I decided to make this a two parter. This part is some back story with some kids involved. The next is more about myself.
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In the past I have been a bit tentative to speak about my faith, especially here on my blog. I have made a few mentions in past posts and a listen to any of my music is usually a good give away. BUT I have never really dedicated a post to it. I am however feeling a little inspired right now about sharing this part of my life.
So just a quickie back story. I was baptized Catholic. I received my first communion at age seven. I took weekly Catholic Catechism classes all through out my grade school years. I was confirmed at age 15. I attended Mass regularly in my early twenties. I was a Music Minister at my parish for five years. I have been on a pilgrimage where I had the awesome opportunity to hear the Pope speak to hundreds of thousands of youth on the banks of the Rhine in Cologne, Germany. My husband and I were married in the Catholic church and both boys have been baptized as Catholic. Evelyn isn't...yet. I worked as a secretary at a Catholic high school for 3 years and was an executive assistant for the executive director and board of the Catholic Women's League of Canada for 9 months (I discovered Evelyn was on the way when I started working there).
Confession: I feel guilty that I do not take my children to Mass regularly. I have a few poor excuses. First off, I feel overwhelmed taking kids to church. I always feel that their hijinx are distracting to the other parishioners. I also feel guilty going to my Parish and not being musically involved. It hurts my heart to be at a Mass without a note of music and know that I have the power to completely change that BUT I can't do it with three children in tow. Unfortunately my husband often has to work on a Sunday if the weather during the week was uncooperative so that puts a major crimp in plans. Pretty lame excuses. I know. I am working on this. No longer feeling a connection to my Parish doesn't help either. I have become a C&E Catholic and I don't like it much.
Moving forward. We may not regularly go to Mass BUT we have a A LOT of faith and spirituality in our home. My children know about God and Heaven and Jesus on the cross. They know that Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Christ. Sometimes they wear one of my rosaries because it makes them feel good. We read stories from their children's bibles. They enjoy hearing Just In Case You Ever Wonder before bed. We listen to the Christian stations in the van and they hear me singing my own songs of praise all day. Without a doubt my children know that God is great and powerful and amazing and awesome.............
Given the ages of the boys now it is time to start some more official Bible studies and learning about the faith they have been baptized in. As a homeschooler I have the opportunity to add this to our day. While I did not choose to homeschool for reasons of faith I can not deny the possibility that God still led me to the choice to homeschool. I will be ordering very shortly two important resources. Our Bible study The Great Adventure Series and our Catechism study from the Faith and Life Series.
In addition to those we are beginning our character studies with the Kids of Integrity materials. That is some super cute stuff there. I am also looking forward to getting into the Truth in the Tinsel materials (but in due time, I'm not rushing fall, yet).
We are also going to be veering off in a different direction. Anyone who has seen a picture of my husband (there are a few on here) may notice that he is of Aboriginal descent. It would be shameful on our part to not teach the children anything about their Cree heritage. With that in mind we will be teaching them in a variety of ways the Seven Sacred Teachings. These teachings are very plain and very simple. They are at the core of one's being. They are: Love, Respect, Courage, Honesty, Wisdom, Humility, and Truth. Now some may run for the hills upon hearing us teaching our children aboriginal teachings but they do not stray that far off the Christian path. True they may refer to the Great Creator (but in this house we interpret that to mean God) and yes there may be additional symbolism (that we understand as such) but the core values are universal.
I can only pray that using the tools at my disposal and the guidance of God that I am doing a good enough job to lay a foundation of Faith in my children. Nothing like setting some lofty goals.
That about wraps up my Part 1 on this subject. Part 2 is coming up shortly.
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