Will heaven be like Paris?

Well, we'll always have Paris, right? My darling husband took me to Paris in July. It was phenomenal. I SO enjoy my time with him, and I am so blessed God sent him into my life. (Whether I am a blessing to him is another story!) As much as I love family life with him and the kidlets, I pray that God will give us some years together AFTER the kidlets have been fledged, so we can enjoy time together, just the two of us. We never really had that- our firstborn came along nine months after we got married. The children have been a blessing (as in "Look-honey-how-these-little-people-are-forcing-us-to-grow-in-holiness!) but I still look forward to the time in life when it will be just the two of us, and we can have an extended conversation that isn't interrupted by a wee one with a problem necessitating we have the wisdom of Solomon to divvy up a toy, or book, or the very air they don't feel like breathing and sharing with a sibling. (Ok, yesterday, on the way to mass, the kids were quiet and sleepy, and we DID get to have an extended conversation on the roles of men since the 50's- how the war has most likely scared so many of them, so they weren't the most hands-on, twenty-first century kind of dads, and this lead to the rebellion of the children in the 60's who smelled hypocrisy and disliked rampant materialism. Add in that many of these fathers would have experienced at least a part of the Great Depression, and so needed to "provide" materially for the family, and add in a good dose of the rise of television and youth-oriented culture, and you can see how the 60's happened.)






Oh, right... back to Paris. Why, I'd LOVE to go back to Paris! Notre Dame left us speechless.... literally. We went to mass there Sunday morning, and I was so overwhelmed, I couldn't remember the words of the Pater Noster! To stand in that cathedral, where so many have been! All those souls, through the ages, worshipping God! And Matt and I.... just two more souls in the long line stretching to eternity. The kids and I had just finished the French Revolution in history, so my mind was still fresh with details of the Terror, and here I was, standing in these sacred spots, history made real and immediate. It must be a taste of what heaven is like- all times are now, all places are here, and we shall know these things and comprehend how they were all part of The Plan.

I'm BAAACK!

OK, in a fit of hormones and despair, I deleted the old blog. My husband was mad at me for days- he compared it to suicide. But the truth was (is) I don't want people thinking that homeschooling gets rid of all your family issues and worries. It isn't a magic bullet. That pesky original sin still gets in the way as people make bad (uncharitable) choices.... especially children. So, I felt a little hopeless for awhile. I wondered "Why homeschool, if a child turns out just as selfish/ vain/ lazy as if I HADN'T put all of this effort into them?!?"

Reading the Pope's new encyclical on hope "Spe Salvi" was a tremendous gift to my spirit. Also, a good confession, where my dear Fr. A told me this was a pride issue- I expect my children to be more perfect than they are capable of. (I mean, we aren't the Louis and Zelie Martin family, adult saints raising child saints, if you know what I mean!)

So rebooting my blog is a gift to my dear husband, who has had to endure lots of black days from me. With nary a whimper for himself, but constantly bringing me back to remember my children deserve MY best, even when they don't give me THEIR best! I'm sorry, my love, that I cannot conjure up all the lovely posts about you again. They are lost in cyberspace, but the sentiment behind them is always in my heart!