Raising Saints & Martyrs

Ok, so here is the deal: being a Catholic, or being Orthodox is rough. We are not quite as outside the circle as, say, LDS or Witness, but, we aren't quite accepted either. Know what I mean?

What I have compiled is a list. Well, a list or two really. I am creating, and will make available to anyone who needs it, a list of Catholic curricula, a list of Catholic-friendly curricula, and a list of anti-Catholic curricula. I will also have a secular list available, but that doesn't need lumping into the religious groupings.

So, I am not a huge fan of Lenten sacrifice. A lot of the "sacrifices" people make seem either weak and pointless, or like they were really more suited to be a New Year's resolution and they failed so this is like a do-over for them.

For forty days we shall give up tv, chocolate, sodas, fast food, spending money without needing to...and so on and so forth.

Given all that has happened in the past several months, almost a year really, I have decided to make a real set of personal sacrifices. I will sacrifice my pride, my own feelings, and, well, me.

This Lenten season will be spent on God. Repairing my relationship with him (although to be honest, I don't feel angry with him over my life...so this shouldn't be too hard), repairing my children's view of him, prayer and fasting, where I can, and mending our broken little family.

So here is my plan and my promise to God:

We will, as a family, attend Mass weekly without reason to back out. {I have made this promise for my daughters, and they will help to keep it}
I will move on the rest of the way. I have moved on from the boy. I am still heartbroken, but mostly for my little girls who have been hurt so badly by lies and cheating and more lies. I plan to use this 40 days to pray for healing so we can simply breathe the freedom God has offered us.
We will pray before meals as a family.
I will let go. I will let of the weak girl the boy created and I will replace her with the woman she was before. There will be a whole transformation just for me. Just to say...I love me, and so does He.
I will be happy. I control this. No one else, I decide if I am happy or not. So for the next 40 days...I will be happy.

I know they may not seem like much, but these will be difficult to keep. My daughters are broken...I will fix them. I have forty days and the strength of God to do so. I will make sure my daughters are well on their way to healing during Lent. I will be responsible for this; I don't think I will be alone in this, but someone needs to be accountable for their feelings. I will be that someone. Our family needs no more than what it has right now to succeed.

*I did also make a resolution-y promise to get into the habit of blogging 5 times weekly.*