A Poem Worth Sharing

On this Mother's Day, when news is abuzz with reactions to how the Supreme Court may overturn Roe vs. Wade, I look at my children and wonder why anyone would reject the gift of life. 

Every life is so precious - from conception to natural death - and so many people are ready and willing to welcome babies that other families cannot care for.

Every day, I am grateful to be "tied down" as Edgar Allen Guest so poetically write about in his poem "Tied Down".

Every life is so precious - from conception to natural death - and so many people are ready and willing to welcome babies that other families cannot care for.

What particularly irks me are those that look at children as a burden.

Yes, children can be challenging, but they are also such an incredible blessing. Every day, I am grateful to be "tied down" as Edgar Allen Guest so poetically wrote about in his poem "Tied Down".|

I think the poem is definitely worth sharing:

'They tie you down,' a woman said,

Whose cheeks should have been flaming red

With shame to speak of children so.

'When babies come you cannot go

In search of pleasure with your friends,

And all your happy wandering ends.

The things you like you cannot do,

For babies make a slave of you.'

I looked at her and said: ''Tis true

That children make a slave of you,

And tie you down with many a knot,

But have you never thought to what

It is of happiness and pride

That little babies have you tied?

Do you not miss the greater joys

That come with little girls and boys?

'They tie you down to laughter rare,

To hours of smiles and hours of care,

To nights of watching and to fears;

Sometimes they tie you down to tears

And then repay you with a smile,

And make your trouble all worth while.

They tie you fast to chubby feet,

And cheeks of pink and kisses sweet.

'They fasten you with cords of love

To God divine, who reigns above.

They tie you, whereso'er you roam,

Unto the little place called home;

And over sea or railroad track

They tug at you to bring you back.

The happiest people in the town

Are those the babies have tied down.

'Oh, go your selfish way and free,

But hampered I would rather be,

Yes rather than a kingly crown

I would be, what you term, tied down;

Tied down to dancing eyes and charms,

Held fast by chubby, dimpled arms,

The fettered slave of girl and boy,

And win from them earth's finest joy.'

May the gift of motherhood - and the right to life - prevail in our country!

Read This Pro-Life Poem

The other night, a child came out to me and asked if I would like to hear a poem. Then, the child began to read the newly penned A Baby's Prayer, A Little Dear.

As the child read delivered the poem - simply and powerfully - tears formed in my eyes.

I asked the child if I could share it and was told, "yes", so am doing do here.

Perhaps the poem will speak to someone's heart.

A Baby's Prayer, A Little Dear

 

A baby's cry, a cry for life in the darkness, begging for life, for rights, begging for love, for care, begging, BEGGING for Mommy to hear.

 

A hardened heart, an unwilling ear, trying, TRYING not to hear, trying, trying not to care.

I don't have the money. I don't have the time.

A hurried decision. A lie for a life. A life for a lie.

 

Please, please, don't make me die.

I'm a child, sweet at heart. I'll love you and care. I won't tear YOU apart.

I know labor's hard, but I beg you from my little heart, from my little hands clasped imploring, from my little brain trying in vain to see how your big brain can think it right to make my world an eternal night...

 

But I know from my little heart with its little beat, you'll do what is right, you'll let me seek that glorious light of life and love. You'll let me share my little joys. You'll help me with my little toys. And you'll let me bring YOU my joy, MY light. I pray as though you might.

 

Hear me, Mommy, hear my prayer.

Don't destroy. Let us share our love - our joy.

It is evident that God has spoken to my child's heart about the beauty and joy of life.

Please join us in praying for the legal protection of the preborn.

Get Your Free Prayer for the Child in the Womb Copywork and Consider Offering Spare Change to Spare a Life

Happy New Liturgical Year!  We pray your Advent has opened with plenty of time for prayer, preparation, and joyful anticipation of the commemoration of when Christ was born, of His coming to us daily through grace and through the Eucharist, and of when Christ comes again.

This morning, as we began celebrating Advent, a baby bottle again took a place on our table as a daily reminder to pray and give alms to the unborn and their families.

For years now, my children have eagerly picked up a baby bottle from a bassinet in the back of our church to take home and fill from Advent through Epiphany.

Doing so, has become a meaningful Advent tradition in our home that we initially enjoyed in conjunction with our family's Count, Pray, and Give initiative, and, now, participate in more simply - just dropping spare change into the bottle through Advent and Christmastide and having the bottle sit on our table as a continual reminder to pray.

This year, I have also made a Prayer for the Child in the Womb copywork set, using the words of a prayer from the Irish Catholic Bishop's Conference.  I share it here in case your children would like to use it for your family or classroom.

Get it here.

The FREE Prayer for the Child in the Womb Copywork Set includes the prayer in print and cursive, as well as lined sheets to copy it on.

We are grateful to the Respect Life Committee at our church for introducing us to the Spare Change-Spare a Life Baby Bottle Campaign and pray that by sharing about it here, you may be inspired to initiate a similar tradition in your home, co-op, church, or community.

May we each choose life 
in every decision we make! 

An Open Letter to You, Pro-Life Man

Dear Pro-Life Man,

Twice this weekend, I heard comments about why men should stay out of discussions about abortions, and both times, the remarks were made by blatantly rude women who spoke with much scathing accusation, but little sense.

Amidst their vulgar language, these women claimed you have no right to speak out against abortion simply because you are a man.

How ridiculous it that?

As a man you might suffer over the loss of a child, yet you may not speak about the heinous act that takes approximately 3,000 lives in the U.S.A. alone each day and about 125,000 lives worldwide.  No, Sir, your hurt does not count claim some women.  You have no womb, so you can have no wound.  Abortion is none of your business.

And, lo, Man, if you are the father of a child conceived without forethought, do not stop and think even for a moment. You may have shared in the creation of that life, but you have no say over what will happen to it.  Yes, yes, forget about being encouraged to invest in that child, share in responsibility, and care for the child and mother.  You. have. no. say.  Whatever the mother wants, goes.  The child may live or die.  It is not up to you.  Be quiet.  

Be quiet, that is, unless you want to speak out for the death of unwanted children.  If you want to join the chorus of men lauding the choice to kill babies, have at it.  Be loud.  Be proud.  Man up and be Bro-Choice.

Indeed, dear Man, you must only lock your lips if you want to speak out against abortion, some women say.

Oh, and while you are speaking, please dare you not be chivalrous, protecting the innocent and standing up for the weak and oppressed.

Because you cannot get pregnant, you cannot understand things, and you must not respect, nor protect, life.  Got it, Man?

Oh, my dear, Pro-Life Man, I am so glad you are able to ignore such fallacious, illogical viewpoints.  Indeed, I am so glad you have the courage to speak truth even in the face of misguided accusations from women who claim you are a misogynist, an insensitive brute, an idiot, or worse. 

I assure you, Man-Who-Speaks-Out-Against-Abortion, that not all of us women scorn you. Many of us applaud you.  Many of us thank you.

In fact, I, personally, thank you for speaking out against abortion.  I thank you for letting you voice be heard and being the voice for those who can not cry out from the wombs of women who want them silenced. 

I thank you for ignoring the ignorant demand of women who say that you have no place in discussions about abortion, since you cannot get pregnant, cannot have an abortion, cannot understand what a woman goes through, and, therefore should not speak your thoughts. Indeed, I thank you, kind Pro-Life Sir, for standing firm with women like me who recognize you just might have a part in the conception of a child and you might wonder how that child's life might change yours... You might, indeed, go through much.  For male or female, you are human.  You are alive.  And you have every right to speak.

So, thank you, dear Pro-Life man, for exercising your right.  I welcome your voice in the conversation and am heartily grateful that you unabashedly support truth and life.

Speak on, Pro-Life Man. Take every opportunity you can to defend life from conception to natural death.  Do not be shouted down.  Do no be silenced.  Do not fall into the misconception that abortion is a women's right's issue.  Keep recognizing it as what is truly is: a human rights issue.

Unborn children are human beings and you have every right to defend the life of a fellow human being.

Pro-Life Man, I apologize for the loud, lacking in love voices of some of my fellow women who seek to shame you into silence, and I remind you, then in matters like these, there is no shame but that of silence.

We cannot stay quiet.  We must speak for those who cannot. Your voice is powerful.  Keep using it.

Stand together with other men and women - and me - who seek to respect and protect life, building a better future - one where all human beings may have the right to life!

With deepest gratitude and endless encouragement, I thank you, Pro-Life Man.

May love sound!

Have You Read Any of Kayla Jarmon's Books? {Review}

What a delight it was to receive three e-books by Kayla Jarmon to share with my children.

We read all three books in two sittings while looking at them as flipbooks on our computer screen.

Another day, I asked my children to re-read the books onscreen again with me, so each child could write a review of one of the books.

A Boy and His Dog

My youngest child, at seven, asked to review A Boy and His Dog.  He said:

A Boy and His Dog is a 40+ page e-book about the adventures of a boy and his dog.  It is told in pictures and words.  Each page is mostly a picture with a few sentences to a paragraph.  So, it is a quick read.

The illustrations are bright.  One was comical.  It was a dog and his boy who got covered in mud so they could not be recognized.

The story itself was okay.  It tells about the boy's and dog's daily life.  The boy has no lessons.  He just plays with his dog all day.  They are good friends. 

I think people with dogs or people who want to get dogs would like this story.  It is also good for people who like a quick story, and people that like simple illustrations.

Dog lovers and those with children who like loads of outdoor play will appreciate this book!

Don’t Forget Me (First in the Discussion Book Series)

My 10-year old daughter was eager to be the reviewer of Don’t Forget Me and even asked me if she could read it to me before she narrated her review.

She said:

Don't Forget Me is a 70-page, picture e-book. It is about a baby in the womb who gets born.  God talks to the baby and keeps reminding him, "Don't forget me."  The baby is curious, saying things like, "Why do I feel like I'm stretching"  "What's that?"  "It's getting tighter in here."  

While the baby is in the womb, we learn that his mom and dad like to talk to him, and that the baby doesn't like sad.  He also keeps telling God, "I know, I know... How could I forget you?..  I won't forget you.  You made me..." 

When the baby comes out, he's like, "Wow!  This place is so big.  It's almost too big.  Is this my new room?  Where's Mommy?"  He is given to his Mommy, his Mom and Dad pray, and they keep saying, "Shh.  Shh."  The baby says, "Hey, really, it's okay, God can hear us all at the same time."

The books is a really cool, fun book.  It has just enough words to get the story line and is mostly pictures.  The pictures are cool, because, when the baby is in the belly, it is cool to see how he grows in the belly.

It is also cool how they color the text.  The text is highlighted with different colors for different people.  God has a yellowy gold color.  The doctor and nurse have a blue color and the mom and dad have a pink color.  The baby is just regular old print.

I like this story the best of all three, and I think it would be good for kids that are just starting to begin to read, pregnant people who have other kids, and pro-life people.  The book shows how the baby grows inside the belly and celebrates life!

While the baby is in the womb, we learn that his mom and dad like to talk to him, and that the baby doesn't like sad.  He also keeps telling God, "I know, I know... How could I forget you?..  I won't forget you.  You made me..."  

When the baby comes out, he's like, "Wow!  This place is so big.  It's almost too big.  Is this my new room?  Where's Mommy?"  He is given to his Mommy, his Mom and Dad pray, and they keep saying, "Shh.  Shh."  The baby says, "Hey, really, it's okay, God can hear us all at the same time." 

The books is a really cool, fun book.  It has just enough words to get the story line and is mostly pictures.  The pictures are cool, because, when the baby is in the belly, it is cool to see how he grows in the belly. 

It is also cool how they color the text.  The text is highlighted with different colors for different people.  God has a yellowy gold color.  The doctor and nurse have a blue color and the mom and dad have a pink color.  The baby is just regular old print. 

I like this story the best of all three, and I think it would be good for kids that are just starting to begin to read, pregnant people who have other kids, and pro-life people.  The book shows how the baby grows inside the belly and celebrates life!

There are Scripture references at the back of the book, too.

Dying Is Part of This World (Second in the Discussion Book Series)

My 12 year old son decided to review this book.  He said:

Dying Is Part of This World is a 58-page, chapter e-book with a few pictures.  It is a discussion between a child and his mom about death.  At the end of each chapter, there are discussion questions.  The book also has Scripture references.

I liked the illustrations in the book.  They are black and white and show everything from the kids' point of view,  and I like the drawing style.

A lot of people are scared of death, so I think the author did well to write a book like this.  She was clever in using an analogy of a baby being born onto earth and us dying and being born into Heaven.  She tried to be honest and comforting without claiming to know everything. 

I had trouble with some of the theology in the book.  When people who are not Christian die, they do not automatically go to H-e-double-hockey-sticks.  God has mercy.  If someone does not know Him, because they have not been introduced to Him, they might still get to Heaven.  The book makes it seem like only Christians can go to Heaven.

Another point I disagreed with was when she said God forbids talking to the dead.  This is not true.  Talking to the dead is just like talking to someone who is alive.  They are still part of the Universal Church and the Communion of Saints.  It is perfectly fine to talk to the dead (but be sure to know they probably are not going to answer you.)

Obviously, there are some things wrong with this book, but there are some things great with it, too.  The author is very good at getting how a kid and Mom would talk to each other and that can get real kids and parents talking about death.  

 I would not recommend listening to all of the theology in this book, but I would say it may be a good book for parents and kids to read together if they can discuss it.  Parts of it are good.

Final Thoughts

Obviously, our family has theological differences with the text of Dying Is Part of This World, but we all could appreciate parts of it, and I truly appreciate the author's efforts to make a tough topic easier for parents and children to discuss.  She deals with some difficult concepts well!

Overall, we enjoyed A Boy and His Dog for its simplicity, playful humor, and cuteness, but our collective favorite was Don't Forget Me. It is the one book of the three we'd appreciate a hardcopy of and would consider gifting to and sharing with friends and family who have little ones, work with children, or are active in pro-life ministry.

We have heard audio files associated with each of these books are coming, so stay tuned for them.

Learn More

Fifty Homeschool Review Crew families reviewed these books.  Find links to all the reviews the Homeschool Review Crew.

You can find Kayla Jarmon on social media at:

• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/kaylajarmonauthor/
• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/kaylajarmon
• Instagram:   https://www.instagram.com/kaylajarmon/

Pray, Fast, and Give on the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children

January 22nd is the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children and so, in our home, we'll be taking a bit of a break from our usual life and lesson activities to focus on extra measures of prayer, fasting, almsgiving. We encourage others to do the same.

Prayer

Of course, attending Mass and praying for unborn children, for their mothers, and for our nation to respect the rights of the unborn child is an ideal choice for the day. 

Praying an intentional Rosary for Life is, too. 

Or, for those who seek shorter prayers, the Prayer to End Abortion by Rec. Frank Pavone at PriestsforLife.org is a powerful one.

Fasting

Ideally, all healthy adults will participate in fasting, eating only one full meal and two smaller meals which do not equal one full meal. 

Children (and adults!) might choose to offer penances by:

• abstaining from meat

• abstaining from a particular food or beverage 

• fasting  from one meal

• offering up the day’s challenges and inconveniences 

• giving up some form of entertainment for the day

•  offering up extra works of charity

Almsgiving 

Everyone in the family might offer some money to give to a pro-life organization. 

Or, perhaps, the family can shop for baby items to be brought to such an organization or simply collect like-new items from home to gift forward.

For crafty kids (and grown-ups!) decorating bibs and onesies to donate can be fun and meaningful.

Family Time

Counting our own blessings with gratitude is important, too.  So, our family will likely gather to chat about specific ways each of us blesses others - affirming the unique gift each person truly is. 

I can foresee this leading us into a trip down memory lane, sharing stories and pictures from birth and early childhood and, perhaps, singing our Song of Jack and for each of our other children.

To keep the warmth of family time going, I have also already begun stacking up favorite books for a "read in", when our family snuggles together to read book after book after book together.  

{Disclosure: Some of the links that follow are affiliate ones.  Should you click through them and make any purchase, we may receive compensation at no extra cost to you.}
 
Some of our pro-life favorites are:

The Preborn Christ

Before You Were Born

Angel in the Waters

Also, since we all enjoy family movie-time, I've also put The Altar Gang's Skif and AJ's Fantastic Voyage in our pile.  It's a beloved DVD around here.

Surely, on January 22, we can all set aside some time to pray, fast, and give, praying for legal protection for unborn children and giving thanks for each of our lives.  Perhaps, we'd like to start now:

God our Creator, we give thanks to you, who alone have the power to impart the breath of life as you form each of us in our mother's womb; grant, we pray, that we, whom you have made stewards of creation, may remain faithful to this sacred trust and constant in safeguarding the dignity of every human life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

~Collect Prayer

Pro-Life Kids: Decorate Bibs and Onesies

Are you seeking a hands-on, meaningful service project for children to enjoy during Respect Life month?   How about decorating onesies and bibs to offer expectant mothers?

That is just what we did with friends after our monthly Children's Adoration this past week. 

We started off by chatting about respecting life from natural conception to natural death and bridged into the idea of providing both spiritual and physical help for babies and mamas by praying for them, offering them encouragement, and gifting them with basic supplies.

Then, we set to decorating bibs and onesies with fabric paint pictures and messages.

To do so, one mom offered a brief demo,  Then, we simply set the children free with their imaginations and some fabric markers.

With these, they thoroughly enjoyed creating designs...

... and offering sweet messages.

Their designs were bright and cheerful.

Some even depicted sacraments (like Baptism.)

All were created with love.

Truth was shared.

Testimony to Jesus' love was eagerly offered.

Thanksgiving for babies was, too.

 Mamas also got into the action...

 ...making some designs ourselves.

I think the children (and the Moms!) could have just kept on going...

...but we ran out of bibs and onesies to gift sweet babies and their mamas.

We do pray that the recipients of the our loving work and prayers will be clothed in grace and blessings.  We also ask YOU to join us in praying intercessions for all lives.

As stated in this year's Respect Life statement:

God made each of us in his own image and likeness.  He desires to be united with us forever in a loving relationship.  God loves us, treats us with respect, and asks us to do the same with others.  Every person is sacred and must be treated with the dignity they deserve.  No one should ever be treated callously or carelessly—everyone should be cherished and protected!

From each tiny child waiting to be born, to individuals nearing death, all are precious and deserve our care and protection. Women and men suffering after abortion, individuals tempted to end their lives, couples longing to conceive a child, people pushed to the margins of society by a "throwaway culture," expectant mothers facing challenging pregnancies, and every other person—each "has a place in God's heart from all eternity" (Amoris Laetitia. . . , 168).

May we be united in love!

Count, Pray and Give (A Free Printable to Help Young Learners Pray for Life)

Next weekend, our parish is hosting a Holy Hour for Life service.  

This past week when I was on the USCCB site to do my daily readings, I noticed their Nine Days for Life novena and printables.  

Thus, I was inspired to add to the Count, Pray and Give sheets that I had made for my children's Advent and Christmas homeschool studies and to offer them as a free set here.

In this set, you will find a five different options:

• one for a 31-day month
• one for a 30-day month
• one for a 28-day month
• one for a 24-day Advent
• one for the 12 days of Christmas.

(We also have a Lenten Count, Pray and Give sheet, but not in this set.)

Using Count, Pray and Give is super-easy.

Simply have your children choose a different thing in your home to count each day.  Encourage them to pick things like windows or doors when they need to get out their wiggles by running around.  Try small items that you can set out on a table for times when your children could use some seated concentration or fine motor work.

After counting, together, make up a prayer that connects whatever they counted to babies.  For example, when my children counted "big bowls", they thanked God for all the food we have to fill our big bowls and prayed that all babies would have enough to eat.

Next, ask your children to record the name and number of items.  The name of the item can be written in printing or cursive, depending on what your child is working on.  Likewise, the number can be written as a numeral, a number work or with tally marks.   Depending on what other math skills your child is working on, you can also do simple arithmetic and word problems in connection with the recorded counts.

Finally, pray the prayer written on the sheets and have your child place coins or bills equal in value to the number of items they counted in a donation container.  If you are still working on coin and dollar value amounts, you may wish to have your child empty the container occasionally to "trade up" the coins and bills in it for ones of higher values.

Consider Running a Spare Change - Spare A Life Campaign

If your parish, local homeschool group or other community group would be willing, you could connect your own Count, Pray and Give activities with a Spare Change Campaign.  Our church's Respect Life Committee sponsored such a campaign throughout this past December and early January, which is what inspired us to revisit our Lenten Count, Pray and Give, revising it for the season.  I am so glad they did!

More Resources

• Five Great Books for Pro-Life Preschoolers links to five books my children enjoy.
• Why I Give by Corine Hyman is an anytime-of-year e-activity book for children about giving.
• The Altar Gang's Skif and AJ's Fantastic Voyage is one of my children's favorite videos.

How do you and the children in your life engage in encouraging Respect for Life?

 

(If you receive this post via email and cannot see the linky, be sure to actually click over to the blog to read browse the rich catalog of ideas there.)

*As always, we thank you if you choose to click through the affiliate links in this post to make a purchase (or do so with other affiliate links on this site). Doing so does not cost you anything, but it may help us earn a small percentage of your purchase price to continue training up our children. Thank you!

A Song for Jack, A Hope for Life

From this...

Jack, little  boy, our surprise number three,

I'm so glad God planned you to be:

Our special blessing, our little boy.

You bring Mommy so much joy.

You came three weeks early and gave us a scare.

Tiny and weak, you needed some prayer.

But now look at you, so big and strong.

With smiles and independence as you move along.

Jack, little boy, I'm so glad you could be

Exactly as God planned you to be:

Our special blessing, our little boy.

You bring our family so much joy. 

To this...

This weekend as we celebrated our youngest child’s second birthday, I sang these words to him.  They are familiar words – ones that I sing to Jack often at his nap times, bed times and cuddle times.  They are words that speak from my heart to Jack’s about who he is and what he means.

Every time I sing Jack’s song to him, I recognize anew what a gift he is to our family – a gift we were not expecting, but one that God had planned especially for us and one that we are so grateful to have accepted.

Although it should not astound me that God knew better than Mike and I what we could handle and what our family needed, it does.  When we realized that Jack had been conceived, we were not confident about the timing of an unexpected third child.  Our lives were in a state of flux and challenge.  It was hard to trust that another baby coming into our lives was “right”.  

Faith encouraged trust and trust brought blessings.  God proved to us what He so often does:  His timing is perfect even when it does not coincide exactly with ours. 

From the timing of Jack’s conception, to that of his birth, to so many things since, surprises keep on unfolding.  More often than not, these surprises are joy-filled ones.  Always, they reinforce that God’s timing is magnificent, even when it is not in line with our own.

Today, and every day when I sing Jack’s song to him, I marvel at what a perfectly timed gift he continues to be for our family.  I give thanks for his existence and pray that my simple words help him and his sibling to understand that being open to life is one of the greatest gifts any of us can receive (and gift forward!)

Indeed, as I sing to Jack – and to Nina and Luke as well, since each of my children has their own song – I sing with praise, gratitude and hope.  The hope being that my children will always embrace life as the gift that it is.  The hope that all people will.

To whatever he is dreaming and He has planned...

What traditions and teachings help you help your young children to know and value the gift that life is?