HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAC!

By -
A mom's minor miracle today.

All five sons made it to Mass with me. No cajoling, arguing or threats...It wasn't a holiday or a feast day or Christmas or Easter...but prime time to honor one of our own...as he passed from the teens to the twenties...My second son today turned 20.

We call him Mac or Mackie for short...but He carries my maiden name McCall into the future-along with his clever mind and savvy, unpredictable wit...Mac is quiet and unassuming, but he makes a statement with his good looks and unusual flair for dress...When he was just four-a photographer snapped his picture and the next day he stood smiling in the newspaper, baseball cap backwards, plaid shirt and jeans, sweatshirt tied around his waste...spilling silly putty all over the schoolyard...which by the way is where he also attracted the many felines who used to call our house in the fourth grade...Can you imagine?

For as long as I can remember, Mac's been a chick magnet...But he was born too cool to care and I think that's his formula for staying one step ahead of the girls and the game...He's cunningly shrewd, primed for business and perfectly suited to save every penny while convincing you he's broke. Some people are born with the wisdom of ingenuity and the gift of charming the pants and your pocketbooks off of you.

We have a special bond-a knowing that neither can deny...from shared experiences and the school of hard Knox...But I have to say-I'm looking forward to watching the evolution of his journey into manhood and making it on his own...Because he never whines or wants or complains about what he doesn't have or isn't getting...I can see the wheels churning upstairs, figuring it out and figuring that he can do it...even if it's easier to have it done for him...except of course when his clothes are dirty or he's missed the dinner bell at school.

Mac's youngest brother Zach squeezed my arm in Mass saying, "I like it when everyone is here...It feels good." I had just been thinking the same thing...How good it felt for my sons to be praying together, how blessed we are...and how-even in the midst of the trials and tribulations of life...the big blessings bounce into our lives at exactly the right time-just in time to make us breathe in a measure of relief, while exhaling a ton of gratitude at the little things that make all the difference in the world.

Watching their happy faces at the birthday boy's dinner warmed my heart ...and when I asked him about his big day...He nodded, "It was a bomb!" In case you don't know it-that means good-very good. What more can I ask for?!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SUBLIME AUDACITY!

By -
Image
I have all the signs and symptoms of something I just learned about today...Sublime Audacity. That's right...I have the audacity to believe-that anything is possible-anything at all-with God. In fact, I believe that there is one cure for all the world's ills...and that cure rests with -and in God. In a world of material wealth, individual desires and carefully orchestrated managed care...When people search the world over for the answers that never come, the healings that rarely happen and the hope that always gets dashed by the next person...I believe that there is only one steady stream of consciousness that always gets it right...and that is God. I've personally experienced it time and again and every time I look elsewhere or seek some other solution, I always come crawling back to the staying power of my higher power...Because let's face it...Once we have the audacity to tell anyone-anyone at all that God is responsible for all the good in our lives or the Love that ...
Read more

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

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