Spring rain

A weekend in the life of a missionary family

Goodness! What a wonderful weekend - boy am I thankful we homeschool! Cate was up until 11 or midnight each night for four nights in a row! The fun started Wednesday, when Aunt Meghan (also the FOCUS Regional Director for UK) came for a visit. I cooked Thai food for the FOCUS team and Aunt Meg stayed the night with us. Thursday, two Nashville Dominicans came to campus to participate in the FOCUS outreach, so the girls and I tagged along. We went to noon mass at the Newman Center, then we walked to campus to the student center to have lunch where all the students eat. You should have seen the looks we got as we walked: several college men and women, two sisters in habits, two strollers, Cate and Jane skipping along, and me pregnant. We all landed at the Chick-Fil-A (of course) at the student center, and ate, then we headed back outside and hung our Ask-A-Catholic sign from a tree in the Free Speech area, and proceeded to toss frisbees and engage passers-by. Tom MacAlester stood on the sidewalk, saying, "Have you met Sister Michaela?" or, "Have you ever met a Dominican nun?" And there was Sister Michaela, smiling, sticking out her hand for a handshake. It was adorable. Cate and Jane sang "Sisters" (from White Christmas) for the sisters and the college students.

Thursday night, Matt took Cate bowling with the sisters and a bunch of college students. I was astounded when Matt came home at 11:00 and woke me to say, "Cate bowled a 97!" He thinks she would have done pretty well even without the bumpers!

Friday, I started cooking early in the day. Matt and Tom had invited several college men over for "Holy Smokes" and homemade spaghetti and meatballs that evening. We ended up feeding 11 men, who prayed the Rosary before dinner and retired to the back porch after dinner to discuss manhood and smoke their tobacco of choice. It doesn't end there, though. At 9pm, we drove over to the FOCUS women's apartment, where I gave my "How can a Catholic woman have it all?" talk to about 10 college women having a sleepover. At 10:30, we then had a marriage Q&A panel for the ladies (Tom and Brittany, Matt and I). And, since our babysitters were at the sleepover, we brought along the girls, who were just about melting by the end. M&M peanuts, a video, and a little late birthday present for Cate from the college girls (3 new leotards!) kept the children awake and slap-happy...then they crashed into bed about midnight.

Saturday we drove to Cincinnati, where joined some new friends for Mass and dinner at their house. The Jung family - Nellie and Bill, and Billy (5), Anna (3) and Joseph (1), were instant friends of ours and we had a great time. Billy loves to play "Mass" and he was delighted to have Cate and Jane as candle bearers and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion! Nellie is the director of Cincinnati's Pure Fashion show, and several months ago, she asked Matt and I to MC the event.

Sunday, which was also my 33rd birthday, was the fashion show, at the Hyatt downtown Cincinnati. Nellie and I are both expecting, so we were a great pair at the show in our black maternity dresses!!! Cate and Jane loved the fashion show - afterwards they both practiced their model walks up and down the stage. Ann wasn't so sure - she had to go up on stage with me during my first section, and after that, Laura Gifford, who joined us to babysit, had to take her out in the hallway.

Needless to say, we have had several days of family mission work - we are exhausted the way you are after a great party. But it does not stop - three more weeks of classes at UK, and while the girls and I are back in the school and home groove, we are going to keep showing up with Matt when we can, and praying hard!