It is definitely the nature of the beast that spring weekends seem to be really busy. This one was no exception, we were busy for most of it. But it was a nice, rewarding kind of busy. I already wrote that on Saturday 2 of my daughters participated in opening day for softball in our community. In addition to that, my son also had a game at 2:00 and then 2 of my children were scheduled to be altar servers at the 5:00 Mass so my husband took them to that. Then on Sunday, one of my other kids was scheduled to sing at the 11:00 Mass on Sunday which was also First Communion for our church. So the fact that 3 out of 4 of my children served the church made it pretty rewarding for me. But actually it gets even better. My oldest daughter was already planning to go to 11:00 Mass but then my other daughter decided that since one of her friends was going to be at First Communion that she would also come to church even though she already went (and served) Saturday night. Well, when we got there, there was no one serving so they got pressed into service by the lector. When the Deacon realized that it was the same kid that had served the night before, he told her, "God loves you!!" When I thanked my girls, they told me that they didn't do it for me. They are so fresh sometimes but that's okay because I didn't care if it was for me or not as long as they did it graciously, which I am happy to say that they did.
I also got into the serving the church action. Like a lot of churches, my church does not allow photography during some sacraments because they want to respect the sanctity of the sacrament. So they came up with a compromise of sorts and that's where I come in. For the last several years, the Religious Education Director and I have taken pictures during the ceremony and afterwards we put them on Shutterfly so that they are available to everyone. I think that this works well for everyone because we are given access that would be impossible to grant to everyone in the church and it allows everyone else to sit back and enjoy the ceremony knowing that pictures are being taken (hopefully good ones!). So if you are keeping count that's 5 out of 6 Jolleys helping out the church this weekend at 2 out of 3 Masses!!
Since one of my good friend's daughter made her First Communion, I asked for and received permission to put her pictures on this blog. Isn't she just stunning?
Since one of my good friend's daughter made her First Communion, I asked for and received permission to put her pictures on this blog. Isn't she just stunning?
