Friday, February 20, 2009

Wouldn't it be great if we were all as persuasive as this young lady?

Here's an excellent speech well worth watching
http://www.nmatv.com/video/1318/Preteen-pro-life-speech-goes-viral

Going for the Gold


Miriam is quite excited to have reached new heights and she has earned a new baby gate for her accomplishments. She made it to the top of the stairs (with mom close behind) and has since been trying to beat her original time by climbing up quickly when the gate is not in place - she definately gets faster with each attempt. Is there an olympic gold medal for stair climbing? I think she might have a bright future.

Monday, February 16, 2009

How we can help a culture of life to grow

Q: Besides getting out on the streets with the pictures of abortions, do you have any other ideas of how, from the grassroots level, we can engage the culture in a similar way?
A: We can get our op-eds in the paper and we can tell about what we do and hope it gets on somewhere. We can make videos - we have a bunch of videos that we send around and groups get together and watch Face the Truth and No Greater Joy, How to Sidewalk Counsel and things like that. We can make news here and there. We now have the abortionists coming out and protesting us. ...I would say show up when Obama appears to give a talk - protest, have signs, and let people know that this isn't a great Messiah that everyone thinks he is, this is a guy who supports abortion, and be present. A little tough love goes a long way. Sure, we want to convert everybody. We try to do it, but we also have to let people know what is going on in this country. … We have lots and lots of pro-life groups and there are lots of blogs and things, but we are not going to have much chance, at least in the federal government, in the Congress or the Senate. Fight - always fight - against anything that they introduce that is pro-abortion and don't give that up, but don't make that your whole end, that is to get laws passed.
Abortion laws have never been that strong. It was when they started setting up homes for these girls and helping them to keep from having abortions or to help them when they are pregnant, carry them through the pregnancy. Those things are very, very important, that you show an interest in the people involved and help them. But also, the women who have had abortions, have compassion for them, so that they can tell others, not to get involved in that.
There is a lot of work to do in that. We plan to do just about double of everything that we are doing. Our publications, our videos, our street-work, side-walk counseling, we give seminars on how to counsel at the clinic and we usually get 30 or 40 people who come and they become pretty good sidewalk counselors. There is a crisis pregnancy center and they have had 37,000 saves since they opened up. Women who actually came in and got help and decided to have their babies. You go all over the country and you have 3000 crisis pregnancy centers. They are doing a lot of work - a lot of good work.
I think God writes straight with crooked lines. I think maybe we almost need to have a crisis like this with Democratic, pro-abortion people in power. We are going to have to fight a lot harder and realize that this is a battle of conversion of the conscience of the country, and you can't just do it through law.
see full interview with Joe Scheidler here: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/feb/09021202.html

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Grandma visits


William and Miriam had a great visit with Grandma (Lawson) and Sammy this weekend! Miriam loved the "lap time" and William loved playing with grandma! He was especially happy to have help with his puzzle. Mom(Patty) was grateful for Grandma's help at Sunday Mass since Dad (Phil) was running a retreat. As Grandma pointed out - William & Miriam together can be "a handful"! It was so much fun to spend time with Grandma- thanks for visiting!

Happy St. Valentine's Day!


Family Fun


Neither Phil nor I are overly competitive which is why we've kept a tally of how many games of scrabble each of us have won since we were married. Current tally is 59 to 56 with 2 ties (I won't mention who's ahead). Here's a picture of William who of course enjoys playing a game or 2 of scrabble with dad as well.

Life


As science and technology show ever more clearly that life begins at conception, politicians become less clear in their understanding or even desire to know when life begins. Following are some resources that demonstrate why it is wrong to kill a living person born or unborn.
An up to date resource for those in the medical field and those who would like to have resources that show scientific data: http://www.physiciansforlife.org/.
A great way to question and respond to someone who is pro-abortion http://www.physiciansforlife.org/content/view/380/26/.
Commercials that help to reduce abortions by 70% where they are aired http://www.virtuemedia.org/.
Resources for the spiritual battle and good concrete information in general on how to get the truth out about abortion http://www.priestsforlife.org/ .
Fighting abortion legislation throughout the world(Human Life International) http://www.hli.org/.
Help for those who are in a difficult situation or just want to know the facts: http://abort73.com/ (geared toward the younger generation)
for those in crisis pregnancies http://www.pregnancyline.com/.
for news and updates http://www.lifesitenews.com/.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Baby Food anyone?


Have you ever noticed that more food comes out than goes in when feeding a baby?

Monday, February 2, 2009

The William update


William is almost three - his Birthday is next month already - where did the time go? He loves trains especially Thomas the Tank Engine and Emily (one of Thomas's friends), crashing just about anything and making messes faster than mom can clean them up. His major accomplishments are speaking more clearly(in two word phrases); climbing just about anything, making the Sign of the Cross (with a bit of help) and genuflecting before entering the pew. Most common phrases around here "cookie please", "hug sister"(His way of saying sorry after being sent to the couch for punishment.)

Sunday, February 1, 2009

The Miriam update


Miriam is 9 months! She just got her 4th tooth, mastered crawling and climbing stairs..hello baby gates. Her Favorite things: getting into the dog food dish and playing with big brother William.

Sunday Blessings


Today, Sunday February 1st, dawned a glorious day – one of those days in the midst of a long winter that brings Spring to mind. It was sunny, and a virtual heat wave with temperatures nearing the 30’s – a real treat when you’ve had a month with highs in the single digits. Our family enjoyed this beautiful Sunday, which began of course with Mass at St. Peter’s. William and Miriam graciously cooperated and Mass was a less distracting than usual and we could actually hear Fr. Louis’s homily in which he reminded us to keep our eyes on Christ and not to be swayed by the many anxieties the world has to offer. We are quite grateful for our Parish – it’s faithful, beautiful and there are so many wonderful people including many young families who have children the same age as ours. There’s even a great homeschooling group!
Back at home we enjoyed the great outdoors which included a pony ride for William – our neighbors have a pony that they a more than happy to share with William since they children are grown. The excitement of the day was seeing a raccoon right outside our back door! The joys of living in the country!

Praise God for His many blessings: “Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.” Psalm 111:1