A place to fill you up!

We've been in New Orleans for 4 months! It would seem like we would have hit up all the famous NOLA churches while we've been here, but... we haven't. So when I saw that one of the churches had mass at the appropriate time, we got in the van (30 minutes early bc that's how long it takes to reach your downtown destination from uptown) and found street parking (it's own miracle bc it was a home game) and went to mass at St Patrick's Catholic Church. This place has stain-glass that will take your breath away, and it's altar is beautiful wood, and it's ceiling over the altar (which probably has a fancy name) is (little known fact) ALL Tiffany's glass.

As we entered, the ushers were handing out  booklets with the bulletins, which I politely refused because I didn't want to tear them apart with our little tree frog fingers that some of our kiddos have. As we found our place, I noticed a few things were different: 3 priests, nobody facing the congregation, 18 altar servers... THE LATIN MASS... extra-ordinary form... Oh no!! Deep breaths...Now this can either be a BEAUTIFUL thing or a complete disaster! We already have trouble keeping the kiddos interested when mass is in ENGLISH... and to boot, we sit close to the front in order to keep them focused on what is going on up on the alter. So now we're up at the front, no booklets, no real clue as to what's going on (except for David who's pretty familiar with everything, though his Latin is not quite memorized), and to top it off, I'm the only female without a mantilla (the lace veil over my head) minus the Packers fans in the back of church whose heads were still covered with a cap at least.

So how on Earth was this so fulfilling? Well we were among one of the smaller families in church. There were many young, large families there (all whose little girls had their heads covered), and so our family noises were not a problem for ANYONE! The reading and the homily were in English, and I knew what to say in English in response to the Latin, though a booklet would have been helpful at this point. The Music... sigh... the music spoke such love and reverence that had we not been with our children, I would have been a BASKET CASE of tears because it was all so beautiful!! Harmony Harmony Harmony Harmony. Gets me every time.

The main reason it was so refreshing and fulfilling is that Jesus was THE MOST IMPORTANT person there. The 18 altar servers (all men ranging from 8 to 60s') looked like true soldiers for Christ! All the movements about the sanctuary (i.e. the main altar) were obviously very rehearsed and it said very clearly, "This is important to us and Jesus is the focus." It occurred to me that even if someone who WASN'T Catholic came here, they would have known that Jesus was the most important person. There was a candle procession of altar servers just before Consecration to a four-part harmony of SANCTUS SANCTUS SANCTUS (Holy Holy Holy) as if to say, "Ok everyone, Jesus is coming down to us in just a few moments. Let's get the place ready"

The fact that it was in Latin didn't bother anyone (anyone, referring to John Paul, Therese, Jacob, and Micah). It was novel for our kids, and it felt less like something I couldn't understand/relate to and more like what was happening was so important and so heavenly that mere English just wasn't reverent enough. Gosh, I LOVE the Church! There was SO much to see and hear and smell, that I wanted to shout from the streets, "BRING YOUR CHILDREN TO CHURCH- I PROMISE THEY WON'T BE BORED." And obviously I was so moved by this mass that I had to tell someone about it... and I happen to have a blog. It made me appreciate both forms (the "English" being referred to as Novus Ordo, whose meaning I have no idea), but it was such a realization that the church has more to offer than I realize!

So... St Patrick's Church in New Orleans. You won't be disappointed... even if you don't speak Latin... which I don't!
Deo Gratias! (ok I know a little bit).

Did you know...

In light of the Church's feast of Guardian Angels...

Every person born has a guardian angel? I'm sure we've all heard it before, and we picture this:

Which is sweet, but I thought I would give a shout out to our family's guardian angels and encourage you to think a little bit more about you own (and your spouse's and your children's as well). Imagine that since the beginning of your soul's creation - like inside your mother's womb) you were given an angel- HAND-PICKED by God to be by your side AT ALL TIME... FOR YOUR ENTIRE LIFE! Maybe it's a little more like this...

Or this

Your guardian angel is BOTH beholding the face of God while at the same time walking with you step by step through all your life's details- waking or sleeping. It's not easy to picture, because as it turns out (a little catechesis for you) angels are not people who have died and "gone to be an angel" nor do they really even have bodies. (We as humans have both bodies and spirits, angels have spirits without bodies, and animals are bodies without spirits,) Don't worry- our loved ones in Heaven are beholding the face of God NO DOUBT, but they are actually higher than the angels (why do you think Satan was so mad at God for that decision?) and are not assigned to do that intense work that angels have to do...

I digress. I wanted to share with you a though. A prayer. Our guardian angels have names - given to them by God. Why don't you ask God what those names are? David and I when we first had children began to ask that question.
David's is Philip, Mine is Bartholomew, John Paul's is Angela, Therese's is James, Jacob's is Stanislaus, and Micah's is Philomena ... crazy names, right? Not some that we would come with on our own for sure (believe me, I was hoping for a name different than my own... sorry Bartholomew). I just want to put out there that if we knew the names of our own angel, it could help us to recognize it's work and have more gratitude for God's mercy and compassion to be so generous with his legions of angels- so loving as to give us EACH our very own. What a kind and merciful God. So go ahead, ask Him. I PROMISE He'll answer you...

An Overdue Dawson Update... bullet form

• We are now 15 weeks pregnant for our next little miracle. I had a small gift given to me recently in Adoration. I (tried to) picture the moment when I get to hold him/her (which is really an impossible thing to do), and while I couldn't see a face, I got a taste of the feeling I will have.
• This child is (how do you say) 100% God's idea- what an incredible moment it will be to behold the face of a child whose existence was completely HIS thought.
• Our house is under contract and we are in the middle of the waiting game: appraisal, inspection (which brought the price of the house down... again), termite inspection.
• We're looking for a house, not sure if we can afford to buy (this side of the state is bloody expensive, ya hear?) or rent, and we're waiting for God to tell us if it should be north or south shore.
• I'll translate: Northshore - north of Lake Pontchartrain including, but not limited to Mandeville, Covington, Abita Springs, and Madisonville. Southshore: Metairie, Kenner, and all the little areas of what falls south of Lake Pontchartrain that are too numerous to mention.
•  My  sister, brother-in-law and their 2 precious girls have moved back to Lake Charles... like a few days ago, so we haven't been west to see them. So glad to have them closer. An answer to prayer for sure!
• Micah says a lot of words: Daddy (no, not Mama), ice, please, Body of Christ/Amen (and feeds himself), and  sings Alleluia.
• My brother is getting married in less than a month... crazy.
• One child (nameless for the purposes of dignity) has fully begun to explore the pushing of the envelope: how much can I get out of you/this situation, and what can I get a way with without getting in trouble? It's a bit of an emotional experience for this pregnant,dramatic mama.
• We've begun attending the daily masses at Notre Dame seminary from time to time, which is filled with seminarians and priests (and like two other single women), and a few professors who are married. That should explain itself... it's pretty interesting.
• We recently celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary... so grateful for my precious (and incredibly good-looking) husband and for a wonderful, fulfilling marriage. (Thanks, Elaine for babysitting)
• I'm really beginning to feel the ache of being without friends. We have some family here, but there is no replacing friends that are so deep in my heart. You know who you are..... with that being said...
• God has provided sweet and holy friends for us to meet here (and some old ones too) and we are so grateful that they are opening their homes and their hearts to us.
• Jacob has become extra snugly, making sure that before any sort of management takes place (diaper-changes, food-dishing, disciplining), he gets a hug. It looks like this: Me- Jacob lets [fill in the blank]. Jacob- Mama, I hug. What a priority check to the question of "Am I mothering or am I managing?"
• John Paul is reading well and adding in his head. (Through no teaching of mine, you see) He isn't that interested in drawing/coloring pictures during Religion. He's much more interested in dialogues...I kind of feel like we should have pipes while discussing questions like: What does it mean to know God? or What is the most important thing Jesus did for us?
• We will be attending a retreat for married couples this weekend on the Northshore (St Ben's Monastery) and will be giving another Domestic Church retreat this November. This will be a first for this side of the state (the BR/NOLA area if you're interested).
• If you read in a previous post about the broken dishwasher being spiritually enriching and thought I was holy, let me clear the air... the dishwasher has broken again (it was a precious 3 weeks of having it back). It doesn't fill my soul like the last go-round, but I have simply worked hand washing into the routine (helped considerably by watching a series set in the 40's... keep reading). Maybe if I donned a cutesy apron, I would be happy to do it...
• It has been a time of heart/soul stretching, finding creative ways to stretch our food dollar and enjoy the weekends when David is home and when friends come to visit.
• In one particular week, we had friends come for various conferences, trainings, visiting, and school- Wednesday through Sunday that week we had overlapping visitors every day and night. It was such a nice break from the regular routine! So grateful for that week!!
• Therese LOVES pre-K. In fact, she asks for more school than I can provide. She literally says, "I want to do more school, Mama. Please teach me." 
• If I could find my bloomin' home school stuff, baby... so we're making do and the kids seems to be enjoying just fine. That's all I can ask for at this point.
• Just finished watching "The Pacific" - the series done by the guys who did "Band of Brothers" - learned a lot and my heart is aching for the men, the loss, the stripping of souls of then men who returned, the change of the times. We learned a lot, stayed awake late all week (there were 10 hour-long episodes), and tossed and turned every night trying to process what we had just learned. Deep Sigh- that was exhausting... and now to watch the entire DVD of special features.
• We've gone home to visit LC one time... and due to David's work ethic and his refusal to skip work as I had suggested, I drove with the kiddos SOLO... not bad (when you stop at Jimmy Johns in BR to have lunch with Pete and Julia!) 
• And now for pictures...

 John Paul (now 6... sorry, forgot to mention that)
and Jacob (3 next month) at Chili's after playing on the Northshore.

 The drive back from LC

 My sweet Therese picks me flowers every day

 One day of school, Micah decided the Sister's lap was the ideal place to play. 

She obliged... for over an hour.

 The newest Dawson at 13 weeks

 Micah enjoys what is clearly dancing with Mama Mary! He knows how to pick 'em!

Joesph and Dominique's picture in the paper...

We are learning a lot, enjoying being just us (which has been an unexpected treasure) and learning to trust in God's Providence and His plan for us. Our hearts are full, and we are grateful...

For anyone who needs these words today...

Press play and read the lyrics...

Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side;

Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;

Leave to thy God to order and provide;

In every change He faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heavenly, Friend

Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul, though dearest friends depart

And all is darkened in the vale of tears;

Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,

Who comes to soothe thy sorrows and thy fears.

Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still know

His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul; the hour is hastening on

When we shall be forever with the Lord,

When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,

Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.

Be still, my soul; when change and tears are past,

All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

(For Maria)

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

On Friday Therese brought me her workbook and said to me, "Mama please teach me!" How do you say no to that? I knew I wanted to begin earlier than most home school families because the baby is coming in March, and it would be ideal to be done with school by then. So if we begin early, and if we don't take off for Advent and Lent (which is what I did last year), then we should blow through the year in time for our next  little present to arrive...

I have misplaced ALL my home school supplies somewhere among our stored things. So I found these books at Costco and bought one for each of them...

This book has JP's work separated into many topics, not just reading and math, but phonics, reading comp, vocab, addition, time, money, etc. It's great.

Here's the kiddos at the work table. I would like to add that Therese also has on her plastic heels as well.

We're learning religion this year from the St Joseph's First Communion Catechism...

John Paul's first spelling lesson... this was week one. So what do I do now? Crazy smart kid.

And here is Therese's craft work... which of course used almost the entire container of glue... she's so eager to do work that I will have to find other stuff for her to do. John Paul was not interested in art/crafts,and PreK is not that involved in the home school world. I kept saying, "Therese, you're done with school, you can go play." But she refused to leave and ask for more things to do. 

And as for Jacob, he played magic tea party, then I let him mess around with scissors. You heard me. I was standing right there and he had a wonderful time and was totally occupied. Micah was in his bed and eventually fell asleep. I know that won't work everyday, but he's a climber and so if he's not napping he'll be attempting to climb the table. He's really not the "sit in his high chair and color" type, so I'll have to come up with something for him when he decides not to acquiesce to my napping request.

Good good first day! Praise God!

Glordinary...

Today we celebrate THIS... the Transfiguration. Basically Jesus became glowing with His own awesomeness and Moses and Elijah (representing the Law and the Prophets) came to chat with Him. This experience revealed to his three closest apostles that HE was the fulfillment of the law and the prophets and that He was exactly who has had been saying He was. Actually the Voice of God told them, too, when it boomed from a cloud: "This IS my beloved Son. Listen to Him" which is why I like this image best- those apostles are FREAKING OUT!! They are literally blown away by how AWESOME and GLORIOUS their friend/savior/companion really is. The reality is almost too much to handle. Why does He do this? He's giving them strength- a mountain-top  (a great post by my sweet friend at Humble Handmaid) experience to empower them to undergo what happens after this, which is, of course, Jesus' suffering and crucifixion in order that they might also experience the Resurrection.

So my prayer today has been that God will reveal His glory to me and to David, that we may have hope to help us to continue doing what we're doing. So what happened at Mass? After communion I prayed that same prayer - Lord show me your glory that I may have courage to do what you call me to do- and do you know what he told me? "The glory is in the ordinary" WHAT?!?! Seriously. Womp Womp. I am not to proud to admit that I was a bit disappointed in hearing this. If we're honest with ourselves, we can say that we desperately want (and expect) that if we ask God to reveal Himself to us that He will come in all that awesomeness that Peter, James, and John were allowed to see. And because this doesn't actually happen most of the time, we're pretty disappointed with God...

So what do I do? What does God mean for me to experience this Feast Day? I know He doesn't mean for me to feel disappointment. So I'm thinking about exactly what the "ordinary" looks like... I call to mind what I received from the retreat (Focus on what God IS doing and not on what He is NOT doing), and I am looking around at the ordinary and finding glory in it...

We are living in a 4800 sq ft home (granted it needs COMPLETE renovation, has bees and a broken dishwasher) that is large enough to be worthy of both inside and outside activities for my kids. We get our Daddy home at 4:30 every day because he walks home from work in 5 minutes. Judging by the constant queasiness, we are in fact blessed with another precious life that is helping our family to grow to the size that we've hoped for (a BIG size). The dishwasher is broken, and in washing each child's/husband's dish individually I am amazed at how it evokes a DEEP appreciation for that person's life ("Aw, Jacob's oatmeal bits, Micah's banana pieces on his bottle, David's sopping up every bit of everything on his plate that I barely need to wash it). We are minutes from more parks and libraries than I can count. All our home school stuff is somewhere in storage and I cannot locate it, but I am so pumped to get started early so that by march (baby time) we will be through and can love on our newest addition. There isn't a morning that David doesn't wake up with a huge smile on his face just to see me  (oh and it's a pretty sight, indeed). I have time pretty much every afternoon where all four are sleeping or at least horizontal, allowing me to have to time to pray, sleep, cook, chat, or blog.

Ordinary... but truly Glorious... Glordinary? New word. Write it Down.

Best and most of all, I see that our children GLORY in their ordinary days. I don't see them waking up with anything but TOTAL excitement that another day has arrived. I want to be like that. They don't even know what the day holds are what day it even is, but they love to be US- our family. That is glory and awesomeness to them. "Would that you would be come like little children {to enter} the kingdom of God"...

" The angel carried me away in spirit to the top of a very high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. The city had no need for sun or moon, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb." Revelation 21:10,23

This realization of God's glory in the ordinary (His Glordinary :) is what can empower me (US) to do what we have been called to do. How often do we say/hear that the world is going somewhere in a hand basket? What can we do about it beside sit back and say "oh, what a shame" ? We can have Glordinary! We can live day in and day out in the monotony- and LOVE IT! This will change hearts, because the first hearts it can change is MINE! Then it flows to my kids and  their precious hearts will change others, and so on and so on. That is the power of the Transfiguration! That is Glordinary power!! I am finding mine...

"And He lead them up onto a high mountain, and there He was transfigured before them..."

A family retreat... a change in focus

We've recently returned from the Domestic Church annual family retreat in Black Mountain, North Carolina.

A family retreat... is it possible that those two words function in the same sentence, you ask? Last year, we had our very first retreat, and it was in St Francisville, LA. We had 19 families (complete with 43 children; 9 of whom were under that age of 1 year), and this year we traveled a bit further because the retreat was extended from 4 days to 8 days. It was a 14 hour drive for our LC crew ( minus 3 hours for us New Orlean-ians), and I want to give a shout-out to may AWESOME kiddoes for doing a fantastic job during that drive (both ways)! Aside from one child getting car-sick in the first our, it was COMPLETELY uneventful! Those kids survived it, and they did so without a DVD player (bc we don't have one, not because we're martyrs)!


There were 10 familes and around 25 children (one of whom was 5 weeks old)...
So what happens with our children? The children basically have their own mini-retreat going on simultaneously headed up by different adults each day while the other adults experience Scripture study, talks on prayer and the spiritual life given by different retreatants, and couple prayer and dialogue. That all takes place in the morning and evening sessions, but the entirety of the afternoon is dedicated to "family time" where we spend time together as families. This year involved many hikes, rock-hopping, swimming, creek-exploring, Biltmore sight-seeing, etc. Here's a few pics captured from those precious times...

 Chimney Rock North Carolina - we decided to hike the stairs up to it... no we weren't on anything, we just wanted a challenge. ALL the kids made it like champs... even Jacob the 2 1/2 yr old.

Is it possible? You think? There was a grocery store (for all us who had to continue to go to the store to buy milk and diapers), a wash-a-teria, and the retreat center was just like a Motel, with 2 queen beds in every room, towel service, and a HUGE porch covered with rocking chairs, and of course, complete with a full few of the Blue Ridge Mountains. My parents came on the retreat, too, which meant that we had Therese sleeping in their room every night, Jacob and John Paul in a bed, and Micah in a pac-n-play. So going to bed a night was hysterical with Jacob and John Paul leg wrestling (Jacob discovered new-found freedom not sleeping in a pac-n-play for the first time) and Micah would call out to them like a dog in the night... howwwl. After a few rounds of shh-ings by David we would eventually fall asleep... around 10:30. All the early risers with hang in a common room and drink coffee before morning prayer (complete with much sought after Community Coffee- sorry Maxwell House, you just don't cut it). It went beautifully! Much better than we ever expected.

A few things that I have decided to share with you about what God did for our marriage just in case your vocations/marriages may be in a similar place:

A retreat (a week-long especially) gives you time to evaluate your life and its details in a way that also give you a chance to work on a CHANGE to it (as opposed to simply seeing the problem then going home as a shorter retreat might do).

David and I came to 3 huge realizations (from our couple dialogue and couple prayer). I share it with you because it applies to you, it will change everything by the grace of God.

1) I have been focused on what God is NOT doing and being disappointed and resentful because of it.
2) David has been carrying our marriage when it comes to addressing walls between. I was a comfortable with complacency, and I relied on his sensitivity to certain situations and relied on him to bring up any problems that needed discussing. I imagine many marriages have one spouse who does a lot of the grunt work when it comes to the relationship dynamic, and I imagine that it's a lonely place. Since returning home, we've BOTH made a point of tackling walls AS SOON AS they come about. It's been helpful so far...
3) GOD has revealed to us that two things that HE desires for our marriage and for our family are JOY and AWE (yes we asked Him directly and waited in silence for His answer... it's part of the formation materials... I suggest trying it out!).

I hope this has given my readers (whoever/wherever you are) something to chew on. God is faithful and the fruits and graces of this retreat have been EVIDENT!!

God be praised!!