AMERICA BLESS GOD

A significant day, Sept. 11, 2001

America was changed for

better and for worse, 

I am sure.

Many people, innocent people lost their

lives. 

Families were torn apart because of this disaster.

Mothers, fathers, children, brothers, sisters

aunts, uncles, cousins,

you name it.

Families destroyed.

I am fairly sure that many people in our country have asked:

"Why? Why would God let this happen?"

"How could this happen to us?"
"God wouldn't let this happen to those He loves/cares about."

"There is no god..if there were, this wouldn't have happened if there were."

I remember 9/11/11 clearly:

I was working for a telemarketing place on Route 61, I was making a call and the 

phone wouldn't dial. I tried several times. The business I was trying to contact

as well as several other after that were in the New York area.

I kept getting busy signals. 

Then we got the news:

The World Trade Center was crashed into by some planes.

My thoughts went to all the people there in the buildings. I remember praying 

that they are safe.

My thoughts also turned to a friend that I have who works in the City as well as

family members who also live in the state of New York.

Shortly after, there was word that the second tower was hit, and a bit later, word came that 

there were problems in Washington and also in Shanksville.

I have family who work in Washington and worried for her as well,

again, I offered up prayers for all involved.

NOW, forward, 9/11/14.....

13 years later.

 

Everywhere, everyone is calling, Let us never forget, God Bless America, 

Never forget

I am sure there are more, but these are the ones that come across the most.

I do agree, we must never forget what happened to our country, HOWEVER,

I don't think we should be asking God to bless America.

We/America needs to bless God.

Maybe when we start blessing God, we will see some changes in our world,

in our lives, in everything, everywhere.

God certainly will not bless a country that is going on the basis of  sodomy,

abortion, same sex marriage. Our country is running on lies and deception.

Our country refuses to see how these things are wrong, sinful, and going

against His commandments.

Did Jesus endure this for nothing?!?!

I am very sad for families that lost loved ones, I am sad for people who continue

to follow the wrong path.

I pray that one day, our country will be what it was meant to be.

May the souls of the faithful departed, by the mercy of God rest in peace.

~Amen~

God Bless.

BELIEFS

Much has gone on in our state of PA...and in the Little Town That Could, Schuylkill Haven.
Judge Jones allowed same-sex marriage to be legal in the state of PA.

First, let me state that marriage is: the formal union of ONE man and ONE woman, typically recognized by law, by which they become husband and wife, in order to procreate.
Sure, the people that write the dictionaries can change the meaning of words to make it be acceptable.

Well..A bakery has turned away lesbian couple who wanted a cake for their "ceremony."  The bakery has taken a lot of negative hits...people are saying that they hope this business goes out of business...they should just make the cake...

I personally feel the bakery did the right thing by sticking to their beliefs.

I have had someone ask, what if one of your children say they are gay? My answer? I would still love them, I would sit them down and go back to the basics of our religion and the teachings of the Church, I would pray for that child..that he/she goes to Confession, repents of the sin, avoids the near occasion of sin turn his/her life around.

I truly do not believe God made people gay, I mean, really...If God made Adam in His likeness...that would mean that Adam was made perfect...without sin, he was lonely, so guess what...God presented all the animals and none were pleasing to the eye of Adam, God then put Adam into a deep sleep and took a rib...from that rib, God created woman.....Adam was pleased..God then told them to go and fill the earth.  God didn't make another man for Adam....Sure, Eve was tempted by the devil, and Adam followed suit..they were banned from the Garden of Eden....God did promise them a Saviour...

Guess what?! That Saviour was Jesus Christ....He forgave sins, He obeyed His Father and went obediently to the Cross. On that Cross, Jesus was crucified, through His death on the Cross, He opened the gates of Heaven that were closed. Through His death, He gives us the ability to receive grace, to get the grace, we need to repent of our sins, be truly sorry, confess our sins and avoid the sin and near occasion of sins...we are able to do this through the sacraments that He has given us in the Church...We have the ability to go to CONFESSION, to clean our souls..We can't just say "I accept Jesus as my Savior"...it won't all be finished.

I am not here to judge anyone, only God can do that...we have 2 judgements to come to us, one at our death and one at the final judgement.  Those who think sodomy is not sinful, you are wrong...it is sin...(the dictionary even gives this definition: unnatural or abnormal sexual intercourse.)

We can not go to Heaven with sin on our souls, we need to be in the state of grace...No matter how many "good deeds" you have done, will not put you on the path to Heaven....SIN IS SIN, no matter which way you cut it. Sin will put you on the path to Hell.

People are afraid of death, they ignore the truth that someday, we WILL die.  We do have a small say in where we go, Heaven, Purgatory, Hell...these places are real.  Sin will put you on the path to Hell.
People are afraid of death, they ignore the truth that someday, we WILL die.  I pray that I go to Heaven, as well as my family and friends, however, we are not perfect so I expect to go to Purgatory, I sure as hell, don't want to spend eternity in Hell. Do you?

I truly pray that all who are in the state of sin, any kind of sin..you find sit down and examine your conscious, be truly sorry, go to confession and stay the path.
These are my beliefs, that is the way it is, so, take it or leave it, who knows, maybe I can help someone get back to the Church.
God Bless....

DECLUTTERING

Anyone who knows me, knows I am always trying to get rid of things and

declutter.

It is a constant battle in a house with 6 children under the age of eight!

I try, but never seem to get rid of enough.

Well, today, I have an eye opening conversation with my dear, sweet, smart

Marcus that I would like to share with you it taught us both 

something!

 

 

This little face became the opening of a deep conversation! Thank you Timothy!!

 

 

The conversation goes like this:

 Marcus: "Mommy, why is Timmy always so happy?"

 Me: "Well, it's like this, Timmy is happy because he doesn't have a lot of things to clutter his mind and take away from his happiness and joy. He was born into the world with NO clothing, but a family that loves him.  He doesn't have very many things, and so he doesn't realize the "want/need" for more."

 Marcus: "Oh, I see. Well, he really is happy!"

Marcus with his little brother Timothy, he doesn't know the impact a smile will have!

Me: "Yes, son, he is, and we can be too...we can declutter and get rid of things in order to take our minds off all the things that need to be done or of the things we think we want or need.  We can declutter our house and our mind and be happy!"

 brief silence

Me:  "I have an example I want to share with you Marcus."

Marcus: "Okay." sits and listens again

Me:  "I really was hoping to get a Kindle to get some books downloaded for school and religious reading, BUT, because we have need to keep food on the table, clothes on our backs, heat in the house (top priority) and we need a new vehicle (top priority as well), it isn't possible for mommy to get a Kindle right now, maybe down the road it will happen, (I was looking at the Staples ad last night just to get an idea of the price.) but I really don't care. I don't care because it may make me happy for a short time, but I know in the long run, it will not be the thing that makes me happy. It is another "something" that will take up space, and in the end, I can't take it with me, so does it really matter if I have a Kindle or not? The same goes for you children, more things won't make you happy in the end, only your love for God will do that."

 Marcus: "I see, I guess you are right."

 

As the conversation ended, I finished changing Timmy's diaper, snapped his outfit back up to keep him warm, Marcus went off to get ready to eat breakfast.

 

Next thing I do is check my email.  In it was a message from a very special person, asking if I have need for a Kindle.  

Mind you, I NEVER SAID A WORD TO THIS PERSON about wishing I had one for school purposes.

 

I truly believe that the Holy Spirit had everything to do with all that transpired today from the talk with Marcus down to the email I received.

 

I will be saying some extra prayers for my benefactor throughout the day and evening.

 

  I called my husband and told him what happened and he agreed that it was intervention by God and/or the Holy Ghost. And we are being blessed in this

matter.

I hope one day you have the benefit of knowing the Spirit the way It has come to me today.  

Thank you Lord for sending such caring people into our lives, and thank you for knowing what our needs are without really saying anything to anyone.

May you all experience a declutter of heart, head and home and be more open to the gifts that God has in store for you!

God bless!

Gearing up!

We have been toying with going to March for Life ever since Marcus was a little guy.

Every year we found a reason to not go, the youngest is too little, it is too cold,

to long of a ride, someone is sick...

Well, this is THE year.

We are going, I don't care how little the youngest is, I don't care how cold it is,

I don't care how long the ride is, and I don't really care if someone is sick

(okay, maybe that one is a bit extreme, but you get my point)

WE ARE GOING, 

so 

Washington DC, get ready,

 the Smith clan is coming!

We will be leaving Pottsville at about 7:15 a.m on a bus trip that is being sponsored by 

St. Joseph/St. Vincent Churches in Girardville.

Marcus and Luke have gotten to ride on an STS bus with their nana once, but that is the extent of bus

rides for them. The children have never been on a Metro, but have ridden on trains. They are looking forward to both experiences.

I just pray that they all are good for the ride, and well, if not, it is the way life goes.

Some of the children have their opinions on this for example,

Thomas says we are going to "March from Life"

Luke says that we are walking for babies,

Marcus says it will be interesting.

 I already know I am going to be proud of our children at this event. I am thankful that we have this opportunity to walk for the unborn children.

Once we started having more children, we keep telling them that:

"A person is a person, no matter how small."

-Dr. Seuss

If our presence there changes the mind of even one person, then it is all worth it.

Life begins at conception, there is NO doubt in my mind,

I am strong in my faith and believe that all pregnancies happen for a reason.

Everyone of them is a person being formed for survival in the world as we know it here, but even

more so that person is being made ready to spend eternity in Heaven with our Creator.

Without Him, nothing is possible.

He knows what is best for us all every moment of every day of our life.

We must not get into the mind frame of, abortion is okay in certain circumstances...that is false.

How can you even think of KILLING another person, let alone an unborn CHILD?!?

Respect Life, Respect God, Chose Life and Chose God.

The ultrasound pictures here show Timothy in utero during the 3-D ultrasound, you will notice he is sucking his thumb, sticking his tongue out and his eye is open...

what more can you say, but it is a baby, that is a PERSON!

open eye.

sucking the thumb

sticking out the tongue.

Psalm 139:13-14

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.

God bless you!

Counting our blessings!

Psalm 127:3

Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. 


You may or may not know but here is the news:

Our family is being blessed by God one more time--in early Autumn, we will
be welcoming baby number 7 to our family.

When we first told the littles, they were a bit quiet about it, but as time is passing, 

belly is getting bigger, making it harder for Monkeyman to get his little arms around me,

the thought is more exciting to him.

I love our night time prayers with the children as we ask God to bless each child, then

we always add, and the new baby.  I know His hand is at work with this precious

baby, and has been, even before I knew it would be happening!

This pregnancy is different, I feel a bit more tired, a bit more sick, but

a lot more at peace, for now anyway.

I am trying my hardest to make the most out of this and enjoy the time carrying this

child, because all too soon, he or she will make an appearance.

There is no where safer for the child than in it's mother's womb.  I am thankful to God

that he found my womb fit to carry my first 6 children to term with very little difficulties, maybe

some discomfort, but that ends eventually, and I want to remember that this time, no matter

how difficult it may get, I know I can rely on God for help during these times and in

times of doubt.

The big questions people have when you make the "announcement":

1) when are you due?
2) are you going to find out what it is?
3) names?
4) are you "done" yet?

I am going to get this out now:

1) around Oct. 7
2) we haven't decided yet
(the children want to know, but I am not sure I do...
I already know it will be a BABY, a gift from God, and that's all that matters
of course health is important too)

3) totally undecided at this point, and throwing names around, won't know
until we see our gift
4) it is God's will, and if He wills us to have more, we will gladly accept that fact.

At this point, I am patiently waiting for Friday to come, and it will hopefully be a very good day...
first of all, it will be my birthday, and I will get to see the baby during my Level 2 ultrasound, so
my birthday wish is that all will be well during my ultrasound. 
I am not going to bore people with the normal issues of pregnancy, as most won't really care,
(If for some reason, you do care to know, you can message me either here, facebook or email)
but if there is something major, I will ask for prayer.

I hope you will keep us in prayer on this day coming up, and throughout the pregnancy.


Proverbs 17:6

Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers. 

There'd be days like this....

The Princess

My past week or two have been filled up with appointments in and out of the area.  For some we were able to take school work with us, for others, it wasn't feasible so we'd wait until we got home.

Fortunately this week hasn't been so bad, nor is next week as we are going to wrap  up our third quarter of classes! 

You would think that this would make for a pretty easy week for us, normally it does however, little Princess has decided to go "Cling-on"....If anyone tries to sit with me she gets mad and pushes him away then puts herself right into mamma's lap.  

If we aren't sitting together, and I am trying to get some work done, she is following me saying, "Hold you mamma, hold you."  Meaning, she wants me to hold her.

If she still had her crib, I could put her in there to cry and deal with it, but she doesn't so that is not an option.

If she weren't so heavy, I'd carry her on my back in a pouch all day, but that is not an option either.  She is much too heavy.  So I suppose I will sit and snuggle my baby girl because I know one day she will be too big to sit on my lap, or be held on my hip.  The day will come when she won't want these things either.

I will cherish this time, make the most of being with my little girl and not really worry about the things that will keep, such as dishes or the laundry to fold...I can catch up when daddy is here to help out.  

Spring 2012

Thank you God for letting me be here for my children, thank you for letting me be the one they come to when they are happy, have something important to share, and when they are sad, tired, out of sorts, sick.

Let me always be here for them and remember that they will one day grow up and know that they can always come back to mamma with their joys or problems.  I will love them unconditionally until God decides that my time is up on earth, but I will love them even after I am gone.

Control

We all feel the need to be in "control" of all aspects of our lives.  

It is NOT possible. 

We cannot control the weather, we cannot control the price of gas, food, or oil.

We cannot control when our time is up in this world.

Isaiah 45:7 

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these [things].

So, what can we control?
We can control how we respond to the weather, the prices of gas, food and oil.

We can control how we feel when someone hurts us,

We can control our emotions, words, actions and reactions to situations.

We see children that are out of control in the grocery store sometimes, in the school yard,

at the playground or just about anywhere there are children.  

We need to realize that these children are not in control, and it is not always their fault, depending on

the age of the child. Children are taught by their parents, elders, and others that they spend time with throughout the day, week, month, etc.  Unfortunately, some parents/guardians are out of control even though they think they are in control, or maybe they don't want to be in control.

Isaiah 55:9

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We need to be able to show our young ones that even though we are NOT in control that there is a proper way to act/react/respond to situations we may not like.

As adults, we also need to teach our children that there is only one that is in TOTAL control....

GOD.

He knows everything, sees everything, understands everything, and knows the outcome of today, tomorrow,

even next year. 

 Psalm 147:5

Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
his understanding has no limit.

He knows our hurts, our concerns, our worries and fears.  We need to teach our children how to lean on Him when things seem to be spiraling out of control.  

We may not get an immediate answer or immediate help, but knowing that our Lord cares for us is a blessing

in and of itself.  We all need to lean on God a little more and stop trying to be in control of everything, every minute of the day.  

Even though He allows these hurts, concerns, worries and fears, He already knows about them and is waiting to hear us ask for help.  We need to have total trust in God's plan for us and teach our children the same. 

Revelation 2:10: 

 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

We need to accept the fact that we are not in control, and

leave that to God!

 

Sometimes, it's hard to pull them in!

 

First day of school 2010

School days!

Everyone one of us has been through them,

some of us liked them, some of us didn't.

I remember loving going to my elementary school when I was a child.

However, as middle and high school came along, I didn't 

love it, but I didn't hate it either...it

was just something I knew I had to do.

Now that we are raising children of school age,

I am so thankful that we don't have to send them out in the cold to 

catch a bus.

 

The only thing we have to do is wake up, get dressed, have our breakfast,

clear table, brush teeth, get out the books and off we go!

The children do like being home for school and are very efficient in getting their 

work done without much trouble.

There are some days, that we do get a late start, but that is fine.

They enjoy the time together before we sit down to do our work

playing, reading, drawing, just doing things together.

I feel like some days they need that time to let their creative juices

get started that way, then come to the table and put them to work with

school. They are more cooperative, they seem to get it easier,

they do well..So, does it really matter if we start our lessons at

9 am or 1 pm? No, I truly don't think so.

Just so they do the work and do it with efficiency, that is what matters.

Some times it is hard to pull them in and that is when I know they need 

a bit of time together before I get them to do their work.

I thank God that I can see the need of this with these children and 

am glad that we can give them what they need. 

When you see straight A report cards at the end of the quarter, you 

know something is being done right!

A COLD WINTER'S DAY!

Woke up this morning to a beautiful sight,

white flakes coming down gently

from the sky.

Normally this would not make me happy

however this morning was different.

I saw God's had in the beauty of the white,

His pureness we can only read about, and

hope to know one day when we are

with Him in Heaven.

 

first snow of the season 2012

Doodle bug and Monkey man went out to shovel two sidewalks today

and did so without complaint. They were happy to be able to be

helpful to mommy and daddy.

What a joy seeing such good traits in children so young, 

the work ethic needs to be taught at home so they 

know what is expected of them and what will NOT be

accepted.

Better for them to learn in the safety of their parents 

unconditional love than out there in the 

world

They will be corrected with love and kindness

the way the Lord would want.  They will be shown their

mistakes without being made to feel foolish.

I pray that our children will continue to grow in

God's love and want to remain pure in heart

the way God would want them to be!

 

I am thankful for being able to be here to help

our children grow and learn,

and here's hoping you can enjoy your children

during the early years!

Thank you God for showing me the pureness and

sweetness of this snowfall!