When blossoms flowered 'mid the snows

Upon a winter night,
Was born the Child, the Christmas Rose,
The King of Love and Light.
The angels sang, the shepherds sang,
The grateful earth rejoiced;
And at His blessed birth the stars
Their exultation voiced.

O come let us adore Him,
O come let us adore Him,
O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

(Jen Lang is the mother of nine and a military wife in San Diego. Her husband, Clay, is in the Navy, and recently returned from deployment. She has a blog and a great weekly podcast of practical parenting perspectives at MommyofMany.com.) 

Kristen: Tell me about your childhood.
Jen: I was born cradle Catholic, my mother more so than my dad. He lost his dad at 14 and maybe that was when his mom stopped trying to drag five people to church on Sunday. Anyway, my parents had eight girls in a row and then they got their boy!

We all went to CCD and we never missed Mass. When we were real little, she took us to daily Mass. You know, there were some challenges in my family. But no matter what the trials were, the answers my mom gave have truly become mantras of mine as well. “ Give it to God – offer it up!” Oh, I hated it. But here I am sharing it with my kids in my own way.

My kids come and complain to me and I say, “Is there something good that you can think of that God gave you that makes it easier?” That stems from that gift of faith from my mom. The things we say over and over again, I think they get in there. 

So, the idea that I had hammered into my head as a kid was that God is always with us always watching us (laughs) and we could rely on Him. I would add that parents might fail at times but that God will make it good.