Living Offensively; my new follower on Twitter

Living Offensively just started following me on Twitter. You can follow me here.
They are a Christian group who believe that since the world finds Christianity offensive anyway, and since Christ called us to be salt and light to the world, we are called to live offensively.
 I wanted to share a great t-shirt from their collection. This dispels the myth that Christians are against God's gift of the marital act. We just don't brag about how happy we are.
Which begs the question. . .
Where do they think our large families come from?

Nella's Birth Story

This is absolutely the most eloquently honest birth story I have ever seen. No wonder there are 900+
comments. The author is a photographer and the photos are breathtaking.
Enjoy.

A Very Special Baby Story

Were you like me, a bit obsessed with the show "A Baby Story" on TLC while you were pregnant? I watched two episodes daily for the last 3 months of my latest pregnancy and got a little sick of hearing about:
perfect designer nurseries, complete with hand-painted murals,
the trauma the only other sibling was going through as he learned to share his bathroom with the baby,
the trauma the family dog was going through,
special trips to foot masseurs (isn't this what husbands are for?)
blow-up jacuzzis to deliver in, while burning incense and watching the Pacific Ocean,
Pre-natal yoga classes,
and fake ceremonies to welcome baby for those who wouldn't set foot inside an actual church for say, a Baptism.
It got a bit better when they started doing shows from Pennysyvania, and actually featured a Bris and an Orthodox Baptism, but I have better taste now, and don't watch that show anymore.
I like this kind of Baby Story, the kind with God at the center. Like the story of Jesus and Aurora Rojas's baby Isabel, featured on the Be Not Afraid Forum.

I love babies too!

But have lost three of my children to miscarriage. This is a great article by Karen Edmisten at Catholic Exchange which explains how those of us with 'smaller' families sometimes feel slighted in the faithful Catholic world of wonderful large families.

Sometimes I'm grateful for having a relatively small family, as it gives me more time to help my special needs daughter, Christina, but other times I imagine her wrestling on the rug with little brothers she won't have.

Sometimes I realize I wouldn't be able to blog if I had a large family, and then I read a post from a glowing expectant mom, and I'm wistfully rubbing an empty belly.

It gives me something to offer up for Lent, this longing for another child. I think of a friend whose children all died before birth, who offers her suffering for abortion-minded mothers, and I am humbled.