The day got off to a good start. I woke up with the boys to find the girls doing this in the sunroom. Schoolwork! Without me asking them! Mary Clare finished nearly all her work before breakfast. Ellie is the one fighting me these days, but I think my expectations are a bit high for her. I'm just glad we are making progress! And I'm so glad that moving the schoolroom to the sunroom is going okay for now.
We're heading "home" tomorrow. Here's Mary Clare's suitcase packed and organized by day.
And can you guess whose suitcase this is? Gotta pack the important stuff, right?
So, Lent is drawing to a close. I'm not sure how fruitful it has been for me spiritually. I have a lot of things to work on. Unfortunately I've prioritized my day-to-day home life, but haven't made much progress with my prayer life. After a few years of chaos and frustration, I finally feel like I have somewhat of a handle on our home (and without domestic help!). I am making dinner most evenings, we don't have many commitments outside the home, and so we're spending lots of time as a family. We're staying on track with schoolwork and should be finishing the school year in mid-May. I think I'm looking forward to summer more than the kids!
But I have so many ways to grow. I am missing my time with Christ. I don't make quiet time to listen and pray. I am missing out on the individual relationships with my kids. I need to spend more one-on-one time with them, even when we're just at home, talking to them and getting to know their hearts. I need to be more patient and consistent in discipline with them. I am lacking as a "morning" wife and mom. I could have some great time with Steven (and also my early-bird MC) if I could get out of bed in the morning. I tend to wait until the boys wake me up, which has sadly been around 8am recently! I could start our days on a better note and get the girls focused on school before play if I could get myself up early, but this also requires not staying awake until 1:00am each night! I could stand to eliminate quite a bit of wasted time on my computer and iPhone. I am lacking in friendships here that I could be fostering, and I'd also love to get involved with some kind of ministry here whether with a convent, our parish, or whatever (of course these are secondary to the prayer and home life goals). And I need to pray with my children and husband and bring some of our rich Catholic faith opportunities home. Not just crafts and such, but we need real and meaningful prayer experiences for our family.
Tonight was Holy Thursday. I haven't been to a Holy Thursday Mass in many years. I miss the "bells and whistles" of the Holy Week services in the church. They are so beautiful and help to draw you into the worship and the experience of Christ's Passion. I want to share those with my children, but haven't been able to logistically figure it out, and maybe haven't prioritized it enough. I pray that we can share in some kind of prayer this weekend before Easter. I'm hoping we'll be able to do the Stations of the Cross with our friends tomorrow night.
Here's what we did when we were visiting them last time...truly a meaningful prayer experience...
They had a framed image for each Station along with a purple votive candle. Next to each was a tangible item for the children (cloth for Veronica's veil, nail for when Christ was nailed to the cross, etc).
The Stations were placed throughout the downstairs and we prayed them with a children's guide by candlelight. Youngest to oldest, the children each took a Station where they would blow out the candle and place the tangible item in the box.
They were so excited to look for each of the Stations and have their turn. The moms read the prayers until our babies got restless and the oldest child took over.
It was a beautiful experience of the Stations of the Cross and I hope to replicate it in our own home next year! Thanks to the N family for such a special time, hope we can share it again tomorrow!
I'm looking forward to our weekend back home with family. I know the kids are, too. We'd planned to stay here for Easter, but ended up deciding for me to travel alone with the baby last weekend and to go as a family this weekend. It will be good to have some time away, and hopefully to have some special time with our friends and family members, and especially with Christ as we enter in to these holy days.
May you and yours have a Holy Triduum and Blessed Easter Sunday!
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