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guitarnan
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| Posted: Jan 08 2014 at 10:47pm | IP Logged
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Today I visited friends who are homebound; they live far from my home and I have been trying for months to find a day with enough hours in it for the drive, visit and trip home. I trashed a day of school to do it (my daughter came with me)...but I think it's fine to do this once in a while.
My friends were overjoyed to have visitors. I smiled all the way home. Clearly this is a good thing to do...but...how does a busy mom make time to visit the sick and help others, when standardized testing, dance practices and performances and chem lab are ongoing concerns?
I don't plan to visit my friends frequently - the 3-hour round trip is an issue - but I would like to do so once in a while.
How do you handle these issues, especially if you have family members nearby who need your physical presence?
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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SallyT
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| Posted: Jan 09 2014 at 7:14am | IP Logged
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We do what we can, given our season of life, though this is an area in which I see constant need for attention and improvement. Still, some CWM are easier to accomplish than others: we participate in our parish's "two-can" program (bring two cans for the food bank when you come to church -- actually I'm really behind on this and need to get back on the wagon!) and Christmas Angel Tree projects, for example.
My 16-year-old son volunteers weekly at our local soup kitchen, which is right around the corner and therefore easy. I'd like to get the rest of us into that groove, now that my younger kids are older.
In our former Catholic homeschool group, there was actually a mom who coordinated a "Corporal Works of Mercy" program, collecting hand-me-down clothes, mostly, to form a clothes closet for needy families, either within the group or as she heard of them. We often forget that "the poor" aren't always remote from us; they might be sitting next to us at the homeschool First Friday Mass.
I find things involving visiting/physical presence much harder to manage, though relatively few opportunities have arisen for us in that area. Right now, fortunately, we don't have family who need our care, but as our mothers age, that could definitely change -- and it would require trashing a lot more than a day of school, as they're far away. That's something I do actively think about: how can I manage things if one of the mothers gets seriously sick or begins to decline, and I really need to be there?
We have friends who as a family have done Meals on Wheels for years -- that's something else I've thought about doing but haven't yet.
It is also true, though, that meeting our children's needs is a work of mercy as well as simply part of our vocation. Not that mothers are automatically dispensed from rising to meet other opportunities, but we do have hungry, naked, sick, etc., before us all the time . . .
This is a really good question. I know that I could be far more assiduous in reaching out to do Corporal Works of Mercy. Thanks for the reminder to think about these things.
Sally
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Castle in the Sea
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Willa
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| Posted: Jan 10 2014 at 9:15am | IP Logged
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SallyT wrote:
Right now, fortunately, we don't have family who need our care, but as our mothers age, that could definitely change -- and it would require trashing a lot more than a day of school, as they're far away. That's something I do actively think about: how can I manage things if one of the mothers gets seriously sick or begins to decline, and I really need to be there?
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When my mom became terminally ill in 2011-2012, this was a reality for us, as she lived in Alaska, and we lived in California. Homeschooling took a major hit as I am the only daughter and the siblings live far away too and were more tied down to jobs. I was up there several times for long periods of time.
However, this is one of the reasons I combine unschooling with classical -- because I think education is bigger than academics (I know I am not saying anything revolutionary in this forum, but I have to re-ponder the reality of it when these things happen)
How to do CWM on a regular basis is something I have been praying about this year after reading the Pope's exhortation which had a major focus on hearing the cry of the poor. We live far away from everything and though it seems natural to get involved in the needs of family even if it is disruptive to academics, it's much harder to take out a major part of the day to reach out past the personal circle. So I am following the thread with interest.
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Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: Finding Time for Corporal Works of Mercy
