Presents, Patience and Purgatory

Poor little Kevin...he's the youngest. You know how it goes, the oldest gets huge birthday parties with every distant relative still living attending. It's a little different for the younger ones. Erma Bombeck once said that parents take 5 rolls of film before the first baby leaves the hospital, and the last kid has his birth and wedding pictures on the same roll of film! ;)

When Kevin turned 8 last month, he did get to take a friend and his brother to the Air Force Museum; but his presents were late coming in the mail and wouldn't be here for 10 whole days! His buddy gave him a really cool flashlight and stuffed doggy, but the big ones from Mom and Dad and his brother weren't here.

Ding, dong! Everyday a package would come and he would race to the door; but it wasn't his. :( After about a week, he was starting to break down...sniff...and after some hugging we had a little heart to heart talk.

I assured him they would be here soon, but I asked him to offer up the wait in the meantime for his grandpa who is on his last days in the hospital. I told him that what he's going through is just like Purgatory: you're all ready to receive a present:)...and then you have to wait.:( Well, his expression changed a bit while he thought of his grandpa suffering. I explained to him that he could offer up his wait now, so that grandpa has less time to wait in Purgatory. He looked brave, and said he would do it.

When the presents finally arrived, he relished them like they were a foretaste of Heaven! :)

Please remember Bob Sheahan (Matt's Dad) in your prayers.

If you are wondering why Catholics believe in Purgatory, visit this link. It will take you to a site called Catholic.com, or Catholic Answers, and they have them! :)