Novel idea

Oct. 4, 2007

Novel idea

Sweet surprise.

Home early to find

the shape

my life has taken.

A book

made of flour, eggs and sugar.

Stirred by little hands,

iced with caramel and care.

Every day a composition,

every sentence published somewhere.

Count the candles.

Feel the heat of years,

then gather breath

to set free

the wish held within

unspoken.

I wrote that on my 35th birthday -- five years ago. But the more time I spend as a mother the more certain I am of the truth of those words, "Every day a composition. Every sentence published somewhere."

When it comes to kids, it seems that everything you do matters. And that is one reason we have chosen to homeschool our two.

We are a Catholic family who has just moved from Tennessee to VA. More on that later. I had an interesting experience a few days before the move, which I write about here:

Rosary-go-round

The saying, “what goes around comes around” is definitely true. And when it comes to rosaries, it can come around pretty fast.

My family and I are preparing for our first cross-country move since becoming a family. When my husband and I moved to Memphis, we were engaged (read unmarried), not Catholic and not even practicing Christians. Fast-forward about a dozen years and we are Catholic converts who homeschool our two children.

One old blue rosary figures largely in the turnaround made in my life. This macramé rosary was a gift to me from a wacky friend, who was a devout and good Catholic. Watching her life planted the seed of conversion and Catholicism in my mind. That seed was watered by some of life’s tribulations plus my decision to reach for the blue rosary one day. The daily habit of praying the Rosary changed my mind, changed my heart and changed my life. My husband and I converted to Catholicism about a year later when I was pregnant with our oldest child, now 8.

With two children under two, I have to admit I prayed the Rosary less conscientiously. But as the children and I have aged, my commitment to the prayer and the Blessed Mother has resurfaced and we make the effort to pray one decade of the Rosary daily as a family.

I had kept the old blue rosary for years and still used it for praying in the car, but as we prepared to move to Virginia I kept feeling it was time to pass the gift on. So I did, giving it to a dear friend who is also a convert.

One day later, I was at an unlikely location for prayers and rosaries – a nail salon. It was my last chance to use a coupon given to me as a birthday gift. I noticed the large portrait of the Blessed Mother above the shelf of polish and the many religious medals worn by the elderly lady who was giving my manicure.

Because she didn’t want me to mar the polish, the lady insisted on getting my car keys out of my purse for me. My keychain – a Mother’s Day gift from my children -- is a disc with a picture of the late Pope John Paul II on one side and Pope Benedict XVI on the other. The manicurist, who was from Vietnam, immediately stopped. “Oh, do you love him?” She asked, pointing at Pope John Paul II.

“Yes,” I said. “Turn it over.”

She beamed at the picture of Pope Benedict. What followed was a wonderful, unexpected sharing about our own faith lives between two people who might have otherwise never met. The lady, who was from Vietnam, showed me the bracelet Rosary I had seen her holding. “You pray to God and Mary every day and you have everything good in your life,” she said.

We talked a little more and then, as I was leaving, she placed the one-decade Rosary on the table in front of me. “If you don’t mind, have this please,” she said.

When I protested, she insisted that she has many other rosaries. So we ended our visit with a hug. I honestly think she was sent by God, as so many people are, to remind us that God is with us even when we can’t see him. And it was a comfort to me as I have been unsettled and anxious about this move – although I know it is good for the family.

I have heard it is a good idea to make gifts of your rosaries. But I have never heard of them coming back so quickly. I will keep this one as a reminder that God goes with me and my family on this latest installment of our journey.

And may God go with you and yours.