To Heal the Broken Hearted...

Here is part of today's devotional from the "40 Days for Life" campaign.
Let's pray, today, for those around us who may have unseen broken hearts.
We may not ever know the people in our lives who have been injured by an abortion.

Beyond the unborn children are the moms, dads, grandparents, siblings, and the human family that will never be touched by their gifts.


The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has
anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has
sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim
liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.

-- Luke 4:18-19


People participating in the 40 Days for Life vigil
watched as a young man who appeared to be in tears
walked into Planned Parenthood with his girlfriend
and her mother.

When they left some time later, he was most certainly
crying -- and obviously quite upset.

I'll let one of the prayer vigil participants pick up
the story...

"I watched him head down the street, alternating
between wiping the tears from his face and punching
the buildings in anger and frustration as he passed
them. Eventually he headed back toward the parking
lot. As he approached, I went to him first. All I
could think to say was that I was so very sorry for
his loss. He began to cry again.

Then a truck pulled up leaving the parking lot with
his girlfriend and her mother inside. The girl's
mother yelled at him to get in and cursed him as he
opened the door. He had one foot inside, then
stepped back out and closed the door. As she drove
away he promptly sat down on the curb and cried
like a baby. Three of us sat down beside him -- all
men -- and cried with him.

Eventually, he began to talk. He was probably in
his very early twenties. He told us that his
girlfriend did not want to keep the child because
she feared they would not be able to provide for
him. He asked her how she could destroy a life
based on a hunch. He told her this child had a
heartbeat and a soul and deserved to live. He even
tried to convince her to, at the very least, put
the child up for adoption.

I was struck by the fact that this young man knew
all this simply because his heart told him it was
true. He was wise well beyond his years and he was
hurting terribly.

I was struck by the clear reality that fathers have
so little to do with whether their own children
live or die. I also couldn't help but notice that
despite the high volume of Planned Parenthood
volunteers around, none of them approached him.

Before I left him, he stood up to hug me. All I
could tell him was what I truly believed -- that
today, his child knows that his/her father fought
for it. That to his child, he is a hero and that
someday he would know that also."

Please pray for this young man and others like him.
The tragedy of abortion is real and happening every
day. No one knows that better than he.

I sincerely hope this young man comes to embrace the
exceptional advice he was given; but that will most
certainly take time. I cannot even begin to imagine
the anguish.

This is a first-person account of what abortion does
to fathers. Who knows how many others have walked in
his shoes, as there are more than a million abortions
every year -- and more than 50 million since the 1973
Roe v. Wade decision that opened the floodgates to
abortion on demand.

Let's pray even harder!

Please Pray ...

Barbara at "Mommy Life" made me aware of this today. Mike Farris has been a true Blessing to the homeschooling community.

Please pray for his wife and their family.

Mike and Vickie Farris need our prayers

Mike and Vickie Farris, who for years have given so tirelessly of themselves to minster to and advocate for homeschooling - and all freedom-loving - families, not to mention raising 10 beautiful children of their own - are facing a great challenge as Vickie's health has taken an unexpected turn.

Mike writes to their church family and has given me permission to share here:

Dear Blue Ridge family,

Vickie went the Johns Hopkins on Tuesday and was diagnosed with interstitial cystitis--a disease that has no known cause and no known cure. It is in the family of auto-immune diseases. The main symptom is pain. It can be severe. Vickie says that her pain has been similar to the last hour or two of labor for several days in a row. Serious pain killers do little to help.

However, it is not life-threatening--at all. It is also episodic--meaning that the flare-ups come and go. Although we didn't know what this was previously, she has apparently had this for several years in a milder form. But this has been the worst flare-up by a long shot. Home cures like cranberry juice, etc. that work for ordinary urinary tract infections actually make the pain worse for interstitial cystitis.

As of now, Vickie is not really functional--she can't homeschool, she can't manage the house, etc. Just about anything she eats causes pain reactions. She has lost a lot of weight. But, we are hoping that this will turn around in a week or two--but it could last longer.

She has had some good days and bad days this past week. But, after a few good days, she had some very bad days that caused me to return early from the national homeschool convention. We would really appreciate your prayers for Vickie on an ongoing basis. And a note from Vickie -- "I really appreciate all the prayers, calls, and cards. I am deeply moved by the obvious love you all have shown to me."

Eldersburg Apple Festival

Yesterday, we braved the rain and headed over to Laura's neck of the woods to take in the Apple Festival in Eldersburg.

It was a bit drizzly, but the rain didn't end up amounting to much, and it was actually very enjoyable weather.

We met up with Laura, Lucy and Molly at Piney Run Park.


It is a beautiful park back in the woods in Sykesville.

Lucy had herself all decked out in apple facepaint,

and Molly borrowed Lydia's hat to make her fashion statement.


The food was great and the local craftsfolk were out in force.




The local color was...interesting...



The boys had a great time on a climbing wall that has been put up in the park.

It was a great time.

Today we were home after Mass and had time to work on our various projects.

I finished Molly's quilt!!! Pictures of that project tomorrow!

Happy Grandkids Day!

Yes, it was!
Laura came over with Lucy and Molly, and Lilly was here while Nina was in school, so we had a houseful of fun with all of them.
The boys each had a couple of tests and piano lessons, but after that we packed up and went to the park with lunch. The weather was so gorgeous!! I got lots of pictures!



After the kids had a chance to play, we went over to Aberdeen to run a few errands. The girls were good as gold, even in the grocery store. They play together so well now!
John went to work for a couple of hours, doing yard work for a friend. He is enjoying the extra money!
Laura and the girls made a batch of Pumpkin bread and I think making it was as much fun as eating it!When Lucy got ready to leave, she got into her new jammies and showed us "Elmo".


I went back over to Aberdeen for pizza and picked John up on the way home. Then Paul and I had a date to go to the high school football game. The Warriors trounced them! 40 to nothing! Paul has been wanting to go watch football, and the other two boys were quite content to stay home with a movie!

Tomorrow is Saturday and we are going to head over to Eldersburg, to the Apple Festival. Gotta be a pie there somewhere...

40 Days for Life Starts September 23!

Tomorrow is the beginning of another 40 Days for Life! This is such a perfect way to serve the cause of Life!
It is making tremendous progress in the effort to bring awareness and the power of prayer to the battle against abortion.

Please check this out and consider joining the effort...

The King and I and Lilly's birthday...

Two great events yesterday and I got to be part of both of them!

Lilly had her birthday party at "That Bouncy Place" and BOY did she have fun! She started screaming and running as soon as she got there! It was a perfect Lilly day!!!


Yesterday was also that last performance of "The King and I".

This show was so much fun for the kids... there were so many neat moments and they all got to be very good friends.
Paul's "mom" in the show gave him a card and a little gift, and it meant so much to him...He was getting kind of weepy backstage and I think this may have been part of it. He really liked Miss Jen. That's the tough thing about these shows, you really have to say goodbye to a lot of people that you feel very close to, and you don't know when you will see them again. Poor little Samantha was having a terrible time after the show...She had made so many good friends. She played Paul's "sister", and she is such a sweet girl.



I was very proud of my young "Prince". I'm proud of all my princes!

This Just In....

From Creative Minority Report:

Save the Sheep!

Alright. This is my new favorite story ever. I know I say that like once a month but this time I really mean it. Reuters reports that a class of school children in England have been rearing this lamb since birth. They fed the creature by hand. Bonded with it. Named it Marcus for goodness sake. And that's all good.

But then the lamb got to be something like six months old and the children made a decision that's freaking lots of adults out. Come on. Guess what it is. That's right. These awesome kids are voting to send the animal to slaughter. Why? So they can profit and buy a pig. Yeaaaaaahhhhhh!

Marcus the six-month-old lamb has now been culled, the head teacher of the primary school in Kent confirmed on Monday, after the school's council -- a 14-member group of children aged 6 to 11 -- voted 13-1 to have him killed.

The decision has provoked fury among animal-loving celebrities, animal and human rights campaigners and the parents of some of the children, and led to threats against Lydd primary school and its teachers, according to a member of staff.

Around 250 children at the school take part in a program designed to teach them about rearing and breeding animals.

The educational farm was started this year, with Marcus being hand-fed by the children. The children also look after ducks, chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs.

The intention had been to buy pigs with the money raised from slaughtering Marcus, but those plans have been put on hold following the furor created by the lamb's culling. The school said the program may now have to be stopped.

"It's all up in the air," said a member of staff. "There's been so much pressure on us as a result of all this."

Despite that, the school said there had been overwhelming support among the children, the staff and most of the parents to have Marcus -- a castrated male who could not have been used for breeding -- sent to the slaughterhouse.

But opponents branded it heartless and cruel, with animal rights campaigners asking why Marcus could not have been used to teach the children about wool, and human rights campaigners worried about the emotional impact of Marcus's death on the children.

A popular talkshow host offered to buy the lamb and give it sanctuary and Facebook groups sprung up to rally support to keep Marcus alive. But the children had the final say. The school defended the children's decision, calling it educational.

"When we started the farm in spring 2009, the aim was to educate the children in all aspects of farming life and everything that implies," the school said in a statement.

"The children have had a range of opportunities to discuss this issue, both in terms of the food cycle and the ethical aspect... It is important for everyone to move on from this issue, so the children can focus on their education."

See. Here's the thing. You know the one kid who voted against slaughtering the animal. That would've been me. Hey, I was a suburban kid raised on cartoons where animals talked and sang for goodness sake.

But now I grew up and think these kids are absolutely awesome. Sad that they seem far more adult than the wimpy adults who've watched too many Disney movies.

So in honor of the kids, here's a little poem...Ahem.

Mary had a little lamb
Her father shot it dead
Now Mary brings the lamb to school
between two hunks of bread.

THIS leads me to an article that I read in THE ONION a couple of years ago:

Animal-Rights Activists Release 71,000 Cows Into Wild

This might be a fine place for Marcus...