Praying The Rosary With Special Needs Kids

This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart, because I have a child who has special needs. He was born 15 weeks premature and spent the first year of his life in the hospital NICU. He developed Cerebral Palsy and became deaf during that time and has been in a wheelchair all his life and speaks with sign language.

I did not come home to the Catholic Church until my kids were 14 and 12, I was raised and raised my kids for the biggest part of their lives in the Baptist Church. So they were raised praying The Lord's Prayer and the dinner blessing and that was pretty much it. So when I started praying The Rosary it was something very new to them, my daughter would fight tooth and nail with me, and seeing as how she was older my husband told me not to try and force her to pray it, so I did not push it. My son on the other hand has always had an interest in praying with me, and I love it. I spoke with my parish Priest about it, seeing as how he could not hear what was being said and his sign language was limited, and he told me that it did not matter if he could not understand what was being said, he had the understanding that he was praying to God and that was all that mattered. He said that the Lord knew what was in his mind and heart and that He communicated with him in a way that he would understand.

So everyday when I pray The Rosary he goes and gets his beads out of his desk drawer and comes beside me and we pray the International Rosary on EWTN, I do that because it has different pictures and keeps his interest. I just love it when I see him make the Sign of the Cross, it just touches my heart so much. My Priest told me that God had gifted me with that special boy, and God does not make mistakes. He also said that he had no doubt that God was helping my son understand what he was doing. So if you have a special needs child no matter what the diagnosis I encourage you to allow them to pray when you do. You may not think that they are benefiting from it, but God knows their hearts, and if they show an interest you have to assume that He is making sure that they get what He wants them to get out of it.

A Catholic Among Protestants

I want to say before I start my column that I mean no disrespect to anyone, or any church denomination, I am writing about my personal experience here. There are many great churches out there, and I have had the pleasure of visiting several different denominations before I came home to the Catholic Church. But after experiencing the true teachings of the Catholic Church, I can see where many protestant denominations are wrong, and the sad thing is that they are not aware that the messages that they are preaching are filled with half truths and flat out lies.

As you can guess from the title, I am the only Catholic in a large area of Protestants, and this is a point that really stands out. You walk into one of their homes and you will see a King James Version Bible sitting on the coffee table, and maybe a picture of Jesus or a Cross on the wall. But if you step into my home you will see a Crucifix in every room, a statue of the Blessed Mother, pictures of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and several pictures of different Saints hanging on the wall. You will also see a set of Rosary beads placed in every room of the house, and a Catholic Catechism laying next to my Bible on the Coffee table, oh yes and we can’t forget the bottles of Holy Water stationed at different parts of the house as well. If you look at me, you will see at all times that I am wearing a brown Scapular, a Miraculous Medal and a Crucifix around my neck, and you can be sure that I don’t leave my house without a set of Rosary beads and a bottle of Holy Water in my purse. These are all things that bring me comfort, they distinguish me as a Catholic Christian, and I am proud to display them, but because I choose to do so, I am what you would call the black sheep of the area.

I was raised a Freewill Baptist, was married in the Baptist church, and raised my kids for the first part of their lives in the Baptist church, it was all that I knew. As I grew older different events started happening in my life that would lead me away from the Baptist church and home to the Catholic Church. And it would be these same events that would start the process of turning people that I care about deeply against me. My extended family on both my mother and fathers side were raised in the Baptist faith, and my husband’s family was raised Pentecostal, and this was something and still is something that they are very passionate about, so for me to go and join the Catholic Church well in their eyes that was like the unpardonable sin. I have friends and family to this day that will tell me that they love me, and that they hope and pray that I will come to my senses and rejoin the Protestant faith before it is too late for me. I kindly nod my head and say thank you, we can all use prayers, and let it go at that, but you know it is very hard on me at times.

A while back all of the tension started getting to me so bad, that I tried to give in to it and I told my husband that I would just return to the Baptist Church that I had grown up in so that everyone would be happy and stop using me as their discussion piece. I contacted the Pastor of the church, a man that I have known all my life and told him that I would like to return to the church and he said something to me that shocked me so much that I did not know what to think or say at the time. He told me that before I could come back to the church and take membership I would have to stand before the deacons and trustees and he himself and ask them if it was ok, and see if they thought that since I was a member of the Catholic Church that I could be a Baptist again. At first after the shock wore off I became very angry, but then as I prayed about it, I started to come to the realization that maybe God was using this to show me that I am were I truly need to be, where He wanted me to be, and to try and leave the church would be going against His will for me. I contacted the minister back and said that I had changed my mind and that I was no longer interested in returning and went back to the Catholic Church with a renewed since of where I was meant to be.

It is still very hard on me at times, especially when I will see a member of my former church in the super market, or walking down the side walk and rather than passing me, they will turn and walk the other way to avoid me. These same people that once hugged my neck will now pretend like I no longer exist, and it is those times that I begin to feel that loneliness again, but it is also during those times that I fall on my knees and pray and ask God to help me through this hard time and make me stronger so that I can deal with situations like this, and you know He has never let me down. Being the only Catholic living around allot of Protestants can be hard at times to bare, but you know it is during times like that I am so thankful that I am in the Catholic Church, because you never have to worry about the Catholic Church turning its back on you, it will always be there for whatever you need, it is the Catholic Church that helps me not to mind being the only Catholic Among Protestants.

My Journey Home To Rome

My conversion story is anything but typical, and in it's original form is quite long, but I am going to explain it the best I can in the amount of words that I am allowed. To start off let me introduce myself to you, my name is Annie Chester and I live in a small town in Eastern West Virginia, with my husband, two kids and 4 dogs. I grew up, married and raised my kids the biggest part of their lives in a small Freewill Baptist Church just down the road from my home, it was all that I knew, my life revolved around the Church. I pictured myself staying in that small Church for the rest of my life, but God had a different plan for me and it would take a very long journey for me to discover what that plan was.

This journey began when my son was hospitalized for 4 months at Children's Hospital in Columbus Ohio, it was there that I would meet someone that would end up having a profound impact on my Spiritual life. Seeing as how I was about 4 hours away from my home, there was no way that I could attend my home Church, and I was missing it so much that one day I took my son for a walk around the hospital and ended up going and sitting in the hospital chapel for a few minutes. As we were preparing to leave and return to his room, we met a Catholic hospital Chaplin who came and introduced himself and started talking. He ask about my son, and then proceeded to invite us to attend Mass that they held in the chapel. Now being completely ignorant of Catholic beliefs, and coming from a Church that really did not speak well of Catholics, I simply replied thanks, but I can't, I am a Baptist.

The Father smiled and said, "Well, I have never been to Heaven, but I don't think that there are gates that say Baptist enter here, and Catholics enter over there." Well needless to say, after that, I was rather embarrassed and thanked and told him that I would think about it. Finally Sunday rolled around and I thought to myself why not go and check it out, I mean if they do something really strange,I can always leave. So I cleaned up and took my son, along with his IV pole, and we headed down to the chapel where I was going to experience my first Catholic Mass. Once the service was over, the Father walked over to me and asked what I thought, and I could not contain my excitement at what I had witnessed, I told him that it was nothing like I pictured in my head, here I was a devout Freewill Baptist attending a Catholic Mass, I knew if word of this got back to my home church, that the members would be disappointed, so I figured I would just keep it between the Priest and myself. A few days later, I ran into the Father again and he told me that he had some literature that he wanted to give me, and I gladly accepted it, we spoke and then I went on my way. Once back to the room however, I dove into what he had given me and started reading.

The more I read, the more I wanted to learn, and so I went and hunted the Father down, and asked him for more information. The following Sunday rolled around and, believe it or not, there we were back for another Mass. This same cycle went on weekly til my son was released from the hospital and we went back home. Sunday rolled around and it was time for me to head back to my home Church, even though I was so happy to be back and see all my friends and church family, I still felt so out of place. I missed the music, the prayers, the sitting, kneeling and standing that I grown use to, but I figured with time, things would feel right again;But they didn't. Every Sunday I was going through all the motions, but my heart wasn't truly in it anymore.

I explained how I was feeling to my husband, and he who told me that maybe, just maybe, God was trying to tell me something. Maybe it was time for me to leave my home church and seek out the Catholic Church in my area, and so I did. I wrote a letter to my pastor and one to the church thanking them for allowing me to be a member there, but I felt that God was calling me elsewhere, and then I asked them to remove my name from the membership book. That was one of the hardest things that I have ever had to do, but I was sure that I was following God, and I had to seek this out.

I got the phone book, and searched for the closest Catholic Church to me, and made an appointment to speak with the Parish Priest there. He took me on a tour of the Church and then we sat down and proceeded to talk. I told him where I had come from, I told him about the Father at the hospital and all that he had taught me, and I told him that I was almost positive that I was being lead to the Catholic Church. He then told me that I should start taking RCIA classes so that I could learn more about the Church teachings. This turned out to be about a 2 year event for me, because I was getting so much discouragement from my friends and family, that I would go to a few classes and then I would quit, in trying to make them happy. During the times in between, I visited other denominations in hopes that I would find one that I could agree with that would make everyone happy.

During my search, I visited the Pentecostal, Methodist, Church of Christ, Church of God, Jehovah's Witness, and all sorts of Baptist denominations, nothing felt right. Everything in me was leading me back to Catholic Church. Oh, but I couldn't go there because to all my family and friends had been taught that the Catholic Church was the whore of Babylon as spoken of in Revelations, the Pope was the anti-Christ, and that all Catholics did not worship Jesus, they worshipped Mary. Even though I knew the truth, it still hurt so much at thought of disappointing them. Then my wise husband sat me down and told me that I needed to quit worrying about what other people thought, and I needed to listen to and follow my heart. So after much prayer, I took his advice and made yet another appointment to start taking RCIA classes again.

I am not going to lie, it was hard, I did lose quite a few friends, and several of my family members turned their back on me, but in their heart, they truly felt that they were right and I was wrong. I guess they thought that if they gave me tough love, I would come to my senses and return back to the Baptist faith. I pressed on with my classes, and the following Spring, I came into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. I was so excited, and I knew that I was just where God wanted me to be, and for the first year things were great. But things in the community where I lived and things with my family got worse.

After awhile, all of the tension started getting to me so badly, that I gave into it and told my husband that I would just return to the Baptist Church that I had grown up in,so that everyone would be happy and stop using me as their discussion piece. I contacted the Pastor of the church, a man that I have known all my life, and told him that I would like to return to the church and he said something to me that shocked me so much that I did not know what to think or say at the time. He told me that before I could come back to the church and take membership, I would have to stand before the deacons and trustees and himself and ask them if it was OK, and see if they thought that since I was a member of the Catholic Church, that I could be a Baptist again. At first, after the shock wore off, I became very angry, but then as I prayed about it, I started to come to the realization that maybe God was using this to show me that I am were I truly need to be, where He wanted me to be, and to try and leave the Church would be going against His will for me. I contacted the minister back and said that I had changed my mind and that I was no longer interested in returning, and went back to the Catholic Church with a renewed since of where I was meant to be.

It is still very hard on me at times, especially when I will see a member of my former church in the super market, or walking down the sidewalk and rather than passing me, they will turn and walk the other way to avoid me. These same people that once hugged my neck, will now pretend like I no longer exist, and it is those times that I begin to feel that loneliness again, but it is also during those times that I fall on my knees and pray and ask God to help me through this hard time and make me stronger so that I can deal with situations like this. And you know, He has never let me down. Being the only Catholic living around a lot of Protestants can be hard to bare at times, but you know it is during times like that, I am so thankful that I am in the Catholic Church, because you never have to worry about the Catholic Church turning its back on you, it will always be there for whatever you need.

Do You Defend Your Faith

I am sure that if you live in a large area, or one that is predominately Catholic, then you probably don't run into this problem very much if at all, but if you live in a area like I do, to where you are the only Catholic among a lot of Protestants, then you have probably encountered this on more than one occasion.

I don't know about you, but as for me, I am constantly having to defend my beliefs and my Church, from people who know very little if anything about it, and go on false teachings that they have received from others who know very little, if anything, about the Catholic Church. ArchBishop Fulton Sheen said it best we he said "There are not more than 100 people in the world who truly hate the Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they perceive to be the Catholic Church." And that statement is just as true today, as it was back when he said it.

Some of the basic questions and comments that I receive on an almost daily basis are, don't you know that the Pope is the anti-Christ?, why do you all worship Mary?, You know that the Catholic Church is the whore of Babylon as spoken of in Revelations, You know you are not suppose to call any man Father, etc.... Oh how many times have I had to explain the answers to these same questions, shew if I had a dime for every stupid question that I have been asked, I would be a millionaire. I do have to say though, one good thing about all of these constant questions is that it has made me have to study more about my Church and it's teachings so that I can be ready to defend it in battle.

I grew up in a family of Protestants,Baptist to be exact, and I constantly got to witness how they treated two of my aunts and their families that were Jehovah's Witnesses. The comments that were made, the way that my family would act around them, like they had some kind of deadly virus, all because they believed differently. I now know how they felt, because in essence, I have been treated the same way, and it pains my heart so much to know those kinds of hurt feelings all because they believe something that is a lie, and rather than checking it out for themselves they would rather go on believing those lies.

But it is in those times of battle that I stand firm on my beliefs and my Church, because I know the truths that she holds. Not only do I have a strong Church family here on earth to back me up, but I have all the Saint's in Heaven praying for me when I need it the most, oh how strong they all make me. I can be having such a rough week that I just don't know how much more I can take, and then I go in the presence of the Lord and receive Him into my body and my strength is completely renewed, so that I am ready to fight my battle for another week.

Do You Have Enough Hours In Your Day

In this day and age, life can get so hectic that we just can't seem to get enough hours in the day to get everything that we need done. No matter how hard we try, it always seems like we are letting something or someone down, and that in turn can cause us a large amount of guilt. I am going to give you an example of a day in my life, from the time I awake until the time that I go to bed. Now these things don't always get done in order, but they are things that I have to tackle on a daily basis, and this is something that is an every day thing, there are never any days off.

I wake up and get dressed, change my son and get him dressed (he has cerebral palsy and is deaf and in a wheelchair), make the beds, put on a load of laundry, make breakfast, eat and clean the kitchen, We have 4 dogs in the house, so there are dog pads to change, they have to be fed and watered. I do more laundry, pray my Rosary, answer emails, try to get in a few minutes of writing, do more laundry, change my son if needed, have lunch, clean the bathroom, and family room, think about what I am going to make for dinner, do Bible time, and more laundry, I try to get in a thirty minute nap, cook dinner, eat and do dishes, change my son and get him ready for bed, spend some time with my husband so he does not feel left out, I watch the 11 o'clock news, one last check on emails and Facebook, and then hit the hay, and do it all over again the next day. And then on Sunday's, Wednesday's and Holy Day's go to Mass, and twice a month to the grocery store and pay bills.

The three things that are most important and ones that I make it a point to do each and every day are praying my Rosary, Bible time and the much welcomed nap time. If for some reason I don't get those three things accompoished, then I feel like I have let the entire day down, and when that happened I would always feel so bad and guilty, but then I read a quote from Mother Teresa that changed my entire way of thinking.

I was putting way to much on myself and expecting way to much out of myself. I was setting expectations that were unrealistic and when I did not accomplish everything, then I felt like I was letting God down. But I wasn't, God doesn't expect us to be perfect, all He asks of us is to be faithful and do our best. Now don't get me wrong, that huge list above still has to be done each and every day, but I don't get so stressed out about it anymore. I do the best that I can and I know in my heart that I have pleased the Lord, and in the end that is all that really matters.

My Thoughts On Our Lady Of Fatima

A friend of mine recently ask me what my thoughts on Our Lady Of Fatima were, and it got me to thinking a lot on the subject. I remember when I was first learning about the Catholic Church and hearing all of the wonderful things that people had witnessed in the Church I heard about Our Lady of Fatima. When I first heard about Fatima I remember I was instantly amazed at what the children had witnessed there, and I remember that I believed it right off, I had no doubts in my mind that it truly did happen and I found the account amazing.

As I read about the three children I was almost jealous in a way that it had happened to them, and not to me. Could you imagine seeing Our Lady, listening to Her speak? Oh how wonderfully blessed those kids were, I don't really think they understood at the time what a profound impact that this would have in so many millions of peoples lives. It never fails to amaze me the many different ways that God makes His presence known, and the fact that He uses Our Lady shows how much love He has for His Mother, and it is that love that He has for His Mother, that makes me love Her so very much.

She is my Spiritual Mother and I have often talked to Her just like I did when my mother was alive. She can understand me in a way that noone else can, and to talk with Her gives me such a peace in my heart. At the beginning of April, I am going to be reading yet another book on Our Lady of Fatima, and I am going to be sharing my thoughts on it chapter by chapter on a seperate page on my blog. If you would like,feel free to get the book and read it along with me. The title is Our Lady Of Fatima by William Thomas Walsh.

Righting A Wrong Way Of Thinking

As any of you that have watched the news in the last couple of weeks knows the area in West Virginia that I live in was hit by a total of around two feet of snow within a two week period.

This caused all of the roads to be bad, and when the snow started to melt it caused a huge flood in our area. Many people lost their homes, and everything that they owned it truly was a State of Emergency like the governor declared. I am grateful that our home was spared, and that the only things that were a true threat to us were the slick roads.

In the process of the river rising, because of all the water, it effected our city water plant and caused it to have to shut down, which left us with no water. As I write this we are still without water for 5 days now. Remember now, our home was spared from the flood, our electric managed to stay on throughout the storms, so we had a dry safe, warm home, and for that I am truly grateful. But not having water for the past five days for some reason has bothered me more than it should, and I am ashamed to have to admit that the way that I have reacted to it, is in a way shameful.

There are so many people that have lost so much, everything that they have worked for, gone in a matter of hours. And here I am complaining just because I don't have any water, how embarrassed I truly am. So why are you writing about this on a Catholic site you might ask?

Well I know as Christians we are suppose to have it ingrained in our minds and hearts that God is there and He will take care of us, but we also are human and imperfect people and we have thoughts, and concerns just like everyone else, and yes, even Christians at time can have their periods of doubt, especially in times of great stress. It is hard during times of heartache to see God's hand in something, but no matter how bad things look at the moment, you don't have to worry, because God is always there. And as an imperfect human, I have allowed this minor problem that I am having with no water fester and become a lot more that it really is, and in essence, I feel like I have failed a test that I have been given.

You have heard the saying that hind sight is 20/20, and that is true, as I write this and look back at my reactions to the struggles that have been placed in front of me, I can see where I have went wrong, and now I am taking the steps to make them right. Instead of getting on my Facebook and complaining to people who have no control over this situation I should be on my knees asking God to give me the grace to handle this situation in a way that will bring glory to Him.

In conclusion, as I finish writing this article, it is now day 6 with no water, but see I am OK with that now. Because after giving all of my stresses to God and allowing Him to take control over the situation things are starting to work out. I was able to go to my daughter's house last night and take a long, hot, relaxing bath (with hot water). My dear husband came home from work with a 5 gallon drum of water, and with 6 gallon jugs of water. So now, after I finish this article, I can go in and wash my dishes, and get my kitchen straightened back up, and actually cook a meal for my family this evening, instead of us having to eat out yet again. And I spoke with the water department, and they are pretty sure that they will have the water back on within a couple of days. By giving God the control in my life, instead of me trying to control what I can't, not only were my prayers answered, but God is where He is supposed to be in my life, the driver's seat.