My Divine Mercy Sunday

What a day!

First off, words cannot express how happy that Pope John Paul II became a saint today! I was lucky enough to attend World Youth Day in Toronto in 2002, and being in the audience provoked a big change in my life. We also visited Rome on our honeymoon soon after his passing in 2005, and we were able to pray at his grave under St. Peter's.

St. John Paul II, pray for us!!!

We also celebrated my fertile BFF's son's First Communion this morning. I am so proud of him! His pew had the most guests and the priest seemed quite impressed that so many came to the 9am mass. Mr. JB and I offered to move to another pew so other family members could sit up front, but my BFF's mom insisted that we stay, and she isn't someone that one chooses to argue with! 

I tried really hard not to think that if we had conceived when we first got married that our child would be making their First Communion as well. The pain was there, but faint. I tried my best to focus on being the official family photographer. It's hard not to think about the could have beens, but this is the reality of my IF life and I'm trying to focus on what's ahead with our adoption plans.

After the First Communion (and travelling across the city) we had a family get-together with my mother's side of the family. There are quite a few April birthdays so my mom's siblings usually just have one big party. I was pretty shocked to see that my parents were in attendance! For those of you not in the know, my mother has been feuding with some of her siblings. The entire family hasn't been together in over three years. I hope and pray that this is a good sign. 

Lastly, it's my patron saint's feast day! I read about St. Zita of Lucca to my class on Friday afternoon and it finally made sense.  She was a servant and she performed her duties without complaining. Exactly what I need to do with my job, regardless of how difficult it has been (and will continue to be). St. Zita of Lucca, pray for us! 

Holy Week Happenings

I apologize for my post-Mexico absence.

I've had a tough Lenten season.

Actually, I've had an extremely difficult school year and after we returned from our vacation down south, I was ready to quit my job.

Or at least take an extended leave of absence.

I know that I'm not new to education.

I also know that I have had difficult classes, and difficult students.

But this group is just taking EVERYTHING out of me.

It also doesn't help that my immune system is on strike and that I've been sick four times since the new year started.

I also have an incredibly sore left shoulder. No, I didn't fall or do anything to hurt myself.

It's stress.

My body is on strike.

Have I mentioned that I'm trying to train for a 5K at the beginning of May?

But I digress....

It did strike me a couple of weeks ago that I needed to rise above all of these trials -- physical, mental and spiritual, and that perhaps I was going through such a hard time so I could walk the 40 days of Lent very closely with our Lord.

It wasn't just enough to give up my trips to St.arbucks, but I needed to get in touch with faith.

Mr. JB and I have attended the Stations of the Cross at our parish on Friday nights since Lent started and it has been such a fantastic way to remind me that my suffering is just a small fraction of what Jesus went through for us. Every time I get frustrated, I look at the crucifix in my classroom and I ask Him to help me be more patient. Instead of yelling at my class, I stop and say a quiet prayer and I try to move on and redirect the student that's doing something aggravating/silly/plain stupid (let's just say that there's been A LOT of praying!).

So, despite having a trying Lent, The Lord has given me a couple of gifts:

I saw my Napro doctor last week and miraculously my FSH has dropped!!!! Since I'm on the bare minimum of meds (i.e. post-Peak HCG to keep the PMS beast at bay), it was shocking to me. My FSH has been over twenty basically since my surgeries in Omaha, and even with drug intervention it didn't go down. We decide to stop (actively) TTC and it goes down to 11. 

Not the best number, but amazing for me!

My doctor was pleasantly surprised and couldn't figure out a medical explanation. My answer was, "God works in mysterious ways."

Also, our homestudy is done! All we have to do is sign it and give it back to our social worker. We have some paperwork to do for the Ch.ildren's A.id So.ciety so we can be assigned a caseworker. Please pray that our homestudy is approved quickly!

I want to wish all of you a very Happy Easter. The JBs are heading out of town so I don't know how much internet I'm going to have. 

Thank you all for your continued prayers. Although I haven't been commenting I have been keeping with the blogosphere. You all continue to be in my prayers!