then, when I went to the gift shop to pick up a couple of things, I said hello to my friend Rae who works there, and as I did so, I noticed that one of the other clients was looking in my direction. I didn't recognize him, and figured he was just a friendly "valley" type. He said my name as I passed by him, and introduced himself; he was one of Jeremy's mentors in high school, and one of the few people in his entire school career who had a memorable impact on his life. I didn't recognize him at first as it had been a few years since I'd seen him. We chatted for awhile - I found out he is actually from Barry's Bay - and I kept thinking how funny it was that I kept running in to all these people that I know, from all different places in my life.
On the way home, I was thinking about this, how Madonna House and its spirituality draws people from all walks of life, from all corners of the earth, to grow in the love of Jesus and His Mother. In the middle of backabush Ontario, a beautiful thing has been happening for several decades. It's worth the nearly three-hour trip through winding backroads to come to this place of peace and love. I always leave refreshed and ready to return to my vocation. It was good to get spiritual direction during Lent, to hear that I am on the right track with my Lenten efforts and to get some encouragement to keep persevering in the ways that I sense the Lord is leading me.
I love Madonna House and the ways in which its spirituality is easily transferable to home life. While we don't take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, there are elements of each of these in the life that we live. We try to live fairly simply, and that can be challenging in a suburban neighbourhood. We have tried to create a place of peace, a sacred space that is our home. People have often remarked how peaceful our home is. By God's grace it is indeed that - a refuge for any who come to our door. We try to be open and present, being just "us", nothing very extraordinary. All that to say, it is much easier to make the transition from spending the day out in the country at our little peaceful oasis of Madonna House, back to surburban life, when our home echoes what we left behind in Combermere. We have to live the Gospel wherever we are, and for us it is in the suburbs. Thank the Lord, though, that we get to experience a change of pace and a change of scenery every couple of months.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Living in the Present Moment
I've been thinking since the retreat last weekend what it means to truly live in the present moment. I think that I have come to see that it means - for me - that I need to attend to, abide in, whatever it is that I am doing at any given moment. Honestly, I don't think that I am very good at it.
The more I think about it, the more I realize that, while doing one thing, my mind is usually elsewhere, thinking of the next thing I have or want to do. While working on a knitting project, rather than enjoying that particular project, I find myself thinking about the next one that I want to do. While hastily rolling out dough for pizza, I am thinking about how much time I have before I have to pick up my daughter from her friend's house. While running errands in one store, I am thinking about the next place I have to be. It is like my head is always ahead of where the rest of me is. And my heart is who knows where...
At the retreat, one of the talks was about abiding in the present moment. Marie Thérèse talked about how the word "abide" is in the same family as "abode", which is a dwelling. Can I ever "dwell" in what I am doing? Just stop, rest awhile, stop the whirring in my brain and just "be". This might do my soul a lot of good in this Lenten season. God is here, in this moment. Why would I want to be anywhere else?
Marie Thérèse shared how we need to pray for faith so that we can live more fully in the present moment. I thought that this was interesting, because obviously all of us at the retreat have some degree of faith. Why do I need faith specifically so that I can live more fully in the present moment? Perhaps because with that faith comes the realization that in and of myself, I can't do too much. I can't even be in the moment, since I am always somewhere else. It is by the grace of God - the gift of faith - that I can be in the moment...aware, attentive, expectant. In the moment is where God is going to reveal Himself. Again, why would I want to be anywhere else?
The more I think about it, the more I realize that, while doing one thing, my mind is usually elsewhere, thinking of the next thing I have or want to do. While working on a knitting project, rather than enjoying that particular project, I find myself thinking about the next one that I want to do. While hastily rolling out dough for pizza, I am thinking about how much time I have before I have to pick up my daughter from her friend's house. While running errands in one store, I am thinking about the next place I have to be. It is like my head is always ahead of where the rest of me is. And my heart is who knows where...
At the retreat, one of the talks was about abiding in the present moment. Marie Thérèse talked about how the word "abide" is in the same family as "abode", which is a dwelling. Can I ever "dwell" in what I am doing? Just stop, rest awhile, stop the whirring in my brain and just "be". This might do my soul a lot of good in this Lenten season. God is here, in this moment. Why would I want to be anywhere else?
Marie Thérèse shared how we need to pray for faith so that we can live more fully in the present moment. I thought that this was interesting, because obviously all of us at the retreat have some degree of faith. Why do I need faith specifically so that I can live more fully in the present moment? Perhaps because with that faith comes the realization that in and of myself, I can't do too much. I can't even be in the moment, since I am always somewhere else. It is by the grace of God - the gift of faith - that I can be in the moment...aware, attentive, expectant. In the moment is where God is going to reveal Himself. Again, why would I want to be anywhere else?
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