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One of our members shared this prayer with our community after finding it within in a box of prayer cards and medals she had saved.  I've been unable to find the prayer online and there was no credit given on her prayer card.  If you know the author of this prayer please let us know in the combox as we'd love to add the attribution.  Special thanks to our friend C for sharing this with us!

Today we are linking up with CatholicMom.com! Check out my latest Tech Talk post where I review several helpful Breastfeeding Apps! 

I cried so hard on the drive home I probably should have pulled over or figured out a way to hold back the tears, but I didn't fight it…I always fight it…but this time I gave myself permission to dwell in it a little. Well a little has carried well into the afternoon and I’m certain I’ll be “ugly crying" by the end of this post, but that’s ok. I can feel God working and I’m ok with dropping the “strong mama” act for a bit.

A couple of days ago I once again pulled out my copy of “A Mother’s Rule of Life”, a book about prayerfully discerning a rule (schedule) for your life but doing so through the lens of your vocation as a mother, not just the technical details of what you need to accomplish each day. It’s such a gem that I've gone back to it 4 or 5 times over the past 6 years, something I can only say about a small handful of the many books scattered throughout our home. When I first read it our oldest son was just a baby. I devoured it though I remember thinking “in a couple of years I’m definitely going all-out with this!” I've always struggled to stick to set schedules though the more I've grown in my Motherhood and embraced my vocation the more I welcome having this sort of guidance. I felt called to once again take a serious look at developing our rule. We are starting homeschooling in earnest this year and with four children ages 6 & under I constantly feel like I’m not doing enough. In reality I may not do any more with a rule then without one. However, I think my time WILL be spent doing more productive things in addition to giving me the peace of mind to know that the big jobs all have a day assigned and I don’t have to constantly remember them or find time to do them.

I'm going to jump into this blogging adventure by talking about where I am right now - a place where many mothers both before and after me have and will tread - namely, the question of: 'to work or not to work?' Well, OK, lame Shakespeare paraphrase aside, I have to be honest, I've already made up my mind. I submitted my resignation letter and I only have a few more days left in the office. It was a complex decision, though, and a process that leaves me feeling greater empathy for moms on all sides of the question - those who must work but don't want to, those that choose to work, those that choose to stay home, and those who stay home and wish they didn't.

We brought Kiddo#4 to church for the first time at one week old, and he wanted to nurse during the consecration. Just as he latched on, the priest said, "This is my body, which will be given up for you."

You know those "epiphany" moments? I had one right then, and it lasted right until the end of Mass.

There are only two times in the average human being's life when we can expect to say "this is my body" to another human being. One of them would be a mother with her baby: first, a mother giving her body over to her baby for the purpose of gestation and later on for nursing. The mother is giving from her physical self solely for the benefit of someone else. Her uterus exists only for the nurturance of a different human being. The same can be said of her breasts. That whole system is there to benefit someone who is not her. In fact, she might be healthier if those systems were removed, and many women can and do live a full life without ever using those systems.