To Whom Shall We Go?

This past weekend, I heard yet another inspiring homily by our friend, Fr. Schumer.  In pondering more on his words and the readings, I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts regarding being a Catholic husband and father.  Here we go...

As a husband, whose marriage was blessed by God and witnessed by many, I have the challenge of leading my wife to Christ.  If I do not use the grace offered me in the Sacrament of Matrimony and do not ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, there is truly no reason to go on.  I might as well sit around with a blank look on my face as I watch life go by without paying much attention.  That is not what I am called to do...that is not the call of a Christian husband.  I must strive to give myself completely, first and foremost, to God: every thought, word, and action.  In doing so, I give myself completely to my wife.  I must love my wife "as Christ loved the Church."  How did He love Her?  He gave up His life for Her, completely.  I must be willing to sacrifice all I have for love of my wife.  This is love: "to lay down one's life for one's friends."   A husband is not his own...he is Christ's and Christ's alone.  I must be for my wife what God wants me to be.  That is the major challenge in this day and age especially for Christian husbands.  Christ needs men to stand up for their brides and say 'yes' to true love: sacrificial giving of oneself to the point of losing everything for the sake of God; 'no' to the societal view of love: receiving as much pleasure as possible and not worrying about how it may hurt another.  The call of the Christian husband is to be Christ to our brides, helping to bring her into close intimacy through prayer especially in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.  There we meet our Lord and Savior, the One to Whom we are called to go!  There is no other way.  It is through Christ, and Christ alone!

All that is mentioned above can just as well be said for the Christian father.  My duty, my call is to bring my children to Christ.  This responsibility is so crucial...it is a must.  Whatever our children's calling--may they respond to it--we must nurture and support.  I have thought about the day when I may "marry" off my daughter.  If it comes to be, so be it: may it be for Christ and Christ alone.  If my daughter is called to give herself fully to Christ as a professed religious, so be it: may it be for Christ and Christ alone.  In the meantime, I am called to love my daughter with the heart of Christ, offering myself completely for her.  What a calling!  Sometimes I shutter to think what this means, but usually I am lead to think about the life of St. Joseph.  Not only was he called to be Mary's husband, but he was given the grand calling of being the earthly father of the Son of God!  What an example for us husbands and fathers!  So little is known about St. Joseph, yet how loved he is by the Church.  Humbly, quietly, simply, lovingly did he live his life.  He seems to have made no effort to be noticed.  That is what makes him great.  He wanted the Son of God to come to us, through Mary.  He desired to draw no attention to himself so that everyone would be drawn to the one we are called to draw near, the one to whom we are called to go.  What a blessed life...what a blessed man!  Christian husbands and fathers need someone like St. Joseph to model their lives after.  What a gift he is to us: through his example, through his intercession.  May we strive to live as Joseph: humbly, quietly, simply, lovingly. 

I will leave you with this: I am reading a book on St. Joseph called The Mystery of Joseph by Fr. Marie-Dominique Philippe, OP (thanks to Fr. Schumer).  I recommend it to any Catholic man.  In Part I under the section "Guardian of the Virgin," Fr. Philippe says this: "This requirement (of being guardian of the Virgin) demands that his love as a spouse, the love he lives in his heart as a man, be sacrificed to God, so that charity can take hold of everything and become the more significant love" (pg. 38).  How true...and it can be applied to fatherhood as well.  To husbands and fathers who read this, and to myself, I say: sacrifice your love for spouse and children to God...may He reign in your hearts!  God bless you all and happy feast of St. Augustine!

Quick Takes...

1) Happy Feast of St. Bartholomew!  It's always refreshing and uplifting to go to a Mass and hear the priest's insight on the saint of the day, even though you may be holding a squirmy child the entire time.

2) "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" is number one on the Pumpkin Top 20.  That song has never failed to calm down Gianna and help her fall asleep.  Thank God for the stars and their twinkle!

3) Never will I again try to tie up tomato plants while holding Gianna in her carrier.  She pulled off several leaves and nearly ate them all while we were in the garden yesterday morning. 

4) I almost forgot!  Gianna finally rolled from back to tummy...and back again!  Although she was on the bed, both Lauren and I still thinks this counts.  We are very proud parents right now!

5) Tooth number three is on its way in.  We were able to see it peeking out of the top part of her mouth.  Our little girl is growing up so quick...we are cherishing all of these special moments.

6) Note on growing up: the most common comments or questions that I hear from strangers are "Aw, how cute (of course)," "How old is she?" and "Enjoy it while you can...they grow up fast."  I don't mind the first two, but almost every time I hear the third one, I cringe.  Most people say it as if there is no hope for her after she grows up, or she'll stop being fun after these early years.  My hope is to be as positive as I can be when I see other first-time parents.  Children are a gift and a blessing...cherish every moment, even the tough ones!

7) So far since the last "Daddy Jekyll" night, I have fared well.  Hopefully that will continue...pray that it will for all of our sakes.  God bless ya'll and have a grace-filled weekend!

Meet Daddy Jekyll

From the title, you probably are thinking "what could he mean?  Is he not being the nice daddy that he ought to be?"  Well, let me explain.

Last night was a rough night...so it pretty much goes without saying that this morning was rough as well.  Gianna was up several times, as was I, holding her and trying to help her get back to sleep.  Other dads out there may understand the frustration of holding a child screaming at the top of their lungs at night, especially when there is no other noise to be heard.  I endured my fair share last night, that's for sure.  Sometimes when I am up with her at these wee hours, it's like I am partially in a dream, and last night's experience was really weird.  For some reason I thought Gianna had the power of three European countries (I believe they were Germany, Italy, and Spain).  So, being in my half-sleep mode, I thought that the more I bounce her, the more chance I had of defeating her power.  This may sound like I was actively thinking all of this, but I believe it all happened within a matter of less than a minute.  Soon after bouncing and rocking Gianna, she fell sound asleep.  I realized, as my wife mentioned, that I was nuts.  I put Gianna back in her crib, but shortly after, she again awoke.  Lauren came to the rescue, and I plunged my head into the pillow.

With that craziness out of the way, I awoke early to the sounds of a fussy pumpkin next to me in bed.  Lauren was off to work and I was left to care for our little sunshine until mommy returned in the afternoon.  The morning was not so pleasant, since both dad and baby were not in the best of moods.  It is like we were challenging each other to see who could get the most upset.  But after the noon hour, things improved and with the return of Lauren from work, both dad and baby were blissful again. So, why the Daddy Jekyll title?  I think I suffer from Dr. Jekyll syndrome.  During those early morning hours when I am half-asleep, I seem to be a completely different person.  I get frustrated easily, and I feel that Gianna is crying as loud as she can on purpose just to make me mad.  But, I know it is me and not her.  After talking over this "Dr. Jekyll syndrome" with a good priest, I now realize that I can take those difficult moments and turn them into prayer opportunities.  It is a great way to give myself more fully to God and not think so much about myself.  Hopefully I can eventually say "bye-bye forever, Dr. Jekyll!"

I want to end by thanking God for our priest, for my wife who shows so much patience and gentleness at night, and for Gianna, who without her I would not have a reason to pray at 2 o'clock in the morning.  Have a grace-filled Wednesday, everyone!

Mass, Meals, and Motherhood...

Today we went to St. Ambrose for Mass.  Our friend, Fr. Schumer, is the associate pastor.  He gave a stellar homily on the Eucharist, emphasizing Christ's words "This is my body...this is my blood."  A very Catholic perspective.  Thanks for the inspirational words, Fr. S.!  On a side note, it was open house at the school this morning, so many young children attended the Mass.  What I soon noticed is that Gianna's sounds were not as noticeable due to the volume of noise by other children...let's just say it was a relief to both Lauren and me :)

Afterwards, Fr. S. joined us for lunch at a local restaurant.  Since Gianna had not yet taken a nap, we were very hopeful that she would sleep during our meal.  Day by day I am learning that my hopes can be quickly dashed.  Gianna woke up soon after our arrival.  We survived, though.  We were blessed again to have the sounds of another child draw away any attention from us. 

A few hours later, we arrived home with a sleepy, crying little girl.  These are the times when I am reminded of how blessed I am to have Lauren as my wife and mother of our children.  She gently took the pumpkin into her arms and quickly began to nurse her.  Soon enough, both had fallen asleep on the bed.  God bless my beautiful bride and all mothers who can show great patience at such stressful times...enjoy the rest of our Lord's day, everyone!

Quick Take

1) I went to Mass with Gianna today...that's becoming a rarity.  We've been taking turns going to daily Mass, but since Lauren will be going back to work, I will do what I can to make it with Gianna as often as possible. 

2) It's big news in the parent world when your child does something new.  This afternoon, Gianna rolled from her belly to her back in a new direction!  She has always rolled from her belly to the left.  But today, she ventured into a new world by rolling to the right.  Way to go, Gianna!

3) My wife just rolled her eyes at me when I told her I had five more quick takes to do...the rolling of the eyes is not new.  Love you, precious bride!

4) I have been a sales affiliate for HIS Coffee Company for a few weeks now.  I do what work I can when Gianna is sleeping or playing.  Look at my gadget on the right side of the page and check it out...it's heavenly-tasting!

5) Today is the two-year anniversary of when we miscarried our first child, Mary Ambrose.  It's amazing how time flies.  Dear child, please pray for your family here on earth...especially your parents!

6) We get to see our good friend, Carol, tomorrow.  She's Gianna's godmother.  Praise God for her and her prayers!

7) Finally, we have many terms of endearment for Gianna.  For future reference, when I use the term 'pumpkin,' it refers to Gianna.  Have a blessed weekend everyone!

Well, I thought this would never happen, but it has...I am now part of the blogger world!  The title of this blog was inspired by my beautiful wife, Lauren, who reminded me of the new NBC show "Guys with Kids."  She said I should do something along those lines.  So, thanks to that title, "Guy with Kid" was born. 

This blog will mainly be about my dealings as a stay-at-home dad.  I have been blessed with the honor to be at home with our beautiful daughter, Gianna, during the next year, so I hope to express to everyone many of our happenings.  I hope you enjoy!