Magical Moment 94, "Full of Grace"

After playing piano for a year and a half at a Catholic Church (though I myself am not Catholic), I picked up a thing or two about Mary, the mother of Jesus. Not that I didn’t know her story before. Mostly I thought of her at Christmas when the preacher preaches the annual “Christmas Story” and the angel tells her she would bear a son. We see her everywhere. She adorns the nativity set as a porcelain figurine, with a look of angelic, solemn peace. I am no mother, but I know a few of them, and something tells me she wasn’t always so angelic and peaceful. Even Jesus, being the perfect child that He was, probably gave her enough worry and anxiety to keep her at least slightly stressed out. Although we know in our hearts, she existed, it’s difficult to relate her to today’s reality. We keep her on a shelf. It’s easy to dismiss the real struggles, worry, and immense love she felt as a mother.

I heard several stories yesterday that were not so easy to dismiss. “Story Corps” is an organization that finds and allows people to tell their personal, emotional story. Yesterday was a Mother’s Day special. One son said to his single mother that every Christmas made him feel like a king, yet looking back, he realizes how completely broke they were. His mother explained that she never took a single sick day all year long. If she was sick, she worked anyway. At Christmas she was paid for those days and then she shopped at the thrift store in the rich part of town for presents. She added with a laugh, “That’s why I never told you that there was a Santa Clause. Cuz I didn’t want to give no man the credit for what I did.”

Another mother told the heart breaking story of watching her son be crushed by a car after it swerved off the road and flipped, landing right on top of her little boy playing in the front yard. The paramedic pulled her aside later and said, “Ma’am, I’m not supposed to tell you this, but your son was already dead when we got to him.” She then broke down in tears and explained how much that meant to her because she couldn’t stand the thought of him being in pain and needing her when she could do nothing.

That story made me think of Mary when she lost her son. The emotions in which these stories were told, right out of the mothers’ mouths, made me wonder about the pain and grief Mary bore. Can there be any greater grief than a mother losing her child?

So today, on this Mother’s Day, I am thinking about ALL the mothers I know, past and present. Because I cannot begin to fathom the amount of love, sacrifice, strength, and grace they hold in their hearts.

Magical Moment 625, "Thailand - the Elephants"

Needless to say, my favorite part of our Thailand vacation, was our week long volunteering at Elephant Nature Park ! The logging industry was banned in Thailand in 1989, leaving thousands of elephants unemployed. These elephants are now used for tourism. You may have heard of elephant shows featuring the animals playing soccer or painting pictures with their trunks. They are no doubt amazing to watch, but the sad truth is that these elephants have gone through a series of torture and abuse to "break their spirit" by their trainers. This short clip is very hard to watch, but it will give you an idea of what the elephants in captivity in the country of Thailand go through. The only elephants in Thailand who do not endure this, are the very few baby elephants who are first generation born in "safe captivity" at places like Elephant Nature Park. Every other elephant at this park has been brutally abused. Some have been blinded by their owners, le...

Magical Moment 620, "Lilac Garden"

Eddie and I visited the Lilac Gardens at Ringwood Manor in New Jersey, a pristine and beautiful state park with 8 species of lilacs and several varieties within. We went on a rainy afternoon, which turned out perfect because the rain stopped for us when we got there, and began again as soon as we left. It also decorated the plants with gorgeous rain drops, adding to their beauty. And now for a quick game of "Where's Elizabeth?" And "Where's Eddie?" ~~Have a great weekend! ~~

Magical Moment 280, "The Eleventh Hour"

The Veterans Day Parade, NYC On July 29, 2001 , five exceptional men were honored by the President of the United States for their remarkable military service. They were involved in a top secret mission that required unfathomable intelligence and as a result, literally won a battle which was instrumental in winning the war. Not the war that was happening in 2001, not even the Gulf War. It was World War II, and they were the Navajo Code Talkers who were largely responsible for winning the bloody battle of Okinawa. The only problem with the ceremony was that just 5 remained of the original 29. Our country was too late in thanking the other 24, and nearly too late in thanking those 5 men. On March 10, 2010, three hundred women won the Congressional Gold medal for their outstanding war service. Unfortunately, 800 received the award posthumously. These were the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) of World War II, who devoted themselves to flying military aircraft like the B-26 and B-...

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