Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Samuel, David and the list goes on and on.  The list contains biblical figures as well as everyday people surrounding us in all walks of life.  What is the similarity in the list?  God has called every one of us to do something significant with our life whether we hear him or not.  It's not that he's not calling us, it's our refusal to listen which is why we may not hear him.  I think I know.  More recently I feel more and more of a calling.  There is more of a presence in my life of Him.  Being back in school, one class I signed up for was Philosophy.  Out of all of the topics of Philosophy the topic of our study for the duration of the semester is the Philosophy of Religion.  I find myself arguing for God against the atheist and agnostics whom I share a class with.  NEVER would I imagine speaking up in a religious philosophy class but something compels me to speak up and defend a belief that I have.  This class makes me want to believe all that much more. 

In addition to Philosophy I am taking a Intro to Religions course and as I read other religions I know that I am where I want to be.  No offense to anyone of any other religion but I know that  I am where I NEED to be.  God is mysterious in his ways.  Lately I find myself more compelled to type and be a part of the Church all that much more.  A few weeks back I even debated going to a retreat but have still yet to convince myself to go. 

Being born and baptized as non denominational and never going to church aside from the two or three times I did growing up until I met my wife, it was well after my first child was born and in a time of intense stress that while visiting a church out of town that I felt the calling to convert.  I remember it like it was yesterday here we were in church, I was reluctant to go as usual and while I was sitting there and listening I had this immense sense of relief, I received my calling.  As soon as Mass was over I rushed to the gift shop and bought my first set of rosary beads and informed my wife I wanted to convert.  As soon as I got home I contact my local parish and inquired about converting.  Unfortunately for me then I had to wait.  They were already well into a class and I had to wait several months for the next.  When the time came I was still ready to go.  I converted just a few weeks before my second child was born with my mother in law by my side as my sponsor.  It was the night before Easter 2006, for me this life long journey started with that calling in February 2006 up in Columbus, Georgia. 

As I was saying, his callings come in the such small doses for me, I see them here and there as in case I miss something.  This morning I contacted my local parish and inquired about volunteering some of my time, it was something that I felt I had to do.  Mid day, I came across two very old prayer books that belonged to my still living grandmother.  They were Catholic books that she wrote in the year I was born.  Never had I realized growing up that my roots were based in Catholicism but these books proved otherwise.  As I rambled here tonight, my point is God is everywhere and he is calling us to all do something important with our lives.  For me, I still do not know.  Maybe its write this, volunteer my time or just to be a better dad.  But as I know I will try my best to stay open to his callings I'm sure  I will find out.

Yesterday was a tough day, I made several resolutions towards the season of Lent and my children fought each step of the way.  All in all it was a really rough day.  Today I have resolved to make it better.  We are outside (despite the heavy chill in the air), kids are playing and 'm still able to get some much needed homework done.  It's a sacrifice on my part as I shiver but as long as they are bundled up and warm and happy that's what really matters.  The TV can only keep them occupied so long and they can only play quietly for so long.  My kids as most kids need to run and be loud! 

I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what am I going to give up this Lenten season.  I've decided that I am going to give up nothing.  There is nothing that I feel is worthy enough to give up.  HOWEVER I am not letting myself off that easily.  What I am going to do is to try to be better at certain things, things that really take an effort on my part.  One, I am going to try to set aside an hour each day and devote it to just play.  No cleaning, no cooking, no TV... nothing but play time for me and my kids.  The hours fly by so fast from the time I wake up to getting my son to school, breakfast cooked, kitchen cleaned, laundry washed, school work worked on (yes, I'm also back in school), then before I know it's the days over and I'm cooking dinner and ready to crash.  Each day I plan to devote an hour a day to play.  Additionally, to make my daily life easier I also plan to do that one load of laundry a day so that it does not pile up into 3 hours of folding which takes away from play time.  I also plan to devote myself to less yelling... CLEAN YOUR ROOM, PICK THAT UP, STOP HITTING.  It's so easy to yell, whats hard is to talk. 

So in short, my 3 things for this season of Lent are:
1. Devote 1 hour a day to play time
2. Wash that 1 load of laundry a day
3. Less Yelling

-Catholic Dad

And you know what that means in regards to the kitchen!?!  More fish.  In our kitchen fish rarely comes close to it in any form other than fish sticks.  Personally I love fish, but sadly, my wife does not.  In my opinion it's too much work to cook fish for just one so this is my time of the year to add a little seafood into our meals!  Starting tonight I am making my famous Shrimp Enchilado.  It's an awesome stew served with white rice and even a side of fries and is perfect for a cold evening.  If I dont eat it all first I might even try and get a picture or two of it put up!

Enjoy~

SHRMIP ENCHILADO

 

1lb Small Shrimp peeled, divined and detailed

2 large onions – large diced

2 stalks celery diced

2 cans of diced tomatoes

1 clove garlic diced

¼ c. Red Wine

4T Butter

1t Garlic Powder

1t Onion Powder

1t Cumin

1t Salt

1t Pepper

1/2t Ground Bay Leaves

Tabasco Sauce

 

Sauté Onions and Garlic in Olive Oil

Remove mixture from pan and add ¼ c Red Wine simmer.  Add Butter and Shrimp and sauté for 3 min.  Add Onion/Garlic back and add in remaining ingredients.  Simmer on low heat until celery tender.

 

Serve with white rice and a side of fries.

 

I've had this domain for quite some time and on occasion as you may have noticed I tried to write.  Some days its hard to stay on a topic of being Catholic when so many things go on in my daily life that I really want to just write about.  Some days are awesome while others are just so-so and all of those days are important to not only remember for memory sake but to remember as a personal growth sake.  Starting today I hope to keep more up to date and share the trials and tribulations of being a stay at home dad including things from ideas for play time, cooking, tips on cleaning  and so much more all the while still trying to be a regular manly man kinda guy.  A lot has changed in the past few months for me and honestly I love what has happened.  I've taken a very negative experience in my life and turned it into an amazing gift God has given me.  From here on out, I will be a better dad......A Better Catholic Dad.  For anyone who happens across feel free to post comments! 

Enjoy!
Catholic Dad

Today was truly a change of pace for me.  For the past week I have been obsessed with cleaning.  I have cleaned and filed and vaccumed more times than I would have thought to be humanly possible.  I think I have my girls bored to tears with watching me clean and Im sure they are tired of hearing me ask them to pick something up.  I guess it's a touch of OCD, it runs in the family.  I dont generally sit still and just enjoy life, I'm always too busy cleaning up after it.  However today I made an attempt to change.  Yes, I did clean something but in my attempt I still managed to relax and watch my little girls be little girls.  I took down a pair of blinds that have gotten dusty over time, took the blinds and the girls outside, turned on the water and let them have fun.  Once things were clean and the kids were playing I even managed to sit back and read the first few chapters of a book I have had for years and never touched.  By simply making a little bit of an effort to change, I relaxed for the first time in a long time and my girls got outside to play.  I can honestly say I am looking forward to change. 

In the upcoming weeks life will be changing for me for sure.  As I go back to school and continue to be a "Stay at Home Dad".  I will have to change how I am so that I can survive and my kids can be kids and not little housekeepers.

Life can be interesting considering the hand we're dealt.  For instance, it's been a long time since I've touched on writing here and yesterday I got my automatic renewal on the site and it reminded me it's about time.  For such a long time life revolved around work and being the provider for my family.  As of a few months ago, all that has changed.  My wife is now the provider and I am a "Stay at Home Dad".  I always wished I could have a try at being a stay at home dad and I will admit it is not the easiest job in the world. (Don't tell my wife I said that).  Dont get me wrong, it's awesome to have time with my children as I never would have imagined but when the temper tantrums start, or my lovely nearly 2 year old starts screaming at me or the endless never ending supply of dirty clothes that awaits to be washed, its a long days work.  Yup, I said it, it is a long day... but still its rewarding.  I am desparetly trying to get those never ending piles of laundry done and those small chores that I give myself done in hopes of sitting back and relaxing.   However I know all too well that will not happen.

I am looking forward to sitting back with a good book while the kids are napping and finding my wife's secret stash of bon-bon's that I know she has to have somewhere.  I did discover s secret stash of chocolate yesterday!  As my days continue to revolve around getting my son off to school, girls entertained, house cleaned, dinner cooked, homework done and ready to greet my wife when she gets home from work I look forward to writing about my experiences here and my attempts to be "A Better Catholic Dad".  It's my turn to help guide my children down the right path after my wife did it all of these years.  Hopefully I wont un-do too much of her hard work. 

-Catholic Dad

This past Sunday was Trinity Sunday....  at church for the first time in a LONG time I was able to actually listen to the mass.  Typically I sit in the kids room with my youngest and am chasing her most of the time.  She's 19 months (nearing the terrible 2's).  One thing that was interesting that I did catch was a reference that was made to the Holy Trinity....  it was said that you can look at water and think of the Holy Trinity... it comes in three forms and all are the same thing.... Water, Ice and Gas.  It's an interesting way to look at it and it makes sense....  same thing goes for my kids.  I have three children and all are completely different but in all of them there is one thing that is the same... Gods handiwork. 

Just call me....
 
These days, thats what I feel like now more than ever!  This morning as I got up while my wife was still at work and working late, I unfortunately slept in late and when I woke up, I had 20 minutes to get my three kids fed, dressed and out the door!  Cue Mission Impossible theme song here.  Somehow I managed to get my son fed and the girls to the neighbors and I raced to get him to school on time to avoid another tardy on his record.  And against all odds I made it! 

Later into the morning after I started dinner as my wife was sleeping after working all night I checked on my second oldest (Eve) who was not feeling well for the past few days.  She still had a temperature of 101.3 so I called the doctors and was advised to bring her in.  Before I forget to mention, as I was on the phone my youngest Trinity came running up to me to pick her up.  When I did, I then realized um....no diaper.  Shes on a bit of a streak lately (literally) of being a streak.. she loves to strip and run around laughing and playing chase as we chase her down to re diaper her for the twentieth time of the day... 

Upon arriving at the doctors, Eve's temp had gone up to 104......for a dad, mom or anyone, this is scary mode.  Fortunately it was a quick visit and the doctor was amazing and she checked out to have strep and an ear infection and we were on our way with meds in hand.....  After I finally got her meds filled and got home by then my wife was wide awake and I then realized in the past month I have been to more doctor visits flying solo than I have ever been to in the past 6 years.  All the while I have a mental list of things that need to get done (laundry tops it) it's time for me to exit stage left and get my butt to work for a LONG GRUELING 4 hour day! 

How I long to get back to a topic of religion and not a child being sick!  Hopefully sooner than later as long as no one else catches strep!  Maybe this is when I should say a prayer that they all get well soon!

I can not wait for this weekend to start!  Aside from the self imposed list of "honey do" chores I do have a few fun things planned.  I am hoping to camp out in my living room with my children.  And by camp, I mean bring my very large tent inside and set it up camp.  I am also hoping to get the kids out to the beach or something fun, especially Sunday.  Sunday is an extremely special day.  It only comes once a year......it's.... it's... my birthday! (oh yeah, and Mothers Day!) Sorry moms!

Funny how the only thing I want for my birthday is to relax.... I almost forgot this weekend was it until someone mentioned the word birthday at work about someone else.  Then I remembered..... I gotta renew my car tags!  Happy Birthday, time to spend a lot of money on a useless little sticker!

All else aside I do plan on having fun with my family and making Sunday a special day for everyone (including my wife)!  I want there to be laughter and fun all day long!