Becoming them – an update

Yay! I'm giddy with excitement:

• J won as Department Representative in his college's student council elections. He actually ran unopposed – the two other parties (both of which asked him to be their rep before he announced his candidacy) were not able to find suitable candidates. 

• C was named "Rookie of the Year" of her volleyball team in the Varsity Dinner at her school tonight.

Priceless.

The perfect time

Under my pillow lies a rosary. Every night in the recent years, I have made it a ritual to pray until sleep dictates what comes next. 

I once read a priest's advice to someone who said she'd fall asleep while praying: "If that's how the rosary comforts you, then let it be..." And so, I took it to heart.

That's because these days, I go to bed only when my eyes begin to see double. My prayers have since become shorter and shorter, the decades unfinished, the words garbled, jumbled, mentally mumbled. I'd always wake up feeling guilty and promising to pray longer the next evening. 

But yesterday's homily during mass at the Holy Family Chapel in Eastwood changed it all. 

The priest talked about not waiting for the last minute to say your prayers. He said that at night, after spending the day doing everything we have to, it is normal that the only thing our body wants to do is sleep. And so he suggested that we say our prayers in the morning. "It will energize you," he promised.

It was one of the first things I remembered as I woke up. As my hand crept under my pillow in search of the beads, I also anticipated the extra minutes I could spend in bed.

Moments later, I felt like I've splashed my face with faith, or even taken a quick shower of blessings. 

I AM ready to begin my day.

Becoming them

As our children grow, we parents become amazed spectators to their transformation as their own person – each one a unique blend of our own genes yet perfectly different from the other and from who we are. 

This year is an awesome time for us, seeing J & C carve their own path to find out what makes them whole and happy.

J, 19, is running for a slot in his college's student council. It gives him (and his party) a tremendous boost of confidence that he was recruited by ALL three parties to be their representative. The campaign preparations are intense and tedious, so we are ready to support him 100%. This thing is quite new to us, but we are basking in the joy of seeing this shy boy emerge from his sheltered Jesuit upbringing to become a charming, self-assured young man who is deeply admired by his university peers for his intelligence and sincerity.

C, 14, has found her own comfy place in her new school. The adjustment

period was not as difficult as we had expected. She is in the Math enrichment program, to which she had always belonged in her old school. She has above average grades and enjoys being with her new-found friends. And now, as part of the volleyball varsity team, she 

is competing in three simultaneous tournaments. Training and games rob her of weekends but she enthusiastically prepares for them, making sure she is ready, never late and her gear, always complete. Gradually yet consistently, as her playing time increases and as they notch more wins, so will her discipline, confidence and competitiveness.

All these mean waking up earlier, watching less DVDs in bed and practically having no meals eaten together. But this an exciting time for our small family, as we watch our children grow into the wonderful persons they're shaping up to be.