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Grace is…believing you’re loved
even when you can’t feel it, knowing that living out our vocations requires
ongoing discernment and sacrifice, people recognizing and affirming those who
have spent time away from the workplace to take care of family and friends at
home, the acknowledgement of anyone that raising a family is the most
challenging and important job there is for married couples and parents, learning
about inspiring people who use their talents to serve others, being able to
pray for and with others…
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What’s a Life Worth? Late
last night, I finished reading the amazing Mountains Beyond
Mountains by Tracy Kidder. The book is about a remarkable man,
Dr. Paul Farmer, whose passion for treating people in poverty (starting with
those he served in Haiti) with the utmost dignity, respect, and the best
medical technologies available literally impacted and dramatically improved treatment
of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS in poor countries
around the world.
"...the idea that some lives matter
less is the root of all that's wrong with the world" is the essence of Dr.
Paul Farmer’s philosophy. I know a book
is very well-written when, though it’s about a topic as depressing as rampant
illness affecting the poorest of the poor, I’m left feeling hopeful, inspired,
and completely in awe of what happens when one man insists and believes that
every life is of incalculable value; every person is worth treating; and every
individual deserves the best we have to give, whatever the cost to ourselves or
others.
. God did
it again. I was led to read this book at
the perfect time. The pastor of our church and a group of parishioners are on
yet another mission trip in Haiti this week, visiting our twin parish in Dos Palais, which is supposed to be opening a medical clinic soon.
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Noisy Toys After a three day weekend, suddenly a vast number of
battery-operated 'noisy toys' no longer make sounds. When Sunshine told me all
of the batteries just ran down, I rolled with it, and told her if they were
taken out and not replaced it must have been for a good reason. My guess is that their parents, like any adults who have a reasonable amount of sanity somewhere on their top ten list of most important attributes of a caregiver, can only take but so much of Rock'n'Roll Elmo, an endless loop of "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider," and toys that add more sound effects that make it seem like their children are actually being raised in a barn. You will never convince me that kids aren’t clever enough to torture their parents and caregivers on purpose from a surprisingly young age. I know better.
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Calling for Back-up The other day was a 3+ time-outs, not enough sleep (them or
me), and call for at least one of our favorite visitors kind of nannying day. I feared that after five hours of feeding,
cleaning up after, playing with, and refereeing three young girls in a limited
space I was likely to run completely out of energy and patience sometime in the
remaining four and a half hours before their mom would get home from work.  |
| Cuties with Contraband |
Fortunately, Kevin came over late that afternoon in case there was a repeat after naps (theirs, not mine) of I-want-whatever-you’re-playing-with-when-you’re-playing-with-it-and-I’m-going-to-grab-it-from-you-and-knock-you-over-to-get-it Advanced Pre-school Aerobics/Kung Fu Class.
The girls only napped for an hour, so it was even more vital that I had back-up on the way. Kevin and I had the girls running, playing, giggling, and in much better moods than any of us were in that morning. Thank God Almighty for the gift of my husband, and I do! To read about more of my adventures as a nanny, check out posts from My Nanny Diary.
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JAM Session Highlights Our parish has a really great, very successful ecumenical Job Assistance Ministry (JAM) which has helped hundreds of people in our area
find employment. Kevin’s been going to
the meetings regularly as he searches for a new job. The numerous professionals and business people
involved offer a wide variety of career services for free that other recruiters
and job search agencies charge hundreds of dollars to do. Check out the ministry website, activities, and successes here.
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My Guy Gets It This
past Wednesday at JAM, the speaker was swamped with questions after his
presentation, so Kevin took it upon himself to approach a woman wondering what
to put on her resume since he has spent several hours working, revising, and
rewriting his with the recent tips, tricks, and trends he’s learned. Kevin’s a friendly, helpful guy, so this
gesture didn’t surprise me. What I was
really excited to hear is that he reassured this woman, who has gone 17 years without
a paying job, that raising a family is the hardest and most important job
anyone can do and made it abundantly clear to her that she must have a number
of marketable skills from such a feat that will translate into the work
world. While they were talking, another
woman came up who’s been out of the workforce for 21 years raising her family. I am beyond grateful that my husband gets
what so many men and women don’t: there’s nothing more challenging or more
essential than raising a family, and those who devote their time and energy to
that are generally hardworking, very talented individuals who deserve
respect.
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Hope and
Help for the Philippines This is a very good article on what has happened in the
Philippines and what is being done to help the many victims of Super Typhoon
Haiyan. There are links in the article of what organizations are already in place to help and how you can donate to the effort.
Lord, please open our hearts and minds to do and be what you
need us to in order to alleviate the suffering that is taking place in the
Philippines right now.
