A mother’s prayer

Twenty-seven years ago this day, my eldest son was born.  He came into the world on the feast day of St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus.  He was given a middle name after my father, Christopher.  He was our first son and both our parents’ first grandson.  He rose to the occasion!

He was a curious and talkative child with a kind heart and big personality.  He made friends with everyone.  I watched him grow and mature into a handsome (no, I’m not just saying that because I’m his mother), confident and faith-filled young man.  He was taught values according to our Catholic faith and he lives that faith.

He has always been a hard worker and has exceled at just about every endeavor he has put his mind to.  From the teenage band to elocution contest to football and powerlifting… he went on to graduate from college and begin a successful career.  Sounds like he has it all…but as a mother, you know when something is missing.  That something turned out to be a young lady named Megan.

A year ago my husband and I took a pilgrimage to Caritas Birmingham, Alabama.  My focus for this pilgrimage was to consecrate my family, especially my children to Mary.  Nine days prior to arriving at Caritas Birmingham, I began a novena, saying a special consecration prayer for my children.  I had not told my husband of the novena.  When we arrived on the ninth day, we visited the chapel, which had a beautiful Mary room.  There was a life size statue of Mary with a sand box in front, in which candles could be lit and placed.  I grabbed a candle to light.  My husband quickly told me that I should light three candles, one for each of our children.  After lighting the candles and placing them at the feet of Mary, my husband stated, “you just gave your children to Mary”.

I was overjoyed!  I excitedly told my husband, “That is my novena!”  I took out my prayer booklet and opened it up to the prayer I had prayed for the last eight days and we stood there together in front of our mother and said the ninth prayer together.  I instantly felt a connection and peace in my heart.  Mary would be praying and interceding for the intentions in my heart concerning my children.

About a month after our return, my son called to inform me that he had met someone special.  They became engaged last month and will marry in the Catholic church in January, 2015.

Her name, Megan, means pearl.  And like a pearl she is a rare and valuable treasure.  She is gorgeous on the inside as well as the outside.  She was raised with the same morals and values as my son and loves her Catholic faith.

Christopher means “he who holds Christ in his heart”.  My son who has Christ in his heart has made room for a precious pearl.  May God bless them during their engagement and bless their marriage.

I gave my children to Mary…and she gave me a precious daughter.

Happy Birthday son!

C’est Bon!

Love,

Mom

What are little boys made of?

I was the oldest of four girls.  I had no brothers.  My two youngest sisters are 10 and 15 years younger than me.  Needless to say, I did an awful lot of babysitting for my mom.  By the time I was a teenager, I could feed, burp, change, and soothe a little one.  There was nothing about being a mother that I was uncomfortable with….until the day my husband and I were expecting our second child and the doctor told us during the ultrasound that he was 100% sure the baby was a boy!

Boy!…  I knew girls…I had three younger sisters, and one daughter.  My daughter was two at the time and very girly.  She liked bows in her hair, dresses, playing with dolls….  What did I know about raising a boy?

My husband assured me that having been a boy himself;  he had this.  But, my husband was in the Navy.  For the first year of our son’s life, my husband was mostly away on deployments.  I thought, OK, a little boy can not be that different from a little girl.  That was so not true!

My daughter was very quiet and independent.  My son was loud and dependent.  My little girl was neat and clean.  My little boy was dirty and busy.  It amazed me how at such a young age, I could see such a huge difference between the girl and the boy.

Once my husband had served his time in the Navy, he was very true to his word.  We had another son and my husband was very active in teaching both boys sports and helping out with coaching their teams.  Football was the main sport at our house.

Once, I picked up my oldest son after a pee-wee football practice, and was shocked to find the entire team covered in mud.   It had rained that day and the practice field was a muddy mess.  My husband was still at work.  I got the child into my vehicle and some how  managed to get him home.  Just then, his dad drove up.  I was standing in the yard with our son, who was only recognizable by his green eyes, and said to my husband, “I don’t know what to do with him!”  My husband laughed and said, “get me the hose.”  He hosed off our son and the two of them had a great time talking about the muddy practice.  My husband shared his old muddy football stories with his son.  It was a great father – son moment!

Boys and girls are just different.  That is how God intended it to be.  It pains me to hear about the gender identity crisis occurring in our society.  There are parents who think their tomboy little girls should dress like the boys, go to the boys’ rest room and call themselves “David” if they want. The parents are no longing guiding, teaching, serving as role models.   There are many children today who are growing up within a philosophy that gender does not matter.  You can be whatever, whomever you want to be.  I find that to be a slap in the face of our Creator.

It is also a matter of science.  Men and women have different chromosomes.  Men have 2 different sex chromosomes (XY).  Women have 2 of the same kind of sex chromosomes (XX).  Men and women can change the outside appearance of their bodies all they want.  They can have surgeries, take hormones…but the fact remains that the sex chromosomes will remain the same.  That person will always be what God intended them to be.

God’s intention is nothing but beautiful!

Genesis 2:21 “Then the Lord God made the man fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, he took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the flesh.  He formed a woman out of the rib and brought her to him.  Then the man said, “At last here is one of my own kind – Bone taken from my bone, and flesh from my flesh. Woman is her name because she was taken out of man. ” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united with his wife, and they become one.”

I now have a granddaughter who is seven and a grandson who is four.  They are extremely different characters.  And everything is just as it should be.

What are little granddaughters made of? Bows, fingernail polish, My Little Ponies, American Girl Dolls, Princesses, and Ballet shoes.

What are little grandsons made of?  Pirates, Ninja Turtles, football, wrestling, cowboy boots, puppy dogs, trucks, and Spider Man.

C’est Bon,

Love,

Sherry