Kickin' It Old School!

For those of you who don't know, I am a Catholic School survivor. Before anyone gets mad, let me explain. It wasn't the religion part I was "surviving"...it was the snotty girls and grody boys! I grew up in a house where my mom was Catholic and my dad was Baptist. It was my dad's belief that children should make the decision of the religion they wanted to practice, so when I was old enough, I chose to become a Methodist.

Even though I chose the Methodist church, it didn't change the fact that I knew the Hail Mary by the time I was 4. It also didn't change the fact that my mom gave me a beautiful, crystal blue rosary and taught me what the heck a "mystery" was, long before I declared myself ANY religion. So, right or wrong, (I don't really care!) I've always considered myself "half Catholic." When I say I'm "half Irish", that's just as much a part of who I am as the religions I grew up around.

Anywho...needless to say, as I got older, I didn't so much want to go to church every Sunday. I still believed in The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit, we just didn't hang out as much. It was like they were childhood friends I grew apart from. I still loved them, they were still very important to me, I just didn't feel I needed to go sit in a pew to prove it. One of my favorite quotes is, "Going to church doesn't make you Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car." I feel that, even though I presently haven't been to church since my wedding day 3 and a half years ago, I am more Christian than a lot of people who go to church religiously (pun TOTALLY intended!)

You're probably starting to wonder where my TTC comes in with this post. I'm getting there, I promise. So, after having SO MANY people tell me to put this baby issue into God's hands, I thought maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. Yeah, I pray. I wish I had a dollar for every time I prayed to be blessed with a baby...if I did, Kris and I could afford fertility treatment for YEARS! With the help of all the Catechism classes I sat through in my younger years (as well as the amazingness that is Google) I decided it was time to kick it old school and start praying some novenas!

For those non-Catholics out there, here's a quick "Novenas for Dummies." No really...that's where I got it from!

"A novena is a traditional prayer you say for nine consecutive days. Novenas are short prayers to a particular saint, requesting that the saint pray to Jesus on your behalf. Often timed so that the novena ends on the feast day of the particular saint the novena is addressed to, novenas are said in the hopes of gaining some special spiritual blessings. Novenas can be prayed anytime for a special need, such as in desperate and seemingly hopeless cases."

I am a hopeless case, if I EVER have seen one! I've tried so many scientific avenues, but I had COMPLETELY forgotten about the power of a good novena! I'm done putting my faith into doctors for awhile...it's time to put some faith in St. Anne and St. Gerard (ironically enough, St. Gerard is the Catholic school I went to!) St. Anne is the patron saint of childless mothers, among other things. And St. Gerard is the patron saint of women TTC. So my new "Novena Diet" will consist of a novena to St. Anne, then a novena to St. Gerard, switching back and forth every 9 days until I get pregnant.

I'm not ashamed to tell you that on the first day praying to St. Anne, I cried like a baby! I forgot how powerful it is to get down on your knees and pray! My heart felt a little lighter, like she was up there saying, "Don't worry, girl, I got your back!" So this is the path I will take for now. I'm sure I will eventually turn back to science, but I'm determined to keep up with the prayers. Who knows, maybe I'll even find myself in a back pew somewhere sometime soon...hopefully with a baby bump.

I'll keep ya posted on how the God Squad is workin' out for me! :)