Reclaiming Our Children

Perpetuating Stigma

I don't know why but every so often God definitely nudges me in a certain direction by things that happen. Today has definitely been an "adverse diagnosis" day.

It has been quit a while since we have done retreats for those who aborted because of a diagnosis society has chosen to label "incompatible with life", but recently, the couple who used to testify for us has been feeling the call again, as I have.

Today seems to have confirmed the need. I came across the site , "Ending a Wanted Pregnancy".

I have to give them credit for being upfront about being pro choice, although they assure those who come that everyone is helped and welcomed. Ok, I bought in...at least until I got to reading the page "Destigmatizing Abortion".   Not that I thought abortion was okay, but I understood how they were approaching this from what they felt was a place of compassion. That all went out the window when I read this:

 

How Destigmatizing Abortion Helps You

If abortion weren’t stigmatized, we wouldn’t hesitate to call what we’ve been through an abortion. When we refuse to accept or validate other people’s reasons for ending a pregnancy, we, unfortunately, perpetuate the stigma of all abortions, including our own. In essence, we unintentionally contribute to the problem. Put in its proper perspective, abortion is not a character issue. It’s simply a medical procedure women sometimes need. If we don’t like our characters being judged based on our abortion, it’s pretty important to stop judging the characters of others based on their abortions. And it starts with destigmatizing abortion.

When I first came to this community 15 years ago, I had been A.) Pro-choice, but B.) certain I personally would never need an abortion. The euphemisms we used here were a relief. They saved me from having to explain to people that no, I actually planned this pregnancy and wanted this baby very much. Or that no, I didn’t do this for “convenience” but to spare my child a short and painful life of medical trauma. By putting my choice above other abortions, I put myself apart from the debate. I needed to do this at the time when I was very raw in my grief. That special abortion pedestal is what kept me above the shark-infested waters of the abortion debate. But eventually, I would climb down from my perch and enter those waters armed with a sharpened spear clutched firmly in my fist to defend all abortion.

I do agree with the precept of "an abortion, is an abortion, is an abortion", but there are certainly differences in making the decision to abort an adverse diagnosis.

While abortion is never okay, the pressures of the medical community often make couples feel as though aborting is the only compassionate answer to an adverse diagnosis. That you are somehow saving your child from pain by ending its life, hence, justification. It is the "loving" thing to do. Not only is it loving, they are told they are judgemental, the very thing they don't want for themselves, if they do not chose to help destimatize.

Put in its proper perspective, abortion is not a character issue. It’s simply a medical procedure women sometimes need. If we don’t like our characters being judged based on our abortion, it’s pretty important to stop judging the characters of others based on their abortions. And it starts with destigmatizing abortion.

Abortion is not "simply a medical procedure" women sometimes need. Abortion violently takes the life of an unborn child. The implication and guilt trip this site places on those already suffering the loss of their child, in order to pressure them to destigmatize all abortion and ensure its legality, is amazing, and far from compassionate.

The description of placing herself on a pedestal is alarming. I find it hard to believe that any of these couples place themselves on a pedestal. True, abortion, is abortion, is abortion, and it is also true that many women abort from pressure or other circumstances that allow them to believe it was the right choice to make, but there is a difference when you have decorated your nursery and are waiting for the joyful birth of your baby, only to find yourself having to make a decision in most often, very little time, while being told, in your circumstance, aborting is an act of love.

I pray more couples in this situation can find places like  "Be Not  Afraid"
 where true compassion and help can be found.

The god of abortion seems to trump everything in the pro choice movement. Nothing is more important than its legality, not the women or the men impacted, and certainly not the babies who have dies.  The slippery slope spoken about so often before Roe vs Wade just gets steeper all the time.  God help us.

Our next retreat for those who have aborted due to an adverse diagnosis will take place September 28th

 

Loving My Siblings - a witness

The story of how I came to a higher awareness of my aborted siblings feels like an unexpected one to write, but here goes.

While I was growing up, my mother used to tell me every once in a while that she had had multiple abortions before I was born.  But she and my father were not practicing Catholics and we were not in the habit of going to weekly Mass.  I really did not grasp the full meaning of a life and the spiritual depth of what she had shared with me.  In fact, even after I became a practicing Catholic after college, I didn’t think about the four siblings I had lost to abortion, or even remember them.

Growing up in my family was very rough.  There was domestic violence between my father and mother coupled with child abuse between my mother and my sister and I, and it lasted for many years.  My mom was a real alpha-female and led our family in a very matriarchal way.  She perpetually clashed with my father.  I had trouble bonding with my mother all my life. When I was a little  girl, I would want to kiss her goodnight, but she would just turn  her cheek away. My aunt tells me that she witnessed my mother hitting me as early as when I was two years old.  The police came to our home more than once because of the neighbors’ reports about the violence in our family.

When I was in 5th grade, a social worker was sent to my house, but nothing came of it, even though my sister and I desperately needed help at that time.  Though my mom beat on the both of us a lot, I got the worst of it for reasons I’ll never totally understand (including my supposed “family resemblance” to my mother-in-law, who my mom seemed to hate).  At times, I would find myself telling others that it was because I was the oldest child.

Sometimes, I outsmarted my mother, though, in my struggles to survive as a kid, but mostly my childhood was filled with lonely, harrowing days in which I waited to become an adult, and I was glad to leave home, go to college and be free of my mother when the time came.  I remember that on that fateful day when I left for college, my mother hit me as I was getting dressed to leave home, almost in a last effort to exert her domineering will over me as she had always done, in denial of my maturity.

However, about a year ago, after many years of practicing my Catholic faith, I read an interview with Theresa in a newsletter written by the Sisters of Life, where she mentioned Lumina’s Sibling Day. I thought about my siblings deeply for the first time…ever.  It hit  me that had any of them been born, I would not have been “the eldest”  but the second youngest.  The more I thought about, the more I felt a certain identity crisis.  Would my mother have treated me better if I were the second youngest child?  (My mother oftentimes seemed to favor my sister, the younger sibling.)  Would an older brother have defended me against abuse from my mother?  In addition, since my mom used to say that she disliked large families and would speak of them demeaningly, I’ve mused that perhaps my sister and I would not have  been born at all if she had had all the previous four children before me, because she would not have wanted an even larger family.

My mother says that she aborted those kids because she didn’t want them to grow up in South America, where life was even rougher for her dealing with the family politics of living near her in-laws there, since my father was sometimes violent with my mother during family quarrels.  Still it would have been nice to have my siblings alive, and yet, I really don’t think I would be, if they had been born.  It feels like a chicken-or-the-egg kind of mystery.

At the Lumina "Entering Canaan" sibling retreat, I feel I made peace with my siblings. In fact, I’ve sensed them as a benevolent presence in my life, as people whose souls were sent by God to our family and who are still linked to us.  Sometimes when I imagine them, I see them as  androgynous cherubs looking out for me and the family from wherever they are, perhaps even praying for us.  I am thankful to Lumina for helping me to connect to them in a more spiritual way.  A lot of  people have lost siblings to abortion and we need to be aware of our invisible family on the other side.  For me, it’s a comforting  thought that no matter how broken my earthly family is, I still have more family members to relate to, somewhere!  And, while I may never  understand God’s will, that doesn’t seem to matter so much as the love that can still possibly exist between me and my siblings, born and unborn. ~AW

There will be an "Entering Canaan" sibling weekend August 16-18, 2019

 

The Secret Heartache of a Sibling After Abortion

“My mom does not know I found out about her abortion. She is suffering and I want to help her but I don’t know how.” These were the words shared with me by Anne who came seeking help because she overheard a conversation of her mom’s speaking about a past abortion.

Anne did not know what to do to help, and her personal emotions were all over the place. She went from feeling sorry for her mom who she knew was suffering greatly, to feelings of anger, confusion, and guilt for being alive.

She did not want to approach her mom who was already suffering, but she knew she needed to express her own pain.  She felt alone and isolated in her feelings and was looking for a place where someone would understand what she was going through, while at the same time, not judge her mother who she loved and felt she needed to protect.

Anne is not alone. With over 60 million abortions in our country, there are millions of Anne’s who have lost a sibling to abortion. Some have found out without their parent's knowledge.  Some have been told and others just have a sense that someone is missing.

Andrew, who had always longed for an older brother had these words to say when his mom told him about an abortion in her past, “Suddenly, my whole life was beginning to make sense. Every desire and sadness. I had actually felt his loss in my heart throughout the course of my life.”

Many siblings of aborted babies have expressed similar experiences, an “always knowing” that someone was missing and a fitting together of the pieces of their lives once this crucial information was brought to light. Still, when and if to tell a sibling needs to be carefully discerned. 

Telling a child to relieve oneself of the secret, or believing once you have told them it is the end of it, is very shortsighted.  To have a child tell you, “you are forgiven," does not mean it is not impacting their life any less than it has impacted yours. Just because they may not share their feelings does not mean a sibling is not struggling.  In fact, it would not be normal if they were not going through some issues surrounding the abortion. Often, children do not share with the parents because they do not want to add more grief to someone they love who is already suffering greatly.

“It was right after my mother’s abortion that I began to feel unwanted by my parents, even though I knew they loved me and had always cared for me. I couldn’t help but feel that I needed to be worthy of their love, that I needed to somehow justify having been allowed to be born.” ~Magaly

The reality of being alive when your sibling is not is difficult to grasp.  Although the abortion most times has nothing to do with the living sibling born before or after the procedure, there is still a sense of, “Why am I here and my sibling is not? Would I even be here if that baby was born?  Would my name be the same?”

Countless questions surface with no place to go to sort them out. As one sibling shared, “I wasn’t supposed to know about the abortion, but I overheard family conversations that piqued my suspicions. When I was 11-years-old, I asked my mom if she had ever thought about having an abortion.  She very gently and honestly said, “Yes.” We were in the kitchen.  I remember I had to leave the room.  When I was away from my mom, my feet fell out from under me.  I began sobbing silently and uncontrollably.  I loved my three living siblings with my whole life; in many ways, my identity centered on them.  I could not understand why my mom would assume that I might not love my aborted sibling just as much.”

In the midst of all the suffering however, is the mercy of God. Finding a place to go to release the pain and learn the dynamics surrounding the abortion and its application to their life, as well as the dignity of their own life, who God knew “before they were born” will aide their healing. God will never be outdone, but can transform this intense suffering into peace and joy for a family fragmented by abortion, drawing them closer, not only to one another but to Him.

“Facing my grief’s power meant facing the fact that I, like my aborted sibling, was vulnerable to my parents and family—not vulnerable to the point of physical death, but vulnerable to the point of rejection on the grounds of my obstinate obsession.

The Entering Canaan Sibling Retreat was a turning point in my life.  The day’s gentle, intent pace; Eucharistic focus, and intimate setting allowed time to stop and expand, encompassing both the pain of the past and hope for the future. It was so strange and deeply comforting to be in a place where the central spiritual wound of my life was acknowledged and soothed, not idolized, but transformed through a call to acceptance, forgiveness, healing, and celebration of my youngest sibling’s brief life on earth and eternal life in Heaven, where she or he now intercedes before the face of God for the healing of my whole family.

Now I know that this wound I bear is becoming like Christ’s wounds: welling up with God’s love so that everyone – my mother, father, all my siblings, and the generations before and after us – may be drawn to Him.”  ~A

Amen!

Next Sibling Retreat in August!

Be Not Afraid

With Mother's Day often comes the questioning of where our children are...some thoughts.

There has been a lot of progress over the years, in understanding the impact of abortion. I personally, will always be so grateful to the Elliot Institute for understanding exactly how I felt and putting it into words before I knew how to. I also am grateful for post abortion research that increases awareness of the many factors which influence an abortion decision. Pressure from boyfriends, or husband, parents and even doctors are often a contributing factor, and
although there may be some women who abort for no apparent reason, I have found that most people make the decision because of some outside influence.

Abortion is always wrong, but it does help to understand the reasons and the fact that no matter what the who’s, how’s and whys, abortion is never a solution, but the beginning of a whole new set of problems.

 

our book of names on the altar in Czestochowa, Poland

Despite this progress however, there are still times when those post abortive feel stuck in the middle of the debate. The majority of those who favor abortion still fear acknowledging the harm to women and pain and suffering they go through. They continue to deny the existence of post abortion stress and blame it on other things, as if killing your own child were not enough reason to suffer. They refuse to accept the suffering as a direct result of an abortion.

There are also pro lifers who fear by allowing the suffering to end or by showing compassion and mercy to those who have had an abortion, you would somehow be saying abortion is ok. For some reason, they think by showing mercy, the pain will end too soon, or maybe, will not be felt at all.

Ironically, this can apply not only to the mothers, but to the aborted baby as well. Many pro choicers think the unborn feel no pain although there is evidence to the contrary, and some pro lifers believe that heaven is closed to aborted children, as if God’s Mercy can be limited. In truth, in many ways, mother and child are still joined in the craziness of the societal battle of abortion when instead, they need to be reunited in the God of life.

I recently attended a mass in which the priest focused on the message of the Holy Father’s visit to the Unites states, “hope”.

He spoke of this “hope” being rooted in reality. That it is not a wishing like earthly hope, but a knowing. A knowing, because of the life, death, resurrection and ascension, of Jesus Christ.

In the Catholic faith, we who are post abortive have the beautiful Encyclical written by Pope John Paul II, “Evangelium Vitae”, “The Gospel of Life’. I am certain, like me, many women and men searched it s pages to find the words of the Holy Father to those of us who had aborted a child. What a gift of understanding, compassion and mercy…it was as if he knew everything…our difficulty in the decision, our pain and guilt after, while still standing firm to the wrong of abortion. Like the God of Mercy, he represents, the Pope also addressed our desire for knowledge as to the care of our children.

As we dealt with our sin, there was a fear to think of our children’s fate and the possibility of their closure to heaven because they were not baptized, but Pope John Paul the II assured us even of this.

“To the same Father and his mercy, you can with sure hope entrust your child.”
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae_en.html

A “sure hope” not found in earthly terms, but, the reality of Jesus Christ who is Mercy Himself.

Some people unfortunately have trouble with the thought of our children in heaven. They fear that if we know they are in heaven it will somehow make abortion okay, or not as painful, as if the thought of our child living with Christ makes the killing justified.

They seek to close off heaven to the unborn as if a baptism of blood, in their innocence, where not allowed by God. They reject the comfort it may give to those who have participated in abortion, fearful that this comfort would make them believe abortion is all right.

With John Paul II, I say to those people “Be not Afraid” …No one knows more than a mother’s heart, no matter what she says, that abortion is wrong. It is their child, tied by a motherly bond even abortion cannot dissolve.

And the thought of their children in heaven brings hope. Not a hope that focuses on them or reduces the seriousness of their sin, but a sure hope in Jesus, and His Mercy, allowing them to be reunited with their unborn children.

Sanctioning people to a life without hope is not something of God who sent His son into the world for the forgiveness of all sin. Even the sin of abortion.

I assure you, there will still be suffering. The thought of a child in heaven does not negate the act of abortion, nor the loss of that child to this world. But it does accentuate the Mercy of our God. A God who desires the salvation of all sinners, even women and men who participate in abortion. If they can get to heaven, why would this same God omit their children?

He wouldn’t…as another translation of the Gospel of Life states, they are “living in the Lord”.

Post abortive people do not need others to make sure they suffer; they suffer enough on their own. You may not always see it, they may cover up or hide in denial, guilt, shame or maybe even arrogance, but it is there, for God alone, who knows our hearts to judge.

May we all look to the mercy and grace of God that alone saves us all from sin. May we not limit His goodness, who died on the cross for our salvation, and may we never take for granted the remission of our sins but humbly follow Him with gratitude for the Mercy He has shown us all. Be not afraid!

Mother's Day

Postabortive Adopted by Our Lady of Czestochowa

On January 8, 2014, Human Life International President, Father Shenan Boquet and Father Peter West, VP for Missions for Human Life Internaional, were interviewed on "EWTN Live" by Father Mitch Pacwa.  Father West has been traveling with Our Lady in an Ocean-to-Ocean Pilgrimage in Defesne of Life.  When speaking of Our Lady of Czestochowa and the devotion to her by post abortive people, Father West said, "I don't think it is [the postabortive] who have adopted Our Lady of Czestochowa, I think it is Our Lady of Czestochowa who adopted them."

I agree! It was definitely she who sought me out to be the patroness of the Entering Canaan ministry way back in  1990. At that time I honestly knew nothing about her but she made it clear to me she wanted this role and I have always felt Entering Canaan belongs to her.

Check out our Lumina's pamphlet on Our Lady here. 

Thank you, Our Lady of Czestowchoa, for adopting us!

Please visit here for more information on our Patroness of the Entering Canaan Ministry, Our Lady of Czestochowa. 

I will be visiting the Monastery in Poland where the image resides this month and will be praying for all of you! 

A Mother's Prayer & Adverse Diagnosis

Some thoughts by one of our moms who aborted due to an adverse diagnosis:

One week after Tommy's abortion I was struggling for closure.  One minute you're pregnant and the next minute you're not, and there is nothing to show for it.  I have never held nor seen my baby other than the memories of a child waving his arms for a sonogram.  The doctor was not aware of any research that he can donate my baby to for the future benefit of others.  And there was no body by which to prepare a proper funeral for. He has been disposed of as part of “medical waste.”   There was no birth or baptismal certificate by which to name him, and the world will never know of his existence other than in his mother’s heart.  A non-event.  

If I had the resources to pull-off such a feat, my dream would be to establish my own non-profit charitable organization whose motto would be the "Mother's Prayer" I wrote within the depths of distress.  I would love to challenge both the medical community and the church and dare them to make it a reality. 

A Mother's Prayer

• I pray for the day that one can search the Participating Provider (PPO) section of their medical insurance plan and select an Obstetrician under either the Pro-choice or Pro-life category.

•  I pray for the day that pre-natal testing is done for the purpose of saving lives rather than destroying lives and then later marveling at the wonders of medical technology to “find out in time.”   

•  I pray for the day that obstetricians present true options to a mother upon receiving an “incompatible with life” diagnosis.  Don’t lead me down a scripted flowchart of “if this … then that … therefore terminate conclusion.”  Humor me with “what-if”    scenarios.  I’ll be more than happy to select from option A, B or C and sign off on the appropriate disclaimer documentation that will keep you out of malpractice court. 

•  I pray for the day that the medical community realigns its efforts from “eliminating” the problem to “solving” the problem.

•  I pray for the day that the medical community focuses not on statistically measuring not how many lives were lost due to chromosomal abnormalities but rather on measuring how many lives can be saved from chromosomal abnormalities.  (Is the glass half empty or is the glass half full?)

•  I pray for the day that allowing an “incompatible with life” diagnosis to proceed through its natural course would be seen as an opportunity for study towards a solution.  Analysis can’t be undertaken without subject material.

•  I pray for the day that the disposition of a terminated fetus be given the dignity of a proper disposition and not be disposed of as part of “medical waste.”

•  I pray for the day that obstetricians present the psychological risk factors of terminating a pregnancy.  If I had known then that the grief of having killed my baby would outweigh the grief of a natural loss, I would like to think that I could have chosen differently.  Given the current state of obstetrics, I don’t know if I could honestly say that.   

Next Day for those who aborted because of an adverse diagnosis

  

The Gift of Poverty

There is one thing I know for sure. You cannot do this work without being under attack much of the time. I guess it is the same with any work where souls are involved. Healing of one soul often leads to a domino effect where countless souls return to God. Something I am sure Satan does not like.

I am not going to lie, it is very difficult sometimes, and when I am in the midst of an attack coming from every side, it can become hard to hold on. Like Peter in the storm, I begin to panic and start to sink. A sure sign I have taken my eyes off of Him.  I have been there enough times to know I just need to ride it out, to stay faithful,in spite of what I am feeling,  but in the middle of the storm my emotions often take over and instead of “being still” I often bounce around. Thank God, like with Peter he comes to save me "of such little faith".

I have begun a new prayer. A prayer of gratitude for my poverty in all its forms. In money, in material possessions, in support, in hiddeness,all of our poverty. Satan uses that poverty to try to get me to believe the work is not blessed, but I have come to see, that in fact, it is the complete opposite.

In spite of how small we are, hundreds of women, men and siblings are aided in their healing every year. Our workshops and talks, web site etc, reach tens of thousands, but mostly, the truth is, I do not really know how many He touches, and, it is not my business. I do not need to know. All I need is to keep focused on doing His will for me day by day.

Still, the devil  knows how to push our buttons and I must admit there are times when it is hard to hear of organizations bringing in millions, or those who have a ton of support, yet, He is teaching me, my poverty is a gift from Him. A huge gift.

Recently, I have begun a new daily prayer of gratitude for this poverty, (even if I am not “feeling “grateful). A gift  of poverty that constantly teaches me, all that matters is that I do His will because in the end, as Mother Theresa said, it is only about me & Him.

A gift that keeps me aware of my dependence on Him daily, in everything,  knowing that perhaps if not, I would think it was me!

A gift that teaches me to empty myself so that He can act.  A gift that hides me from many of the things I am sure would be displeasing to Him because it keeps my “self” in check.  A gift that keep me knowing that without Him I can do nothing. A gift that keeps me on the floor in the bathroom the day of my healing years ago where His mercy touched me…the place no one can take from me and where He joined me to Him forever. A gift of watching lives heal and return to Him to find joy again.

A gift that reminds me of what Saint Claude de la Colombiere said in this prayer:

Lord, I am in this world to show Your mercy to others.
Other people will glorify You
by making visible the power of Your grace
by their fidelity and constancy to You.
For my part I will glorify You
by making known how good You are to sinners,
that Your mercy is boundless
and that no sinner no matter how great his offences
should have reason to despair of pardon.
If I have grievously offended You, My Redeemer,
let me not offend You even more
by thinking that You are not kind enough to pardon Me.

Amen.

Thank you Lord for the gift of poverty in all its forms. Help me to cling to you daily and to keep my eyes on you every second of my life. Protect me from the enemy and from myself. Lord, I know that you love me, help me to manifest that love and mercy to others so that they too can come to know You in their poverty.

Upcoming Entering Canaan Retreats

WOMEN
Brighton, MI
May 18, 2019
Contact: Eileen Craig


Call or text: 517-798-9070

Nashville, TN
May 18, 2019
August 3, 2019
September 27th & 28th (Overnight retreat)
www.hopeandhealingnashville.com
615 415 2550
[email protected]

Days of Prayer & Healing
Contact: Sisters of Life
May 25, 2019
Phone: 866-575-0075
Email: [email protected]

Baton Rouge, LA
June 1, 2019
October 19, 2019
Contact: Danielle Van Haute
225-325-3459
[email protected]

Brooklyn, New York
Day of Prayer & Healing
June 22, 2019
Phone: 877-586-4621
Email: [email protected]

Bridgeport, CT
Contact: Maureen Ciardiello
June 29, 2019
Phone: 203-416-1445
Email: [email protected]

MEN
Paterson, New Jersey
July 13, 2019
Day of Prayer & Healing for Men
Hosted by The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal
For more information or confidential reservations call Lumina 877 586 4621

SIBLING
Stirling, New Jersey
August 16-18, 2019
Phone: 877-586-4621
Email: [email protected]

Oh no - It's coming...Mothers Day

Now, if you are post abortive that title probably made you cringe. The day is approaching and most likely, you have already been thinking about it for weeks. The cards are out and the Mother’s Day gifts are on the store shelves. There is no escaping it.

For me, this day used to be torture. I can remember one in particular were I spent the day walking around with my two young sons in a stroller crying, trying to stay away from all that would remind me of my child that was not there.

Years later at church, it really got to me…”All Mothers stand up for a blessing”…I remember being mortified. How can I receive a blessing after what I had done? I don’t deserve one, and yet, if I don’t stand up they may figure out that I aborted a baby, or, as someone I know who is post abortive has no children said to me, “I remember feeling badly about having to sit down”. No matter what the circumstances, there is no denying  the pain.

Of course, no one who knows about the abortion mentions it. You are left to think you are the only one remembering. As with many other days you try to go on with a semblance of normalcy, but inside your heart is breaking. That is why years later at the Entering Canaan ministry,  I decided to meet it head on.

At that time I was still working with the Sisters of Life in the women's ministry in New York. For our monthly “Gathering” (post abortion group), we decided to buy each women a white rose with a tag attached that said “Happy Mothers Day Mom…I miss you, see you in heaven”.

The Sisters were understandably nervous…was I sure this was ok? Aren’t we bringing up the pain? “No” I assured them…the pain is already there…we are only acknowledging it and giving them permission to express it.

One by one the women entered and received their rose. Not one woman was sorry to get it. In fact, it was beautiful.  Amid tears, and prayers, and yes, even smiles, each expressed the meaning to them. Their children were real, and so was their motherhood.

We may not be able to hold the physical bodies of our children on earth, but we hold the spiritual and emotional ties deep in our hearts. By acknowledging our motherhood we acknowledge our love for them making them part of our family, separated by space but joined forever by grace and love.

Happy Mother’s Day! – Theresa