Nesting....vicariously.

So there have been an abundance of pregnant ladies around lately, and I have been loving it!  Remember back in the day, when I was not loving it?  When it was so hard.  I'd try to put on a smile and while I was happy for them, I was a wreck inside.  Losing baby after baby...not knowing if God planned for me to carry another little life to make it home to the waiting crib.  It was hard.  But God saw me through that pain and suffering, and brought me another little one, Ian.  And the joy of his little life has opened back up that joy that I have for other expectant mothers!  It's been a real journey, and to be back to a place of joy for not only myself, but true joy for others is quite a blessing.  I feel like I've come back around full circle to the beginning when I got pregnant with Isabel.  And it's putting that spark in my heart and that longing for another baby.  But for now, I'm nesting vicariously. 

Through the pregnancies of my friends!  And also through this little mockingbird family in our backyard.  Errr....what used to be our backyard.  You see, we had to move our fence line.  Apparently when the guy built our fence, he built it just over our property line.  And now, our new construction neighborhood is finally starting to build behind us and notified us that our fence was not on our property.  So we Rob, began to embark on the mission of moving the rear portion of our fence.  However, there was a  problem.  You see, this mockingbird pair had already begun building a nest in the jasmine which is attached to the fence.  And then, before we knew it there were 4 brown and blue speckled eggs.

So we moved the fence....all except for the piece to which the jasmine is attached.  The mother mockingbird was really concerned, but eventually she figured out her nest and eggs were just fine even though the surrounding fence had shifted. 

Then, the unthinkable happened!  The fence move took several days.  At one point, the 5 foot section of fence fell over onto the jasmine, knocking the nest.  All four eggs were cracked.  Oh, I was heartbroken!  So we kept an eye on them and that same day, the mother kicked one egg out of the nest.  When Rob told me, I couldn't stand it...I had to go out there and find the egg and see at least at what stage of development the baby bird had been.  And when I found the egg, the bird was ALIVE!  And covered with ants!  So I picked up the bird, still in its egg, and the ants kind of crawled out.  Isabel wanted to hold it...

So we put it back in the nest and have been checking on him.  And the mother accepted it back!

Three days went by and the little guy was doing well and I was starting to have hope for the other eggs that maybe their cracks were due to them getting ready to hatch instead of the unfortunate fence accident....at one point I even saw a beak stick out of an egg, so I knew that at least one more baby bird was still alive! 
And then....we checked the nest and this is what we found:

Our little survivor, beak wide open....but all the other eggs had been tossed.  Not just tossed in fact, taken away!  I know this because I was on my hands and knees at the base of the jasmine, looking through all the vines and leaves to try to rescue them...but could find not a one.

Some of our own "little birds" have made it, and others we've lost.  It's strange how I've been able to connect with a mockingbird (!) on hatching babies and raising them to leave the nest!   I'll keep you posted on this little guy's fate.

When Right is Wrong and Wrong is Right.

This is the time in which we live.  Right is now wrong.  And wrong is now right.
Things are backwards.  And many are confused.
It has left me not knowing how to blog about this....so I've said nothing until now.

We are about to vote on Amendment One here in North Carolina.  The measure states,
“Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State. This section does not prohibit a private party from entering into
contracts with another private party; nor does this section prohibit courts from
adjudicating the rights of private parties pursuant to such contracts."




If you are a Catholic in NC, your bishop is urging you to vote FOR  Amendment One this Tuesday.
There are many people who are opposed to Amendment One.  For anyone undecided, I urge you to check out this link

I have been appalled by some of the people who are against this amendment, and it has frankly left me speechless, sick to my stomach and very upset.  It makes me upset because I feel like this very dim lightbulb and the darkness seems to be creeping in around me.  ("I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8) I've had to temporarily remove myself from Facebook because I literally felt like the only one who was going to vote FOR this amendment, and I was overcome with this grief for people who are lost.

Because there is not another explanation for this.  They are lost.  Without the light of Jesus, without the Truth of the Gospel, they are like seeds caught up in the breeze and floating through the sky....to wherever the wind takes them.  They have no roots.  No good soil in which to plant themselves.

In the midst of all of this, I read a blog post.  This is for your discernment, but it certainly made sense to me:

2 John 1:9 Anyone who is so “progressive” as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God; whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son.
“My beloved, cling firmly to the truth, for I am the Truth. Those who teach false doctrines, those who water down the wine of salvation belong neither to me nor to the Father, but are pawns of the enemy. My children, do not stray from the teachings, but embrace them, cling to them. Waver neither to the right nor to the left but let the teachings of Christ in his Church be the rudder that steers your life on a straight path to everlasting life. I have given you these teachings so that you will not be lost. Let the Church be your guiding star. Then you will never have to fear becoming lost.” 



And then I came to this blog and read the following: 

I believe few realize the prophetic thrust of Pope Benedict’s words that were carefully chosen on the eve of the winter solstice—the darkest day of the year in the northern hemisphere.⁴ He was comparing the decline of Rome with our generation. He was underlining how “the key principles of law and of the fundamental moral attitudes underpinning” our society, are beginning to collapse:

…our world is at the same time troubled by the sense that moral consensus is collapsing, consensus without which juridical and political structures cannot function… Only if there is such a consensus on the essentials can constitutions and law function. This fundamental consensus derived from the Christian heritage is at risk… In reality, this makes reason blind to what is essential. To resist this eclipse of reason and to preserve its capacity for seeing the essential, for seeing God and man, for seeing what is good and what is true, is the common interest that must unite all people of good will. The very future of the world is at stake. —Ibid.

And I realized that is EXACTLY what has been troubling me.  Moral consensus is collapsing.  What was right is now wrong, and what was wrong is now right.  And the question is not only where that will lead our society....but where will that lead the individual?  Where does it lead you, my friend?

When it is all right to kill your child in the womb.....it's okay...it's her choice.  
When it is all right to for men to have sex with men and women to have sex with women...... why not?  Don't impose your religious beliefs on everyone else.  Keep your religion to yourself.  

Well guess what?  It's not...just...religion.  One day you will discover this.  You certainly don't answer to me.  You don't answer to the person next door.  You only answer to God Almighty.  And you will find out then.   But in the mean time, I am praying....I am praying that our merciful God will open hearts and fill you up with His grace.  Because He is the Only Way, the Only Truth and the Only Life.  This may mean nothing to you now, but I-will-pray-for-you.

"Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him."  Ephesians 4:18