Remebering Benny and Mary

Benedict Augustine and Mary Angelica ~ Pray for us!

I paused tonight at 7:00 pm to light a candle in remembrance of the babies we lost to miscarriage 1 1/2 years ago.  Loss is such a strange thing.  It is so difficult to endure and understand when I was in the midst of it.  Knowing that God has a plan and that His way is better than my own, but continually struggling to deal with the rawness of all the emotions that surround it.  Revisiting all of that can be tough.

Each time we pray as a family, we ask for the intercession of our babies...Benny and Mary - pray for us!  They are a part of our family who have already made it to Heaven.  They are our constant intercessors, praying on our behalf so that we may one day reach Heaven to be with them and all the saints for all of eternity.  What a gift that is that God chose to give our family...but it took me quite some time to understand that.

God Bless!

Heather :-)

Prayer to Ask for the Grace of Properly Educating My Children

I did not write this, nor do I know the source.  But it is one of those prayers that I keep in my bible and pray regularly.  I hope that these words are able to help you as you start your day and focus on what our goal as parents truly should be.

Prayer to Ask for the Grace of Properly Educating My Children 

Dear God, my children belong to you more than they belong to me.  I must remember that You have entrusted them to me as a precious trust for which I am responsible and must one day account for.  I have received, by the grace of holy matrimony, the necessary help to bring them up properly; but I pray that You shall put in my heart the right dispositions to remain faithful to those graces.  Do guide me, o Lord, in this awesome task of giving my children a real christian education.


My unique goal, o Lord, is to bring my children to a truly virtuous life.  To You, I trust their spiritual call which is not mine to decide.  Mine is the task of helping them to discover their vocation and to follow it for Your highest glory and their salvation.  To this intention, I offer You all my prayers and good deeds; do help me to spend my efforts in acquiring those virtues I need most.  Help me, Lord, to correct my failings of character and mood.  Please, help me to be persevering in patience, without weakness in kindness, gentle in firmness, with great self-denial, so that I will not give in to discouragement in the trials to come. 


May all my sufferings contribute to the spiritual good of my children, and may they love You above all things; this request I address to Your Divine Heart, imploring You to hear my prayer.  Amen.

~ B. Michaels ~

Madeline working on her grammar.

Haley creating a Word-a-day card.

Joseph building with Lincoln Logs in his free time.

Lillian finding a fable to retell and illustrate.

Eleanor exclaims, "Essie is NOT in the box with the stuffed animals!"

Esther LOVES to dress up and be "pretty".  Every time I come downstairs, one of her big sisters has her in a new outfit.

6 Showings in 8 Days....Whew!

The past 8 days have been busier than usual around the Kraft house. 

First off, the five biggest kids were all in swim camp last week which took up most of our afternoons.  They LOVE the water and are having a blast with it.  We're all geared up for week #2 to begin on Monday! 

Secondly, we've had 6 showings in the past week.  Why the increased traffic?  Only God knows.  One thing I do know, though, is that I am okay with God's timing in our move...even if that means we don't move....really.  That is huge for me.  There have been a number of things that have happened to me this past year and I think that they have all been leading me to the same point.  Are you ready for this?  I am not in control.  I cannot have what I want when I want it.  God will give me what I need when I need it.  I continue to repeat those sentences in my prayer time and throughout my day.

How do I know what direction God wants me to go?

It sounds so simple, doesn't it?  Putting it into practice is the tricky part.

I need to remember that what I think are "lost opportunities" may not be what I perceive them to be...and to shut-up and listen during my prayer time so I can hear what God is trying to tell me!

Thank you all for your prayers.  We are all ready for this stage to be over and to move onto the next.  Please continue to pray for the best possible outcome for our family and that we will know what that is for us.  Also, say a prayer for my brother who was hospitalized over the weekend with nausea/vomiting.  There is much testing but no diagnosis yet.

God Bless!

Heather :-)

Spiritual Advice on Planning

Did you ever get a mass e-mail sent to a group you were in that seemed to be written specifically to you?  That just happened to me tonight.

It's no secret that I am anxious for our house to sell so that we can move closer to the church where our home school co-op is located.  We've had the house on the market for over a year and I can't even begin to count how many showings we've had in that time (although I can tell you that it's been 2 this week so far).  I've been feeling "stuck" in this wait for a showing a run around like a chicken with my head cut off to get the house clean mode for so long.  I've been doubting whether or not God is listening to our prayers.  I've been wondering why are we still here and not where we'd like to be.  It's a frustrating and exhausting place to be....mentally, physically, and spiritually. 

From Fr. Edward Casey brother of Venerable Fr. Solanus Casey whose cause for canonization is active:

"Your plan may prove to be sublime, if you'll await God's own good time:  We cook up plans but turn them ill with too much flavoring of self-will.  If this idea comes from Heaven, be patient: it will grow like leaven.

God condescends to use our powers, if we don't spoil His plans by ours...We do God's work best when we obey, and crucify self-will each day.

We know this well.  Then why refuse? Why balk at orders? Why abuse?  The cause is clear--our vain self-will insists on acting, good or ill.  We fear men won't appreciate the wisdom we might formulate.

We seek God's glory, not our own? Then let us honor Him alone.  No matter if I preach or pray, or sweep the floors or mow the hay, the angels watch, to recompense my loving, prompt obedience..."

I am trying to resign myself to God's will for us...it's not easy.  Please keep me in your prayers as I work harder to give my life to God and trust that he will do what is best for our family.

God Bless!

Heather :-)

Voting for an Abortion?!?

This story is really unbelievable. (Jill Stanek has a blog entry about it that was insightful.)   There is a couple right here in Minnesota who is taking votes via an internet poll on their website whether or not they should carry their child to term or have an abortion.  I am reluctant to even post on this, as hate to give them even more publicity.  My purpose in posting is to call you all to prayer for this pre-born baby and her parents.  It makes me ill to think that a mother carrying a baby in her womb would be contemplating an abortion, but to leave it up to popular opinion is just down right unfathomable.

I didn't "vote", but am opting to pray for the conversion of this couple's hearts.  I think that this is evidence of the culture of death in our country today and displays how desperately we are in need of our Blessed Mother's prayers and intercession.  Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!

Prayer to the Virgin Mary for an End to Abortion

O Mary, Mother of Jesus and Mother of us all, we turn to you today as the one who said "Yes" to Life. "You will conceive and bear a Son," the angel told you. Despite the surprise and the uncertainty about how this could be, you said yes. "Be it done unto me according to your word."

Mary, we pray today for all mothers who are afraid to be mothers. We pray for those who feel threatened and overwhelmed by their pregnancy. Intercede for them, that God may give them the grace to say yes and the courage to go on. May they have the grace to reject the false solution of abortion. May they say with you, "Be it done unto me according to your word." May they experience the help of Christian people, and know the peace that comes from doing God's will. Amen.

God Bless!

Heather :-)

Prayer Rocks for Family Alter

We have a family alter in our house.  Ours is very simple.  It houses the bible, a crucifix, a plant, and prayer rocks.  Prayer rocks?!  What are they?  Well, they are just some river rocks I picked up at the craft store with specific prayer intentions written on them with a permanent marker.  When we have our family night (usually Sunday) we discuss if there are any more prayer intentions to be added to our bowl.  For example, each person in our house has his or her name written on a rock.  Some other things on our rocks are for more priests, souls in purgatory, end to abortion, etc.  After we add any new intentions, we light the candle and say our nightly prayers.   We pray specifically for the purpose of the things written on our prayer rocks.  The kids enjoy having the candle lit and it adds a different feeling to our nightly prayers.

I picked up a glass bowl, pillar candle and two bags of river rocks at Michael's.  Everything was on sale and I used a 40% off coupon!

Here's a close-up of the prayer rocks and what the family alter looks like.

Do you have places set aside in your home to help center and focus your prayer?  I'd love to hear how this happens in other homes.  I should also say that the idea for the prayer rocks is not my own.  I saw it somewhere else and tweaked it to fit our family.

God Bless!

Heather :-)