Merry Christmas! Our King is Born!

Merry Christmas from Capturing His Glory Photography!

We must preach with words

    You also are blessed because you have heard and believed. A soul that believes both conceives and brings forth the Word of God and acknowledges his works.    A Commentary of Luke by St Ambrose Bishop, Divine Office 21 Dec

    A common phase we hear today is the St Francis saying of "Preach the gospel at all times, if necessary use words."  In our overly politically correct culture, we get bombarded with messages saying words of evangelization offend people and turn them off to the faith.  So any way out of explaining or evangelizing with words, is actually welcomed by those of us who fret we may not have all the tools to evangelize properly.   Giving into this fear however will not promote the gospel in anyway.

    Our early church fathers recognized all people can see natural law, and form lives which conform to it.  Natural law in this case being defined as the revelation of the Eternal Law of heaven in nature.  Aristotle, aka The Philosopher, remains one of the foremost pagan observers of natural law.  We find Aristotle referenced constantly by St. Thomas Aquinas and other Doctors of the Church as they framed their arguments about church doctrine.

   Despite the brilliance of observation by natural law observers, they often found themselves going astray because they lacked one vital element to guide their daily reasoning.  While these observers could see God's eternal law peeking out in nature, they lacked the other two legs of the trinity to guide their minds to full truth.  These men and women lacked the words of Christ, and the timeless inspired words of Wisdom gifted by the Holy Spirit we find in the Holy Bible.

    In today's man filled world of noise, the Bible must compete for time in people's thoughts.  Therefore, God really does call each each of us to advertise for him.  Our actions must of course be consistent with our thoughts and words (That is another blog topic), but we need to use words to form the invitation to know this Holy Bible is worthy of spending time with it!

    We do not need to be be a St. Ambrose, Augustine, Aquinas, Mother Teresa, or John Paul the Great.  We just need to live our lives, and then make the invitation to come to the book when the moment strikes.  When someone asks you why you were kind you can say, "Because I want to live as Christ wanted me to."  When someone is in need of support, or looking for guidance on a tough moral decision you can always offer to pray with them or for them.  

    When we don't know the answer to anything we are asked, we have legions of saints writings and active religious to reach for.  These faithful instructors to illuminate the word in different methods.  This allows the word to reach, and touch the souls, of those with different backgrounds and cultural references.

    Actions alone will never satisfy the soul's need for ministry.  We must preach with words to bring the word of God deep into people's hearts and minds.  This is where the mysteries can make a stronghold.  It will let new faith stand the tests of the world like a fire against a cold night with equal parts emotion and reason.

-ehw

Christmas Magic

    This morning was the first day our tree was up...we follow the old tradition of decorating at the last minute...and out of her room like busy bee on a mission sprang child number four.  Kellie ran to the kitchen, grabbed the stool, and without a skip of the beat sat before the well lit tree (thanks to Kevin lighting it before she got up). "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells..." and the partially remembered songs flowed through the house punctuated by "Kalen sing...Kev Kev sing....Baby Jesus!"

    This is the Christmas Magic we long for in our memory of ages past.  It was the time giants roamed the earth. Mom made magic cookies.  Hugs felt heaven sent.   In these memories, even Dad smiled as we enjoyed another magic tree tree lighting and train run.  This is the memory we wish every child could have, and we could share.  Experiencing it in our children makes our hearts warm and pulse quicken in joyous anticipation of seeing what St Nicholas left once again...

    As parents we too often miss these moments.  Just minutes after I snapped this golden memory, I found myself assaulted by four excited children and one just wanting a diaper change.  The noise became defining...well for our house anyway...and I lost all sense of the magic moment.  I lost it until I developed my "negative."  When the image appeared, I felt the magic arise in my heart once again.

    Our childhood faith filled Christmas Magic images are glimpses of the promises in heaven.  Like the Star of Bethlehem, these moments can lead you to the home Christ prepared for us all.  This Christmas I pray you will find your moments, keep them close to your heart, and let them lead you home.

-ehw

Pray for Us!

    The First Lego League's first elimination round starts on Saturday at 7:30AM.  Our Regina Caeli Darebots will be there, and ready to compete.  Under the direction of Coach Les Levergood, Assistant Coach Fred Bunn and myself they grew a great deal...or maybe in spite of our coaching they grew!  If you want to catch up on their adventures you can visit them at the website Regina Caeli Darebots.  

    The team practiced two to three times a week since late August. Now after the long series of rehearsals they are ready to compete....for the first and possible last time!  Coach Levergood ran a tight ship this year, and Coach Bunn brought excellent programming instruction to the kids.  Solving the mysteries of the gyroscope was an incredible experience for the kids.  I helped them build out their presentations.   

    The team will do three presentations to judges Saturday morning.  The first will be their sales pitch for ways to improve collection methods of depleted uranium on test ranges and battlefields.  They will then explain how they grew as a group using the lessons from Core Values.  Finally, they will discuss robot design and programming methods.  In the afternoon they will run their robot Penguin through the course several times using different teams of Darebots.  At the end of the day, they will find out if they are in the upper third of 40 or so teams. If they are they may move on to regionals in January!

   Tomorrow Coach Levergood will guide the seven of them through six and half hours of final rehearsals!  So pray for Coach L and then the team!

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Here is Penguin the robot!

The Blacksmith of My Manhood

Give a lad a training suitable to his character and, even when old, he will not go back on it.

Proverbs 22:6 Catholic Online 

   Good fathers remain indispensable to every child on the planet.  A father is the person God entrusts to look at each child he gives them, and call them into adulthood.  Fathers should take the faith filled heart a mother forms, and steel it like a blacksmith works metal.  The steel must withstand every tempest the world will throw at it until our bodies fade to dust.  I am blessed my father did this for me, and I accepted his molding to form the man I am.

    From an early age I remember my Dad as a pillar of strength and determination.  He still gets up before dawn, works long hours, deployed at our nation's call for forty-five years, learned things from diverse resources way before the birth of the internet, demands honesty and gives it unfailingly, requires common sense be applied to all critical thinking, expects you to know a fact based history on what you speak, and displays a dogged determination to achieve which puts a bulldog to shame.  My father steeled my heart to respect my mother and her core values.  He then slowly built a frame around my heart to carry me into adulthood.  

    My father's greatest wisdom, in forming his children, was to ensure we knew how to think.  My father knew our world would be as different from his as his world was from his father's.  As a result, he knew his children needed well rounded educations grounded in those family core values.  This frame protected us, gave us limbs to build new futures, and a head to seek the wisdom of the Lord in new faraway lands when he was not there to guide us.  My father trained our character traits to last a lifetime.  

    After meeting many people with dads who failed to accept their duties as fathers, I know I am a blessed child.  I also believe this is why I am committed to do the mission my father does, but often shields from view of his own children.  My father throughout the years tended to lost sheep, and got them better prepared to meet the world.  He gave these lost sheep the blacksmithing their fathers should have given, or the sheep rejected out of the pride of youth.  Some responded well, others did not.  In any case he tried, and willingly gave of himself without desire for acclaim or fortune.

   I am blessed with a Dad who embodies God's call for father's to follow.

-ehw  

My Childhood Pillar of Faith

    Teach us to count up the days that are ours, and we shall come to the heart of wisdom.   Psalm 90:12 from Catholic Online

   While reading a great book called The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic, the author postulates a necessary part of raising families of strong faith is a pillar of prayer inside the extended family.  This person's prayer can sustain their children, draw grace towards them and be a beacon home to the Lord's wisdom.  I closed my eyes, and without any thought saw my mother as my childhood pillar of faith.

    I saw my mother with her rosary in hand praying through her asthma attacks when no medicine existed to calm it.  I remember her praying when her children encountered challenges to our faith and souls.  I always remember her humility when she knew a complex problem exceeded her immediate knowledge, asking the Lord to show her the way through the maze ahead one step at a time through prayer and hard work.

   I know she received this the path of prayer from her parents.  My Nana told us to pray for the soul needing the ambulance when it raced past her house in Easton, Pennsylvania.  My Nana and Pappap said the rosary together every night when I lived with them for their family.  So it was generational...and a great gift.

    Now the challenge is to be the pillar for my children to remember, and know the way home always starts with humility before the Lord in prayer.  Until I get it all right I will know my Mom has me covered...

-ehw

A Lesson in Forgiveness for Thanksgiving

    A few weeks ago a most incredible person told me a story, a story of forgiveness which humbled me.  The story goes something like this...

    Years ago this person suffered a great injustice at the hands of another.  Bonds of trust broke, and a relationship broke into pieces.  The breakup effected more than the two inside the relationship.  The shattered relationship hurt many others, and still does to this day.  Defenses went up to prevent additional pain, but the grace of forgiveness remained open to the offender.  Not only does forgiveness flow, the offender gets prayers and encouragement to return to the church and obtain salvation from the victim!  

    I suffered a few injustices in my life, and I will admit my pride gets the best of me from time to time when the wound resurfaces.  When I asked the person, their response was "To hold on to the anger and hate is to condemn your own soul to Hell.  We can only move forward to Christ when we release the hate and let it fade away.  We can only achieve heaven when we wish for those who harmed to repent and join us again on the path to heaven."

    I prayed about this on a few nights since I heard this sermon of word and deed.  I realized how much more I need to grow as a person to reach this type of holiness...and I hope I can imitate their example with a few more years of practice.  Until then, I'll also pray this incredible person continues to show people like me the true path of Christ in this fallen world.

-ehw

P.S. The photo is of Kellie at the Antiedam Battlefield Museum.  It was a wonderful moment to watch her enjoy flowers, amidst the stories of war.  It reminded me of the decades it took to heal the wounds from the Civil War, and the lesson above being the path towards reconciliation.

Where is the blog?

    A few people asked me why the blog posts slowed down.  So I thought I would address that this morning since I've blogged more than ever the last few months!   I support two important activities for my children (outside of paying the bills and homeschooling): Blue Knights and First Lego League.

   Blue Knights is a boys evangelization effort I run with some willing and faith filled Dads.  I am the head coordinator this year for both our year groups, and my friend Les (John Paul's Godfather) runs the first years.  I am very happy to report three other friends are very excited and participating as well...one runs the before meeting games and the two new dads are digging into the program very quickly.   This effort is time consuming though.  We have one template meeting a month, and the second I have to brainstorm inside the program objectives.  Between the meetings my sons and I work on the evangelization questions, daily prayer, and a few craft projects.  The work is worth it when you see all the boys light up hearing about the great lives of our saints and teaching of our church.

    The second major activity is the Darebot First Lego League team.  Les runs this group, and I am one of two dedicated assistant coaches.  During the fall and winter we can meet two to three times a week for several hours to prepare for the competition.  I am helping build out the project and team building aspects of the competition.  Thankfully Les is a great coach for the kids, and I just have to keep up.

   For both activities I run separate Wordpress blogs.   You can view them and see all the fun events and activities yourself.  It is where life is on display, and some pretty fun street & documentary photography!  Here are the sights!  Darebots and St Michael's Blue Knights

   So the next time you wonder where are the pretty pictures trees, flowers, Americana, and grace you've come to expect regularly...just know they go on in two different venues.  I'll keep pushing on here the best I can as well!

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A New Servant for the Table of the Lord

    Today I found myself blessed to watch my son Kevin participate as an altar server at mass for the first time.  It is a moment which almost put tears of joy in my eyes.  Why?  I could see in his eyes and his deeds he wanted this moment with all his heart.

    Last night Kalen and I prepared Kevin by holding a practice mass, as conducted at RCA with Father Tran's preferences, twice on our deck.  Kevin impressed me with his memory of how the bells rung, the way people stepped around the altar, holding his hand on his chest and the procession in which he would accompany the priest to the nursery to deliver the Eucharist to those working there.  I already knew he memorized much of the consecration prayers, but this was pretty amazing for me to see first hand. For all of his daily eight year old distractions, he was paying attention every mass.

    Today two upper school boys, John Paul and Stephen, took Kevin over to the chapel to set up and do a final rehearsal.  This is something which endears me to Regina Caeli.  Our youth are normal youth, but we parents call them out a little more each year to live their faith.  At the end of a 15 minute preparation, Kevin came out tripping over the seam of the smallest cassock and stood with Father Tran and Stephen to enter the mass.

    He went down the isle with his serious face on, and nervously looked over to Stephen from time to time to make sure he was doing the right thing.  Stephen looked out for Kevin as a big brother should, and Kevin earned a smile from Father Tran.  Kevin sure made his Daddy proud.  It sounds silly to many, but I was proud because he entered the Army of Christ today at the altar of our Lord as a willing servant for the community.  it is a major step on the road to adulthood of life and faith.

    Thank you God for letting me see this day in the company of so many good friends!

-ehw

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Faith Like a Child

 Just a moment of fun as my son reaches for the sky.  I never knew one could get so high on a swing...but he pulled it off!  It reminded me of what we can do when we don't let fear overcome our lives, and let our faith in Christ guide us on the right path to achieve the aims of God above. it may be close to the meaning Christ wanted us to remember when he said we needed "Faith like a Child."

-ehw  

Once Upon a Dream

    When you give my girl music, a dress and a light saber you get a whole new version of the Saber Dance!  She takes after her big sister who as I type is spinning in the kitchen as she loads up her breakfast cereal.   All children at some point need to enter the real world, but for now I love keeping them safe to dream and play in a wholesome way.

-ehw

Two Girls on a Date with Dad

    First day of Fall Break with a broken refrigerator!  Mom is out with the boys for a medical appointment, so Daddy gets his girls all to himself!  So Daddy takes the girls out to the place he can afford, and he knows Kellie will eat the Chicken Nuggets!  What else can you do afterwards than get the girls a present!  Yes I splurged again and got them each a prayer card for our school room collection!

    Sometimes the snapshot is what you need to take home as a good memory, and today my snapshot caught smiles on two roomates happy and lovely with their Dad.  Fourteen and three...and the two who have their Daddy wrapped around their finger.  It won't win any awards, but it is the moment that clicked.

-ehw

The Doctor is In!

    The Doctor was in last Saturday night.  She did house calls for everybody!  Luckily she confirmed we are all in pretty good shape headed into our Fall Break from school.  We are almost homebound since we still have three days of dance, two Robotics classes, doctor's appointments, a dead refrigerator, and music!  Regardless of our staycation status, we should have time for plenty of moments like this one where we enjoy a few moments of family time...can get the house set for fall both inside and out!

-ehw

The House of Cards to Live in

   Today's I want to challenge each of us to look at the house of cards we live in.  Are the cards built from God's playing deck or of man's?  This rather simple examination of our personal lives can save our souls.

    If I was to look at the United States right now, I would say our house definitely plays with man's deck of cards.  Here are three examples.  The continued promotion of abortion by elites means we pay to kill people at the rate of over one million a year!  With a birthrate in the US of native born below replacement levels, you can effectively say we are committing genocide to ourselves.  The continued promotion of Keynesian economics says we play God with money, making something out of nothing.  The debts racked up, and increased economic burden they place on the economy also mean we are placing a noose around our future capabilities.  Finally the rewriting of history to remove the need of God to keep order in society removes a key component to our national system of laws.  Our legal basis for existence in the Declaration of Independence states we must act under Natural law or Nature's God for final authority in what we do.  Yes this is a Christian concept, when discarded allows us to convolute any decision to meet our personal tastes.  This allows materialism to sweep the nation, selfish leaders, and promotes issues one and two.

    I am just a fallen man, but I would say the house of cards photographed above provides abetter example of living life well.  St Joseph, the chaste spouse who cared for Mary and Jesus through years of exile and threat of death by the King of Judea silently following the will of God.  St Peter, the man who's Holy Spirit powered faith sustained him through trial, torment, and the creation of a church enroute to his own cross of crucifixion.  St Sebastian, who guarded the Emperor until he received the choice to burn incense to a false God.  St Francis of Assisi who gave us a great example of working towards peace, and always knew God creates things from nothing not man.  St Augustine who's writings illuminated the scripture, and demonstrated why he needed to turn from sin filled life to become one with God's will.  Finally St Boniface, who demonstrated to Druids their trees served the one God's will when he cut their biggest down to make a church from the lumber.

    We have a choice of cards to build our lives.  If we want the life eternal, it is best to pick the cards God designed, and the examples of those who followed God to eternal life in heaven as role models.  Following the example of Margret Sanger, Keyes or Stalin, Mao, Hitler and current history rewriters only leads to a life which ends with death and self chosen life of separation from the eternal paradise.

-ehw

Thanksgiving For My Riches

    I will simply say last night was glorious.

    A day full with early diaper changes, management of an energetic three year old, four hours with 10-13 year olds working on Lego Robotics, too much work not done around the house, and a still recovering Momma ended in an evening of riches and thanksgiving to God.

    Why?  Because after years of fighting the thought I am finally putting nails, locks and fittings on the lid of the modernism heresy in my life. I still like fast cars, the best house, fast computers, new cameras and fancy dresses for my girls.  I just know the true rewards in a fleeting life meant to work our way to heaven are the moments where God's love shines through us.  I'll work hard to get the tools needed to survive, but not to the detriment of the mission of unity with God.

    So when John Paul fell asleep on my shoulder before dinner, just brining him to the table nestled there with the rest of the family was a joyful moment of God's plan for heaven peeping through.  I could almost imagine the four babies we lost with us at the table as well...the whole family was there in a moment of peace.  It is almost a moment one would hope could be eternal.

   I am finally following Jesus guidance by accepting in my heart, my true kingdom is not of this world.  This world is a passing moment in our eternal lives.  The eternal is the reward.  What a wonderful table that will be.

-ehw    

18 Years Today....We met!

    Eighteen years ago today...right about now a young 26 year old Army Infantry Captain stood at the door of a 23 year old Army Nurse Lieutenant to go on a blind date in Columbus, Georgia.  What a ride it became!

    For the record two things happened, which rate as miracles.  See Carrie's Dad picked up the phone when I called her apartment!  He did not interrogate me during the phone call, like he should have.  Then he even left to go home to Los Angeles the morning of our date after having Daddy time with his girl!  Oh if he only knew!  I would have been gone!

    The second miracle was she said ok to the date...my offer must have been so bad that her friend Polly had to tell her "What is the worst that can happen?  You get dinner and a ride in a nice new truck!"

   Since that day we've only been apart when duty called.  I cannot believe how full my life became since that blessed day. Five kiddos later she still loves me, which counts as yet another miracle!

   I am lucky and blessed a hundred times over!

-ehw