Okay…so here it is…the Easter Vigil posting…

First off — thanks so much to all those who were thinking about us and praying for us!

So, all day Saturday, I thought I was going to crawl out of my skin! I was SO excited for the evening to finally come! We did have a leisurely morning/afternoon though, because of my not feeling so well (and as if to prove it, if you were here at my house during this writing, I paused to cough just now).

Finally, after what seemed like forever, it was time to get ready for Mass. My Mom loaned me a lovely skirt, since I was having a horrible time figuring out what to wear. Eric wore a dress shirt and tie, and the kids were all dolled up too. (Oh, and if you read about my brown shoes issues, Jack *did* have tissues wadded up in the toe of his shoes, but he still managed to trip several times — poor guy!) And, on purpose, we waited until evening to give Noah & Jack their “focusing” medicine (as Noah calls it), and prayed that Molly wouldn’t be running all around the church.

I rode to church with my parents, since they had never been there before. We milled around just a bit before finally heading in to church. Then, we headed outside. Brrr… They had a hard time getting the fire lit, and Molly kept saying, “It BERY chilly out here.”

We then headed inside (in darkness) with our candles, and Molly was trying to blow out my candle. It was funny, though she did get a little loud, trying to blow with great gusto.

The readings and signing did seem to get a little long for the kids, but I was very impressed with how well they did!

Finally…the fun part arrived! Those being baptized were called to the front. We got to watch as everyone was baptized — both adults and children. It was amusing when they had a hard time getting one child into the water. We heard Father say, “Don’t worry…it’s warm.” Then, he announced to everyone that the child had then decided to test out the water before getting in. LOL I did notice at this point that Noah was looking very worried. He knew we would be going up front, and then I realized that he thought we were going to get baptized as well. We had to tell him several times that we had all already done that before, and didn’t have to have it done again. After probably the fifth time of promising him that, he finally believed us and relaxed. Then, we saw Jack look concerned and Noah took over and started whispering in his ear, motioning up front, etc. It was very cute, and we knew what he was surely telling Jack.

Then, it was our time to go forward. They called all five of us up, as well as quite a number of other people. We were told to read our profession of faith, but nobody had given some of us a paper with it on there (or told us about it). So, I felt really bad about that, as we stood there silently. But, then I knew that not only were we agreeing by staying up there as others read it out loud, but God knew that it was in our hearts. Then, Father prayed over each of us, and we were received into the Church. For as much as I had dreaded having the kids there, not only had they done really well throughout to that point, but it was so wonderful to know that we were all up there being received into the Church as a family.

The kids were then all invited to have a seat, and those being confirmed were all ask to step forward. Father asked each of us the saint name that we had chosen, and then annointed us with oil and welcomed us. Fr. Dan seemed to smirk a bit when I told him I had chosen Martha. After he annointed me, he said, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious about many things.” Ha…so true! And, Eric took the saint name of Joseph (with about half of the other men, it seemed!).

And, then finally — we were able to come to the table to share in the Eucharist. What a blessed event! The only thing that probably could have made it better is if Molly hadn’t hit her wall by that point. So, perhaps I was less than totally there as I took up the squirming and fussing Molly to finally receive the Blessed Sacrament. But, I was pleased, all the same. (And, then pleased when we got back to the pew and my Dad took her out to the vestibule!)

They had a nice cake and punch reception for us, and we did a bit of visiting. Jack was especially pleased to see his CCD teacher there! She told him she was so proud of him, and pleased for our family. We had many well wishers, and also received some lovely gifts from our sponsors and the RCIA team. (We have already put up a Crucifix that our sponsors gave to our family.) It was also nice that Fr. Jeff told us when we left how happy he was for our family. He commented on how wonderful it was to see us all up there together being received into the Church.

We finally made it home around 11:15 pm. Whew! And, then believe it or not, we let the boys then play some video games, as that had been a “prize” they were waiting for after being so good through the long Mass.

It was really a blessed day for our family! I don’t know how to describe the joy — but it all made the many, many, many months of work well worth it!

Thank you again for all the well wishes!

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