Engagement and the "Easter Potato"

What a year of unexpected gifts! The Easter engagement of beloved children is not the least of those surprises! God continues to plant, water, and bring forth fruit through every season. We are so grateful and look forward with joy to seeing them blossom in the wisdom, love, and grace of Jesus Christ.⁣⁣⁣
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My husband and I also celebrated the anniversary of our engagement on Easter. I pray that our young people will blessed with the same depth of joy that we have, that we all give glory to God through our vocations…. and celebrate forever in heaven.⁣⁣⁣
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What a blessed Easter! And an earthly consolation. To speak frankly, even the greatest holy days do not always bring respite. (For example, I have spent more than one vigil Mass pregnant, miserable, and trying not to throw up.)⁣⁣⁣
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But this year brought much temporal comfort. A little oasis with a loving family, peaceful relationships, many moments of delight, and the Eucharist.⁣⁣⁣
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One of my favorite moments was also somewhat humbling. As we were leaving the house for Mass, Little Z picked up an empty corsage box and announced that he wanted to put something in it to give to Father. We were already late so he looked around hurriedly...⁣⁣⁣
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The closest thing was our fruit and potato cart. He examined the contents and I jokingly said: “You could give him a potato!”⁣⁣⁣
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So he did. He put it in the box and stuffed that into a gray Walmart bag. I just rolled with it and figured I could explain it all to Father later.⁣⁣⁣
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But when “later” came, I noticed Father walking across the room with a familiar gray bag. Z didn’t wait for me.⁣⁣⁣
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“Is it an egg?”⁣⁣⁣
“No. It’s a potato.”⁣⁣⁣
“Oh! Is it cooked?”⁣⁣⁣
“No.”⁣⁣⁣
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And that is how Father came into the possession of an Easter potato.⁣⁣⁣
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I ran out of time to put together Easter baskets and my husband gave out surprises from cardboard boxes. We forgot to make the green beans. Our outfits haven’t matched since 2006. And come to think of it, “Easter potato” will likely be our new family way of saying…⁣⁣⁣
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“Just roll with it. Don’t get distracted. Jesus is alive!"⁣⁣
🔥