Not that I need an excuse to eat ice cream...

Mercy never tasted so good!

On Sunday I was thinking about ice cream during church. Oops. Can I use the pregnancy excuse? Here's the back story though: A new ice cream joint opened up in Brandon and I mentioned it a couple of times on the air. Apparently my enthusiasm for the ice cream was contagious and more than a few people ended up going in and saying they heard about it from me. By the way, if you want to go enjoy some wacky & delicious ice cream, check out The Revolution. Yum...

My mom and I were chatting about the number of people who referred to me at The Rev and I said, "I must speak pretty passionately about ice cream. I'm pretty convincing!" She said, "You DO!" So on Sunday, I'm in church thinking about this and this question entered my mind: Abby, do you speak as passionately about your faith as you do about ice cream? It's clear that you love ice cream. Is it clear that you love your faith?

Maybe you're not a fan of ice cream. Unless you're lactose intolerant, I take serious issue with that, but I'm now is not a time to argue. Is there something else in your life that you love so much that in just one or two sentences you could "sell it". Because that's really all the time I devoted to talking about The Revolution on the air. Wouldn't it be cool if our love for Jesus was so alive and exciting that it wouldn't take a long sit-down chat or argument to give someone else the desire to know Him too?

I shared the above thoughts on the air the other day and my buddy, Colleen sent me this link with the comment, "I'd like to think you we're just tying your faith into more tangible 'loves' here on Earth...CLEARLY you were thinking about these at Mass!" This past Sunday was Divine Mercy Sunday and the link is to... wait for it... DIVINE MERCY SUNDAES!!!

I missed the boat on these and I don't have children old enough to use as an excuse for making them as a way to illustrate our faith, but who cares! I say make 'em anyway! Apparently the site also has "Trinity Sundaes" and "Pentecost Sundaes" (and both are coming up in May)! They are a great way to treat and teach the kiddos at the same time!

Patience

This is not an easy thing to admit and I don't say it flippantly: I am often tempted to lash out physically when I get angry. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I find it natural to express myself with my hands and through touch. Yes, my name is Abby and I'm a toucher! I hug on impulse!

I knew that this short fuse when it comes to anger and frustration would be challenged when I had children. I remember sitting in my friend's kitchen, about 5 months pregnant and crying, saying, "I swatted at the cat out of anger the other day. What if I'm tempted to hit my child?!" She laughed at me and my irrationality, but I was seriously concerned. What if I got so angry that I couldn't control myself? This has been tested over and over again on the changing table. How many times could I flip him back over when he squirms and wiggles and tries to crawl away? One time I lost it. I grabbed his arms so tight, smacked him on the leg, screaming in his tiny face, "LAY! STILL! NOW!" I immediately felt bad and looked at his arms to see if there were hand prints. From that day on I prayed that God would help me with my patience. "Lord, please! I don't want to be this kind of parent. Give me the grace to be patient!"

Mark 11: 24 says, Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours. The light bulb finally went off in my head a few years ago that God will quickly answer our prayers when they are aligned with His will. The ones that aren't He WILL answer, but those answers might not come in the way we expect them or in the time that we wish. Often He wants to take some time to work on our desires and our relationship with Him. 

I say all that because since I started praying for the grace to be more patient with Liam, I have felt it! I haven't had that teeth-clenched rage build up inside of me and when I have had real moments of anger, I've had the piece of mind to know that I am on the verge of losing it and I need to take a deep breath. 

Tomorrow morning we're going to discuss this article from Susan Merrill of iMOM. She, too struggles with patience. Do you? Honestly, I can't imagine any mom who doesn't! Our children test us, push us, aggravate us... they NEED us. That need is just communicated in ways other than "Mom I need you." Whether it is patience or another fruit of the spirit (self-control, peace, kindness, joy...) that you are in need of, ask God to provide it and He will! Listen tomorrow at 7 for a chat about this!