Coming up for air

This past week has been one of those weeks. One of those weeks where you don't realize how much you have piled onto your plate until it all needs attention in the same 7 day time span. One of those weeks where your husband is given a personal pan pizza for dinner and your child has had 3 over-priced, organic granola bars a day for meals because she can feed them to herself. One of those weeks where your head is just barely teetering above water.

I am not complaining because each of these commitments brings a lot to our lives.  It's just that those late nights are coming on the tail end of 5:45 am runs and 14 hour days with a teething baby who has forgotten how to sleep through the night.

Our days have been filled with preparing for our MOPS consignment sale, which is a BEAST to put on, but again, is a service to moms in our community and to moms who get to have adult conversations while our childcare workers take great care of our kids. I can absolutely wait until the spring sale and kind of dread the amount of time it requires, but my kid loves the kids there and I love the moms there. Plus, it wears MK out so much that she is asleep before she can tuck her precious little arms under her belly.

Our nights this week have begun with me angry at Ross for coming home late from work, just exhausted, tagging Ross while he takes over the baby and I leave for work. Despite my love-hate relationship with my job, Ross reminds me that while I may not be "serving" like I did as a social worker, I am serving our family by the few extra dollars it brings in. And I'm not going to lie. Seeing my husband happy at that meager paycheck's addition to our accounts makes the late nights worth it. 

The early morning hours have included google searches for whether or not I should go into screaming baby's room and try to console her, or leave her to go back to sleep on her own (night one, I went in and gave motrin. night two, she cried it out, night three, she got enough motrin, orajel and vapor rub that I think she was in a little coma but it worked.) The pre-dawn hours have me running with some great ladies in what has become the best part of my day. If you know me and know how much I hate love running, this tells you what the rest of the days have been like!

Despite the craziness, we've found ways to get our heads above water. Friday, I played hookie for the late afternoon shift at the sale and met Ross at St. Angelo's for pizza. There was a band playing Johnny Cash songs and we took turns dancing with our daughter while we ate stromboli and gelato on the patio. After a week of literally passing in the night, it felt great to feel like a family and to really enjoy each other.

Today, we are home from early Mass where MK sat in the pew the ENTIRE TIME (reminder: we go to a church with a realllly long service.) She is asleep. The Sunday paper is strewn across the table with empty plates from a good breakfast at home. We are spending the afternoon going a Golden Retriever rescue event and someone slap me if we come home with a dog. But don't be surprised either. I am outnumbered in the "do we really need another dog so quickly" camp but am admittedly excited to go see the pups.

So, after a crazy full week (which started with our anniversary and will get its own post), we are coming up for air. And around me, I can now see such goodness. We are thankful for jobs in this awful economy and for ways to serve that also give us great friends. We are thankful for bodies that are healthy enough to exercise well and for a precious girl, no matter how much or how little she sleeps. We are thankful for family who leave message after un-returned message and friends who email us to encourage us in our runs, our family and our lives.

~~just some photos I've recently gotten back from a great photographer we got through groupon :)

This week I chose praise, forgiveness, and intercessions as well. Praise was interesting this week because I found myself on a high after hearing our baby's heartbeat. I was definitely feeling inclined to praise all week, but I had been putting all my excitement on the actual baby. I knew I needed to give credit where credit is due (sorry, so cheesy) and Praise helped me say the Lord's name 70 or so times. After I finish this section each day, I can't help but know exactly who gets the thanks!

I chose forgiveness not because I needed to forgive others, but because I needed to be more humble about asking for forgiveness myself. It seems so wrong that the people closest to us get the worst versions of ourselves. It's backward and I take that for granted too often. They love me unconditionally and somehow I let that allow me to act like a jerk. Before this week, I wouldn't have even said I had anything specific to ask forgiveness for, but the holy spirit does his job. My heart has been opened to the ways I can be better, esp to those whose love is the most unconditional.

And intercessions- I'm with Padre Tim. Everywhere I look there is suffering. I sent a patient to Hospice last night and selfishly, I wanted him to stay at Grady. I will miss him and hope he stays alive long enough today to go visit him. I wrapped his rosary around his arm and will pray my own rosary for his last days to be less painful and more joyful. Haiti, Iraq, Afghanistan- devastation is everywhere. Sweet friends are desperate to have babies and can't. I like that through this part of Miracle Hour I can actually put into action the promises I make to pray. It makes me sit down, think of the people I have told, "I will pray for you" and actually (gasp) do it!

So that's Miracle Hour a la Sullivan/Ninness land. Sorry for the length. Short winded is not a compliment I often receive :)

Peace!!

Scripture

I chose Scripture as well. I am reading the readings for next Sunday. The second reading is a continuation of 1 Cor. from last Sunday. I liked that. Kate

Crank it up!

Okay. So now that we are are all familar with the Miracle Hour, I thought each person might want to design their own schedule for the week. We can use the blog to share successes (and failures!)

This week I am going with: 6. Repentance (can always go deeper here) 10. Intercessions (praying for Haiti and other situtations) and 8. Scripture (always enpowering!)

What are you doing?


-FT

Prayer growth in 2010

Hey Y'all! I know we have been using the Miracle Hour for the past couple of months. I thought we could start choosing our own "workouts" but stay in touch via a blog. This may be a good way to get some ideas from others about what is working well for them in their prayer life and for us to encourage one another.

Peace!

Fr. Tim