Friday NFP QuickTakes

1. I saw this on Pinterest...what a fun way to find out your babies gender! My husband and I never find out, we are always surprised. If I did find out though...I would do it this way for sure!

2. On Being Comfortable....

The recent C.S. Lewis quote brought forth some serious thoughts...God gently reminds me in various ways.

"I didn't go to religion to make me "happy". I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don't recommend Christianity." C.S. Lewis

Sometimes I forget this. How much I run to comfort!

In Little Things: I want to sleep 15 more minutes when I should get up and pray. I think to turn down the air when I'm up or the heat up when I'm cold. I just want to sit and relax and drink my coffee...or sometimes I just want some particular baby phase to end so I'm not inconvenienced. Maybe it's just peace and quiet that I long for or my house to be in order and I don't have to pick up the beads off the floor for the 7th time today. Don't get me wrong, times of silence and order are good and necessary, sometimes they don't always come. I can look for comfort all day long and miss the very essence of my Christian vocation. Those wonderful little opportunities sprinkled all throughout my day that I can offer to God and ACCEPT that He is sending them, they are apart of his will and apart of my vocation, because when it is hard, I need him.

In the Big Things: No wonder most people stop having kids after two or three...we long to get back to "normal"! To be comfortable once again, to not have to make bottles, wake up at odd hours or all hours of the night, to not have to panic attacks during fevers or bleeding cuts, or lug out the tub of maternity clothes once again.

BUT....When do I fall to my knees most, when are my rosaries said with much more ardor, when do I suddenly think of eternity, when are my thoughts less on my self, when does my body become not my own anymore, when am I most physically uncomfortable...when I am expecting! ...and for the first six months after the baby arrives as well. Wow, what an incredibly beautiful, albeit very uncomfortable at times, built in way that Christ has allowed mothers the opportunity to grow closer to Him. It happens most when I am UNCOMFORTABLE.  There is never a perfect time to be pregnant and each time is costly, but I get this incredible little soul in return as a gift for all eternity!

With each new baby, apart of my selfishness chips away, and I know God is shaping me into who I am meant to be. Personally, it helps me to fight MEDIOCRITY...spiritual no man's land. Even when I couldn't conceive, the pain of wanting a baby way a way to bring me out of myself as well.

We are meant to get out of our comfort zones, because that is the essence of Christianity! "Those who wish to save their life will loose it, and those willing to loose their life will find it." Luke 9:24. It is the way we find life...and happiness.

I should tattoo that quote to my forehead.

3. My new favorite blog!! I stumbled upon her testimony on  Ewtn's Coming Home show and read her chapter in Style, Sex, and Substance book in the same week. Maybe most of you already follow her, but I just love her brutally honest and funny thoughts...you have to check out Jennifer Fulwiler at http://www.conversiondiary.com/  ...and I love that she was an atheist and now Catholic...stellar.

4. Confession: I've never done a "7 Quicktakes Friday" post and not sure why or how they got started... also I don't really know if I'm doing this right and 7 things is a lot. So here's to attempting, sporadic blogger that I am.

5.  MyFeminineMind blog had a great post about "Things your Doctor May Have Not Told You about Your Birth Control" that provides some great statistics and medical information on the subject from barrier methods to male sterilization for the times when you need proof of the pudding in that conversation or even to help educate your doctor ;)

6. I sent my first born to Kindergarten yesterday and I use to wonder what the big deal was when other people did that...shoot. Therapeutic blog post about that here. And what does this have to do with nfp or being open to life you may ask? Well, all in all it made me think about the gift of time in relation to eternity...that life is short, the phase of your fertility is relatively short in comparison with your life and I pray that I use both those gifts how God wants and hold nothing back.

7. If you want not to life and time and fertility and love for granted, read this blog: www.viviangodishere.blogspot.com . I've met Maria, as she is a close friend to my sisters. Her family is in great need of prayers, even if you just look at the precious face of her baby girl, it is to see the face of God.

Happy Friday!