~What I looked like 3 years ago today~

And the story that follows….

Maria~Angelica Zoe’ did indeed deliver HERSELF  at  3:05 a.m. Wednesday morning (her due date) October 19th 2005. That is a story I am not sure just how to put into words, but I will try. It  was really quite something! I just sat up and there she was! The room was dark, I was laying on my side with my eyes closed.  Fr. was asleep and I heard a coo. I asked Fr. if he had just made that sound. We heard a quiet  cry, Fr. jumped up and I reached for the controls to  lift the bed forward so I could see and there she was! A perfect little pink baby girl!  The best way to describe it is I felt a wave of a contraction  and she washed  ashore! The nurses and doctor (who was also sleeping) were AMAZED!! They came running down the hall. They knew from the heart monitor at the nurses’ station  that something had happened. They could hear her little cry as they came closer to  the room and they could not believe their eyes. All of the nurses  said nothing like that had ever happened in all their years of nursing. The funny thing is at 2:00 am the head nurse came in to check on me and I said I felt some good pressure. The nurse said to me “don’t worry babies just don’t pop out!” When she came in at 3:05 we had a good laugh about that one!

 I think I had a “silent birth” ! LOL!

I will never forget the mental picture I have of Maria~Angelica there on the bed so sweet and perfect. The nurse quickly grabbed a blanket and handed her to me. The baby was so warm her body just radiated heat and she smelled sooooooo good (she still smells good)! We were able to have skin to skin contact for about an hour before Fr.  cut the cord. Maria~Angelica sucked her 2 middle fingers just minutes after being born. She latched on right away too. Glory be to God she is nursing beautifully. I am so grateful for  everything about her. A year ago I was crying in the parking lot of the endocrinologist office because she had just bluntly told me I would never have anymore children.  I never went back to that doctor. She was just one of 3 to tell me the same thing. I have never been back to any of those doctors. I was very grateful to have the 3 children I did have. I just wanted to confirm that all was well with my health. Then they day I came home from baptizing and Chrismating Alana’s family I found out I was expecting! That was certainly NO coincidence! With God there are no coincidences! That was truly a miracle! For those of you that have been told the same thing I was, don’t ever give up hope.  Miracles DO happen! They have happened to me 4 times!   Just trust the will of God and be willing to accept the will of God.  Following my cancer treatment there was no guarantee I would have any children. They were  all the will of God and they all came in God’s perfect timing.

 Maria~Angelica’s  birth weight was  8lbs 9oz and  she is 20 inches long. she is now 8lbs 5 oz . 

Throughout the pregnancy the  boys would   wonder if their sister would have hazel eyes and brown hair like Basil or blue eyes and blonde hair  like Nicholas or brown  hair and brown eyes like Jonah. Her eyes look blue and  her hair is light like Nicholas.   

We have given Maria~Angelica her name in honor of  the Mother Of God and all the angels in heaven.  Maria~Angelica’s grandmothers have also been named in honor of the Mother of God and the Holy Angels.  Maria is the name of Fr. Christos’  mother and Angeliki is the name of my mother.  We will call her both names as her first name.

Thank you all for your love, prayers and concern.  We are all very excited and look forward to sharing more pictures in the days to come!

~Scary Stuff!~

Farrakhan Says ‘New Beginning’ For Nation of Islam

CHICAGO (AP) ― The Nation of Islam, a secretive movement generally closed to outsiders, has planned a rare open-to-the public event at its Chicago-based headquarters in what the Minister Louis Farrakhan deemed a “new beginning” for the group.

Hundreds of religious leaders of different faiths have been invited to the event planned for Sunday, a rededication of the group’s historic Mosque Maryam on the city’s South Side. Farrakhan is scheduled to speak.

“We have restored Mosque Maryam completely, and we will dedicate it to the universal message of Islam, and the universal aspect of the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad,” Farrakhan said in an invitation letter. “It represents for the Nation of Islam, a new beginning.”

The event comes just weeks after the death of Imam W.D. Mohammed, the son of Nation founder Elijah Muhammad who broke with the group and moved thousands of African-Americans toward mainstream Islam.

The Nation purchased the mosque, a former Greek Orthodox church, in 1972 and has since been making renovations. The stately 1948 structure, embellished with a golden dome and topped with an Islamic crescent moon, is adorned with Quranic verses in Arabic. Experts say opening the mosque’s doors to the public is a calculated move.

“It is a very conscious effort to open the mosque up to the community and to rededicate the community to learning about Islam,” said Aminah McCloud, a professor of Islamic studies at DePaul University. “Previously, the Nation has been open to people coming to visit it, but its members don’t generally go anywhere else … now there is a concerted effort.”

While the Nation has espoused black nationalism and self-reliance since it was founded in the 1930s, in recent years members have reached out to other groups. For instance, the Nation has a Latino liaison and has become involved in immigrant rights rallies and marches. Also, the Minister Ishmael Muhammad, a top assisting minister at the mosque and widely thought to be a potential successor to Farrakhan, has talked about unity between all people, at times speaking in Spanish.

Farrakhan, 75, has haltingly tried to move the Nation toward traditional Islam, which considers the American movement heretical because of its view of Elijah Muhammad as a prophet — among other novel teachings. Orthodox Islam teaches that there has been no prophet after Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century.

He’s also played down some of the group’s more controversial beliefs. The Nation of Islam has taught that whites are descended from the devil and that blacks are the chosen people of Allah.

The event on Sunday also wraps up a week of events marking the 13th anniversary of the Million Man March, which Farrakhan began in 1995. That year, hundreds of thousands of people traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate.

On Thursday, Farrakhan spoke to inmates at Cook County jail urging self improvement, atonement and reconciliation, principles the Million Man March promoted.

Those values “can help reduce violence and anti-social behavior … and have universal significance and will benefit those willing to listen,” according to a statement from the Nation.

Farrakhan’s Sunday speech will mark his second major public address this year and is among several smaller community and religious events he has attended.

His public appearances have surprised many since in 2006, he seceded leadership to an executive board while recuperating from serious complications from prostate cancer.

In February, Farrakhan appeared at an annual Saviours’ Day event in Chicago and called Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama the “hope of the entire world” that the U.S. will change for the better. The Obama campaign quickly denounced Farrakhan’s support, because of past comments about Jews that many have called offensive.

In the past months, Farrakhan has attended funeral services of W.D. Mohammed and Jabir Herbert Muhammad, both sons of the late Elijah Muhammad.

(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

If the devil were to write his beatitudes, they would probably go something like this:

1.  Blessed are those who are too tired, too busy, too distracted to spend a few hours a week with their fellow Christians in worship – they are my best workers.

2.  Blessed are those Christians who wait to be asked and expect to be thanked – I can use them.

3.  Blessed are the touchy who stop going to church – they are my missionaries.

4.  Blessed are the troublemakers – they shall be called my children.

5.  Blessed are the complainers – I’m all ears to them.

6.  Blessed are those who are bored with the priest’s mannerisms and mistakes – for they get nothing out of his      sermons.

7.  Blessed is the church member who expects to be invited to his own church – for he is part of the problem     instead of the solution.

8.  Blessed are those who gossip – for they shall cause strife and divisions that please me.

9.  Blessed are those who are easily offended – for they will soon get angry and quit.

10. Blessed are those who do not give their offering to carry on God’s work – for they are my helpers.

11. Blessed is he who professes to love God but hates his brother and sister – for he shall be with me forever.

12. Blessed are you who, when you read this and think it is about other people and not yourself – I’ve got you too.

A new blog which is sure to be fantastic!

~A few photos and video from yesterday~

Fr. introducing our new youth program coordintor. Together Fr. and Elizabeth are going to develope the HOPE, JOY, GOYA and YAL.

Jonah and Maria~Angelica passing the time with a few children from church.  After coffee hour there was a Sunday School meeting and we were waitng for Fr. to finish so we could go to lunch together.

Maria~Angelica at lunch.

~Ideas~

As most of you probably know. My sons 11, 9 and 7 are in public school after beginning school at a Classical school. 

I have three shelves of material I pull out when each kid comes to me and wants to cuddle in bed and delay bedtime. I am thrilled for that time and that is when I pluck something from my three shelves. The boys have their own reading that they enjoy but these shelves are the things I want to teach them one on one.

Shelf one- all my Orthodox Children’s books
Shelf two- all my Classical books- classic literature, poetry, McGuffey readers, vocab books, geography books, Story of the World, Saxon Math etc…
Shelf three- all my Greek children’s books and materials in Modern Greek- flash cards, maps, my mother’s Modern Greek primer (which is adorable!) etc..

Today was a brilliant day! I was able to spend two hours teaching Greek to Nicholas-9 and Basil 11- during Maria~Angelica’s nap time- Fr. had Jonah at Church- so it was perfect! I pray for more days like that! 

Tonight I was working with Basil on a project about Galileo for school when -  Jonah-7 came to me not wanting to stay in bed so I pulled out my Robert Louis Stevenson “A Children’s Garden of Versus” . All those poems have such good memories for us. He also enjoyed my 1924 edition of A.A. Milne, “When We Were  Very Young”. We were talking about this book and how it was from 1924 and Jonah wanted to know, how old I was then….  So we had a little math lesson.

I love these little homeschool moments…even though we aren’t “technically’ homeschooling.

Maria~Angelica and I enjoyed the Geography Songs CD in the car today, too.

I have been thinking about any material we could watch in the van that would help impart to them the classical education they are not getting in the public school. Any ideas?

~Come Recieve The Ligth- this week- Monasticism in Modern America~

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~Paul McCartney lights a candle at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Nativity- Bethlehem~

During a lightning visit to the Church of the Nativity in Manger Square, believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, Sir Paul got a mixed reaction.

Among local Palestinians there was mostly bafflement at his status. Mohammed Itmaizi, a 26-year-old policeman guarding the ancient Byzantine basilica, said he had never heard of the Beatles or Sir Paul.

But among Western tourists visiting the church, Sir Paul’s visit was welcomed with gusto.

A group of Spanish women sang “Yellow Submarine” in their own tongue outside the tiny stone doorway to the church and queued for photographs and autographs.

Sir Paul, who will perform in front of a 40,000-strong crowd in Tel Aviv on Thursday night modestly shunned their cries of “you’re the best”.

“No, you are the best, you are better than me,” he said.

The doorway into the basilica, one of the oldest places of worship in Christendom, is famously small, forcing all visitors to stoop.

“I am feeling humble,” he said, as he bent down and entered the main body of the church, where the walls still carry murals painted during the Crusades.

An austere bearded Greek orthodox monk handed Sir Paul a candle before he descended into the Grotto, the subterranean chamber where Mary is believed to have delivered Jesus.

It was noticeably hotter and more sweaty in the chamber, not helped by the crush of security guards, press officers, advisers and diplomats surrounding Sir Paul, but for a brief moment they composed themselves to allow him to light the candle.

“This candle is for peace for all people all around the world, especially in Israel and Palestine,” he said after lighting the taper following a brief moment of contemplation.

His American girlfriend, Nancy Shevell, wearing tight white jeans, a white sleeveless top decorated with a single large black synthetic flower, rubbed him affectionately on the shoulder before they both climbed back up to ground level.

Throughout his 15-minute tour of the holy site, Sir Paul was given a commentary from a local tour guide but he kept being interrupted by international tourists aware they had a pop star in their midst.

He handled it all graciously, posing for photographs, shaking hands and trying to say hello in their languages.

He managed it in Spanish and Italian but was flummoxed by Russian and Ukrainian and at one point while surrounded by posing Spaniards sang “come on baby light my fire”.

Wearing an open-top pink shirt, cargo trousers and tennis shoes Sir Paul, who only arrived in Israel by private jet with his band in the early hours, said he was “enjoying his visit greatly” to Palestine.

When asked his attitude to those Palestinian leaders who have criticised him for agreeing to perform in Israel, breaking their call for a cultural boycott of Israel, he said he respected their view but disagreed.

“I have come here to Bethlehem deliberately to see Palestine with my own eyes,” he said.

“Anyone who knows me knows I support peace for all people.

“This visit is meant to counter those that criticise me for going to Israel.”

The visit to Bethlehem, which lies in the occupied West Bank, had to be arranged at the last moment as plans to visit Ramallah, the de facto capital of the occupied territories, had to be cancelled for security reasons.

Diplomats feared Sir Paul could get caught up in a protest rally in Ramallah by Palestinian opponents of his Israeli concert.

Omar Bargouti, the founder of the Palestinian Campaign for the academic and cultural boycott to Israel, had led the criticism of Sir Paul.

“He is not welcome in Ramallah,” he said.

“He is visiting Israel and supporting occupation without making any regard to what Israel is doing in Gaza.”

Sir Paul began his Bethlehem visit by stopping at a school for Palestinian children learning music.

He played a harmonica and a piano for them before pretending to play the violin but making a hash of it — it is one instrument not in his repertoire.

Before leaving, he handed out T-shirts and wished the mainly Muslim children “Ramadan Karim”, the blessing during the fasting month of Ramadan that ends next week.

After leaving Bethlehem, his four vehicle convoy was joined by Israeli police cars — they are not allowed into the Palestinian city — and he was whisked back to his hotel in the waterfront in Tel Aviv.

More than 35,000 tickets have already been sold for his concert in the Yarkon Park in northern Tel Aviv where he will perform 30 songs, all but three Beatles numbers.

Telegraph.co.uk

~Today, September 24th, the Feast Day of St. Silouan, is our Wedding Anniversary and Basil’s 11th Birthday~