Better

I'm sure it will come as no surprise that today was a much better day than yesterday.  That's the great thing about bad days--they make you appreciate the better ones and make the mediocre ones look pretty good too.  

Today wasn't a complete reversal of yesterday but it did end with a pretty big aha moment.  Tonight, we officially began Mia's preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  She will receive it on January 30th at our home parish.  After that, she will prepare for her First Holy Communion which she will receive from Father Peffley in Woodstock, VA next summer.  We are all excited about that.  So tonight, we completed a ritual involving blessings with water and talked about the Sacrament of Baptism.  I read the gospel passage about Jesus' baptism and we talked about the significance of water in both the Old and New Testaments and how Jesus sanctified the water by being baptized Himself even though He didn't need it.  All of the girls were able to answer questions about baptism and the presence of the Holy Trinity at Jesus' baptism but the best was when I asked why John the Baptist referred to Jesus as the Lamb of God.  Mia said, "in the Old Testament, when people did something wrong, they sacrificed a lamb to God but when Jesus came, He was the lamb for all of us and died for our sins."  Pretty amazing answer from a second grader but even better was where she learned it.  When we went to the art museum last month, we saw a painting of Noah and his family offering a sacrifice to God after the flood and I explained why they did that and why we don't need to do that anymore.  We didn't have a religion book with us that day or pens or paper but obviously a lot of learning went on.  And it was fun too.  So, despite the struggles, I already see so many victories.  More than enough to persevere.

Tomorrow: photos!