Punctuation and Life

With four small fries in tow, Dave and I often answer questions about our 'lifestyle' choices. I have grown used to passing people in public while they count from one to four; I laugh when I receive messages on Facebook from old highschool friends such as, "Are those kids all yours?"; and we both know that our life is not the regular route. To some onlookers, our life looks both frantic and confusing: we look sort of .. well ... you know ... normal -- except that we have 4 kids (and so many articles of religious paraphernalia that Dave has commented on his need to genuflect upon entering the house).
For example, Dave recently traveled to a conference with two fellow teachers who asked him question after question about our life.

Were your parents fanatics? (Sort of:))

Elena's sister is a nun?

You and Elena actually agree about everything that the Church teaches?

You buy the whole package?

More kids?

And (the kicker): Why?

I have yet to deliver a compelling answer let alone a satisfying one-liner. And, truthfully, sometimes my guess is as good as anyone else's. But, what I really want people to understand is something that good friends said to us when we first found out that we were expecting twins: What a wonderful adventure you are on! We are - it's a a divine adventure.

Our abandonment to that adventure - our loss of control - might look like foolishness to those who look on in dismay, but it is actually real security. Not that we are free of anxiety or fears - God knows that is not true. But there is a bedrock of peace and acceptance. Unlike Great Big Sea, peace doesn't come with leaving behind one's Catholic conscience.
I want people to know that we haven't bought into a Church that is just a set of rules and restrictions. No, it is a place of tremendous freedom and unburdening. We're not bored, we're not coerced, we're not brainwashed and we're not reactionaries.
Even more so, the faith that we have said yes to is something to which we can give an excited and joyful assent. I think that the new Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, puts it well - far better than I.

"Very often even the word Catholic, even the word church, has had a question mark behind it,” he says. “Does it know where it’s going? Does it know what it's teaching? Is it going to be around? There was a big question mark. A young person will not give his or her life for a question mark. A young person will give his or her life for an exclamation point.”

And, as Jacob constantly reminds me when reading aloud, "An exclamation point requires electric excitement, Mom."
No, I'm not always electrically excited - very rarely, actually. For example, tonight I wiped the remnants of soft-serve ice cream from Joe's carseat while contemplating the rate of ice-cream melting vs. that at which a child can lick said cone. Conclusion: the ratio needs to be reversed. I also thought about Dave's upcoming absence (end of the year school trip) when I will have the kids on my own for a couple of days - a plenary indulgence is coming my way. And, as I write this, Jacob (who should be sleeping) is on his fourth trip to the living room to tell me that the rocks that he got in his cast today are causing him to bleed... None of this sounds worthy of an exclamation point ... but it is.
There are days when I hit my head against the wall, use words I shouldn't, and dream of trips to far away lands. But, I am still so grateful that somehow the grace of God found me and allowed me to say yes to an exclamation point.
This Youtube video somehow reminded me of all that.