Announcing My New Blog

Taking this opportunity to thank all you for your readership, comments and support. I sense that it is time to renew the look and feel of this blog. This blog was started as a mean for me to flex my writing muscle and work up the courage to share my musings with the world.

Three years later and it’s time to move on to a more focussed mission. With my new blog the posts will focus more on my writing projects, along with occasional movie and book reviews, and some Catechesis.

I hope you will continue to follow me at: http://timaborges.wordpress.com

Thank you again and I look forward to your opinion, comments and support in my new virtual space.

God Bless You!

Tima

God as a Helpless Child

I am posting this a week after it was originally written, as we are still in the Christmas season I still feel compelled to share it.

It was Christmas morning. The house was quiet as my family was still fast asleep. As I sat in silence by the twinkling lights of our Christmas tree I reflected on the years gone by. The memories of Christmas past are so vivid in my mind.

Every year I am struck by something new, depending on where I am in my personal and spiritual journey. This year, I am awed by three important facts and what they mean for me personally and for all of us as Catholic – Christians.

God chose to be born of a woman. This very act dignifies the womb of a woman and the role of mothers. By this very act it is clear to me that God who is all-knowing of past, present and future knew that one day we as a society would allow the womb to become a slaughter-house for infants. In this act he unites himself to the millions of babies who have been slaughtered in the womb. He became vulnerable and dependant on a woman’s choice to keep him safe in her womb.

God as a dependant, helpless infant dignifies the role of a mother. Not only to mother our own children, but our role to care for and love all children of the world. Jesus came to the world for all of us. We too, like Jesus, should be ready to open our hearts to love all God’s children.

He was laid in a feeding trough for animals, born in the town of Bethlehem. Bethlehem means “house of bread”. By this act God is foreshadowing for us that he has come to be our food. He is the bread which will give us life! Usually at the time of consecration during Mass, I envision Christ on the cross when he gives up his body and blood for us. This Christmas season I can’t help but ponder the child in the manger, who came so that I may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)

Have a blessed Christmas season. May the New Year bring you and your families many blessings.

2012 in review

Thank you to all my blog readers for a great year!

 

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 4,200 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 7 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

God Is Calling…Can You Hear Him?

            I can clearly recall several times in my life when I knew God was calling on me to make a change or take on a challenge. Some of these led to the most peaceful decisions I have ever made and others were challenging and even terrifying.

            You can read our story here about our conversion and the call to restore openness to life in our marriage. This was one of those decisions that brought much joy and peace to my heart and to my marriage. 

            There was another time though, about four years ago. Since becoming a mom, 9 years earlier, I had struggled with decision I made to work outside the home. It was a warm September afternoon and I was blessed with the opportunity to attend a Catholic Church near my work. I sat there in a pew, praying for a particular client. I boldly asked the Lord “Is this why I am still working here? Do you need me to pray for the people I run into at work?”

            “No, I will use you wherever you are. The work I need you to do is at home.” I heard this voice clearly, as if someone were sitting right beside me. I knew I was alone, and I wasn’t losing my mind. Or was I?

            A whole year went by, after suffering a herniated disc. My husband and I were finally ready to take the plunge. I quit my office job to stay home with my boys, and even found a way to successfully earn an income from home.

            God doesn’t ever stop calling, though. He wants to stretch us out of our comfort zone. Often I have shared with others that we are all on a spiritual journey. Once we acknowledge that we are on a journey, it means we are moving. So God’s call is to keep us moving, so we don’t become stagnant and we continually renew and rekindle our faith.

            Last year I sensed the call to finally take my love of writing seriously. I felt I had to take my writing beyond this blog. I started by taking a writing course. This past summer I completed the course. My instructor was a great supporter and encourager. She seemed to really believe that the novel outline I submitted to her would attract a publisher.

            Here I am once again, aware of the challenge God has set before me. I have no idea what plans he has for my writing. I just know He wants me to write, write and write some more.

            There are many challenges that come with sharing my writing. I think other writers face similar challenges. However, I am stretching myself here, not because I am looking for praise, only because I need your support, encouragement and your prayers.

            My blog readers are very dear to me. You are my first readers! When you take the time to read, share or comment on one of my posts I am sincerely humbled and grateful.

            Here I am. I am writing a novel, entering writing contests and I even joined an on-line challenge to write 50,000 in the month of November.

            Any other writers out there want to join me? http://www.nanowrimo.org/en

            Thank you again and God Bless each of you.

 

Outsourcing – The Antidote or the Poison

                While sitting in the waiting room of a doctor’s office a few months ago, I decided to pass the time by perusing through the magazines laid out on a side table. I picked up a copy of the May 2012 issue of Macleans and read an article titled, “Life with Help”

               “We have lost the village mentality that once sustained our society. We are living in an out of balance society. Outsourcing might not be the ideal but many would say it’s better than the alternative which is to do nothing and continue to run ourselves ragged. Some say outsourcing could even save a marriage. When both spouses work 50 hour work weeks and then squabble over who is doing what. It’s much better for the couple to spend money on help then to put stress on the relationship by arguing over things that don’t matter so much. It’s stupid to pay someone but it’s cheaper than divorce.”

                Do you agree with the above statements?  The only statements I agree with are the first two. We all know the irony of the world today. We have larger vehicles and larger homes, but smaller families. More families with dual incomes, yet we have more debt. The list goes on.

                If you share my sentiment than the quote above is disturbing. We are not working to make a living anymore, we are making a living to work. What is the point of working a 50 hour work week to then spend our hard-earned money for someone else to live our life? We can hire someone to do the gardening; clean the house; walk the dog….

                 Worse yet, as Dorothy Pilarski mentions in her book “Motherhood Matters” we have outsourced the raising of our children too.  When I was working at my last office job, I was outsourcing my children. I paid for someone else to take care of my children. I admit the idea of hiring someone to clean my house was tempting too. We were convinced that we needed to keep up a certain lifestyle. We were ready to fall into this rut. What happened was a change of heart, a conversion, and a lot of logic.

               There are situations where dual incomea are necessary to make a living. I am still a working mom. I have just been blessed with being able to work at home. Not all parents who work and send their kids to daycare are outsourcing their children.

               There is an extreme to “outsourcing our lives.”  It’s a wonder we have allowed ourselves to get this far. As if we would buy a Mercedes-Benz and then pay someone else to drive it, because we don’t have the time to. That is what we are doing with our homes, our pets and our children.

              But it will save a marriage the article says. Save unnecessary arguing over house hold duties if we just hire someone to keep up the house instead.

              Really? 

              Outsourcing our lives is not the antidote it’s the poison. Married couples need to communicate about everything, even household duties. Hiring someone else to do it for us, is just another way the couple remains disconnected.

              Couples can connect through housework, not just by talking about it, but by taking on those jobs together. Some of the best conversations can be had while folding the laundry. There is so much fun to be had as a family while gardening, washing the car, or shoveling the snow.

               If we are running ourselves ragged fitting in a 50 hour work, we need to ask ourselves why we are working so hard? What motivates us to want more stuff that we can’t enjoy? The more stuff we have the more we need to take care of. This is not freedom. This is a form of slavery.

             The only hope this article offers is at the close.

                 “Our children have seen us hiring out, struggling, spending huge hours at work for an organization that doesn’t appreciate us. They’ve seen us get divorced and on prescription drugs. They’ve seen us take stress leave,” In the time ahead, “we’re going to see them saying no a lot more often, and paying for a lot more leisure. They will say, ‘Perfection comes at a cost, and so I’m willing to lower my standards.’

                  Not trying to be a pessimist but I am not so sure this will reign true with our children. Time will tell.

                   However, being raised by parents who are materialistic and slaves to their employer is only setting an example for our children to do the same. Will they stop the cycle?  Or just tweak it?

                   There could be a few outcomes, can’t imagine any would be very positive. It is not perfection that we are all after, it is happiness. If our children continue this pursuit of happiness, they will just spend their money frivolously as well, in search of this temporary happiness.

                     Looking into the future with hope, I can see that some of today’s children will see through the lies we have fallen prey too. Perhaps they will recognize  there is something inherently wrong with the way their parents lived.

                   We all need to realize that happiness in ‘things’ is temporary. If we work to attain ‘things’ it will not lead to lasting joy. Eternal joy is what our heart truly desires, but that can only be found in eternity. Where do we find glimpses of eternal joy in this life?

                  When we set our sights on living with faith, hope and love, laughter, family and friends….

                   I like to leave you with the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson,

What Is Success?

 To laugh often and much,

 To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children,

 To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends,

To appreciate beauty,

 To find the best in others,

 To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived,

 This is to have succeeded.

An Encounter with Love

Most of us enjoy a good story about the first moments we encounter a new love. Be it the story of when a husband and wife first met or of the marriage proposal.  When we first meet a priest, we usually ask him for his vocation story as it too is a story of an encounter with love.

Another meaningful story of an encounter with love is the story of a birth! Since my second son will celebrate his tenth birthday soon, I feel compelled to share his birth story.

His birth was not filled with the dramatic events and tense situations that surrounded our oldest son’s birth which you can read here. Every birth story is a miracle and is unique to each of us. We see God’s fingerprint and original design for all of us from the beginning of our lives.

Having been experiencing contractions for a few days leading up to the big day, I waited one whole hour of experiencing contractions five minutes apart before waking my husband and my sister at seven in the morning on a holiday Monday. We had family in from out-of-town and my parents were hosting a family barbecue. Not the ideal day to go into labour. That was when he chose to make his début.

I would love to say that it was thirteen hours of an uneventful or stress free labour and delivery. Somehow it seems I am meant to have much drama at the delivery of all my babies so far. I am that person first time Mom’s do not want to hear from, since I can’t provide reassuring experiences of a drama free labour and delivery.

In prayer before going into labour, I asked God to protect my baby from any hardship. It was so painful for me to watch our oldest suffer, so I prayed, “Lord, if there is to be any suffering this time, let it fall on me, spare the baby.” Our Lord was happy to oblige.

In the first experience of labour and delivery, receiving the epidural was amazing. In less than five minutes it was administered and shortly afterwards I was pain-free. So when the nurses asked me if I wanted an epidural during my second labour, I was quick to respond with a resounding “yes”.

However, this experience did not mirror the first. It seemed as if the anaesthetist was in the room for hours trying to administer the epidural.

“Forget it,” I pleaded, “I have come this far, I can go the rest of the labor and delivery without pain relief.”

What followed were a few minutes of the nurses convincing me to go through with receiving the epidural. I did eventually concede to it.

Moments later the nurses explained to me that the epidural had been administered. However, in the first attempt the needle had gone too far into my spine and punctured spinal fluid. “This means you will have a severe migraine for the next five to seven days. You are going to feel better lying down.” He said.

“Lying down? I am about to have a baby. What are you talking about?” I was furious but the events of the day, the prospect of meeting my new-born child quickly erased my anger.

Awhile later the nurse’s attempted to find if the epidural had taken effect. While they didn’t say anything to me, I am certain it became clear to them that the epidural had been administered incorrectly.

What I experienced was freezing from the waist up, which is consistent with a thoracic epidural. Being useless to relieve the pain of labour and delivery, I experienced the full pain of natural childbirth.

Despite that fact, I did manage to stay calm and in control through the labour and delivery. I told the nurses when I was ready to push, though they didn’t believe me at first and did not call the doctor. They sure moved fast when I suggested that the nurse could deliver the baby.

The doctor made it on time, and moments later I heard my baby’s first cry. “Thank God for the sound of that.” I said out loud, remembering how I had not heard my oldest son cry when he was first-born.

Twenty four hours later I was being rushed out the door of the hospital with my baby, with only a prescription for minor pain relief. However, what I was feeling was nothing minor.

For the next ten days, I experienced excruciating pain in my head, neck and arms. I could not hold or feed my baby. In fact, I spent those ten days in bed being cared for by my husband.

Being so blessed with a husband who was able to care for me, our new-born son, our three-year old son and even take care of our two bedroom apartment and entertain guests who continued to visit during this time.

Some of those who visited helped him while they were over, and we are forever grateful for those who showed their support and gave us their time and attention during that difficult time.

There have been moments over the years when I feel a tinge of guilt, because I assumed that since I did not bond with my baby right away it could affect our mother son relationship. This is not true.

He has a unique personality and he is like his dad, in so many ways. Watching him grow has been a tremendous blessing.

I look forward to continuing to be there for him as he matures and to witness him become the man God has created him to be. I am ever grateful God granted my prayer and I was able to spare him suffering when he was just a new-born and that he had that special bonding time with his dad.

What Catholics Are Not

There are many misunderstandings about what Catholics believe. Ranging from our devotion to Mary, obedience to the Pope, the priesthood, intercessory prayer from the saints, now the greatest misunderstanding has to do with the Church teaching on sexuality.

When it comes to Church teaching on chastity, openness to life and marriage, Catholics are portrayed as old school, controlling and homophobic.

I don’t usually like to hit these controversial topics head on in my blog.  Today I feel compelled to make an effort to clarify.

Two thousand years of Church teaching can’t be covered in one blog post. There are countless resources to learn more about Church teaching. I’ll provide some here. We need to make sure we are referring to correct and truthful sources.

I will start by defining a few terms.

Phobia is a persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that leads to a compelling desire to avoid it.

Controlling means to exercise restraint or direction over; to dominate or command.

Being “old school” is synonymous with the word Conservative which refers to someone who is disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.

As Catholic’s, we are not relativist. We believe in universal right and wrong, and we acknowledge that some acts are sinful. We are all sinners. Only one man was without sin and that was Jesus Christ. We also believe that Jesus’ mother was without sin, however explaining that is a whole other post.

Since we all have sin, we cannot judge people or condemn them. However, we do need to judge actions as ‘right’ or ‘wrong.’ We need to do this in our personal effort to do what is right, and to teach our children the difference between ‘right’ and ‘wrong.’  We accept that people can be drawn to certain sins over others. The sin that one person struggles with does not define who they are as persons. We don’t try to make them feel better by justifying their sin.

For example while one person may struggle with laziness, another person may struggle with addiction.  We would not buy alcohol for the person who is an alcoholic. We might offer help to that person. Ultimately the person has to choose to be helped. Until he reaches the point of wanting help, we continue to love that person without enabling the addiction. I think we can all recognize the logic in this, whether we are Catholic or not.

We do not fear people who live the homosexual lifestyle. We believe that the homosexual act is a sin. Therefore, defining a person by this act is not only incorrect it is unfair. The homosexual act is a sin against chastity. There are other sins against chastity, as well.

We believe that God is the author of sex and marriage. When he created man and woman, his first commandment was “be fruitful and multiply.” There is only one way for a man and woman to be fruitful and multiply. Marriage is sacred and the marital act is a renewal of the marriage vows. On their wedding day the couple promises to be total gifts to each other by being fruitful and faithful forever. A same-sex couple cannot naturally be fruitful. God did not design humans to be created between same-sex couples. Only a man and a woman can be fruitful.

We could get into more in-depth reasoning here as well. If we explore what it means to be a total gift to each other, and what it means to be faithful.

We need to have rules. The rules of the Church are actually God’s rules. We believe our Church leaders are inspired by the Holy Spirit to guide us in these moral issues. This doesn’t mean that they are impervious to sin. We all have a conscience. Without a moral compass, and someone to teach us the difference between right and wrong, we’d have to learn by trial and error. Indeed many of us do choose to live our lives this way. Ignoring the rules and dealing with the natural consequences.

Why do we need rules? God assigned rules to things that bring us pleasure food, sleep and sex. We work to find a balance between pleasure derived from eating and over indulging. If we sleep too much or too little it will affect our ability to be productive in our work and in our life. So we are not saying don’t ever enjoy sleeping or eating. We are bombarded with variations of how to keep up a healthy lifestyle while still enjoying our favourite foods and enjoying our times of rest.

In the same way we need to find a balance when it comes to enjoying sex. God gave us some guidance to follow so that we could keep up a healthy lifestyle in this area of our lives as well.

What are consequences to overindulging in sex? We view people as objects for pleasure, teenage pregnancies, and addiction to pornography, sexually transmitted diseases, and increased divorce rates resulting in children being raised in broken homes, abortion – which is the killing of human life in the womb. These are only a few of the physical consequences.

How does God enforce the rules? He doesn’t take away our choice, He doesn’t control us and neither do the Church leaders. The consequences themselves should be enough for us to be deterred from overindulging in food, sleep and sex. This problem is many of us don’t recognize the consequences or care about the consequences. We make a choice based on the information we have and our emotions. Where are we getting our information from? Making decisions based on emotions is irresponsible, since our emotions change constantly.

We also believe that sin separates us from God. We believe that as human beings we are physical and spiritual beings. We believe that what we do with our bodies, affects our souls. Our goal is to live a life in union God so that when our physical bodies can no longer survive in this world, our spiritual soul can live in union with God forever. However, a soul that is stained with sin must be purified before entering heaven. Depending on the severity of the stains we may not be given the opportunity to be purified.

Some say, ‘if we all have sin and no one’s perfect why bother trying?’ God knows our hearts. He knows if we are sincerely trying to avoid sin. Even if we often fail in our effort, it’s the choice we make at that time that matters. Do I just give up and continue to sin? Do I persevere and try again?

This is why we cannot judge others. Only God knows your heart. He knows if you have chosen to give up trying to do the right thing. Or if you are struggling to do what is right and good, even though it’s hard and sometimes you fail. It’s not that we fail that matters, so much as the effort we put into trying to succeed.

The third and final point is that Catholic’s are ‘old school.’ As I get older, and learn more about my Catholic faith I realized that being called old school, traditional or conservative is not a bad thing.

In my family we have many traditions. These traditions provide security, stability and confidence. At times, we have had to change our traditions to do what is best for everyone.  These changes don’t effect who we are as a family. As an example, my family used to celebrate Christmas on the eve of December 24^th. When my sisters and I were married our husband’s families also celebrated on Christmas Eve. So we changed our tradition to getting together on Christmas day. We didn’t stop celebrating Christmas.

The Church operates in much the same way. There have been some changes and adapting within the Church over the years. The changes have to be good for everyone and not change the fundamentals of what makes us Catholic.

Even if you don’t agree with the Catholic teachings and traditions, there has to be respect. Those of you who choose not to live or follow the Catholic faith don’t want us Catholics indoctrinating your children with our beliefs. In the same way, we as Catholics do not want others to indoctrinate our children in matters that are contrary to our faith. We are not teaching our children to hate, bully or judge.

If you are interested in further reading, here are a few resources:

http://www.catholic.net/index.php?option=channel&canal=Bible School&id=1&grupo=Church Teaching Q%26A

http://www.catholicscomehome.org/

http://thetheologyofthebody.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0-wXODqTsU

http://www.wearecatholic.ca/

Hope is Greater Than Fear: Hunger Games in Review

 

*Spoiler Alert*

This post is in response to those negative reviews I have read on the Hunger Games by other fellow Catholic bloggers. I sense that if we don’t give this movie an in-depth look then we can easily give it a brush stroke review and claim it is as deplorable for being entertained by children killing children. However, if we do, we miss so much.

I am only part way through the first book. After watching the movie, I couldn’t help but see the correlation between this futuristic world and the current situation we Catholics are facing.  

For those of you unfamiliar with the story line here is a brief synopsis as found on wikipedia.   The Hunger Games is a young adult novel written by Suzanne Collins. It is written in the voice of sixteen-year-old who lives in a post-apocalyptic world in the country where North America once existed. The Capitol, a highly advanced metropolis, holds absolute power over the rest of the nation. The Hunger Games are an annual event in which one boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 from each of the 12 districts surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle in which only one person can survive. This serves as punishment for a previous rebellion against the Capitol in which a 13th district was destroyed and as a reminder that the Capitol has complete control over the districts.

The main characters in the story are from district 12. They are fairly poor and struggle to survive. Hunting small game and trading what they can for bread and supplies. The Capitol has arranged it so that the children between the ages of 12 to 18 can receive a year supply of grain and oil by having their name submitted to the hunger games lottery twice as many times. So they are forced into increasing their chances of being selected for the hunger games.

It is clear from the onset that with the exception of one or two of the twelve districts, this is an involuntary process. I couldn’t help but compare it to the Gladiators of old, where criminals and slaves face each other in an arena and were forced to fight to the death for sport. These slaves and criminals were used for sport, robbed of their human dignity and seen as otherwise not being able to contribute to society. The difference in the hunger games is that the Capitol uses children as young as twelve for this same purpose. However, that is not the story. It’s not just for sport.

The Capitol seeks to control every aspect of the people’s lives. Including the viewing of the games, this is mandatory. They manipulate the children in the game, and use propaganda.

While this story does deal with death and killing and may be too violent for some young, sensitive viewers, I feel that it is no more violent than what we have seen in Lord of the Rings movies, or Chronicles of Narnia. The characters are victims of injustice and a corrupt government.

The characters face a moral dilemma, where they either have to kill or be killed. The protagonist only kills in self-defence. This is understandable and even permissible as we read in the Youth Catechism #380; someone who is actually attacking the lives of others may and must be stopped, if necessary by killing the attacker himself. 

There are two grey areas with regards to the killing. In one scene we see the main character kill another teenager who is being mauled by vicious dogs. It is clear that this character was going to die a slow, painful and tortuous death. This sort of “put him out of his misery” killing brings up the debate of mercy killing.

When we see all situations through the eyes of faith we acknowledge that suffering has meaning. We know that our suffering and the suffering of others is our road to heaven. While it is painfully difficult to watch others suffer, when we “put others out of their misery” we rob them of the opportunity to be purified in this life. Only God knows what suffering awaits them in the next, since we all must be purified before entering heaven.  We also place our own soul in danger for taking another life.

In another scene two of the characters talk about committing double suicide by eating poisonous berries. They share that this will be better than having to kill each other. We know it is to ‘call the bluff’ of the Capitol or the game makers. Still through the eyes of faith we know that suicide is never an option.

This brings us to the other points worthy of discussion. There is a lack of spirituality in this story. The Capitol is like god; they can create matter out of nothing and offer miraculous ointments that cure burns and cuts overnight. What the Capitol accepts as signs of rebellion is very different from what we’d expect. Subtle acts, such as, refusing to clap and cheer when the protagonist volunteers for the hunger games to save her twelve-year-old sister from going.  Showing respect for another character after she’s been killed by surrounding her dead body with flowers and saluting. A true rebellion would be to refuse to kill each other in the game. This would mean the game makers would create fires and creatures for them to face to the death but they would still show up the Capitol by refusing to play their game. In one scene we see the game maker and the president discussing the possibility of killing the protagonist, because she has shown them up with these subtle acts of rebellion, but they know that by doing so they will make her a martyr.

 At first glance, I wondered why kill the youth? Did they view them as useless members of society? Actually, it seems  the opposite. The youth are more likely to attempt a rebellion. So the Capitol ensures that they are divided, creating a game that ensures they look out for themselves as they attempt to survive. Also, the youth give hope and the Capitol knows that too much hope can be a dangerous thing. They rob the parents of hope, by making them completely reliant on the Capitol for limited food and aid. As a parent, when we can’t protect our own children, we would very easily feel powerless and hopeless. The difference between the real world and this fictional world is that in hunger games there is no supernatural hope.

Hope cannot be taken from us by an oppressive government, because hope comes to us from God. You Cat #308 explains, hope is the power by which we firmly and constantly long for what we were placed on earth to do; to praise God and to serve him; and for our true happiness, which is finding fulfillment in God; and for our final home; in God. Hope is trusting in what God has promised us….even though we do not yet see it. God’s Holy Spirit is given to us so that we can patiently hope for Truth.

The message in this story that “Hope is greater than fear” is a strong and timely message for us. This is not a time to be passive about our beliefs. This is not a time for us to sit back, wait and see what happens. This is a time for us to stand for what we believe. To be the people of hope we are called to be.

In Canada, our government is threatening to corrupt our children. While they are not organizing a slaughter of their physical bodies, what they are threatening is much worse. They are threatening to endanger their souls, corrupt their morals and bully us parents into accepting it as they are sneaking it into to our education system.

Our youth are the hope for a better future. Satan knows this as well as we do, so here is the effort to rob us of our hope. The Hunger Games has provided us an opportunity to discuss, with our youth, the importance of hanging on to hope.

Say NO to Bill 13

So I write today after attending the Dynamic Women of Faith conference and after viewing The Hunger Games…so what is the correlation?

At the Dynamic Women of Faith conference we heard from so many dynamic speakers, including Michael Coren, Dorothy Pilarski, and Dr. Teresa Pierre and many other women who shared their personal testimonies of God acting in their lives.

While all the speakers had important messages to share, the one that had the most impact on me was the passion in Dr. Teresa Pierre’s talk. Dr. Teresa Pierre is from Parents As First Educators (PAFE) who are working diligently to defend parental rights and freedoms that are being threatened by Bill 13. Bill 13 mandates a radical curriculum in sexual education that proposes to change our children’s attitudes toward gender identity.   This attitude is one that goes against our Catholic teaching. Under the facade of an anti-bullying effort, what it really does is bully us parents into allowing our children to be taught information that is directly contrary to our beliefs and morals.

If this is the first you are hearing of this, then I urge you to get informed. There is ample information on-line to help you get informed and to act in opposition to this revision. Visit the following websites and watch the following video:

http://www.canadianvalues.ca/SCC/index.html

http://www.p-first.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkIs4EL1HQ0

I have written a separate post on the Hunger games where I share my opinion on what lesson we can draw from the story to help us in this situation.

We know Christ wins out in the end, so why are we afraid to speak up. We know we are on the winning team. We have no reason to back down. We must fight for our rights as parents to educate our children.

Some ways to act:

Attend the youth rally at Queens Park in Toronto on March 29 at 2:00pm

Dial1-800-267-8097 to contact your MPP and Minister of Education. Tell them to stop Bill 13 because it focuses on protecting just some groups instead of all students. Tell them not to let the legal system be used to destroy parental rights and obligations. Bullying parents, teachers & children is not a way to stop bullying in schools!

Sign the petition at: http://www.canadianvalues.ca/SCC/index.html

Stay informed through: http://www.p-first.com/

 

Women Minstering to Women

We’ve heard it said that “iron sharpens iron” and that is so true.

In the past few years during my reversion to the Catholic faith and afterwards, it has been the example and support of other women, wives and mothers that have been a source of strength and encouragement for me.

Years ago, I would read Proverbs 31 daily. I wanted so much to be like the woman in the proverb. So I prayed that God would send me a friend who was living like the woman praised in Proverbs 31 so that I could have a mentor.

Well, God is gracious and not only did He send me one, He sent me a few! Some of these ladies are very close friends of mine. Others have been more like acquaintances that I have the opportunity to speak with occasionally and to witness God’s action in their lives from a distance.

Either way, I am always encouraged by their strong faith, their love for Christ and their families.

God knows I am still far from being a Proverbs 31 woman.  That is why I continue to attend my weekly prayer meeting with other women and why I enjoy attending reflections, retreats and conferences. It’s my time to be renewed and refreshed.  

These events take me away from my family for a time. But when my husband encourages a supports my attendance, I have to assume that I am a better wife and mom when I return from these events. I know he is a better husband and father when he takes the time to attend men’s spiritual events.

Why am I sharing this today?

Why am I sharing this today? I encourage you, to attend this upcoming Dynamic Women of Faith conference.  I have attended this conference for the last two years and it has proven to be a truly uplifting and eye opening event.

I am not used to self promoting. However, I am excited and humbled that Dorothy Pilarski, author or Motherhood Matters and blogger at Gutsy Catholic Mom has invited me to be one of the many talented and inspiration panel speakers. I plan to share the story surrounding our new son’s birth. One I have not shared on this blog yet! You’ll have to attend the event to hear it for the first time.

If you would like more information about regular monthly reflection or annual retreats contact me through this blog and I’ll be in touch.