BIRTHDAY BEN!

By -
Big Ben's the birthday boy! Fifteen and counting.


The tried and true tumultuous teen years are under way...Every parent knows this rite of passage. Drivers Ed for the kids...sleepless nights for the parents. Ben's a great kid...middle child, mild mannered-easy going...studious and kind...But don't make him mad--the scorpio is sensitive and sure to let you know.

For some reason-I'm not shuddering this time around. After tangling with his two older brothers I have no illusions...I know what to expect--but Ben--is different...handles his decisions with reflective confidence...and stubborn, matter of fact grounding. Some kids seem to maneuver their minds in a straightforward motion--instead of taking giant steps backward.

Ben reminds me of me. Uh Oh! Growing up smack dab in the middle means more time is spent on others, than yourself...making self serving ideals less important...until you've had enough and rebel...like I did-eventually.

But gentle Ben is strong and decisive, quiet yet opinonated, smart and demure...and one hell of a football player...although next year he's decided--to call it quits. He knows what he wants, and does what he feels and no one, not anyone--not even dear old mom-can change his mind.

I fought like crazy, prayed like mad and believed in miracles...Bed ridden and sure to lose the new life growing inside my womb...I just refused to give up on him...and what a gift I received in return!

I love this kid...and I'm so proud to call him son...15 and counting--my blessings!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

OUR LADY OF JOY, HANCEVILLE ALABAMA

By -
Image
High atop a hill in Hanceville Alabama, broken hearts are being healed and hope is being restored. Our Lady of Joyful Hope is a community of young men who are finding new freedom through a life of authentic truth. Once lost in the darkness of addiction they are now living in the light of Christ who is transforming them from the inside out...And their families, if they are open and willing, are being transformed right alongside them. Recently, I spent three days with this community, listening to the young men, their parents and to the foundress, Mother Elvira, who flew in from Italy for the anointing of the new community house and the celebration that followed. Mother Elvira's life story is on par with Mother Teresa. She is an Italian nun who heard the call from God to snatch souls from Satan by delivering young men and women from the demonic grip of addiction. She gave up everything familiar, walked straight into the wilderness and wound up becoming a living legacy for desperate fa
Read more

HRUSHIV UKRAINE: APPARITIONS OF THE BLESSED MOTHER

By -
Image
Twenty four years ago today, April 27, 1987 the Blessed Mother allegedly appeared in Hrushiv Ukraine with a warning and words of consolation. She came on the Feast of the Ascension, exactly one year after the nuclear reactor disaster at Chernobyl saying "Do not forget those who have died...Chernobyl is a reminder and a sign for the whole world." In 1990 while producing a television documentary in Ukraine, I visited Hrushi and interviewed a handful of people who had witnessed the apparition above the church of the Holy Trinity. In all, some five hundred thousand witnesses claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary over a four month period. Mary apparently told them she came to thank the Ukrainian people because they had suffered so much at the hands of a raging lion who had been prowling around seeking whom he could devour. She said their suffering would come to an end and one day Ukraine would become an independent state. She then urged disciplined, Christian fortitude, "
Read more

CONFESSIONS OF FATHER JOE BENSON

By -
As we sat in silence, meditating...I nudged my friend Terri, "What do we have to complain about?!" I whispered. There he hung, pain stricken, vulnerable in his nakedness, sharp thorns cutting into his head, pleading eyes fixed on the heavens. What I thought, on God's green earth, do I have to complain about?! That's probably why they do it...place the life like crucifix dead center-above the altar, just above the Blessed Sacrament, right where you can't miss it...just to remind us-things could be worse, but they're destined to get better-if we keep our eyes focused-on the solution. Another friend-likes to remind me-he's not on the cross anymore...So why do we keep him there? Every one's got an opinion, but to tell you the truth, I need to be reminded of the sacrifice...and every painful moment in between. Puts my problems in perspective...helps me see clearly...gives me strength to proceed. We went to first Friday adoration in the upper ninth ward..
Read more