Children: Joy > Cost

My inbox gets filled up with way too many forwards. Usually I delete them without even bothering to open them, because after awhile all forwards start to sound the same: cheesy and rather pointless. But since this one had "children" in the title, which is a subject I've been giving quite a bit of thought to lately, I decided to give it a try. Well, it turns out it was worth it! Here it is:

The Price of Children

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition. But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down.

It translates into:

* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741.38 a month, or
* $171.08 a week.
* That's a mere $24.24 a day!
* Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is don't have children if you want to be "rich." Actually, it is just the opposite. What do you get for your $160,140?

* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to:

* finger- paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs, and
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:

* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watching Saturday morning cartoons,
* going to Disney movies, and
* wishing on stars.
* You get to frame rainbows, hearts and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay on Mother's Day and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:

* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat to history to witness the:

* first step,
* first word,
* first bra,
* first date, and
* first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits. So one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!

Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren!

Although I imagine that parenting is indeed a cross at times, like all suffering, the blessings that come from it are more than worth the "price."

Useless anxiety

Me: Worry, worry, worry, worry, worry. Aaaargh!

God: "I tell you, do not be anxious about your life. . .consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. . .but if [I] so clothe the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will [I] not much more clothe you, O [daughter] of little faith? . . .Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day." (Matthew 6:25-34)

Me: Oh, that's nice, Lord. *goes back to worrying*

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You know what I need? A good smack in the head. It's a wonder God hasn't given me one yet. I think it would do me some good.

Our Mother's Prayer

My soul doth magnify the Lord.
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name.
And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him.
He hath shewed might in his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble.
He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy:
As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever.

After I recieved a certain blessing today, my heart filled with gratitude to God and I was able to say with Mary, "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,. . .[for] the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name." I looked up the Magnificat (above) prayer on Google so that I could read the full text, and in doing so I also found this beautiful yet simple reflection on Mary's awesome prayer: The "Merciless" Magnificat by Rev. Johann G. Roten, SM.

I hope you enjoy & are blessed by it. May we all join with Our Blessed Mother in proclaiming and sharing God's goodness to us.

A little something about Prayer

I had this idea last night that I thought would make a great YouTube video, but since I'm a bit camera-shy and I know myself well enough to admit that by the time I actually got around to making said video, I would have forgotten what I wanted to say...well, a blog post seemed to be the better alternative. (Plus, anything that will keep this blog alive is a good thing.)

So, where to begin? Oh yes. The Baltimore Catechism. Well, I found it on my bookshelf last night and decided to peruse it, and after awhile I came across a section about prayer which asked the question: "Why do we pray?" The simple answer given is as follows: "We pray: first to adore God; second, to thank Him for His favors; third, to obtain from Him the pardon of our sins and the remission of their punishment; fourth, to ask graces and blessings for ourselves and others." Sounds very straightforward, right? And it is. But it was the order, not the form, that caught my attention. I realized that I have been approaching prayer completely backwards without even giving it much thought. For me, prayer usually goes something like this: "Hi God. I reeeeally need Your help with such-and-such. I'm not doing so well, and if You don't help me I think I'm going to give up. By the way, I'm sorry for doing you-name-it. I'll try really hard to stop doing that. But You gotta provide the grace. Also, thanks for such-and-such. Oh, and You are awesome and I'm so glad that You're my God. Amen."

Now obviously, this is a slight exaggeration. But you get the point: Ask for help, say I'm sorry, give thanks, and adore. Wroooong order. No wonder I so often fall out of a pattern of regular prayer. Adore. Thank. Repent. Supplicate. Rinse and repeat. :P When you think about it, though, the Baltimore Catechism's order makes much more sense than my own and allows prayer to flow more naturally. "I love You, God. You are so great and wonderful. Thank you so much for the blessings that You have given me in my life, especially recently. In light of Your goodness, I see more clearly my sins and how atrociously I have acted. I am so sorry, Lord, for offending You and failing to contribute positively to the world, but rather diminishing the cause and spread of goodness through my own sinful actions. Please forgive me, and help me to make amends and work towards becoming a better person. And please provide me with all of those graces which I am in most need of, especially the ones I am unaware of needing. Please bless my day, my thoughts, words, and actions, and my family and friends as well. Thank You, Lord. I love You. Amen."



"For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy."

"Kneeling before the tabernacle, I can think of only one thing to say to our Lord: "My God, you know that I love You." And I feel that my prayer does not weary Jesus; knowing my weakness, He is satisfied with my good will."

-The Little Flower (Saint Therese of Lisieux)