Tag: family

the shape of miracles

Published on by Dawn Marie3 Comments

it’s the monday giggles…

I gave up Social Media 5-6 years ago.

Best. Decision. Ever.

I have spoken with several people who gave up the same during the Season of Lent this year, as their lenten sacrifice. A few have decided they will not return and instead make it a permanent thing.

I get it!

Admittedly, on occasion, I will feel left out of a conversation or miss participating in an event because it would seem that is the only way the information is being shared – via fb, instagram, or X. But even that does not bother me enough to return. Instead, I have found alternative avenues for receiving the same data others are gathering from those informational portals.

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hosanna, in the highest!

Published on by Dawn Marie2 Comments

Yesterday was Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week!

Yes, the holiest week of the year for the Catholic Church.

This week the Church commemorates Christ’s death and burial which begins with Palm Sunday. The palms symbolize peace and victory. It was custom during Jesus’ time for people to pay homage by laying palm branches – or even clothes – in front of people who were owed a great amount of respect. The Gospel of John tells of how Jesus was welcomed into the city mere days before his death: “When the great crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took pam branches and went out to meet him, and cried out: ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, (even) the king of Israel’” (John 12: 12-13). On Palm Sunday, the faithful receive palm branches at the beginning of Mass followed by a procession. Doing so invites us to reenact Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem. Also, the blessed palms at Mass on Sunday, should not be thrown away. According to Canon Law (1171), blessed items are to be treated with reverence. If there is a need to dispose of such items, they must be buried or burned.

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farewells

Published on by Dawn Marie21 Comments

If I told you, “It’s been a heck-of-a-week!” I would be understating matters.

Sweet magical Helen’s passing was the straw that broke my heart.

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Sweet Helen’s quality of life would not recover and would continue to deteriorate, so I made the agonizing decision to put her to sleep.

Anyone who has ever needed to do the same understands, the teetering of thought between, “Is it selfish of me to not step-aside from my own needs to have her here with me, while she continues to suffer?” Or “Is it selfish of me to relieve her of the suffering, because I can no longer continue to watch her deteriorate?”

By the grace of God and a kind & caring Veterinarian, I knew I needed to step aside so that Helen could finally rest in peace.

I have had a lot of wonderful, loving family members and friends ministering to me in these most recent days, for which I am extremely grateful. It is both comforting & humbling to have others supporting you in your grief.

As a result, I have found myself asking “Is it wrong for a Christian to mourn an animal?” I admit that I cried a great deal when I had to put Helen down, both before and after the fact. I brought Helen into our home in 2014, at a period of great despair and tumult within our family, and I sometimes believe if I had suffered through that period alone, I might have completely fell into an unrecoverable despair. 

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