Anointing of the Sick and a Trip to the Catholic Bookstore

I got a call from the priest at our parish yesterday so we could reschedule my Anointing. I have had a rare blood disorder called Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura (ITP) since middle of last year. Basically, my blood is mostly normal, except I have extremely low platelets. When I was first hospitalized, I had 9K platelets, with the normal range being 145-400K. I was discharged with 100K and have been hovering between 30-40K ever since. Biweekly blood draws to see where I'm at, and constant prednisone in my body. It's annoying, and can be very dangerous if they get too low (below 30K). Platelets help clot your blood, so you could bleed severely if cut or even bleed internally. I'm thankful that God protected me during the time I didn't know I had this autoimmune disease. I am thankful to him that I am alive!

Today's Mass was the regular 9:00 am Mass with the school children. The girls and I sat in the very back pew and got too many glances our way when one of the girls screeched or started crying. I'm pretty sure all the kids thought that mine were cute, but I still felt a judging eye toward me. It was good to have an adult that I knew nearby, and she reassured me that I was fine and had nothing to worry about. I had been to another Mass with the school children before, but lucked out and got to drop off the girls at the nursery downstairs, with the ladies who watch them during our Walking With Purpose Bible study. Well the girls weren't too bad, and I received the Eucharist and the girls were blessed by Fr. Seamus.

We met Father at the back of the church after Mass was over and I received Anointing of the Sick, the last possible Sacrament I can receive. (I wish I had grown up Catholic so I could have received all of the Sacraments as a Catholic, but I'm thankful that my parents had me baptized as a baby, and that Chris and I wed in a Christian ceremony.) He blessed me with the oil on my forehead and the palms of my hands, prayed over me, my sins were forgiven (now I don't have to go to Confession for a while...KIDDING!) and he blessed the girls again. I left feeling more awake and with a heart on fire for Jesus!

Hannah wanted to go to the Catholic bookstore, Vercillo's, after Mass, and I agreed it was a good idea. I wanted to get some more holy cards, the non-laminated ones, for my Bible, and some more medals to wear, because you can never have too many of either of these things! While browsing, I also found Pope Awesome and Other Stories by Cari Donaldson, with whom I interact on Twitter and Facebook. So in essence, I know the author. Heh! The girls were having a hay day in the children's book section, and Nora kept picking up a book on the Holy Family, so I got that for the girls, too. At checkout, Regina, the employee (whom I saw at Mass just before!) gave me free Holy Face medals for our family, and also Holy cards with the devotion on them. Such a wonderful thing, I hear, and so now I do research! St. Veronica was my Confirmation saint, so this was neat!

Back home, we are, and I can still smell the oil on my forehead! It reminds me of the Rite of Sending Mass and also Confirmation. Must get the toddlers some lunch, so off I go again!