Catholic with Training Wheels : My Domestic Church

The family itself is the great mystery of God. As the "domestic church" it is the bride of Christ.

- Pope John Paul II, Letter to Families

Lately, I have been doing a lot of thinking and praying on my "domestic church." Since I got married, my husband and I have enjoyed serving the church together, as one with God. We enjoy all of our different ministries, that over the years we have become a part of. However, since our wedding 7 months ago, we have been enjoying the most important ministry of all- our marriage!

Like I have mentioned before, my hubby and I are very active in our church. However, we have been very conscious not to let our church ministries get in the way of our marriage. With both of us working full time and usually having our evenings packed with youth group and bible studies, it is very easy to lose sight of each other; Above all, I am a wife and he is a husband. We can't let all of our other obligations get in the way of our spousal duties! Being in the church, we have seen many marriages fall apart for similar reasons... people sometimes are very involved serving others that their domestic church is forgotten.

I pray everyday that we continue having a healthy balance and that our domestic church is strengthened everyday. For me, it has been a personal mission of mine. See, I grew up in a single parent household. I did not know what a marriage looked like...let alone a marriage centered in Christ! When I went off to college, before my reversion, I did not even want to get married! I was supposed to be an educated, successful, independent woman! God had other plans. He laughed at mine.

When I came back to the church, I saw how beautiful it was to have someone, who was in love with Christ first. Now as a married woman, master's degree and all, I LOVE serving my husband. I LOVE our domestic church that we are nurturing everyday! Marriage is such a beautiful covenant between a man, a woman, and God but it is definitely something that needs to be taken care of.

As Thanksgiving approaches, we are thrilled to open the doors to our home to our family. We are excited to share with them our love and the many blessings that God has given us.

Here are a few pictures of my set up for tomorrow! Happy Thanksgiving! Be blessed! :0)