Although I’m hardly a fan of the midwestern swarms of mosquitos, Indiana is also the land of many other far more fascinating insects including the tiniest of dragons. These two blessed me by stilling their delicate wings long enough for me to snap a photo.
Although I will likely never get used to the Midwest humidity, nature sings a very different tune. It’s a blessing to be able to step out my door into a land where everything grows. The neighborhood is teeming with life and color and I can’t get enough of it.
The world needs more moms. Even before my conversion to the faith I was acutely aware of the multitude of ways, big and small, that my mom was lovingly shaping my life for the better. For many years now I’ve aspired to be just like her. Here are some of the life changing mommisms that guided me to the beautiful life I have today.
Amid sweltering Indiana summers I can recall hiking with my family in Colorado in the springtime. There are some places where the trees are always green and the snow never melts. My childhood was blessed with late July snowball fights up in the high country.
In light of the birth of our beautiful baby girl my husband and I were recently set to our very first task in her religious upbringing, selecting her godparents. Fortunately, every godfather need not be an infamous Italian mobster and godmothers may forgo the magic wand and fairy wings. As with many things today I think the purpose of godparents has gotten a bit lost in more secular traditions, even among devout Catholic circles. Choosing godparents is not at all akin to deciding on members of a wedding party. To be a godfather or godmother is not simply a sentimental honorific title, bestowed upon your closest friends or family. There is one question which must be considered when making this decision. In the unlikely event that you and your spouse are unable to raise your child, who can most be counted on to ensure your baby receives proper faith formation?
Although it certainly is an honor to be one’s godparent (I myself am a proud godmother of two), that is not the primary purpose of the position. Godparents should be chosen for the good of the child only. It is an immense responsibility and a job with defined qualifications. In order to raise a child in the faith one must be of the faith. Both godparents must be practicing Catholics in good standing with the Church. This means they must have received their sacraments of initiation, be regularly attending Sunday mass, and receive the Sacrament of reconciliation at least once a year. It’s only strictly necessary for one godparent to be assigned in order for a child to be baptized in the Catholic Church. In the event that a godmother and godfather can’t be found a member of another christian denomination may participate as a christian witness. However, again, this is for the good of the child and thus, a christian witness should only be considered after exhausting all other options and not as a means of honoring a non-Catholic friend or family member. Additionally, in acknowledgement of the complementary nature of men and women, a child may have only one godfather and one godmother. These will each fulfill a critical and unique role should you and your spouse be indisposed.
However, godparents are not only called upon to act in the event of tragedy. There are countless little ways godparents can support a child in their faith after baptism. First and foremost, they can and should pray for their godchild. They can also call or send a gift every year on the anniversary of the baptism. In many ways, this day is far more significant than a birthday and ought to be celebrated as such. Children’s books telling the story of the nativity, a first bible or a first rosary are all excellent gift ideas for any occasion but especially on a child’s baptism day.
Ultimately, a godparent should put forth some effort to be an active participant and role model in the lives of their godchildren. Love these little ones and pray for them as often as possible. How easy it is to slip into habits which turn us away from God in this secular society. As such, every child ought to be able to count on an army of prayer warriors to guide them. There is truly no limit to the power of prayer.
There is something undeniably miraculous in the natural symmetry of the world. Every petal was grown to reflect His perfect plan.
Although I officially entered the Catholic Church three years ago, my conversion did not end when I received the sacraments. Quite the opposite. I am still learning and growing in my faith as I suspect I will for the rest of my life. One blaring difference I’ve noticed since converting is my attitude toward children. I’ve known that I wanted to be a wife and mother from the time I was learning to walk. Despite our lack of faith in my upbringing, the importance of family was among the first lessons to be taught in ours. My childhood was truly blessed with an abundance of love from my mom, my dad and my big sister.
That kind of close-knit family unit seemed to me the ultimate recipe for perfect happiness, not too big and not too small. I grew up with so many reasons why four was the ideal number for a family. Although we bickered like siblings, I loved having a sister and I know she feels the same. We didn’t always get along but I wouldn’t have wanted to go through childhood with anyone else, especially in comparison to our classmates’ sibling relationships. When we were little we played together with the neighbors and when we got older we developed that strange unspoken communication that only two sisters who love each other can. This came in particularly handy during some sticky social situations or when we started being interested in boys. I was convinced that more siblings would have diminished our sisterly friendship and felt lucky to only have one amazing big sister. I figured that there was simply only so much love to go around in a household.
I could not have been more wrong. When my husband and I started Catholic marriage prep the priest asked us how many kids we’d like to have and for the first time I was completely happy to tell him we wanted two or three. After being married for two years and now with our first baby girl in the mix I’m singing a very different tune. “As many as God will give us” is my new answer. I can think of no greater joy than to nurture a large loving Catholic family. There may be a finite number of rooms in our house but the love I’m capable of feeling for my own children has shocked me over the last few months and I have yet to find its limit.
Even Mr. Mallard knows that hot July days are prime time for a date to the beach where his lady can show off her colors. Even on the lighthouse pier, nature’s blessings can still be seen.
God is infinitely good. One of the many blessings He grants us is the opportunity to relearn all those little lessons we have a tendency to forget. He never stops loving us and gives us every chance to do better. This summer He gifted me such an opportunity. Some readers may remember my bad day many months ago in A Lesson in Humility. However, I was granted yet another vanity check recently regarding our daughter’s baptism.
Last year my husband and I had the pleasure and honor of attending our niece’s baptism in Colorado as her godparents. It was a beautiful ceremony hosted at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary which I describe in detail in Baptized on Holy Ground. This was a full baptism mass which was celebrated by a priest who is a long time family friend and the man who ushered my sister and brother-in-law through RCIA. In short, it was an incredibly beautiful and reverent celebration of this brand new baby girl as she entered into a new life in Christ. Even then, before there were any children of our own to speak of, I knew that this was how I wanted to welcome them into the Church.
One year later, this was the goal as we planned another baptism mass for our own daughter. However, due to a slight mixup, the presiding priest only had faculties to do the baptism and was unable to celebrate a full mass for the occasion. Upon learning this I was crushed. I couldn’t shake the feeling that this condensed ceremony would have the appearance of a drive-by baptism, as if we were just checking a box for our daughter. Receiving any sacrament should be a grand and joyous affair, especially the first, and arguably most significant one.
My husband and my dad both reminded me it’s the sacrament that ultimately counts. The church, the guests, mass or no mass are all secondary details so long as the sacrament is valid. At the end of the day our baby would be baptized and that’s what matters. Of course, this is all true but did little to comfort me until I spoke with my mom who had originally been similarly disgruntled about the change of plans. “What a beautiful gift it is,” she said, to bring this little girl into the Church through a simple, humble ceremony. We get to remember Christ’s humble beginnings as we welcome this sweet baby.
It wasn’t quite so grand as I had originally intended but it was no less joyous. Many of our friends and family joined us for the private baptism, including four priests. There was no shortage of love for this baby girl and the gift of baptism was no less profound. As is frequently the case, my mom was right. It was beautiful and this Catholic momma learned a little humility.
When out for a nature walk in the woods, one doesn’t expect to stumble upon a miniature town being orbited by functioning model trains but that’s exactly what happened to us one Saturday afternoon at Sunset Hill Farm. The hubby is a bit of a train fanatic and the model cars brought back memories of boyhood. It was a blessing for me also to watch the fun.
Blessed in the Midwest 