Blogging can be useful to some!

I was recently thinking about deleting this blog, since I seem to find so little time to post things; and the initial impetus for writing it has gone, or rather, I have moved on from it. We will be quitting sunny Shropshire in the Summer, and I shall miss the countryside around here. We will, hopefully, have a proper Parish, where we can regularly attend the Mass of Ages, with not an altar girl in sight (and I do love little girls, I really do - probably more so because I was never blessed with one!). We will no longer have to drive for 30 - 40 minutes on a Sunday afternoon so that we can attend an Old Rite Mass at the awful time of 3pm (I'm guaranteed to start dropping off during the sermon at that time!), but I will miss the people of the peripatetic Latin Mass community, although they are now dwindling fast due to the establishment of a regular 6pm Latin Mass in the parish of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate in Staffordshire (thanks be to God!). We thought that there would not be many at Mass today, so were pleasantly surprised by the presence of a family - a young couple, the grandparents, the three year old son, and three week old daughter, who don't normally come. It was the mum who made me think maybe I should carry on posting occasionally, as she mentioned, over tea and tabnabs after Mass, that she'd recently discovered my blog, and found it helpful - she must have been reading some of my early posts, which dealt with our attempts to adopt (I rarely go back and read what I wrote, so I can't remember what's there that could have been helpful to her!!) When I first met her, we were both attending a home-educating group, and her little boy was about two then, but I knew she longed for more children. Having been in her position, I can honestly say I would have been of little help in encouraging her, as by then I had realised that prayers don't always get answered the way we want them to. I firmly believe that God doesn't give us what we want, but what we need. I am also heartily glad for her that what she wanted was what God knew she needed, and she now proudly holds a beautiful little girl! Praise Him!
As for the home educating, we are still in a quandary as to whether to carry on once we move. Our son is really flapping his wings, longing to fly further and further from the nest - all to be expected at his age, despite his inability to find anything he needs when he wants it, "Mum, where is my ..." "Right in front of your nose". But perhaps that's just a male thing, "Darling, where is my ..." "Just here, where you left it..."
Is school what he needs? - the good Lord seems to be giving him an opportunity to go. It's not what he wants, (mostly because he fears hard work, I think!). I'm not sure it's what I want, (I'd rather he remained a dunderhead and kept his Faith and purity), but God knows what is best, and we're hoping He's going to make it clear to us what should be done.

Meanwhile, I shall try and enjoy my garden as it comes into bloom, for the last time before we rent our house out, knowing that there is little likelihood that it will be cared for overmuch by tenants...


The blue and white garden that I have longed for, is still not in evidence, although there seem to be plenty of blues coming out at present, the whites will probably only put in an appearance after this lot have died off - ho hum...







I thought this rather an apt word-picture of the garden, which was reluctantly brought forth from my son's pen, as a description of what he could see from the school-room window...
"Through the French doors I see a red pot on a black wrought iron stand, which is sitting on the lawn, in the middle of which is a clothes drier. Further down, a bench with a metal arch sits, and after it a pond, over which a tall clump of bamboo hangs. There are shrubs around the pond, and up each side of the lawn there are flower beds, fillled with flowers, shrubs and bushes; and beyond the pond the untidy patch of wilderness that used to be a vegetable garden, is in full bloom with dandelions, daisies, forget-me-nots and buttercups. The shed which is hidden by the bamboo, stands behind the pond."

Transient Beauty

I was looking at other people's blogs, and admiring their garden pictures, especially their roses. I love roses, but wouldn't choose to grow them, simply because I don't have the knowledge or time to take care of them and get the best out of them; mine always seem to end up covered in some sort of dreadful aphid or black spot disease. Despite all this, though, the few rose bushes I inherited with the garden (and my principle is, if it's a nice plant, then keep it till it dies of its own accord, or too much vigorous pruning on my behalf) have produced some lovely flowers, and I thought I should rush out and take some photos before they all get ruined by the rain and wind that is a constant feature of our summer weather this year!




One very large rose bush which is well established, and surviving nicely by my kitchen window had roses in various stages of loveliness, and it got me to thinking about our perceptions of beauty.


We start out like this rose bud,











Then life causes a bit of wear and tear, but we still look blousy and attractive,














Even when we get storm - damaged we can retain touches of glory,














But, eventually, we must wither and die.


















However, the wonder of it is, that God sees us like this all the time ...






















And if we let Him, He will transform us into this,






















So that we can join all the Saints in glory, to Praise Him eternally.

A Certain type of Wealth and Poverty

This is something I needed to come across, read, and digest. Ponder. Take to heart. The author of this post is a real inspiration. Her name is Helen, and she has the Castle of the Immaculate Blog.
She writes about it here , but I'm going to put it on my blog so I can read, and re-read it!

Wealth and Poverty

Who can “handle” another child? Who truly is capable of providing for the needs of another soul made in the image and likeness of God? Who can be trusted to guide a new life safely through this life of dangers and pitfalls? We are all stricken with the illness of the soul – original sin. We all labor with darkened intellects and weakened wills. So, who can “handle another child?”

The Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph were so good that God entrusted Himself as a baby to them. Despite their physical poverty, they were made fit spiritually for the dignity of the office of parenting God. With complete dependence upon the Will of God and prayerful serenity, the Immaculate and Her chaste spouse accomplished the impossible: They parented God! How can man parent the Creator? This is an impossibility. Yet this is precisely the vocation of the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph. How often did they tremble at the road which lay ahead of them?

We have to trust that despite our weaknesses and failings, by trusting God, we will be made fit to steer the young we are given into the paths of God.

The wealth of fertility:
You know every one who comes into contact with your baby. Everyone. You know where your baby is every second of its new life. Your baby is with you right now, no guessing where he is. You know every sound and voice your baby knows. You know and control every thing your new baby eats. You can speak to your baby immediately. You can communicate to him with your heart and he knows you and you know him. You have new life within you, even if it is briefly. Every sacrament you receive, he receives.
The wealth of privacy:
In a perfect world, a baby should be between a husband and wife and no one else. When you have the wealth of fertility, you do not have to ask anyone’s permission to have a baby. You do not need to explain to your doctor, the pediatrician, the social worker and adoption agency, and the state all the personal plans you have for your family and future. The wealth of being sure of God’s plan. Conformity to the Will of God is the sure path to sanctification. The wealth of fertility allows you to know what God’s plan is for you. In marriage, if you find yourself expecting, you know exactly what God wants of you. The path is clear.

The great women we find in the Old Testament considered children a great blessing. When these women called to God in poverty, they cried because they couldn’t have children. For example, Hannah (Samuel’s mother) and Rachel (Joseph’s mother) both beseeched God because of their poverty (and Rachel was very prosperous in the eyes of the world). They suffered the poverty of infertility. For those who do not have the wealth of fertility, the poverty can be distressing. Rachel in the Old Testament expresses the feeling of infertility dramatically: “Give me children or give me death.”


The consoling way to look at infertility is to turn to the Gospel and see infertility as a poverty. Then we can take this cross, this terrible pain, and turn it into a great, sanctifying grace. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. When the Lord spoke of the Kingdom of heaven, He said: “The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Meaning the Kingdom is already here. He is the Kingdom, the manifestation of the Trinity. When we draw close to Him and His ways we find the Kingdom of heaven. In the beatitudes, Jesus teaches us that this Kingdom belongs to the poor in spirit. With the poverty of infertility, one is given the opportunity in prayer to be truly poor: “May I also have a child in my womb, but if I cannot I will be satisfied (and greatly satisfied) fulfilling Your Will for me. Thy Will be done, not mine.” Since no new life is created within the barren womb, this allows the great emptiness to be filled with Jesus Himself.

Isn't that a beautiful way to look at it? I pray for the grace to be able to say always, "Not my will, but Thine be done, Oh most loving Jesus"