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Faithful Moms Are A Blessing |
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by Wendy Lomano © 2003
Being a mother has taught me much about
life. Having friends who are mothers has taught me even more. And having friends
who are Christian mothers has given me inspiration.
My Catholic mom's study group is planning a pot-luck for the end of May. I love
our gatherings, our scripture discussion and our Catechism studies; the closeness
of mothers, the wisdom the more experienced and even "newer" moms have
to offer each other. It's a great way to get ideas for teaching faith to our
children, especially ince many of the moms are "cradle Catholics" and
my husband and I both are converts to the faith. Our group meetings are an
enjoyable but highly educational experience for me in my faith walk.
But, back to the potluck. The last time our study group had a potluck, around
Thanksgiving, was, um... interesting, to say the least. We had about three
salads and a lot of desserts; we did not organize who would bring what items.
It wasn't exactly a healthy lunch — well, the salads were — but the children
that day had a great time eating brownies, chocolate chip cookies and other yummies!
(Okay, I admit it: the moms enjoyed the sweets too!)
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Fate or Providence?
This time around, I questioned our leader,
Rose, about the potluck organization — shall we leave it up to fate to give us all we'd
like? -- and offered to bring a main dish. Rose made a great point and forwarded some
wonderful concepts.
"It is not by fate, but by God's providence that things are provided for!” ...
Our faith puts us in a whole new realm regarding our 'vocabulary'"
Other phrases fellow 'sisters in Christ' have taught me:
"Not 'coincidence', but God's influence, or God's providence, or God's timing.”
" Not 'events', but divine appointments.”
" Not 'crisis', but opportunities, or chances to grow."
See what I mean? Our moms study group is full of wisdom and insight about Faith
— something I don't feel I would have found elsewhere in a secular surrounding.
Our study group meets once every couple of weeks. Sometimes, in our busy lives,
it is difficult to find the time to set aside to do our lesson reading (we have
a lesson book) and answer the questions. Sometimes it's hard enough to round the
kids up for bed each evening, let alone manage to get everyone to say their prayers
("Awww, mom! I'm tired, I'm sleepy, I want to go to bed!")... by the time
you crawl into bed after 11 p.m., you don't feel like doing much other than a
quick "Thank you Lord, for this day; please be with all those around us."
Reading a deep, meaningful and occasionally difficult lesson isn't what you want to
do after a grueling day of laundry, dishes, whining, homework, driving here and there
and sitting through a little league baseball game.
When our group gets together, we (through prayer) acknowledge that we need God in
our lives, Christ to guide us, Mary to be our inspiration; and that we need each
other's presence as well — to temper those thoughts that perhaps I'm the only one
on the face of the planet who has an 8-year-old who eats his bookmarks as he"devours" books
for hours every day.
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We Should Do This More Often
We meet, and we come away from our time together feeling much better
about where God has placed us at this time in our lives. I leave knowing I'm not the
only mom who has an 8-year-old who puts things into his mouth. But just as importantly,
I leave each meeting with caring ideas to guide my children in their faith.
We leave our meetings wishing we met more frequently!
I leave each meeting with a renewed reminder that God is always with me to help me in
my daily life; and I leave ever-thankful for the brilliant, faithful women He has
placed in my world to be my friends and mentors.
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Wendy Lomano is
an at-home mom of two energetic boys (ages 8 and 6). She and her husband both
became Catholic and were both baptized in 1998, after having no religion while
growing up. She maintains The Stay-At-Home
Parents Page.
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Scripture
taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL
VERSION®.Copyright © 1973, 1978,
1984 International Bible Society. All rights
reserved throughout the world. Used by
permission of International Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered
trademarks of International Bible Society. Use of either
trademark for the offering of goods or services requires
the prior written consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,
Wheaton, IL 60189, USA. All rights reserved.
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PROVERBS
31_29-30
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"Many
women do noble things, but you surpass
them all."
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman
who fears the LORD is to be praised.
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(NIV)
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