War on Women or Whatever

I just mentioned this last week in another post but I decided to expand on it. Someone fill me in. What the hell is this War on Women? I'm seriously not getting it.

According to Wikipedia (not exactly a reliable source but they dumbed it down for me so don't judge! lol) it's the big bad Republican party trying to restrict women's rights especially reproductive rights. It also has liberals fighting for equal pay for women and stopping workplace discrimination. Call me ignorant but hasn't it been illegal to discriminate against women in the workplace for a while now? Like since the Equal Pay Act of 1963. So... what is it they are wanting? I think that men and women are pretty equal and I think any business would look at the individual's qualifications when it comes time to give a raise... not the fact of whether they are a man or a woman. It's like people think we are living in the 1950s. Maybe my confusion is rooted in the fact that BOTH my parents were successful in the business world. I know in my profession of nursing their is obviously a higher ratio of women to men but the male nurses do not get any kind of special treatment. This entire mindset is completely bizarre to me.

Now this whole reproductive rights thing is what really boils my blood. Correct me if I'm wrong. Women want birth control which currently costs roughly $9 a month from Walmart to be paid for by tax payers whether they are male, female, pro-life or pro-choice. Women also do not want any restrictions on abortions. They don't believe that abortion is murder even though basic science tells us that life begins at conception. They don't want mandatory ultrasounds that would show that there is life inside. They don't want to be told "you can't have an abortion because you are this far along."

I can argue against every one of these cases but I have found that if these women do not believe the same fundamental things as me then they will not listen. I feel like it all gets to the morality issues that some people disagree with. I believe that sex outside of marriage is wrong. I believe that sex in marriage is good and that babies are awesome. If you are not ready for a baby then don't get married yet. If you do not ever want a baby then don't get married. It's all pretty simple if you hold these basic moral principles. I also believe that IF one makes a mistake and does get pregnant when they don't intend to that.... this may come as a shock to you... but that baby is still good. It does not deserve to die. That baby is innocent. Children are good.

I feel like I should clarify that I have incredible sympathy for women that are victims of rape or incest. What a terrible and terrifying experience to have to go through. And if a woman becomes pregnant because of this terrible act I can only imagine the stress and fear that would add to the already traumatizing situation. However, that does not child the innocence of that child. That child should not have to suffer death because the father was a bad and/or misguided person. I know their are so many people that don't want to agree with me but these are the facts.

Where did we go wrong? How did we get to this place where it becomes acceptable to kill the most innocent of human beings. I don't see the War on Women but I most certainly see that there is a War on Children. Why doesn't everyone else see this?

Hey, all you women! Look what I found on Feminist for Life:

"Guilty? Yes. No matter what the motive, love of ease, or a desire to save from suffering the unborn innocent, the woman is awfully guilty who commits the deed. It will burden her conscience in life, it will burden her soul in death; But oh, thrice guilty is he who drove her to the desperation which impelled her to the crime!"
- Susan B. Anthony, Revolution

"Abortion is the ultimate exploitation of women."
-Alice Paul

Stanton wrote, regarding prostitution and the "murder of children, either before or after birth": "For a quarter of a century sober, thinking women have warned this nation of these thick coming dangers, and pointed to the only remedy, the education and enfranchisement of woman... We believe the cause of all these abuses lies in the degradation of woman."
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Revolution

So it seems that the ultimate feminists, the original feminists would agree with me that the only war on women today is society making them believe that abortion is a solution to a problem.

Rambling about nothing...

So here we are... over half way through the best month of the year! Yeah, it's my birthday month but that is not what makes this month the best. It's just kind of like the icing on top of the cake.

October is the month of the Rosary.

October is the month of Mary.

October is when we as Catholics celebrate the feasts of some of my favorite saints:

Saint Michael the Archangel... potentially the most baller of all angels.

St. Terese,

St. Francis of Assisi,

St. Teresa of Avila,

Blessed Pope John Paul II,

St. Luke,

Guardian Angels,

Our Lady of the Rosary, and

Sts. Simon and Jude.

Whoa.

October is when the leaves change.

October is full of football.

October is part of the 40 Days for Life.

I am pretty much in a good mood all month for these reasons! It just in the air!

On a completely different note I would like to say that today was awesome. Prayed a rosary outside Planned Parenthood with a good friend, did a little window shopping, went to Panera for lunch, let Rosalyn run and play with Jack..... and call me crazy but I was pretty stoked to drink a little Cabernet Sauvignon while iron some dress shirts for the hubby. I'm not even being sarcastic. Ironing (as long as it's more than just one thing) is something I find somewhat therapeutic.

Not even kidding. Lol.

Sacrifice

Women are awesome. Women know it. Men know it. There is clearly no arguing that women are freaking amazing.

Now I get that there is this so called "war on women" but it is actually a load of bull and I am not here to talk about it. We are not oppressed. We do not go unnoticed. We are equal but not the same. Like I said... we are awesome and everybody knows it.

I think it is interesting how much our role in the family has shifted though. My grandmother was a telephone operator until she married my grandfather and after their marriage she became the home maker and raised all 4 of the children. She managed the home, cooked all the meals (which is still amazing to this day btw!) and to my knowledge never "worked" again. She was already working 24/7 at home. It is the job that never ends and maybe one of the most exhausting. But from what I hear it is the most rewarding.

My mom went to college and became a business woman. She continued to work after marrying my dad until I was about 2 years old. She managed to balance a demanding job, raising 4 kids, chauffeuring, keeping up a well kept home and still cooking dinner every night. She even went back to work not as a business woman but for the Church and did not let a single aspect of our near perfect lives falter. She has always kept things together. She does everything and it will never cease to amaze me.

HOW DOES SHE DO IT?

I may never truly know the answer to that but I hope that someday I find it in myself to be just half of that woman she is. I do think that one of the key ingredients that so many incredible women possess is selflessness. To be a good woman (like my mother) you have to be selfless. You have to put the needs of your family above your own. You have to give more than you get without a word to protest it because it brings joy to the heart to see happiness in others. This is not oppression. This is love. This is the love that the Father shows us and it is the love that we see in Mary. 

True love is a sacrifice. No one ever said it would be easy but what would life be like without it. 

 

My two role models lived in different times and one has a perfect child while the other has four imperfect children but they still have a lot in common :)

Sharper than any two-edged sword

Just watched the Space Jump and now watching the Chiefs lose but I just had to write a quick little snippet. 

'Cuz the Second Reading blew my mind this morning:

Brothers and sisters:
Indeed the word of God is living and effective,
sharper than any two-edged sword,
penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow,
and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
No creature is concealed from him,
but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him
to whom we must render an account.

BOOM!

While I often am lacking in ability to interpret scripture and meditate on it and ya know... all the things I am supposed to do with it... this was THE most living and effective piece of scripture that has caught my attention in a long time!

"No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him." That is so beautiful and frightening! Oh my. God truly knows us. He sees into the very depths of our souls. He sees the good and the ugly and His love is still more infinite than any love we will know on earth... which is crazy.

Like I said.... Mind. Blown.

Happy Sunday, ya'll!

"Talk about things you can't see."

I have always been Catholic. Growing up my dad was in charge of the Altar Server Ministry and my mom was the Sacramental Preparation and now Confirmation Coordinator. My church was my second home. I got involved in every thing I could. I feel like talking about my faith was an every day occurrence and I was always surrounded by Catholics so there was really never a time when I couldn't talk about it.

Now I am all grown up. I work. I go out occassionally. I have responsibilities. Blah. blah, blah. I feel like even though I go to church every Sunday and participate in the Sacraments, it just isn't quite the same. I feel like so many things in my life are so temporary. Patrick is still in school working on that doctorate. We live in an apartment and really don't know where we will end up. I love my job and I don't plan on leaving but who knows if we will end up moving after Patrick graduates. So I just haven't made an effort to get involved. I don't feel like I can make a commitment if I don't know where we will be in 7-8 months.

Last night, I got a taste of what it was like to be surrounded by good Catholics again. My friend and I met up with two other amazing Catholic women in the Kansas City area for dinner. I can even explain how great I felt afterwards. I feel like that fellowship with good Catholic women is something I have been missing in my life recently. It's not even like we were talking about Catholicism the entire 4 hours of our dinner date but we just had an instant connection, something in common.

One of my favorite phrases regarding relationships is a quote I once heard Curtis Martin say. "Talk about things you can't see." I don't know if he got it from someone else or what but it has always stuck with me. Following our 4 hour dinner date I met up with some other people at a bar nearby. To be clear, I love this group of people. They are really my only consistent group of friends since I have moved here and I am thankful for their friendships. However, after the previous hours of conversing with those wonderful, strong women it just felt odd. It's not that the people are superficial but I think our friendship is a little superficial. When have we ever talked about things we can't see? And I have been friends with them for a few years. And here I just met these two Catholic women and we already have a deeper relationship than people I have known for a long time.

My conclusion is this... Catholics are family. I have always known this but last night I was really feeling it. It doesn't matter where I go in my life because I will always have a home in the Church. How beautiful is that! So today as I sit on my couch still in my pajamas sipping on coffee and listening to the thunderstorm, I am thankful for the inspiring Catholics that God has put in my life!

Reason and Science... and Catholicism

Last night I watched the Vice Presidential debates. Overall, I have to say I was unimpressed. I really wanted to hear the fresh ideas of Paul Ryan but I couldn't quit looking at Joe Biden's veneers... If you watched you know what I'm talking about!

I will say that in addition to being unimpressed I was also disappointed in the response to the question regarding their Catholic faith and how that has shaped their personal views on abortions.

Paul Ryan quite eloquently stated that the Catholic Church informs us in everything we do and that he does not see how a person can separate their public life from their private life and their faith. He spoke on seeing his first born as the size of a bean on the ultrasound and how he believes that life begins at conception. Ryan said that he is Pro-Life not just because of his Catholic faith but also because of "reason and science." I am so thrilled that he said that! First of all, I feel like the moderator was trying to put both of them in a bad place. They were given a choice in front of millions of people to either stand by the Church or risk not getting elected. But besides that, IT IS TRUE! Life begins at conception. You can say it is not truly life because it can't survive outside the mother or whatever... that's fine if that's how you want to personally define life but as far as science goes it is still life. I think that was an excellent way to speak to those Americans that are not Catholic about where he stood personally in regards to abortion. However, he did state that under Romney abortions would be opposed with the exceptions of rape, incest and the health of the mother. It may be a step in the right direction but it is not exactly a satisfying answer for this Catholic!

Joe Biden.... oh, crazy Joe....

His religion defines who he is. He has been a practicing Catholic his whole life. He believes life begins at conception but that is not something he wants to impose on others... Ok, I get that not every one is going to believe in Catholic teaching BUT if we all agree that it is a fundamental fact that life begins at conception then what is the problem??? That has nothing to do with religion. It's science! Joe even said that the Catholic church taught him to care for those that cannot help themselves. Does that not include a child in the womb? If I am not mistaken he has completely contradicted himself. Basically he said that the Catholic Church plays NO role in regards to the abortion issue.

Now I'm not saying one is a better Catholic than the other. I honestly know very little about both Biden and Ryan since I payed little attention to politics until about a year ago. But I think both of them were there trying to win an election. The Catholic Church in the United States is thirsting for someone in Washington D.C. to stand up for us. We need someone to be bold and not lukewarm. We need ALL Catholics in the United States to vote and elect those individuals that will stand by us. There is no excuse for not voting. It is our obligation to chose the lesser of the two evils. We need to be people of action. Because if we don't we are by default allowing the other to win.

So for talking about politics but this just really got me fired up!

Little things

It's been an exhausting week. I have worked an ungodly amount and my To Do List at home has just been growing. Some times it's just hard to keep up.

However, yesterday was my birthday. It wasn't a milestone birthday. Just another twenty-something but it was probably the best birthday I have had in a few years... Thanks to Patrick. He had to go to school in the earlier part of the day so I relaxed at home, walked Rosalyn, received a nice phone call from my mom etc. I didn't do laundry or dishes or go to the store. Patrick told me not to because it was my birthday. I would have felt obligated but him saying that made me feel like I was off the hook and household chore could wait for another day. I just relaxed yesterday which is such a blessing some days. Luckily, Patrick got out of class early so I got to spend even more time with him than I anticipated! We hung out at home for a little bit and then headed to downtown to Country Club Plaza. We ate at Brio... which I highly recommend. The food is to die for! And then we went for a walk in the chilly Fall weather. It dropped 27 degrees yesterday! I saw THE Kansas City fountain which I wasn't aware was such a big deal but he assured me it was! haha

What is so funny is that to most people my wonderful birthday probably doesn't sound all that grand. And that's ok if they think that. My birthday was not about the gifts I got (though they were wonderful and generous) or how much money was spent on dinner or anything like that. I got to relax all day and then spend time doing something a little different with Patrick. Honestly, he is the reason I had a good day. It might sound cheesy but I just love the little things about our life.


"Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love."
- Mother Teresa




PS-Please note the quality of this photo. You are looking at a photo from THE ORIGINAL IPHONE! That's right. My phone is an antique. Be jealous. Or as my 17 year old little sister would say... be jelly :)