I find blogging somewhat difficult (actually pretty much impossible) when there is stuff going on in our lives that I’m not yet free to share! It’s not always the reason I get quiet, sometimes life just happens and sometimes (rarely) I have nothing to say or can’t get my thoughts organized enough to write them down.
This fall though, much of my silence has been because of two major changes in our lives!
Yup! That’s Number Five! Due in May and eagerly anticipated by all especially Mouse who is hoping hard for a sister! We won’t know until he or she is born and Mouse reminds me several times a day that I am to call her as soon as I know to tell her!
The other major change is that we have been attending a Roman Catholic church since Labor Day. The children are in CCD (Roman Catholic Sunday School which goes so far beyond Bible stories and which we are very pleased with) and S and I are attending RCIA ?(Roman Catholic Initiation For Adults) on Tuesday nights. ?I have also started attending a weekly Bible Study of Catholic homeschool moms which has been a huge blessing, providing stimulating conversation, friends for me and the children and a place to thresh out the practical application of heartfelt beliefs to daily life!
As you know we have been living at least somewhat in tune with the liturgical calendar for a while. I did it before meeting S and as the children have grown liturgical family life has seemed a good way to draw the children into a practice of living faith at home. We are so pleased to have found a church and a group of friends for the children who also live that way and who think that faith is the primary importance in life. The children have never really had peers who celebrated Feasts and Fasts or who shared stories of saints lives and knew what St. Lucia buns were or why we don’t say Alleluia in Lent. It’s neat to see them start to realize that other people also value and do the things we do.
The church we have been attending is considered one of the most conservative churches in the diocese and we are pleased with the general tone and the efforts that are being made to encourage the congregation to be Catholic and Christian in more than name. The priest is actually Polish and while preaching is not his strong point (we do wish for better preaching) he is amazing for his relationships with the people and especially the children and young people in the parish. ?He knows them by name and they are comfortable with him in a way that children often aren’t with authority figures.
I’m sure I’ll be writing more about these changes as they progress, and welcome your comments.
You know I’m thrilled for you and your family ….. on both accounts!
SO happy to hear about your sweet baby! May is a birthday month around here for us, too …. the boys and my husband have birthdays in May. (And …… May is the month dedicated to Our Lady)
I’m envious of your Catholic homeschooling group. We have one in our area, but it’s not convenient for us, time and location wise. I’m anxious to hear about your RCIA journey and your exciting Easter journey to the Church.
Hugs and blessings to you, K!
I’m thinking that by the time Easter comes around I’ll be doing more waddling than walking on my journey! Doctor and scheduled the delivery yesterday (medically necessary C-sections) so Number Five is planned to arrive four days after Jack’s birthday. Having a May 7th and then a May 11th birthday means I can combine them as I do for the big two (February 27 and March 1).
The homeschooling group is such a blessing, like-minded yet open to vigorous discussion…K
If you have not discovered Kimberly Hahn or Laura Berquist, I have loved their insights on family, faith, and homeschooling. I have usually heard Laura Berquist at http://www.ihmconference.org/national/, which is in Fredericksburg, but they also held a conference this past year in Lowell, MA. I am sure your friends there can tell you about it. I don’t think they have the dates posted for 2015.
Elizabeth Foss has a blog that you might find helpful and fun. While we learned a lot of Catholic doctrine when we used Seton, it was not presented in an appealing way— it was more like a bad year of ABEKA. It was helpful, because what I was taught that the church believed and what it actually does were strikingly different. Kimberly’s husband, Scott, has any number of sources on his website that you will find helpful in your discovery of the Covenant theology of the Church.
Actually the homeschooling group just finished a Kimberly Hahn book! And I read Elizabeth Foss from time to time….
I am not at all impressed with Seton, and will probably keep on with what we have curriculum wise with some additions, describing it as a bad year of A Beka is very accurate, especially because they were developed for the homeschooling market at about the same time…K