Small Success Thursday: Contentment

From the outside, nothing about the past week would seem different from any other week. We had the usual activities: work, school, college course I'm teaching, dentist appointments, trip to the mechanic, etc. Yet, there was something different about it. It's difficult to describe, but for the longest time, I felt like I was just flying through the various events of the day & fighting an uphill battle to survive all the frustrations that our tiny rental house brought with it. But, since we've moved & settled, I feel like there is so much less that I have to contend with. I actually feel & am enjoying (dare I say it?!) being content & present in the moment.

Now, I realize that life has a way of throwing things at you when you least expect it, so I'm going to enjoy the present moment while I have it. With that in mind, all of my successes this week involve

- I played with my kids. I realize this might not seem that momentous, but these are small successes after all! It had been a while since I actually got down on the floor & played. And we had so much fun!

- I spent some time adequately preparing for religious ed class, instead of waiting until the last minute to throw something together. It was a success! The kids enjoyed it, I enjoyed it. I have one student this year who has been particularly challenging to keep focused. I assigned my helper to sit with him during class to keep him focused, & it worked great. He even came up to me at the end of class & asked me to tell his mom the good news about his behavior!

- I was able to continue unpacking a few more boxes. The storage room with all the kids' clothes is organized & all the plastic containers have been appropriately marked. I reorganized our movies & posted an entertainment system cabinet for sale that we can't use. Feels like we're settling in! Now, I have to get to organizing my spaces (make-up table, closet, books).

- I love listening to TED & TEDx talks at work. They are extremely motivating, encouraging & exciting. I encourage you to check out the YouTube channel.

You can read more SST posts at Catholic Mom. One additional comment since today is the March for Life in DC. I can't believe it has been a decade since Jesse & I went to our first march together. The pro-life movement is so important to me as a mom, but also a human being. It is so important that we do whatever we can to keep being a voice for the voiceless!

Why I'm Pro-Life

I have a hard time accepting that we live in a society where the President would stand so blatantly against protecting unborn babies as he did here. I posted this article & comment on social media. It immediately started to attract comments, both positive & negative, educated & not. I usually don't respond to such comments, but based on the tone of what was being said, I did decide to make a few comments, which I share below.

1) I do not believe that being pro-life has to be a religious issue at all. With all of the advances in science, we have gone above & beyond to show (to "prove") that these are lives, lives that have a right to be lived. There is no difference between killing a baby while in the womb or waiting until the baby is born & then killing it. I am pro-life not solely because of my religious beliefs & I think there are plenty of others who aren't of my faith or religious at all who are also pro-life. Check out this article from a pro-life atheist, he brings up some really awesome points.

2) Being pro-life should go hand-in-hand with being pro-women's rights, not against it. In fact, there is a whole group called Feminists for Life that explains why the earliest feminists were pro-life & why you can be a feminist & still be pro-life. Unfortunately, gender inequalities still exist in our country. Our society does not do nearly enough to support & encourage mothers. Our job is made harder because we have to fight to be a mother & a working professional. Rather than try to encourage societal change so that raising children is more acceptable rather than an inconvenience to employers, we are told it is easier to get rid of the yet unborn baby so we don't have to feel the pinch of trying to balance it all. I read an article that said society is prejudiced against mothers (especially single mothers) & by giving women a way out of motherhood, we are accepting & perpetuating that prejudice.

3) Research shows that not only are these babies feeling pain while being aborted, but they cry out. It is disgusting to me that anyone, especially a public figure such as the President would turn in the face of such research & threaten to veto any measure that would protect these innocent babies. I don't believe that being pro-life is a religious issue, nor do I think it is a political one. I think it is a human issue. The fact that we are killing our own children, in the one place where they should be truly safe & cared for, is disgusting.

That is why I am pro-life.