Saturday, June 3, 2017

Our Family Foundation - Our Faith

Good morning out there - Tomorrow is a very special day. Not only is it Pentecost
Sunday............but it is our anniversary. Jim and I will be married thirty-four years
tomorrow. I wrote a post three years ago about the many changes in our lives
throughout the years.
There has been one very special, very important thing that has stayed the same  -
our parish home. Since I wrote that post we have been blessed with two more
grandchildren, three of our grandchildren serve during Mass as altar servers and
many more memories have been made at Sacred Heart Cathedral. I want to re-share
that post today. But before I do, I want to think about the vows I made on a
Saturday afternoon many years ago.
I promised to love my husband for better or worse, for richer or poorer, through the
good days and bad days and until death do us part. I have been blessed with a good,
God fearing man. Jim is my knight in shining armor and always stands by my side.
 A wedding is just a day - but a marriage is a life time and it takes work. Like a
garden, you have to lovingly tend to it.
 Love, patience, kindness, forgiveness, and communication are a must -
but most important - you need to make sure that God is right in the center, right there
with you and then everything else will fall into place.


The following is the post I wrote when we were about to celebrate our
 thirty-first anniversary.


My husband and I will be married 31 years next week! I think about all the things
that have changed during our marriage, different jobs, different homes, all the different
stages of our children's lives, and now we have 8 amazing grandchildren, Gifts from God!
So many blessings, so much love, and I am so thankful!
The one thing that has stayed the same all of these years, is our Parish home,
Sacred Heart Cathedral. This is where we raised our children, this is where we grew
as a family. Many wonderful memories are from when we were at Mass. Not only did we
celebrate the joy of Baptisms, First Communions, Confirmations, and Weddings, we also
mourned the death of many loved ones at Funeral Masses.
We didn't, and don't just attend Mass, we were, and are involved. My children became
Altar Servers just as soon as they could. My husband has been an Usher for years, and I
have been honored to serve as a Lector, a Commentator and humbled to serve as a
Eucharistic Minister. Many times over the years I would be standing at the front of the
Cathedral Sanctuary, waiting to Lector, and Jim would be standing at the back where the
Ushers are, but I could always spot him in an instant. I remember one time he was in the
balcony, and I looked up and saw him, my heart stopped for just a second and I just
thought how blessed I was to be married to such a wonderful man. Even though we
rarely sit together, we are together, a wave across the church, a smile, a feeling, we are
always together.
We have seen many children grow up at Sacred Heart, from babies, to toddlers,
then teens, then young adults. We have always enjoyed the holidays when many return
home and attend Mass.
This past Sunday Evening in Mass, I was at the front, Jim was at the back, and young
married couples with small children, and babies on the way were everywhere. So much
new life! My heart was so full, so many of these couples I had known at least one of
them since they were a small child, and now they have families of their own. Our children
and grandchildren are at Mass with us most times, at Sacred Heart, our home.
Today I pray that each of you will be blessed with a home like ours, and that no matter
where you sit or stand, you will always be together.
Happy Anniversary Jim! I loved you then, I love you now, and I will love you forever!

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