Communist country

This is a street sign that says "Resistance/opposition to fascism street". I am all for resisting fascism, but every street, park, square, etc. in the new town we're living in is named after something related to the 25th of April Portuguese revolution, revolutionaries or communism in general. It's a little much. Apparently we are now living in communist country, which for a God-fearing, proud-to-be an American like me, is a little scary.

Portugal is classified as around 97% Catholic from statistics, but most people agree that it's really just numbers on a paper. Because although many people are baptized and married by the Church (and that keeps dwindling), most are non-practicing or "tolerant", but don't really identify with (or know) what the Church teaches. Which isn't communism.

Anyway, I'm just going to sit tight and try my best to be kind to communists, like our ol' Pope Francis here.

Family picnic

We had a rough/busy weekend and couple of days. We went to a wedding up north, which included five-hour drives with a baby who hates the car and my in-laws... five people jam-packed into a five-person sports car.

Luckily, we were able to restart our family nights on Tuesdays and had our first picnic in our new neighborhood. We found a great grassy área near the river...until the sprinklers turned on. Then we found a nice table... until we realized it was under a tree full of wasps and bumble bees. Finally, we ended up on these little benches right next to the river. And we all finally had a good night of sleep.

Our Lady of the mess

This was a birthday present I got from my thoughtful hubby that we had seen in the store together and I had fallen in love with. It was made by those nuns I talked about in my last post, Monjas de Belém. They make beautiful artwork and their site is here.

This one is Our Lady Housekeeper. We gave her a prominent place at our entryway but things are a little messy right now at our new house. The good thing is, I don't think Our Lady minds. I really do think she used to buy/make bread, carry water and take care of baby Jesus kind of like I do with Addie... in a much holier, peaceful and joyful way of course. But maybe she didn't mind messes. Maybe she was more a Mary than a Martha.

I hope to get my house in order soon, but it's taking its time. It always seems I'm one step behind the game. Always waiting on something. So I'm trying to enjoy myself and my little family despite the things to hang up strewn all over the floor, the wrong shelves I bought for our prayer corner and am waiting to return, the showers missing shower rods and curtains, etc.

The move across the river

(Adelaide enjoying the view of the river Tejo)

We moved! It was an ordeal, but we made it. We still haven't hung up essential things like towel racks and toilet seats, or gone grocery shopping, but we love our new house. It's calmer (you can hear the birds), there are parks and lots of good things walking distance and the house is starting to feel like a home. The downside is that it's far from Lisbon (40 min by car) and there is a river between us and Lisbon.

Yesterday we went to mass at the monjas de Belém, a monastery about an hour away. There are cloistered nuns there that really inspired us and helped us see what is important. Even though their monastery is under construction and they are living in hot and bad conditions, in the middle of NOWHERE, they are beaming with joy. They smile and sing beautiful music. We talked to one sister who never complained once, even though through our questions we understood they are not self-sufficient yet and barely have enough to eat. She said, "Our goal is to be able to be self-sufficient but for now it's good to depend solely on divine providence".

Put things into perspective for us. We who were complaining about not having things hung up yet in our comfy, spacious apartment with lots of grocery stores nearby.

The most difficult prayer

Things have been rough these past few weeks. We will be moving house soon, my husband is moving jobs, I have been discerning about my own job and I hit a car yesterday... a parked car. In front of an entire coffee shop of people watching. This is just to emphasize the enormous factor of embarrassment involved.

 

I've gotten really upset/angry/sulky/antisocial/a range of emotions, but my husband's calmness and patience never ceases to amaze me. Is it because I'm a woman or because I'm spoiled? I'm not sure. And Addie's joy for life and mobility never ceases to make me smile even if I don't feel like it. She is a dancing, baby-talking, pigeon-chasing, crowd-pleasing cutie. I think she's destined for the spotlight.

 

But mainly I am realizing that the most difficult prayer of all is not my will but Yours be done. Ouch.