Perfect Moment Monday: Weekend of Firsts

This past weekend was filled with perfect moments including some very special “firsts” for me, my family and some of our neighborhood friends.

As I shared about briefly in my last post, on Saturday I got to help out with the First Communion Mass at our parish for the first time as a catechist, after my first year of teaching 2nd grade religious education (RE). As a Eucharistic Minister, I got to give First Communion to many children, including some of the students in my RE class and one that I have known since she was just 6 months old. It was a beautiful experience to be a part of (with many perfect moments). I had a wonderful time teaching RE this year and I am so happy for and proud of my students, and all the children at our parish and other parishes, who made their First Communions this weekend. I hope and pray that God will continue to bless them and their families during this very special time on their faith journeys and throughout their lives. It was also nice to be able to get a glimpse of what it will be like for our son and our family when he makes his First Communion next year.

On Sunday, in addition to having a wonderful Mother’s Day with my own children and family, I got to celebrate my sister and her daughter’s first Mother’s Day together. I couldn’t be happier for my sister, her husband and their daughter! My sister and her husband first learned about a possible adoption match with their baby girl just days after Mother’s Day last year.

As we approach the first anniversary of their daughter’s “homecoming day” later this month, my sister and our family have reflected some on the weeks that led up to their getting to finally bring their daughter home. It was not an easy journey that led my sister and brother-in-law to their baby girl, now really more of a toddler. However, as with so many difficult and uncertain times in our lives, I know that everything they went through along the way was more than worth it once their daughter was able to join their family.

Yesterday I also got to participate in our neighborhood’s 12th Annual Beverly Breast Cancer Walk, that I talked about in this post, for the 5th time. As always, it was a very moving experience for me (including too many perfect moments to capture here), as I think it is for all those who chose to start their Mother’s Days bright and early walking in honor of all those whose lives have been touched by breast cancer.

Pictured above are me, my mom holding my daughter, and my sister holding her daughter at one of our brief pit stops during the walk. The photo (which I just love) was taken by my niece/Goddaughter’s daddy/my brother-in-law when we stopped to visit with them along the route of the walk. My husband and my brother-in-law had brought our kids out to cheer for us, along with other walkers, and it was awesome to get to see them along the way.

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Lori from Write Mind Open Heart says that “Perfect Moment Monday is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between.” I love the idea of being mindful of and blogging about perfect moments. I know historically I have used my blog more to write about things I am struggling with and though I know that is valid and important for me at times, I appreciate the idea of being intentional about also sharing the simple and very special moments in our lives. Many thanks to Lori for this idea, a wonderful opportunity to focus on what is right in our life, instead of what is wrong.

Click here to read about and comment on more Perfect Moments (there are links to others’ posts at the bottom of Lori’s blog entry) this Monday and/or add a link to one of your own.

I hope that you have a wonderful week and that you are aware of, as well as able to notice, many perfect moments in your own lives.