Rejuvenated

Hi friends! Happy super belated Easter! How was everyone's weekend? Did the Easter Bunny make the rounds at your house?

Our Triduum didn't end up being what we had hoped for when I caught a cold on Wednesday. I thought it was allergies but then the fever and chills appeared and I felt miserable. We had to miss everything at church which was a big disappointment for me because I don't remember the last time I went to Holy Thursday mass or the Stations of the Cross.

We decided to start praying the Divine Mercy Novena on Friday. I love the Divine Mercy Chaplet and loved the idea of praying specifically for a particular group of people each day. I have seen the famous "Jesus I Trust In You" image many times, but never knew the background of it all. Today's Day 5, but if you're looking for a way to get into daily prayer I highly recommend trying this one out!

Even though I was feeling lousy, I was determined to go to the Easter Vigil mass since we help out at RCIA and we wanted to see our kiddos get baptized and confirmed. With a purse full of cough drops, tissues, and not much else, we made it. The service was as beautiful as ever and I got a little (ooookay, a lot) choked up during the Gloria and "Before the Throne of God Above" --- one of the songs that played while my husband was coming into the Church last year.

{A photo of the Vigil featured on the Aggie Catholics Blog}

Our Easter Sunday was pretty low key with monkey bread, a small Easter lunch, and later an outing to Subway for dinner. I don't know why (well I do. Because pregnant.) but I have been craving sub sandwiches like nobody's business. Specifically a #6 with hot peppers from Jimmy John's. I'm almost embarrassed to admit I've eaten that same sandwich 3-4 times this week. I literally just ate one for dinner tonight. Anyways, with being sick it was hard for me to get into the Easter spirit on actual Easter.

Yesterday a bunch of boxes arrived which held Easter gifts my husband had ordered. He very sweetly bought some of my favorite candy...in bulk...but what I loved the most were two books he found online: Imitating Mary and The Handbook for Catholic Moms. I started reading the latter last night and although I'm not too far into it, I think it's going to be a good one. For some reason, I'm having a hard time reading about pregnancy and birth and breast feeding without cringing at all of the painful stuff, so maybe skipping over it for now is a good idea ;) Do you have any other first time mom book recommendations?

Anyways, this morning I woke up, made breakfast, went for a walk, did a few prenatal workouts, ate lunch, and ran some errands. This might sound like a fairly normal day for most but it was the first time in at least a week where I didn't stay in bed all morning/day because I was nauseous or sick. I woke up feeling rejuvenated and I know...I just know... this rejuvenation stems from praying the novena, reading an inspiring book, and just being present in the Easter season. I feel good and oh so blessed. You know those days where you are just overwhelmed with all of the goodness that is being given to you? Yeah, today was one of those days! It had been awhile. And that's not placing blame on anyone else; I think I had been so wrapped up in my troubles that I decided not to let myself feel good for more than a few minutes.

Without sounding too corny because I'm sure I could go there, I'm so thankful for this Easter season and what it has brought me so far. I hope it has brought you lots of joy, too!