The Spirit is Leading Us Part II

In April 2009, we had our third son, John Paul.  Even though I was a little nervous about being branded the "Pope worshippers", we did name him after Blessed John Paul II.  As a protestant I had greatly admired JPII.  There was a definite curiosity there.  After I became Catholic (5 years after I was married), I knew I would someday work in the pro-life ministry of the Church.  JPII was big on the pro-life issue.  He has many great quotes on the topic.  As I was pregnant with my third child, I knew my time to join the movement was imminent.  Why not name our son after the only Pope I ever knew, and one who was so outspoken on the right to life issue?  We named him John Paul and of course our priest immediately said to me, "You know, people will call him JP."  I said, "Not if I can help it!"

Six weeks after his birth, in June 2009, my husband went to a men's retreat at Franciscan University in Steubenville, OH.  He met Danny Abramowitz, former professional football player and coach, and one of the "team" on EWTN's "Crossing the Goal" tv program.  They hit it off and spoke of one day starting a Catholic Men's Conference in our Archdiocese - we have never had one before.  To make a long story short, plans were laid out, meetings were arranged with one of our bishops, many meetings were made with the men's ministry of our parish, and two years later (March 2011) the First Annual Archdiocese of Miami Catholic Men's Conference went off without a hitch.  There were approximately 500 men in attendance - from numerous counties here in Florida.  The "Crossing the Goal" team were the speakers and Archbishop Wenski presided over the concluding mass.  It was apparently a beautiful day!

After the retreat in 2009, my husband made it his mission to bring Dr. Scott Hahn to our small parish.  Dr. Hahn arrived in March 2010 to a packed church.  Many people heard he was coming and came over from other parishes - as well as dioceses.  It was a great day for our parish.  Many eyes were opened that day to the beauty within the Catholic Church...told only the way Dr. Hahn can.  And you know, since I too can read Greek and Latin, he and I see eye to eye on all the biblical translations (no, just kidding...who reads Greek and Latin?).  But like Dr. Hahn, I am a convert as well, and I love his and his wife's story of conversion.  Dr. Hahn's presence helped to ignite the flame in starting the men's conference. 

In June 2010, my husband once again went to the men's retreat in Steubenville.  He was nervous about leaving me with three boys - one of them being a one year old.  I told him to go and not worry about it.  For some reason, I honestly cannot explain why, I decided to take a pregnancy test.  After having John Paul, we had decided to practice natural family planning.  It was new to us and we thought we would have time to read up on it and figure it all out.  It was okay though if something unplanned happened...we were open to life.  After having our first son, we had a miscarriage, and then apparently became infertile.  After nine and a half years, I gave birth to our second son.  I suffered another miscarriage in hopes that our second son could have a sibling closer in age, and then I became pregnant with John Paul.  You have to understand that I tormented myself all those years over yearning for a daughter and then feeling guilty about feeling that way.  I even used to think God was punishing me (I know God is not a punishing God) during my infertile period because I wanted things my way.  In June 2010, my husband was on retreat, I took the pregnancy test, and it was positive.  Was this my daughter?  I actually didn't want to know.  I had left this all in God's hands, and He was sending us another child.  I felt blessed beyond words.