Catholic Church

Not 100 in the United States hate the Roman Catholic Church, but millions hate what they mistakenly think the Roman Catholic Church is. -- Bishop Fulton J. Sheen

Yep, thats right folks. We've been going to Catholic Church. GASP! I know. Well, Mike and I were married in the Catholic Church and I was going to convert (though only because I wanted our family to go to church together) back when we first moved here, but Mike had a change of heart which I had been praying for. So we started going to our current, lovely, family integrated church right after that, about 2.5 years ago. We were growing increasingly frustrated with it though since I end up out in the hall for the entire service with Faith running around... so I started looking for a solution, of course there really isn't one, its just hard going to church with a little one. But I started looking into other local churches around here. We wanted something with young families and most of those churches don't have the kind of worship/formality we believe in. And, unless you go to a non-denom, how do you decide which denomination to go to? There are 33,000 (probably more, I don't know how old that number is) different denominations! I was raised Baptist, but who am I to say that those Presbyterian's baptizing infants are wrong when they use the SAME Bible to defend their beliefs too. So, how the heck can anyone decide which one is true when everyone is yelling "SOLA SCRIPTURA!"? I want to go to the Church that preaches the TRUTH! There can only be one truth, unless we're going to say, like some non-Christian worldviews say, that everyone has to find their own truth and my truth is different than yours, etc. So... maybe this sola scriptura thing isn't working out so well. Look at all the division, is that what Jesus intended? Plus, no one believed in using the Bible alone as the sole rule of faith until Martin Luther came along in 16th Century. Did they all get it wrong for 1500 years? Is Sola Scriptura even IN the Bible?! "all doctrine is inspired by God and profitable for reproof....." hmmmm. profitable. but I don't see where it says "the only thing profitable". And speaking of Martin Luther, did you know he wanted to remove a bunch of other books from the NT like James and Romans and Revelations. He even referred to James as the "epistle of straw" (maybe because it says faith without works is dead?;-). He also believed in the perpetual virginity of Mary and in the Real Presence of Christ in the mass (though to a slightly different extent). I was surprised! And there wasn't even an official Canon of Scripture for the New Testament until 300 something AD. 300 years! What did those people do?! Obviously they couldn't rely on the Bible alone to teach them what to believe, they were taught from oral tradition! You know what the Bible says is the pillar and foundation of truth? The church! (1 tim 3:15)

Needless to say Michael was a little more than surprised when I told him I thought we should maybe go to Catholic Church again. He's very on-board though. He was going through a faith-crisis right before this and I could tell he was very relieved when I mentioned it.

Ok, well I'm not going to go into every single theological reason why, but another huge factor was that we already believe in the cultural aspects of Catholicism. We don't have to search for some fringe fundamentalist church to hear that contraception is wrong or that radical feminism is destroying families. They are actively against abortion. children are welcome & encouraged to be in the service with their parents. Many of the prominent breastfeeding, natural mothering, gentle discipline books are written by Catholics (Kippley, Popcak) - heck, LLL was started by 7 Catholic women. Sears' are Catholic too. huge points for Catholicism in my book ;-)

This was the first thing I listened to after I started reconsidering Catholicism - Household of Faith its by two formerly Protestant women. sooo great and its free so you should listen to it!

A great book by a Presbyterian Minister & his wife on their journey converting to the Catholic Church

An awesome defense against every anti-Catholic argument

EWTN audio from The Journey Home - a show interviewing Protestant Pastor's that have converted to the CC

And yes there are Catholics who don't know squat about the Bible or what the Catholic Church teaches... but there are also Protestants who are the same way. The Catholic Church doesn't teach that we are saved by works or that we should worship Mary or that Mary is equal to Jesus or that everyone outside the CC is going to hell, or ... probably most everything you've heard isn't true.

So... there you have it. I used to listen/read tons of anti-Catholic stuff, so don't throw that at me thinking I haven't seen it yet, I know all of the arguments. I even grew up in a Church where the Pastor was an ex-Catholic! I've really been putting off telling people because I'm so afraid of what people will say/think/ask and I'm a total conflict avoider in real life because I'm so so so bad at thinking on my feet. I know a few of you are very anti-Catholic so just be gentle and read some things from a Catholic perspective instead of only anti-Catholic. "There is no meaner, more hateful person on earth than a Christian who suspects you have gotten your theology wrong."

Ok, well... I'm really excited about it! I'll be received into the Catholic Church at Pentecost. I'm in a conversion class full of other adults with protestant backgrounds, its been so encouraging to be able to fellowship and discuss with others in the same boat. We have a reconciliation retreat tomorrow.... yay!!

Please don't hate me. I'm so scared to post this! ahhhhhh :-|

Church!

Faith and I went to church alone today (not this church, just a pretty picture I found)! First time thats ever happened, only because Mike worked last night and obviously wasn't going to get up 2 hours after he got home to go to Church and I just felt like going :) I almost didn't go, because I must be insane to try taking her by myself!! But, she sat through the entire service!!!! I can't even believe it! Granted, it was only an hour but I didn't have to take her out at all. well, once because she said she needed to go potty, which is also a HUGE deal because she hardly ever tells me before she goes. and she kept asking for food (of course I brought none) and nursed like 5 times and wanted this girl's baby doll in front of us. But she was pretty good! I haven't been able to sit through an entire service since she was like 3 months old. I still got nothing out of it because I was trying to occupy her the whole time, but its progress!

I'll say more about WHERE we went to church later, but I'd like to save the reprimands and concerns for my soul for another day ;-)

Sick baby

lots of puking :( Thankfully I think its over now.

Edit: not over. As soon as I posted this, she started fussing in her sleep on the couch so I was going to move her upstairs to our bed and go to sleep myself. I take her up there, I had already pre-planned so I had everything ready and certain lights on that needed to be on, I go up there (meanwhile she is gagging on the way up the stairs) and none of the lights are on, none of the light switches work (keep in mind Mike is working nights this month so he's not here). So, she threw up on the floor/me 3 times in the span of 30 seconds while I'm helpless because I can't see anything! AHHHH I'm not even going to try to clean it up since there is no light and its scary up there! Vomit on carpet for 8 hours will be fine right? Why does electricity not work in half my house?!

I haven't blogged since August!!!

That is crazy! Faith doesn't let me be on the computer much lately, which is actually a good thing - I spend way less time on facebook :-). My laptop is in the kitchen and, unless she is really distracted, she will push at my legs until I get off. And, I have been knitting up a storm for Christmas - I knitted a scarf for everyone in my family in 3 weeks.... ok not a real scarf, just a neckwarmer... but thats 4 neck warmers in barely 3 weeks. And I can't really knit when Faith is awake - so I had to use my only free time during naps and after she went to sleep at night. blech! So glad thats over with.

Faith is 19 months old!! She says about 20 words and she's pretty much potty trained now. At 17 months, after hearing one of my friends with a baby the same age as Faith who didn't do EC talk about starting potty training I was like WHAT? Maybe I should get on the ball here! haha We hadn't been doing much EC, just first thing in the morning and after her nap, and she was wearing cloth diapers throughout the day and would tell us when she peed her in diaper. So I just started putting panties on her and reading her a book on the potty and she took to it immediately! Most of the time we'll go a few days without having a miss and she was telling us when she needed to go, but she's teething now so its kind of iffy but if I remember to take her fairly often she'll hold it. We still do diapers out of the house because it makes me nervous not to, but she stays dry almost all the time anyway.

Oh!!! AND (tmi?) I think I've finally got my period back. yay? Faith still nurses a lot and all night long, but she is starting to eat more solids... somedays lol.

My family came a few days ago and they brought our Christmas presents :) so here are some pictures in no particular order because blogger uploads them in reverse.

a hammock! Its in our bedroom - its so fun and comfy. Oh and her waldorf doll is with her too

my safely rear-facing 19 month old :)

reading with Grandpa

with Aunt Michelle and Aunt Emily

Grandma

a rough day of teething/sickness. Oh our tv is new too! Faith can't turn it off and on anymore because we mounted it on the wall! YAY!

I got an awesome new camera for my birthday! (I'm 23 now! crazy!) I've never had a dSLR before and I'm love love loving it!!! I also bought this awesome kinderpack, its toddler size... ssssooooo great (we haven't been the thriftiest in the last month if you couldn't tell lol!)!! She fell asleep with Gerber's eye in her mouth. Anyone else watch Gerber as a child?

We love to go on walks... except not so much when its freezing.

Picture Post: 15 months old, Wrap Rant, and some DIY

First off- I highly recommend woven wraps... they are amazing and 100% worth every penny. You can use them from birth to... whenever. There are a ton of different carries you can learn: front, back, hip, nursing- its endless! And, unlike stretchy wraps - they are still super supportive far far far past 15lbs. They have a steep learning curve, but its worth it! I started wrapping when Faith was 5 months old and outgrew the sleepy wrap. Anyway, on with the show! This is Anna she is made by Storchenwiege and this is how we used her today...

...For a 3 hour nap. She is still sleeping actually and I'm very comfortable. This is in a reinforced rucksack carry which I just tried today and I love it. Faith doesn't nurse to sleep very often anymore, but she likes to be wrapped to sleep, sometimes I take her off after she falls asleep, sometimes not.

as a hammock

She loved it!

I left her alone with this book for 5 minutes and she ate the entire corner off... she was suspiciously quiet, no wonder.

She loves to put our shoes on. :-D

Mmmm meatballs

Isn't this so cute?! She is smelling my wilted basil plant!

Family picture via self-timer. haha. use your mind to crop out Mike's feet. Faith is nursing, isn't she giant?

DIY shape sorter. We're only sorting one shape obviously, and she still just tries to shove it through. I think circles would have been the smarter option...

tape a cardboard box closed, cut shapes out of the top, make a hole in the side to retrieve "shapes", cover sides of openings using duct tape to make the edges not so sharp, use glue gun or fabric glue to attach scrap fabric to box. Viola!

DIY Babywearing sweater!

You need a stretchy knit sweater with zipper (buttons would work too)... hold on, I have to tell you about this sweater. It's from Anthropology and I found it at Goodwill with the $90 price tag still attached!!! LOVE! Ok, so baby on your back, put it on backwards and have someone zip you up! HAHAHA. Don't worry, I only go on walks after dark like this...

She is 15 months old now. Weighs 22 lbs (she weighed like 20lbs at 7 months so she has really slowed down the weight gain) and is 31" tall. She says ball, dog, mama, dada, down (I think), and no. She LOVES going to the play area at the mall, you know, the germ infested place you swore you would never allow your child to play at before you had kids (no? just me then?). We have to wait until after 8pm to go because its less crowded then and she really likes to climb up/slide down this one slide over and over again. Its fun to watch.

This is our new house :). Having our stuff split between the two levels is hard... I'm still getting used to it and trying to figure out how to make it practical. ugh. I like the space though, a lot!

the end.

Church Nurseries

Today we visited a different church. One with a nursery. It wasn't like a real church nursery, no one demanded I hand my baby over or assigned security bracelets or parent pagers... just a room with toys and an adult assigned to help in it. I thought maybe it would be good, I would get to listen to the sermon finally, Faith would play. Great.

Well, maybe I should start with the fact that I haven't really sat in church for a year. I sit out in the hall with Faith, since our normal church doesn't have a nursery. I liked this fact for a while, but now that she is getting older and just wants to play - I see their purpose. I've also only left her in the care of others once. I had a dentist appointment and was gone for 2 hours when she was 5 months old.... bad bad bad decision she was one very sad baby when I got back and didn't stop crying for 30 more minutes! Mike takes off work for my dentist appointments now ;-)

So, we try out this other church. I go sit back in the nursery with her for 20 minutes, she is playing and interested in toys so I sneak out - back in to the service. But all I can think about is what she is doing back there... is she sad? Does she miss me? Does she know I'm gone? Is she playing with the balls? What are the adults doing in there? Did they do background checks? I might as well be back there with her, because I'm getting nothing from being out here! So after 4 minutes I hear crying. I go back there and sure enough- crying hysterically, splotchy face, hyperventilating... that's my daughter! AHHHH so sad. So... all this to say, I won't be leaving Faith in a nursery again and I'm glad to know that I'm not missing out on anything by our church not having one.

Off-topic: what would you say to someone who asks you when you're going to have another baby when you want one right now but you haven't ovulated in 2 years? haha, pretty specific, right? I should say something like "In God's timing" but I usually say "whenever" to stop myself from saying "ask my ovaries %*#(@!!" UGH I just hate getting that question!

BoBB

The Business of Being Born is a great documentary on birth and the state of maternity care in America. If you plan on maybe, possibly, ever being a Mother or Father you need to watch this movie. And its free... so just do it. In fact, I'll just post the first part here for your convenience. Who knows how long this will be available on youtube, but you can watch it as an instant on netflix if you are so privileged.