Two of my other brothers have learning disabilities, too. But these challenges have not caused my mother to lose hope or stop living her life; they have developed her into the loving, caring, patient, and selfless person that she is. Her trust in God is her greatest virtue and something that helped me develop my relationship with God.
Read MoreAfter graduating from college in 2010, I still didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do with my life. All I knew was that God put this strong desire in my heart to help people and I began searching for job and volunteer opportunities to do this. After lots of prayer and trusting in God, I decided to volunteer in Ireland.
Read MoreWhile my daughter Elisabeth was still with us – before the Lord called her home – we had a health visitor come to the house once a week, on account of my daughter’s health. After some weeks, the health visitor announced that if we still wanted her to come then we would have to pay for it directly, since the national insurance only covered the first few weeks of the visits. Seeing as we had all the help we needed, we said that we would not continue.
Read MoreA true story told from the perspective of a birth Mother and adoptive Mother in the State of NH with appreciation from their daughter.
From the Birth Mom Putting my baby up for adoption was the most difficult decision of my life. I was young and irresponsible. I deeply regretted getting pregnant. Deep down I knew how important it was for a child to have good parents and a good upbringing. I knew I was not that person and my baby deserved better.
When the time came to give birth, I regret deeply that I chose to not see or hold my baby.
Read MoreAdoption was simply a miracle of life for us. It allowed us to overcome infertility!
After realizing our family would not grow biologically, we investigated our options and chose to adopt. We had a negative image of adoption - bad press, a lengthy and bureaucratic time-line, the unforeseeable surprises and disappointments along the way. However, once we accepted these challenges and decided to jump in anyway, we began the count down to growing our family, God willing.
Read MoreOur first goal in nurturing the theological gift of faith in our family is to teach our children the two greatest commandments: love of God and love of neighbor. Lessons in this school of love take place in every act of love we ourselves give to our God which our children witness. Likewise, they learn to love their neighbor by seeing how we love each other.
Read MoreNorm and Cindy Coutu, parents of five children, share why they believe building virtue is important in arming our children to face the challenges of the world.
Our family's dinner table discussion often has a consistent theme. Given that both Bill (Elementary Principal) and Marie (Paraprofessional) work in public schools and their daughter Abby just completed student teaching at Keene State, teaching and learning is the topic of the day for the Carozzas.
The advantage of working in schools is that we see family life being played out daily in the lives of children. This year, a mother and father of a newly diagnosed autistic child longed for a ray of hope as they worked with Bill to provide support for their son. Marie forged a close relationship with a fourth grade boy with a newly incarcerated Dad and provided critical guidance for the little guy.
Read Moret’s common to talk about “return on investment” when contemplating decisions which have a significant financial impact. Like many families, though God has graciously blessed us with employment that has provided our needs, we still struggle with a fixed income and dealing with what seems like ever increasing expenses. We know that the Lord is looking for a “return” on his investment in us (Mt. 25: 14-30) – especially in His most precious gifts to us, our children. We decided this critical time in their spiritual formation was the right time to “invest”.
Read MoreWe chose homeschooling for a variety of reasons many years ago when our oldest child was entering kindergarten. The most pressing reason was the dearth of options for Catholic schooling at the time: we had just moved out of state and were on waiting lists for the local private schools. We see this now as God’s nudge for us to consider homeschooling in spite of the intimidation we felt.
Read MoreCatherine Adair worked for Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts at the largest abortion clinic in New England. After seeing the aftermath of a second-trimester abortion, she was forever changed. Her personal experience with abortion at age 19 and time working at Planned Parenthood changed her from a pro-choice feminist to a pro-life activist. Her story is one of hope and healing, and she credits God, with His infinite mercy and forgiveness, for giving her the strength to share her story.
Read MoreIf you enthrone your family to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and you really make Him the center of your family, you will be amazed at the results.
Jesus made twelve promises to St. Margaret Mary regarding the many blessings that He would pour out on those who honor His Sacred Heart. One of these promises is, “I will grant peace to their families.”
Read MoreDespite the busy life of having four active boys, Shannon McGinley, a resident of Bedford and parishioner of Ste. Marie in Manchester, makes time to engage in the culture war against those who would destroy the souls of our children, our marriages, and therefore, our families. Because the family is the cornerstone of a civil society, our very nation is at risk. It is our duty as faithful Catholics to engage in the challenging call to discipleship in the world of politics.
Read MoreOur decision to choose adoption over IVF was not a difficult one, in that we had discussed the issue prior to marriage, but it wasn’t without some significant questioning on our part.
Since before we first met each other, we both wanted to live our lives according to church teaching. As a couple who married in our mid/late 30’s, we were aware that there were no guarantees of successful pregnancies.
Read MoreWhen our son, Corey, was born 23 years ago, he was gravely ill with a blood disorder. Immediately we could also see that he did not resemble our other children. His ears were small and low-set and there was a curious fold of skin at the back of his neck. Trisomy 21 was the diagnosis, Down Syndrome, an extra chromosome.
We were stunned, but instinctively knew that our son was a whole person inside an imperfect body.
Read MoreIn sharing his thoughts on money and childrearing, Stan from Hawaii said philosophically, “It is more important to have a high level of living than a high standard of living.” Marilyn from Oregon agreed. “Buying things is no substitute for time and love. Kids can’t be fooled. They would much rather have us attend their school program, for example, than miss it because we are working late so they can wear a designer label on their clothes.”
Read MoreBeing peaceful with transition is often not easy - especially when it involves our children. Whether we are sending a child off to kindergarten for the first time or to a new school; beginning home schooling; watching a young adult board a plane for active duty in the military; or to study at a far away university, everyday life becomes different and we have to adjust. Seasoned parents offer their words of wisdom . .
Read MoreDear Dr. Ray,
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? ―Nervous
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.
Read MoreFrom the time I was in medical school I have always been fascinated with family medicine and obstetrics. My mother worked as a nurse mid-wife for many years and maybe this kindled this interest in me. I was also very fortunate to get good formation and spiritual direction during my medical school. This made it clear to me how I should live and practice my profession, always trying to live unity of life.
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