Excited to be "Unplugged"

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.” 1 John 2:15-16

Prior to moving to Connecticut, we sold quite a few of our belongings. In addition to not wanting to move everything we owned 2,000 miles away, we also knew that our new apartment was only 750 cozy square feet – about 1,250 square feet less than the spacious house we had in Somerville, Tennessee. It wasn’t until we started selling a lot of our possessions that we began to realize the value of simplifying, not to mention the added benefit of making some much needed cash for the move.

One of the things we coveted most was our television – and we didn’t have just one in the house, we had four!! Prior to the move, we decided to sell ALL of our televisions with the plan of getting a new, flat-screen HDTV. We figured we deserved something new and, after all, they are pretty to look at. But, the finances didn’t go as planned once we moved and after a meeting with the “ways and means committee” (a combination of Quicken and our Excel budget spreadsheet), we decided to nix the new television plans until after the new year and watch television through our computer in the meantime. And we did. The computer was hooked up to cable box and it worked like a charm!

The funny thing about feeling “called” to be somewhere is that you also need to abandon yourself to God completely or you will miss your purpose. But with so many distractions in our lives these days it can be very hard to hear Him. After a thorough evaluation, we realized that one of our biggest distractions and consumers of time was our television and a quick call to the cable company solved the problem.

So far the decision has been freeing, similar to the way we felt when we sold some of our belongings prior to the move. Television can be a form of bondage, and for us it was. Our free hours were once spent mindlessly in front of the TV. Now we can read, study God’s word, or even better, spend more time in prayer. So yeah, you could say that we are excited to now be “unplugged.”

While I'm Waiting

“There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.” 1 Samuel 2:2

I’m tired, moody, and cranky – and, until yesterday afternoon, I didn't realize why. November 2, 2005 is a day I’ll never forget; that’s the day we found out that God had blessed us with a miracle. That was the day we found out that I was pregnant. And it didn’t dawn on me until yesterday that we were coming up on that three year anniversary.

Time and time again, people ask us how we do it – how do we continue to face each new day after something as traumatic as losing a child? The answer is simple – we trust God. We trust God in the plan that He has for us. We trust that through Gus’s death, God was glorified. We trust that God will give us the children He wants us to have. This is how we deal with the pain; this is how we push forward. It's not easy though. We aren’t perfect and many times I feel lost, disappointed, and let down by God. But it is in these weak moments that God continues to remind me of His promise and love for us. In a way, He gives us our mini-rainbows. So, it wasn’t a surprise that when I saw the movie “Fireproof” this past Saturday that God gave me another reminder to patiently accept the life He has given me through the form of the song , “While I’m Waiting” by John Waller:

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait

I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve you while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord

Several months after losing Gus my father reminded me off my name and my biblical namesakes. No intention by my parents I’m sure, but I am named after the two most well known barren women of the bible, Sarah and Elizabeth. Both of those women waited a long time for God to answer their prayers so I, too, will wait. I’m still working on the patience part, but I have absolute confidence that God is bigger than any trial, sorrow, or pain that I face and He won’t let me face ANYTHING alone. I love Him completely and I know that He hasn’t forgotten, nor will he ever forget about me. Faithfully I will wait, yes, I will wait.

~Sarah E. Rose~

Wordless Wednesdays

Fireproof

Last night we went out with another church group to see the new movie “Fireproof.” The movie, filmed in Albany Georgia, was the brainchild of Sherwood Baptist Church. Kirk Cameron, a teenage heartthrob from our younger years, played the main character, Fireman Caleb Holt. The movie was released to movie theaters on September 26, 2008 and, costing only $500,000 to make, has already grossed over $20 million!

The story is about a young couple who have been married for seven years and their broken marriage which is on the brink of divorce. Cameron’s character is challenged by his father to commit to a 40-day experiment: “The Love Dare.” He first starts out the experiment half-heartedly, only doing the minimum to get by. After receiving no response from his wife, he grows frustrated and asks his father, “How am I supposed to show love to somebody who constantly rejects me?” It is then that he realizes what his marriage is missing – Christ. He makes a life changing commitment to God, and with God’s help, begins to understand what it truly means to love his wife. After many selfless acts, he is able to convince his wife of his love for her and draws her closer to God through his example of selfless love.

The movie is based on the old firefighter's adage, “Never leave your partner behind” and the production was so committed to this message that Kirk Cameron’s wife was actually flown in for the final scene so he could kiss his real wife instead of the actress playing his screen wife!

We were so moved by this movie that we’ve decided to take “The Love Dare” ourselves. We encourage everyone to see this powerful, life-changing movie. One of our favorite quotes (listed in the column on the right) is by St. Ignatius Loyola, “Few souls understand what God would accomplish in them if they were to abandon themselves unreservedly to Him and if they were to allow His grace to mold them accordingly.” Imagine what He would do for your marriage if you only invited Him in!!!!!

New Hampshire Victory Rally - Meeting SARAH PALIN!!!

I just arrived home from the New Hampshire Victory Rally with Sarah Palin and I am PUMPED!!!!

I started my morning at the Connecticut GOP Headquarters in South Hartford. From there I joined about 30 other Connecticut Republicans and boarded a bus headed for Salem, New Hampshire. We arrived around 2:00pm and quickly got to work on the phones making calls to registered Republican voters to remind them to get out and vote. The local campaign office provided us with cell phones and scripts, and I must say we were pretty efficient at it; our small group made over 2,000 calls during our two hours there. Then, we boarded our bus and headed over to the high school to get in line for the rally. There were so MANY people and I was relieved to see only a small handful of protestors. We had to go through Secret Service to get into the event through a process similar to airport security. From there I spent the rest of the night standing in front of the stage. Sarah was absolutely beautiful and charming as always. She brought the “First Dude” Todd out with her and he sat behind her the whole time smiling and looking at her with the most supportive and loving eyes. After she spoke, she took time out for some autographs and I am excited to say that I was able to get her autograph on her September 15, 2008 Newsweek cover!!!

It was a very exciting day for me and I’m glad I made the decision to go and be a part of this historical election. Don’t forget to get out and vote McCain/Palin on Tuesday, November 4th!!!!!

~Sarah E. Rose~

Wordless Wednesdays

40 Days for Life Eucharistic Adoration

Praised be Jesus Christ!

This morning, after the 8:00am daily mass, our parish started a 24-hour Eucharistic Adoration as part of the 40 Days for Life campaign. The youth group was asked to lead a directed hour of adoration from 7:00pm – 8:00pm; we started off by singing Remnant Band’s version of the Divine Mercy Chaplet, then read Psalm 57, then entered a 20-minute period of silence, followed by singing the song “Breathe.” The service was absolutely beautiful – the spirit was present, God was watching, and Christ was with us. One of the most amazing parts of our Catholic faith is the Eucharist and how more glorious of a way to celebrate that than through Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament!?!

We post a lot of different things here – what we do, pictures for our family and friends, our personal travels, and outings with the youth group – but we’d be remiss if we never spoke of the most important thing in our lives. It’s in our title, “Called to Connecticut.” It’s why we are here. It’s why we are called to youth ministry. It’s what we experienced tonight. Immanuel. God with us.

Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever more!

Thematic Photographic

Another blogger, Carmi, at the blog Written, Inc. posts a regular weekly thematic photographic project. This week’s project was “grounded.” I knew right away when I read this assignment that I wanted to post a picture of the fall leaves in our front yard. We were busy this weekend so I decided that when we got home from our outings that I would capture the leaves with my camera. I should’ve known that my landlord, who is also my green-thumb father, wouldn’t allow the leaves to litter his yard for very long and while we were away cleaned up the yard and discarded my photographic canvas! I was off of work today for Columbus Day and should’ve realized sooner that New England in all of her fall glory would not allow me to be disappointed for long – by this afternoon I had another beautiful canvas to work with and this time dear ol' dad was away on a business trip!

A couple more entries I have for this project are my favorite shoes which I would say see nothing but the ground…

And my favorite little fury munchkin, who is very close to the ground with his low back and short legs...

~Sarah E. Rose~

Another American Revolution History Lesson

The Bristol Historical Society hosted a “Walk and Talk” tour of a Revolutionary War Cemetery on Downs Street that was just down the road from our apartment. Re-enactment enthusiast, Tom Angels, was there in traditional period garb and gave us a brief lecture on the life of a soldier from the Fifth Connecticut Regiment during the American Revolution. Since moving to New England, it has been refreshing to see and learn about the Revolutionary War; growing up in the South, the only historical war ever talked about and re-enacted was the Civil War.

During today’s history lesson, we were able to view some of the clothing, tools, and weapons used by the men during the late 1700s. Justin was especially interested in the Bayonet, Musket, and Mortar – you could say that he got a live dose of the History and Military Channels combined!!!

In addition to this fun and educational outing, we also had the opportunity to visit with some of Sarah’s family for lunch. Two of Sarah’s dad’s cousins were passing through the area while on vacation together with their spouses. It was a nice surprise and a brief reunion for this group of Todhunters. Once again, another beautiful afternoon for the Roses in their new home in Connecticut!

Coastal Daytrip

It has been a while since we’ve had a daytrip excursion and around noon today we decided it was too beautiful to stay at home so we hopped in the car and headed to the coast. One of the benefits of living in central Connecticut is that you are no more than an hour or so to almost any location in the state.

Sarah has wanted to visit Fort Trumbull ever since she read about the state park in a visitor’s guide to Connecticut. After finding out on the internet that the park closes for the season after Columbus Day, we knew this was the weekend to go.

Fort Trumbull is about an hour from Bristol in the coastal, naval community of New London. The original site consisted of a simple earthen mound fort that was used in conjunction with Fort Griswold to protect the Thames River from British invasion during the Revolutionary War in the late 1700s. However, the forts were both overrun and taken by British troops under the command of Benedict Arnold in September 1781 when the British raided and burned the town of New London. New London was rebuilt, and at the turn of the century, was one of the largest ports of commerce in the colonies. The fort as we see it today was built from 1839 – 1852 and is one of a group of 42 forts which were constructed for the defense of the coast of the United States. This group of forts is called the Third System of Fortifications. The fort has been used as a maritime center for the United States up until the early 1990s housing such notables as the first Coast Guard Training Academy and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center which was instrumental in developing the sonar technology used to defend naval ships against the U-Boats of World War II.

After getting our history lesson for the day, we then headed west to Old Saybrook and enjoyed a seafood dinner at the Saybrook Point Dock and Dine. We watched the moon come up over the colorful horizon and then traveled further west to Branford – Justin’s favorite Connecticut coastal community. By the time we reached Branford, the sun had already set and the moon was well above the water. Justin drove us through some of the beautiful coastal neighborhoods where we watched the waves and moonlit waters of the Long Island Sound. We couldn’t have planned for a more picturesque end to our day!

Wordless Wednesdays

2008 Youth Spectacular

Yesterday we had our first outing with the youth group at our new parish, Our Lady of Mercy. The annual Archdiocesan “Youth Spectacular” event was held at Holiday Hill in Cheshire Connecticut. We were only able to take three youth as many of our youth already had other plans or an SAT exam scheduled. However, the day was still packed with fun, faith, food, and fellowship and it gave us a chance to mingle with hundreds of other youth and their youth ministers here in Connecticut.

Acts 1:8: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to all the ends of the earth."

Wordless Wednesdays