Sunday, May 2, 2010

Our Week in 7 Quick Takes

1.  Okay, this is my first attempt at linking to another blog.  I'm supposed to post this on Friday or perhaps by the end of the weekend.  Jen @Conversion Diary hosts this, so here I go -


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2.  The week started off with my daughter's First Communion and Confirmation celebration weekend.  To watch all that she experienced was a spiritual high for me all week, especially since she wanted to sneak off to mass every day.  We managed to accomplish mass quite a bit, in between a slight bout of stomach flu on Wednesday.  My friend suggested that Our Lord was detoxing her 60-pound little body!!!!

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3.  As a home school mom, I am forever playing catch up.  This week I was able to catch my 5th grader up with a couple of long sessions on the Constitution of the United States.  I learned something  - again.  The beauty of home teaching is that you re-learn what many others have forgotten.

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4.  It's been very windy here.  I am thankful for the cool air, just before the heat sets in and fries our toes. 


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5.  Discernment is a daily process in my life.  God keeps me guessing.  This week, the book thing kept coming up.  I have a book I want to write, but its premise will be very time consuming, with much research.  With four of my five children still in progress before their official nest launch, I have little time for writing a book.  Nevertheless, with God, all things are possible.  So I am slowly moving forward.  If the process is smooth and I find peace in the effort, I will know that now is the time.

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6.  We are chiseling away at some long-overdue projects.  There is peace in that, too, as some very minor closure is taking place.

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7.  But my greatest reflection on the week is in regards to a wonderful gift my children received.  After nearly spending a year taming a feral cat who became pregnant in the process, my children finally met her 5 1/2 week old kittens.  "Moma," as she is fondly called, literally brought us her babies directly to our doorstep, where my children and I have been feeding her. 

This has been long in coming.  A feral cat is mean.  But slowly, Moma warmed up to my children, after much diligent effort on their part, dropping morsels of food in long lines, until Moma eventually entered our home.  Quickly, out she would dart.  This scenario repeated many times, and eventually Moma allowed them to pet her on our porch.  Her pregnancy progressed, and patiently the children waited for the birth of her babies.  Finally, she disappeared for two days.  She returned daily after that, thin, of course, and less frequently at first.  Her visits throughout the day increased, more and more frequently to be fed and loved.  At the end of this week, Moma had escorted her kittens to our doorstep, almost in an effort to tell us she needed help in feeding them.  Noticeably, she had grown thinner in the past two weeks, as the demands of babies' appetites grew. 
When the babies arrived on Friday, we quickly took them in.  Moma soon followed, allowing us to help her into the box, so that she could periodically nurse them in the comfort of our home.  No more nursing under the dark and low shed of our neighbor's backyard.  And food, namely moistened Kitten Chow, was plentiful in our Garden of Paradise. 

This was absolutely the highlight of the week, knowing God's own creatures can grow ever so close as to trust the very dominion He has given to us, over His animal kingdom.

What a great week!