Author: franciscanmom

Barb Szyszkiewicz is a wife, mom, Secular Franciscan and freelance writer and serves as Editor for CatholicMom.com. Mom to three young adults, she enjoys writing, cooking, and reading. Barb is a music minister at her parish. She is also an avid Notre Dame football and basketball fan. Barb blogs at FranciscanMom.com and shares her family’s favorite recipes with nutrition information for diabetics at www.Cook and Count.wordpress.com.

Prayer request

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I had a ton on my agenda today, but it’s not looking like a lot of it is gonna happen.

I just got some bad news. My dad got the results of a cat scan yesterday, and there is a 90% chance that he has kidney cancer.

It’s not putting my mind at ease any that he has decided to defer the needed surgery until mid-December because he insists on completing the semester at the business college where he teaches.

I want him to have the surgery tomorrow.

Needless to say I am very upset. So I have given myself permission to clear the agenda today. I’m leaving now, to go to Mass. Anything else may go by the wayside.

Time’s Almost Up!

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Have you preordered your copies of Donna Marie Cooper O’Boyle’s 2 new books?

She’s even sweetened the pot here: they’ll be autographed! (How cool is that?)

Preorders for The Domestic Church: Room by Room and Grace Cafe will be accepted until Sept. 30.

Donna Marie’s books are wonderful, thought-provoking, and encouraging to moms–no matter how old their children are. I’m sure these two new books will be no different. I’m looking forward to mine.

Take a Moment–Take a Stand

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Today you have the opportunity to let your voice be heard on the issue of Healthcare Providers’ Conscience Rights: that is, the right of healthcare providers to refuse training and practicing procedures such as abortion or emergency contraception that violate their religious or moral beliefs.

Denise, the Catholic Matriarch in My Domestic Church and a medical doctor herself, has details on how you can contact HHS on behalf of healthcare providers in the USA.

An email takes less than 5 minutes. Take the time.

From the Ridiculous to the Sublime

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Little Brother and I were in the car on our way to pick up Big Brother after stage crew. We were listening to the radio, which was playing a classic rock song.

“Is this the Guitar Hero station?” he wanted to know.

“Yes,” I told him.

“Can you put on the New Britain station?”

For a minute I thought that maybe XM was changing their lineup again: they’ve got all-Kenny Chesney, all the time, and all-Metallica, all the time…so I asked him what they play on the New Britain Station.

“You know, Amazing Grace,” he responded.

I was completely shocked. “How do you know that Amazing Grace is New Britain?”

“It was in the church book,” he informed me, like I should know this already. “I look it up every week. Amazing Grace is my favorite.” (He learned it at Vacation Bible School this summer).

If XM had a New Britain station, Little Brother would listen. So would I, for that matter.

Things That Can Be Stopped by the "Mom Glare"

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I’ve worked a long time to perfect the “Mom Glare:” that way of looking at your children that says to them, “If you don’t cut that out right now you’ll be grounded until you’re 45” without saying a single word.

And fortunately the Mom Glare works when my older children make plans like this:

“I bet that if we sit directly across from each other and use our forks as catapults, we could shoot dumplings right into each other’s bowls.”

But it’s going to be a long time before I make chicken and dumplings for dinner again.

Thanks for Prayers! Keep Them Coming!

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Thank you for your prayers. Pop’s surgery went well, although it was 5 hours behind schedule. TheDad said that they will get to see him a little later, but he will be kept asleep until tomorrow morning. The doctor said that everything looks good, so we are thankful for that!

Your prayers are appreciated. Please keep them coming during his recovery.

Not Specific Enough

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This is what happens when you tell Little Brother and Adventure Boy to pick up the toys they have scattered around the yard, and put them in the screened porch. But you forget to tell them to put them in the basket on the screened porch.

They did what I told them to do, after all…

Prayer Request

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TheDad has headed up to “Refineryville” where my in-laws live. Tomorrow morning, early, he will take Pop to the hospital for an aortic valve replacement.

Everyone is nervous. This is a Big Deal. And recovery will be a Big Deal.

I’m holding down the fort here at home, and I’ll be making and freezing some individual servings of healthy meals for him to bring up on subsequent trips. Today he took along 2 portions of Chicken Parmesan with pasta. This way, there will be something available for his mom and cousin when they get home from visiting Pop in the hospital.

During Pop’s recovery, TheDad plans to spend a couple of nights a week with his parents so he can help with the heavy chores. I’m glad that he is able to do this for his parents. Little Brother will not be so understanding.

Please keep Pop in your prayers in the coming weeks–but especially tomorrow. And don’t forget a spare prayer for the rest of us who worry about him!

Because the Least I Can Do Is Tell YOU About It

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If this pharmacy were in my neighborhood, I’d shop there in a minute.

Mike Koelzer is a pharmacist who has chosen to stop selling birth-control pills in his family-owned pharmacy, because of the abortifacient qualities of these pills.

But check out this press release from American Life League on what this man has to put up with because of his choice on how to run his business!

EUCHARIST-DESECRATING MYERS LEADS ATTACKS AGAINST PRO-LIFE PHARMACIST
Washington, D.C. (18 September 2008) – P.Z. Myers, the infamous Minnesota biology professor who incited national outcry after desecrating the Eucharist and photographing the act for his blog, has now unleashed his venom on a new target – Mike Koelzer, a member of American Life League Associate group Pharmacists for Life International.

“Not content with desecrating Catholics’ most sacred Sacrament, Myers is once again spewing hate and anger at anyone who would dare proclaim a belief in God or attempt to stop the murder of the preborn,” said Judie Brown, president of American Life League.

Koelzer, owner of Kay Pharmacy in Grand Rapids, Michigan, stopped selling contraceptive products in 2002. He’s been featured in The Washington Post and on ABC World News for his views on abortion-causing drugs.

Myers’ latest screed of religious intolerance on his blog Pharyngula incited an all-out internet attack against Koelzer. Threats and hate mail inundated Koelzer’s e-mail after he inadvertently sent Myers a speaking invitation.

“I would enjoy speaking at your church or your organization’s conference or other event. I also would be honored to have you share my apostolate in your blog etc. To learn more about my apostolate, please see http://www.prolifepharmacy.com,” Koelzer’s invitation read.

An outraged Myers asked his blog readers to flood Koelzer’s Web site with mail. They replied en masse with over 400 threats of profanity and hate-filled messages including:

“Burn the building to the ground. And have Mike Koelzer sterilized.”

“Commit suicide.”

“Mike Koelzer is being persecuted for trying to protect innocent human life,” Brown said. “We encourage all American Life League supporters to log onto this site and lend your support to the efforts of this courageous man.”

American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to natural death.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Pharyngula: He Doesn’t Know Me Very Well (15 September 2008)

Pharmacists for Life International

Catholic News Agency: Pro-Life Pharmacy Owner Explains Hi No-Contraception Policy (15 September 2008)

The Washington Times: Professor Solicits Hosts to Desecrate (12 July 2008)

3-Ply TP: Not for Me

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I don’t quite fit the demographic, and I can’t say that this is a product I’d buy.

Triple-ply toilet paper?

The article linked above says they’re marketing this to over-45 women (I’m close, but not there YET) who view their bathroom as a “sanctuary for quality time.”

I’m still teaching some people in this house that one doesn’t barge in when the bathroom door is closed. My bathroom hasn’t hit the level of “sanctuary” yet. And there’s the small matter of that Army Guy standing guard over the sink (maybe I’ll make a tiny little sign to hang on his rifle: USE SOAP! If I do, I WILL post a picture!)

Can you imagine with 3-ply TP would do to those low-flush toilets? Already they have to be flushed twice (or more), canceling out any “water savings” they claim to have.

I think their target market is not over-45 women, but plumbers who will be laughing all the way to the bank with all the unclogging work that will come their way after this stuff hits the store shelves.