Ah, rain! It’s a beautiful thing. I’m so happy it’s raining. People talk about perfect weather being sunshine, steady temps year round, but for me, it’s all about the changes. Stinking hot, then cooling rain. I love it. But, then I love humidity too! In fact, the few times I’ve been in San Diego, Colorado and Arizona I couldn’t stand the lack of humidity. I think humidity is great for your skin; or at least for mine.
I’m felting. I’m felting a bag that I love. I’m afraid, because it’s the first time felting in my new front loader. I’ve been sitting downstairs watching it go around, wondering if this is going to work, is it going to crease, am I going to have to run it through 3 hours of cycles? I researched on the web and found mixed reviews. Some say yay, some say nay. Some say it depends on the machine itself. Regardless, I got tired of looking at the finished bag and had to do something. So, I’m going for it!
We are headed down the shore this weekend. It’s with mixed feelings that I go. These are details for another post, but in a nut shell, when my father died last year, our place on the bay passed to my step-mother. So, a few weeks back, we arrived to find all our personal belongings packed up. It’s an interesting development. I really need to post on this, but the details will have to wait. To be fair, the place does belong to SM. So, being proactive, we are buying our own place and are very excited about it!
We’ll be spending the weekend with our two adorable nieces, 6 and 4 years old. What fun! I can’t wait to splash in the water, roast marshmallows and enjoy them. They love their aunt and uncle and are very excited we are going to share this time with them. I am grateful I have a sister-in-law who shares her little ones with me.
My mother says I am a mom to many children, just not my own. I am learning to take comfort in this as my role, perhaps the role God planned for me. I feel blessed to be trusted with other people’s children. Mothers need people like that in their lives. And today, that’s me.
August 9, 2007
July 11, 2007
Conversion conclusion
The parish I belong to is small. I would have been the only person going through RCIA. I knew of a larger local parish that had a formal, established RCIA program. I talked to my priest and he agreed that attending RCIA there would be a good idea. I wanted the discussion and group learning experience a larger parish could provide.
My RCIA class had about 18 people in it. That’s a large number for our “cluster” of five churches, (per our diocese, we are the North XYZ County Cluster). Interestingly enough, my sponsor was from a third church in our cluster. Classes run from school year to school year. I started late and had to follow through to the next class before being able to participate in the Easter Vigil.
Both my husband and I had been previously married. We had to go through the annulment process. We were lucky. Our previous marriages had not involved a Priest and this qualified us for the “short” annulment process. Others in our class had more difficult annulments to face.
There were two types of people attending this RCIA class; those who were converting because their betrothed was Catholic and those who had decided to become Catholic after a search for faith. To me, the difference in these two types was remarkable. Some of us were there to delve deeper into understanding of the church, attended as many sessions as possible, go to Mass regularly and study. Some barley made it through the mandatory requirements to participate. For me, an entire year of my life revolved around RCIA. It was intense. I cried. I laughed. I really, really enjoyed it.
Sadly, a member of our RCIA class died weeks before Easter. She was in her 30s and it was a shock. She had a heart attack. She was buried as a Catholic. It made the process bitter sweet. The death of the Pope after Easter was also a shock. We all wondered if Easter Vigil would have been put on hold if he had died a few weeks earlier. As a mature adult, I knew that wouldn’t have been the case, but we were like children at this point. We were a flock, following our shepherd.
Easter Vigil is the most moving of all services for me; the dark church, the candles, the new faithful. Never in my life have I experienced such an evening. To receive the host for the first time as a Catholic brings tears to my eyes.
It was a significant day and has shaped the rest of my life. I can think of nothing else that has had the impact becoming Catholic has on my life. Marriage, yes. Infertility, yes. Death, yes. But all of these come back to being Catholic in how I handle them, not the other way around. Being Catholic is first. My faith is first. It’s not something I could have planned or imagined or brought into being. It was Grace.
My RCIA class had about 18 people in it. That’s a large number for our “cluster” of five churches, (per our diocese, we are the North XYZ County Cluster). Interestingly enough, my sponsor was from a third church in our cluster. Classes run from school year to school year. I started late and had to follow through to the next class before being able to participate in the Easter Vigil.
Both my husband and I had been previously married. We had to go through the annulment process. We were lucky. Our previous marriages had not involved a Priest and this qualified us for the “short” annulment process. Others in our class had more difficult annulments to face.
There were two types of people attending this RCIA class; those who were converting because their betrothed was Catholic and those who had decided to become Catholic after a search for faith. To me, the difference in these two types was remarkable. Some of us were there to delve deeper into understanding of the church, attended as many sessions as possible, go to Mass regularly and study. Some barley made it through the mandatory requirements to participate. For me, an entire year of my life revolved around RCIA. It was intense. I cried. I laughed. I really, really enjoyed it.
Sadly, a member of our RCIA class died weeks before Easter. She was in her 30s and it was a shock. She had a heart attack. She was buried as a Catholic. It made the process bitter sweet. The death of the Pope after Easter was also a shock. We all wondered if Easter Vigil would have been put on hold if he had died a few weeks earlier. As a mature adult, I knew that wouldn’t have been the case, but we were like children at this point. We were a flock, following our shepherd.
Easter Vigil is the most moving of all services for me; the dark church, the candles, the new faithful. Never in my life have I experienced such an evening. To receive the host for the first time as a Catholic brings tears to my eyes.
It was a significant day and has shaped the rest of my life. I can think of nothing else that has had the impact becoming Catholic has on my life. Marriage, yes. Infertility, yes. Death, yes. But all of these come back to being Catholic in how I handle them, not the other way around. Being Catholic is first. My faith is first. It’s not something I could have planned or imagined or brought into being. It was Grace.
Catholic and child free; PMO
Well my search into Catholic, but child free didn't yield much. It could be I'm not the best at searching the Internet. All I could find was Purple Women & Friends.
This site isn't what I was looking for. As far as I can tell, it's Catholic women who support birth control use and we aren't talking NFP.
I was looking more for, "We've tried everything and now realize, although we'll be open to children until the day we die, we don't actually expect to conceive one. So what's next?" Couldn't find that group of women out there.
On a higher note, after two phone interviews, I have a face-to-face interview next Thursday. This job is perfect for me. It's a start up of a PMO. And unless you know what that is, you probably aren't thrilled! But if you do, you know it would be great fun to be involved in a start up. Especially since this is a Forbes top 50 company. I can't tell you how much I want this job. I'd work for free on it actually, just because it's going to be such an interesting project. I expect to learn a ton. And that's what I look for in a job, the learning experience. I hate to be bored.
So, I'll be reading about PMOs over the next week, get the hair cut, check the suit I plan on wearing, etc.
Wish me luck!
This site isn't what I was looking for. As far as I can tell, it's Catholic women who support birth control use and we aren't talking NFP.
I was looking more for, "We've tried everything and now realize, although we'll be open to children until the day we die, we don't actually expect to conceive one. So what's next?" Couldn't find that group of women out there.
On a higher note, after two phone interviews, I have a face-to-face interview next Thursday. This job is perfect for me. It's a start up of a PMO. And unless you know what that is, you probably aren't thrilled! But if you do, you know it would be great fun to be involved in a start up. Especially since this is a Forbes top 50 company. I can't tell you how much I want this job. I'd work for free on it actually, just because it's going to be such an interesting project. I expect to learn a ton. And that's what I look for in a job, the learning experience. I hate to be bored.
So, I'll be reading about PMOs over the next week, get the hair cut, check the suit I plan on wearing, etc.
Wish me luck!
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