Thursday, May 22, 2014

What my children are learning

*Please pardon the annoying lack of space between the lines. I have no idea what to do about it, and I have neither the time nor the desire to try to fix it.* Since Grandma's accident and subsequent serious back injury, school has taken a back seat. But I'm OK with that, because my children are learning. They are learning how a husband drops everything, even attention to his children at home, to care for his beloved wife. They are learning that God gave us our family so that we can support each other through difficult times. They are learning that cousins are for playing, laughing, learning, tickling, eating popsicles, and watching movies with. They are learning that real love means that we take the focus off of ourselves, our desires, and even our home (my laundry pile is sky-high, and let's not even venture to talk about the mountain of mismatched baby clothes that just lives in our bedroom) when someone we love needs our help. They are learning that a Church community is Christ's way of not only drawing us to Himself through the Sacraments, but is also there to help provide for the needs of others (thank you, Martha Ministry!). They are learning that accidents do happen, bad things occur to those we love, and that we face these things, not alone, but head-on together, drawing strength and love from those around us. Some things you just can't learn in school. “All members of the family, each according to his or her own gift, have the grace and responsibility of building day by day the communion of persons, making the family ‘a school of deeper humanity’ [GS 52]: This happens where there is care and love for the little ones, the sick, the aged; where there is mutual service every day; when there is a sharing of goods, of joys and of sorrows.” ~ St. John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio