many thanks to the lovely ladies at Like Mother, Like Daughter for hosting...
Pretty- a few weeks ago, we had a visit from our bishop and had some very 'pretty' pontifical Divine Liturgies. This photo is the bishop bowing at the altar praying the creed with two priests by his side.
Real- This camera-photo of my oldest is the only photo we got of any family member in their Easter outfits. That is one 'real' aspect of being clergy family- on holidays, we cannot think of ourselves and there is usually not a moment to 'waste' to take a family photo...better luck next year!
I love The Princess Bride! :)
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the Princess Bride - thank you for the smaile :)
ReplyDeleteYour daughter's Easter dress is beautiful! Good luck with a famiyl picture next time.
I find myself quoting that Inigo Montoya line more regularly than is good for my sanity.
ReplyDeleteAnd we had a similarly picture-free Easter. I can't even imagine what happens when we have kids & DYM DH becomes a deacon.
plan plan plan.... (better than I!)
DeleteLOVE Princess Bride! Y'all should take time for your self too as best you can, but I'm just a Deacon's wife not a Priest/Preacher's wife. I know it must be difficult but your STRONG loving family will be such a wonderful example for your flock!
ReplyDeletewww.3psinatxpod.blogspot.com
Beautiful post. Your daughter is lovely and growing up so much. Your little girl is a treat to watch and the Divine Liturgy is awesome. Thanks
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures! That first one is so lovely, like a sneak peek.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of visiting a different park every day of the week.
Happy Easter!
Your last picture made me sad! My husband is considering a vocation to the priesthood and we are already very active in our own tiny, byzantine parish. He will be blessed a subdeacon this summer and a Deacon next year, God willing. Already, I feel like our holidays have had to change around the church schedule, and sometimes I have a hard time not resenting it! As you said, it is very difficult to get a family picture in sometimes...something that seems like it should be so easy! How do you handle it so graciously? I feel so uncharitable and unholy when I say that...but it is something I am struggling with!
ReplyDeleteI'm curious--which rite are you? Since you're married and your husband wants to be a priest... My husband is an altar server, and is discerning his call to the deaconate, and we too have had our holidays...mixed up a bit. :)
DeleteI think Jocelyn is Melkite (or Arab Byzantine- haha)
DeleteI am Melkite! :-) and thank you for adding the haha...because I am not Middle Eastern! Though my husband is...this has been an ongoing issue in our parish. A commmon struggle for many of our Eastern churches to survive in America and not be "just" an ethnic parish. That's a whole other post though, isn't it, PW??
Deleteoh yes....just the only Melkite clergy I know has a VERY Irish last name
DeleteJocelyn- part of the problem: I failed to plan ahead. I should have been ready and let other things go by the wayside so I could get a family photo together. So lots of moms have this problem.
ReplyDeletethe priesthood specifically is a challenge because some people have no boundaries. Easter Liturgy started 5 minutes late because someone 'demanded' loudly to be able to go to confession 5 minutes before Liturgy was to begin. After Mass, people can be very demanding of Father. So, if I (and you in the future) want to make family time and family photos a priority, we have to fight for it. Finding a few like minded families at church can help- I could have asked about 3 different people to take our photo, but there was so much else going, I forgot.
About holidays and church schedule: first, if you are together as family even if he is at the altar, it is family time, but there will have to be adjustments. Believe in 'octaves'- so you might not get to celebrate exactly how you want on the exact day, but by the time the octave of the holiday ends (even a birthday, anniversary, groundhog's day)you have celebrated as a couple and as a family. make a deal with your husband and be HAPPY when the actual day is consumed with church. Do NOT let your kids see your frustration that you can't have the Christmas morning of your childhood. It is going to be different- but it is mostly just being flexible with the days (which are a manmade construct anyway), planning ahead and demanding that your husband celebrate well- it is mostly his adjustment to make.
We clergy wives need to stick together- because we don't want to complain because in general we are HAPPY with our life and the crazy vocations piled up. We don't want to cause scandal because we are such rare birds.
Thank you for the encouragement! You're right... it is such a rare situaion, and our priest, though married, has no children, so its a bit different. I feel like I have no one to talk to who really understands. I truly am supportive of my husband's vocation, I just have some "figuring out" to do still! I think you hit the nail on the head for me...I have to stop thinking that for things to be "perfect" for our kids, it has to be like my childhood...I will have to start thinking of octaves...that gives me peace!
ReplyDeleteJust make a deal with your husband that he is not 'off the hook' if you can't celebrate on the exact day.... and this is not the time for week-long cruises- sometimes St V';s day is celebrated with dinner on the balcony (waitstaff provided by the big girls- your girls will be big enough soon!)
DeleteLOL! Yes, for sure. The girls are getting big...but we now are expecting another little one in September! :-)
DeleteWe are definitely still figuring out the balance and learning as we go. It is easy to feel like you have to do everything when there are so few to do the work. Of the two of us, I'm usually the one to over-extend myself, then regret it later. He is better at boundary setting (part of why I really do believe he'll be a wonderful priest), and I am learning from him.
yay Jocelyn! On your blog (that you never write....) you said you've been suffering secondary infertility- your sweetie pie is going on my prayer list
DeleteThis is quite the year for baby miracles- My three sisters and sister in law all just had (or will have soon) wonderful babies...I think God wants me to be happy with my 'little' bunch of 4 kids- but I'm so happy the extended family is growing
I know...I'm terrible! In the fall, I started a new position at work. I thought it would give me more time, and in some ways, it does. But, it is MUCH more stressful than I anticipated. I got very discouraged and busy and the blog(s) just got left behind. I have been feeling *somewhat* inspired to start back up... there is such a need! But, there just doesn't seem to be enough time to do it correctly! Not sure how you do it all! :-)
DeleteAnd yes, this baby is a miracle...purely through God's grace and the intercession of St. Collette! I do need to get my blogs back up and running though!
Collette would be a wonderful name for the baby- but the baby is probably a boy...(I have a 50% chance of being right- so I am calling it now!)
DeletePW--your daughter is a beautiful young lady! (and I love her dress)
ReplyDeleteI got their two older girls' dresses in the misses (!) section of JC Penny- and the two littles had hand-me-downs good enough for Easter. But because I have 'only' four kids, I like to try and match- so next year...I need to get out the sewing machine. it is so hard to find anything nice for pre-teens
DeleteIsn't it hard to find ANYTHING modest these days for our girls?! My girls are still in the "girls" section, and to find a dress with sleeves is a chore!
DeleteMy cousin is 15 and has shopped in the misses section (esp at JCP!) for years. She's tall for her age and is more...womanly? than her younger sister, who is rather boyish in build and is, I think, a double zero. Meghan (the 15 y/o) does better in the misses section, rather than the juniors, and she is so smart, knowing that at places like JCP & Kohl's, she can get more for her money than Colleen (the 14 y/o) who has to be oh-so trendy and shop at Abercrombie and Aeropostale.
DeleteI don't think I ever shopped in the juniors section--I think I went straight from kids to misses...then to women's :-/