St. Joseph

My husband and I have a strong devotion to St. Joseph and we have been so blessed to have three boys in our home that will also learn about his great love for our beloved Jesus & our Blessed Mother.  They will also learn about what a powerful intercessor he is for us and that we learn a great deal from his example of trusting God with big responsibility even when we feel very small in the face of those big responsibilities.   The thing that makes me so trusting of him is knowing how much our Blessed Mother Mary loved him and felt protected in his care.  I find that his character must have been on display always and he was given the grace to meet the will of God in raising Jesus.   Nearly 12 years ago, Jessy and I sat by one another - completely heartbroken after experiencing our first pregnancy loss: Sam - and could barely see our way past the mud that seemed to be splattered in our face.  We were emotionally spent with brokenness, it completely rocked us just months after we wed.  That was September 2000, barely two months after we married.  We were always open to life, so our 'honeymoon' phase was stripped out from under our feet.    At that point, we did the only thing we knew how to do, we held each other and we prayed.    Prayer was important, and some of that healing had to be done alone.  I remember feeling helpless in searching for something to offer my husband in helping him to heal, find hope, and gain renewed strength.  I stumbled onto a 30 day Novena to St. Joseph.  He prayed this, I did not.  I don't know why I did not, but I was going a different route and my healing took a very long time.    Well, after he completed this Novena, he was supernaturally assured that somehow our joy would be restored and we would someday be blessed with children.   Like I said earlier, I was in the muck of despair and still struggled with this.  I continued to have a very difficult journey with my health/fertility and so that added to the struggle.   After many years, five years to exact, we met a little Joseph (fresh from the womb) whose family needed help and I was assigned to work with their family.  I had previously worked with this family in helping them  with another child and so I immediately knew they were the family I had dreamed of being like.  They were faithful, holy, and giving.  They were open to life and grew in they way I wished my family to grow.  I met with them and somehow Joseph's mother mentioned PPVI.  She mentioned their ability to help me find physical healing.  I searched for more information but was unable to find any teachers in LA and this lead went nowhere.  I had completed my work with this family and I did not bother them requesting more information about PPVI because of many reasons.   Two years later, in 2007, I was called to work even more closely with this family and their Joseph.  It was during that time, I learned that his Mom was a trained CrMS practitioner and only taught a few ladies the whole time she lived in LA because of the great responsibility she had in caring for her family and because the local area was not open to any NFP options but the Sympto-Thermal Method.  None of the physicians were open about it either, even the pro-life doctors.  Well, toward the end of the time I was working with this family, she told me she had a dream and that God was asking her to somehow find the time to teach us the CrMS so that we could be referred to Dr. Hilgers.  Needless to say, we jumped at that opportunity and laughed that God sent us our teacher who only lived 15 miles away from our house!  Talk about God moving mountains!!!  We had a slow start, but we eventually got all of my records sent to Dr. Hilgers in 2007!    I completed bloodwork in January 2008, scheduled my first Lap for July 2, 2008, and had my follow-up laparotomy on September 13, 2008.  Gosh, that was almost four years ago!   I could always see the hand of St. Joseph as we made each step in our healing and the growing of our family - imagine our surprise to see the beautiful image of St. Joseph welcoming us as we arrived at the hospital, St. Joseph's Creighton University Medical Center, for my surgeries.    St. Joseph was always present and continues to be a blessing to us.  So when we found out we were having a son, of course, we already knew he would be named after St. Joseph - who lead us on our journey to healing and family!   St.. Joseph, thank you for your continued prayers.  We are beginning our Novena today and will end on the 1st Anniversary of Joseph's Baptism, March 19 (St. Joseph's Feast Day).  Prayer Buddy, you are being added to our intentions!   "I set before you life & death, blessings and curses; CHOOSE LIFE, so that you and your children will live!"  Deuteronomy 30:19