Theology for Two-Year-Olds

My little Edyn likes to “play church” from time to time, which basically consists of her sitting on the couch with a book open on her lap, then standing up and singing, “Holy, holy, holy!” before sitting down again. Sometimes she’ll even whap herself on the forehead and say “Fadder…Spirit…Amen!!”

It’s cute, but it’s not like she’s a particularly holy kid or something. My husband always says prayers with the children before they go to sleep at night, and he knelt beside her at bedtime last Friday and started, “Our Father…” Edyn said, “No, Dad! No! May-ee!” Naturally, he figured she meant she wanted to pray the Hail Mary instead. So he starts that prayer, only to be stopped again. “NO, Dad. May-ZEE.”

As in Maisy Mouse. Her current favorite literary character. So we had to explain to her that you can’t pray to imaginary creatures. I don’t know if she got it or not.

I do know that we’ve watched “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” one too many times. Because yesterday in Mass, when the priest said, “...with thanksgiving...” Edyn pantomimed a plate full of toast and popcorn and started making noisy chomping sounds.

Siiiiiigh. Well, she’s only two. We’ll get her straightened out eventually.

--Sparki

Sparki the Activist

Well, not really. Most of you know I have a personal vindetta against Wal-Mart, though. I find Wal-Mart to be a highly unethical and immoral corporation who doesn't care one fig for the child-slave laborers who fill Wal-Mart shelves with shoddy products so that Americans can practice materialism on a budget. That's over-simplifying the issue, of course, but the point is, I believe it's very important to support LOCAL businesses, LOCAL food producers and AMERICAN-made products in order to keep our U.S. economy healthy.

Why am I on a tear this a.m.? Just read this little nugget on how Toys R Us -- a huge conglomerate in and of themselves -- is feeling like they can't compete against Wal-Mart.

Can you imagine Wal-Mart being the only place to shop? Ick!

--Sparki

Please Pray for KMK!

I hear from Two Sleepy Mommies that Karen Marie Knapp is in need of prayer. It'll only take a minute, but she could use your support.

--Sparki

If you ever get the opportunity...

...to see Emmy Lou Harris and/or Buddy Miller live, you should do it. If you like that sort of music (and I do). They were here in Lincoln last night, and my husband had bought us tickets for my birthday present. What a great show! First, Buddy sang with just his guitar(s) -- he's got a crazy collection of funky-sounding guitars. Emmy Lou sang back-up for him for a couple numbers. Then after intermission, Emmy Lou sang with just her guitar, and Buddy came out to play and sing back-up for her. As we were leaving, Buddy was out in the lobby, so my husband got his autograph and posed for a quick photo (taken by a guy with a cell phone camera, whom I hope will e-mail it to us!).

Emmy Lou has a fantastic voice and a way of singing a song that makes your heart bleed. She's really personable, too -- an usher handed her a note that said there was a girl named after her in the audience, and she asked who it was. Then she said, "I've had horses and dogs and speed boats named after me before, but never a child. I'm honored!" Everybody laughed.

If you've never heard of Buddy Miller before, you're missing out. He's a great guitarist (folk, Americana, country) and a really good country singer. I'm not a huge country fan, but I do like folk and Americana, so hearing Buddy sing is enjoyable to me. I've been listening to his wife, Julie (who has more of a funk/pop sound) for many years, and they are considered to be two of the best songwriters in America today. There songs have been covered by a whole lot of artists and often carry Christian themes. Buddy's new album is just terrific, so you might want to give it a listen.

Okay...that's probably it from me today. All of us are fighting off some sort of virus. I have laryngitis, DH & Zooey are coughing, and all five of us have the tiniest bit of a runny nose. Mostly, we all just want to laze around the house...but whatever it is, it doesn't seem to be too awful.

--Sparki

Congratulations

...to Pansy Moss & family on the Election Day birth of little Dominic Jose. (I'm late in saying so, but I guess I though I'd posted my happiness for them last week.)

Pansy posted the best birth story I've read in a long time over at Two Sleepy Mommies. Go read it if you're into that kind of thing. All I can say is, man, it's a good thing her husband was paying attention. Pansy, that man is a good catch in more ways than one!

--Sparki

Prayers offered for Mrs. Edwards...

...the wife of Senator John Edwards (D-NC), who was just diagnosed with breast cancer. All politics aside, I think it's good that her husband is going to be available to her as she battles this. It looks to be a rather invasive type of breast cancer. May God bless her with strength for the journey.

Another update on our situation...

If you recall, I have been praying for some practical things. As always, God is so merciful and generous with us, and I know the saints are faithful in their prayers as well.

I did get some (not all) of the dental work done, but I didn't like the dentist's style (recommended by a friend), and now I'm having problems on one side so I have to go back. Only I don't want to go back to him and I'm not sure about the protocol. So it's back to St. Elisabeth of Hungary for her prayers there.

On the "good news" front, our old green van was really getting to be an issue, so I was praying for a replacement...and then my husband's uncle called. Waaaay back in January 2002, when I was pregnant with Edyn, my husband and son were riding in our '91 Toyotal 4-Runner when a lady blew through a red light and t-boned them. Our truck was totalled...and we had four payments left on it, which was so darn frustrating. Zooey & DH were spared any injury, thankfully, but only by the Grace of God, IMHO: DH saw the runaway SUV at the last possible second and took his foot off the gas so the full brunt of the impact was on his door, rather than on the back seat where Zooey was.

Anyway, my husband's uncle, who had always admired the 4-Runner, bought it for salvage which we thought was just strange at the time. But he and our Toyota mechanic are old National Guard buddies, so they took the thing apart, realized the frame wasn't really damaged, bent or twisted like the insurance guy thought it was and basically rebuilt the thing, replacing the damaged quarter panel, door, tire and axle. It took them almost 3 years of tinkering and salvaging parts, and they just got it done. They also painted it and added running boards. Now Uncle has discovered that it hurts his back to drive it, so he can't keep it. He is selling it back to us for the cost of parts and title, and the monthly payments are extremely reasonable. Plus the vehicle itself is in much better shape and so much safer than the old green van. I'm thrilled to be done with that thing. We didn't use it much and the kids were only in it when absolutely necessary, but I'm still glad to have a much safer option. Thank you, St. Frances of Rome for praying with me on that one!

Our basement foundation has been secured well enough to get us through the winter (thanks to my father-in-law for his work, St. Barbara, St. Thomas the Apostle, and St. Gregory the Great for their prayers), but that will need to be addressed next year, I am sure. The furnace and the water heater are still holding on (thanks to St. Marcus and St. John Nepomucere respectively). We don't have a solution to the exterior house paint or the windows, but now the weather is cold enough, I guess we'll have to wait on those as well. My husband has a few freelance projects to work on...I'm still coming up empty. I'm grateful to have been able to cut back on my medication a little, though, and save some money on the prescription. I hope to be completely off of it by the first of the year.

And that's the latest from us!

--Sparki

Please go vote.

It's a privilege not found in every country. So use your vote.

But only once, please. :-)


Prayers for Pansy

Who is having a baby today or early tomorrow (today, I hope!)


Weird campaigning...

We came out of Mass on Sunday to find a flyer stuck under our windshield from the local congressional Democratic candidate. In a nutshell, it says, "Vote for me, because I'm Pro-Life!" What he means by that is he's opposed to abortion-on-demand EXCEPT for cases where the life or well-being of the mother is compromised, when the baby is "deformed," or ...some other condition that I can't remember off the top of my head. He supports legalized partial-birth abortion and embryonic stem cell harvesting. I'm not sure what his position is on human cloning, but his definition of "pro-life" isn't exactly what mine is.

Trouble is his opponents aren't terribly good options. We have one young fella who is basically a yes-man for the Republican party and may or may not have the spine to stand up against the party line when his morals are at odds with the platform. I agree with him (or at least his handlers) on most issues, but he's so inexperienced, I doubt he'll win. The other guy is basically a kook -- I'm into recycling and protecting the environment, too, but this guy's perception of how we can end world hunger and poverty by promoting abortion is a little far fetched. And his understanding of international relations indicates that he's spent too much time watching Star Trek reruns and not enough time reading newspapers, magazines and his political science textbook from college.

I really, really, really dislike it when all my options are pretty darn lousy.

--Sparki