Beautiful, Beautiful

It's All Right to Be Wrong

Question & Answer from HERE.

"I worry a lot about making mistakes in raising my children.
How do I know what I'm doing now won't hurt them in some way later in life?"

Few things can ruin the enjoyment of parenthood more surely than a fear of mistakes. Nowadays so many parents live with the daily worry that they will accidentally set in motion some emotional hang-up that will plague their youngster through childhood and maybe into adulthood. One single parent mom told me she was reluctant to discipline her strong willed son because she didn't want him to grow up with bad feelings towards women.

It's no surprise that parents are so skittish. They've been blamed for everything from Waldo's bellyache to his dropping out of school. Somehow, some way, the finger gets pointed back at the folks. They must have miscalculated or blundered at some crucial stage along the way. Out of ignorance, inexperience, lack of sophistication or savvy, they've done something to create the instability or defect in Sigmund's mental health.

What a tragedy that such a black cloud hovers over childrearing. The reality is that the very best of moms and dads will miscue so many times that they'll lose count in their first year. Mistakes are inseparable from good parenthood. They are as integral to the process as children are. My guess is that the typical parent with the typical youngster misjudges, overreacts, and mishandles things thousands of times per childrearing career. And that's in raising a typical youngster. If you live with a Spike, allow yourself two or three times the norm in mistakes, because this little spitfire would make Job cry uncle.

Unquestionably your parenting is powerful in shaping the person your child is and becomes. If you consistently parent poorly, she probably will develop some problems on her way to adulthood.
The key words here are consistently and probably. You have to mess up not once or twice, but repeatedly to lay the base for possible future trouble. Just as it takes time and perseverance to teach good values and habits, it takes time to teach bad ones. Mistakes made by parents who love, discipline, and care for their children simply will not ruin a child for life.

Kids are emotionally durable. The good Lord knew that children were going to be raised by humans, with all of our shortcomings, inconsistencies and flaws. So he built them to withstand us, and all the trial and erroring we do on our way to better parenting. Kids are not fashioned from spun glass. They don't have to be ever so delicately shielded from all bumps and jostles. Not at all! Kids are built tough. They can be more likened to hard rubber, with steel belts on both sides.

Whenever you worry that you may have blundered badly in handling a situation or problem, remember: that occasion is only one of thousands upon thousands of interactions you and Waldo will have together. It's the overall picture that matters, not the periodic foul-ups that all of us parents are prone to, especially if we're raising kids and not something easy like wolves.

There's a bright side to making mistakes. Responsible parents learn from mistakes. If you think you make more than your share, you'll learn more quickly. Mistakes are how good parents get better.

Healing Miracles

View the following short video, introducing the six stories in Christine Watkins compelling new book:
Full of Grace: Miraculous Stories of Healing and Conversion through Mary's Intercession:



To buy Christine's book, go HERE.

To read Christine's conversion story, go HERE.











To view Christine's website, go HERE.

Top 10 Reasons to Come Back to the Catholic Church

No matter how long you have been away from the Catholic Church, you can always come home.
You may already be feeling a strange inner pull to look into the Church again.
That spiritual longing you feel is God drawing you back to Himself.
God never forces; He only invites.
He leaves the decision to return to the Catholic Church up to you.

Here are ten reasons (by Lorene Hanley Duqin of Our Sunday Visitor), that influenced the decision of many Catholics to return to the practice of the Catholic faith:

10: Because we want meaning in life.

9: Because childhood memories surface.

8: Because we made mistakes.

7: Because we need to forgive others.

6: Because we want to be healed.

5: Because the Catholic Church has the fullness of truth and grace.

4: Because we want our children to have a faith foundation.

3: Because we want to be part of a faith community.

2: Because we want to help other people.

1: Because we hunger for the Eucharist.
[The Eucharist is the number one reason that people come back to the Church.]

For each reason to be explained, go to HERE.

Most people discover that coming back to the Church is not an event as much as it is a process that involves a little pain, a little laughter, some thinking, some prayer, some discernment and a lot of letting go.
“My actual return to full participation in a parish took about three years after I felt the first longing,” one person admitted.

You'll know you are home when you begin to feel a deep sense of peace.

The real Me

Only God is perfect.
We are all imperfect
So... be yourself, just as God sees you.

The Real Me from Clay Productions on Vimeo.

Do birth control pills cause abortions?

Question and answer from Chastity.com.
Read full answer HERE.

In order to prevent pregnancy, birth control pills employ several mechanisms. First, the synthetic hormones may convince a woman’s body that she is pregnant. This can stop the ovaries from releasing an egg. The Pill also makes it difficult for the sperm to reach the egg, because the hormones thicken the cervical mucus, making it difficult for the sperm to live and move.

The Pill also creates changes in the uterus and fallopian tubes that can interfere with the transport of sperm. Despite the hormones’ ability to prevent the release of eggs, sometimes a “breakthrough ovulation” takes place. How often this happens depends upon several factors, such as which kind of pill the woman is taking, how consistently she takes her pills, and even how much she weighs. Even with correct and consistent use of the Pill, some formulas allow ovulation in less than 2 percent of cycles, while others allow a woman to ovulate during 65 percent of her cycles.

When a woman ovulates, she can become pregnant. However, the Pill has mechanisms that can cause an abortion before a woman knows that she has conceived. If a sperm does fertilize the egg, the newly conceived baby (zygote) may be transported more slowly through the fallopian tubes because of how they have been altered by the Pill. Thus, the child may not reach the uterus, where he or she needs to implant and receive nourishment for the next nine months. Because the fallopian tubes are changed, the baby may accidentally implant there, causing an ectopic or “tubal” pregnancy, which is fatal to the baby, and can also be life-threatening for the mother.

If the baby is able to travel safely to the uterus, he or she may not be well received. One reason for this is that the chemicals in the Pill thin out the lining of the woman’s uterus (the endometrium). As a result, the baby may not be able to implant. At other times the child will attach to the wall, but he or she will be unable to survive because the normally thick and healthy uterine wall has shriveled and is therefore unable to nourish the baby. The Pill also impacts the woman’s progesterone level. This causes the lining of the uterus to break down and eventually shed as it would in a menstrual cycle, further denying the baby’s attempt to implant.

Many doctors are concerned about the fact that women often are not informed that the birth control pill can cause an abortion as well as prevent pregnancy. One medical journal declared, “If any mechanism of any OC [Oral Contraceptive] violates the morals of any particular woman, the failure of the physician or care provider to disclose this information would effectively eliminate the likelihood that the woman’s consent was truly informed and would seriously jeopardize her autonomy. Furthermore, there is a potential for negative psychological impact on women who believe human life begins at fertilization, who have not been given informed consent about OCs, and who later learn of the potential for postfertilization effects of OCs. The responses to this could include disappointment, anger, guilt, sadness, rage, depression, or a sense of having been violated by the provider.”

Unfortunately, not all doctors are aware that the Pill can act as an abortifacient. Dr. Walter Larimore admitted that he prescribed the Pill for nearly twenty years—and used it in his own marriage before anyone informed him that it could have such an effect.

When another doctor clued him in, he said that he had never heard of such a thing, and that the claims seemed to be “outlandish, excessive, and inaccurate.” He began a search of the medical literature, “to disprove these claims to my partner, myself, and any patients who might ask about it.” However, what he discovered compelled him to stop using the Pill in his medical and personal life. Reviewing the information, he realized how many doctors (and patients) were ignorant of the abortifacient potential of the Pill. It was a humbling realization, considering that ever since the 1970s, the patient package insert for birth control pills explained how the drug reduces the likelihood of implantation.

One reason why certain doctors may not tell women about the abortifacient nature of the Pill is that some physicians do not believe that pregnancy begins with fertilization.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) decided to redefine pregnancy. In its words, “conception is the implantation of a fertilized ovum.” Instead of defining conception as fertilization, ACOG decided that life begins nearly a week later, at implantation. At the time they said that this was because pregnancy could not be detected before then. Today science is able to detect pregnancy before implantation, but the ACOG still won’t correct its definition. The original change had nothing to do with a scientific discovery in women’s health, reproduction, or biology. Unfortunately, doctors today are split on the issue.

Regardless of a doctor’s personal opinions, few women are ever informed about this issue. Feminist author Germaine Greer wrote, “Whether you feel that the creation and wastage of so many embryos is an important issue or not, you must see that the cynical deception of millions of women by selling abortifacients as if they were contraceptives is incompatible with the respect due to women as human beings.”

Go back to - Truth (God)

The goal of life.

So what exactly is the goal of life here on earth?
Is it to be rich?
To be famous?
To have a big fancy car?
To have a huge house?
To have a big screen HDTV?
To go on expensive vacations every year?
To have unlimited sex on demand?
To be constantly entertained?
To eat like a king every day of the week?
To work all of the time?
To attain power?
To get drunk?
To have lots of friends?
To collect collectables?
To have lots of things?
To play sports?
To watch sports all the time?
To watch movies?
To play games?
To look at pornography?
To play computer games all day long?

Of course, the answer to all of the above is NO.
None of those things are the goal of life here on earth.
So what is the goal of life?
From the old Baltimore Catechism, the goal of life here on earth is:

TO KNOW, LOVE, AND SERVE GOD IN THIS LIFE, SO THAT WE CAN BE HAPPY WITH HIM IN HEAVEN.

Something to reflect on.
Is this our goal?

From HERE.