Almost moving on

Well, we are just about completely loaded and ready to leave for Tulsa.

All Packed for Tulsa

St. Joseph, Blessed Virgin Mary and Sacred Heart of Jesus statues lined up and ready for a new garden to grace. (Not to mention a couple of frogs and a turtle among other sundries)

Garage all packed up waiting for a trailer to load it into.

This post is made from my cellphone as we await the arrival of Christina and Pat, with Rob & Amanda in toe. Michael and Drew are expected to be with them when they arrive tonight to camp out on our clean floors to awaken to loading and stuffing the rest of our earthly belongings into their truck, trailer and van.

By Monday morning, our house in Texas will be but a fond memory. We will be living close to our Twelve, yes 12, grandchildren! I will be busy getting my new classroom ready with but a week to make it a new learning home for about 40 5th graders eager to experience their last year at Zarrow!

Madison Leigh Arroyo makes a DOZEN Grandchildren!

Madison Leigh Arroyo was born at 6 pm to Chelsea and Matthew D. Arroyo in Tulsa on July 22nd, 2008. With this new 5 lb, 10 oz addition to the Arroyo family, we now have 12 Grandchildren!



Linda and I will be moving on Sunday to Tulsa where we will be able to be present to all of our grandchildren.



Last Saturday, as Pat and Christina Brown (my sister and brother-in-law) were helping us move, Frances was chasing a plane carrying Brody to Tulsa. With Brody in Tulsa, all twelve of our grandchildren are in Tulsa! Brody remains in the neonatal ICU at St. Francis Hospital but is steadily making progress. Hopefully, by the end of July, he will be able to join his sisters, Rainee and Chloe and brother Alec at their new home.



Continue to keep us in prayers, God is Good, ALL THE TIME!

Harry Wong Came to Town

One of the best parts of the Texas Teachers' Program for my certification is getting the opportunity to see Nationally recognized speakers. Harry Wong is one of those names which just about any teacher can tell you about. I was able to get his autograph on my well-worn First Days of School book, and the picture with the author above. It was awesome to hear him speak and he was definitely worth the traffic (there were almost 3000 people there!) and the crowds!

Sing to the Glory of God!

This is a video taken last week with a visit to Brody by Rainee, Chloe, and Alec.

This week has been one of ups and downs, I received my Oklahoma Teacher Certification today and last week, my Texas Certification. Linda and I got word that we have a house, then, after the brakes went out on the car and rear end had to be repaired, found we couldn't afford to put the deposit down! Brody was denied transportation to Tulsa to be with his parents, so everything looked bleak, to say the least!

“I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish He didn't trust me so much.”

Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

This quote has been ringing in my ears and we have been struggling with our faith but, true to the words I so often use (sometimes simply 'mouth'), God did provide. We have the much-needed deposit money through the Grace of God. Thank you Jesus!

We have the generosity of my sister, Christina, and brother-in-law, Pat to thank as well, they are coming down with a trailer to help us move some of our stuff this weekend into the garage of the new place. That will make a dent of our moving so we can bring a much smaller load next weekend and complete our move.

We are not out of the woods yet, "God has done great things for me and mighty is His Name..." as Mary says in her Magnificat. Keep the Arroyo family, and Brody, in prayers. More to come...

Breakfast With The Millions

The Millions are guests of the Arroyos until we move to Tulsa. Since Brody remains at Hospital, we are all here in Keller, together.

On a sad note, word was received this morning that insurance will not cover moving Brody from Ft. Worth to Tulsa, where his parents live. This is going to pose a huge problem for the Millions, since they do not live in Keller anymore and the Arroyo's are moving to Tulsa soon. We are packing a good deal of our stuff and moving it this weekend, in fact.

Frances was told that they can move Brody to a Tulsa hospital BUT they would have to pay $10,000 up FRONT! Needless to say, this is not an option that is doable at the present. We need prayers friends!

Meet Sr. Arroyo

Wow! This summer is going by FAST! My name is J.A. Arroyo, my family is from Puerto Rico but I have lived in Oklahoma for most of my life (we won't go into how long that has been!). I am married, have six kids, the youngest is 16 and the oldest is 28. My wife and I have ELEVEN Grandchildren! By the end of August, that number will jump to a DOZEN!

We are moving from Keller, TX to Tulsa in the next few weeks. I taught 5th Grade Math and Science in Keller last year but, well, we got too homesick and had to come back to Tulsa! So, we only lived in Texas a short time. I have my Standard Teaching Certification from Texas and I am converting that to Oklahoma certification. My Bachelor's degree comes from Regis University in Denver, CO and is in History and Spanish. I studied at St. Gregory's College in Shawnee, OK as well in Philosophy and Theology.

Once you see me, you will know that I am a bit older, you probably figured that out I am since I have so many grandchildren. I am in my fourth year of teaching, having been in Telecommunications for many years before finding my calling as a teacher. I am passionate about my family, faith and classroom.

When you first walk into my classroom, you will see some Star Trek Models. Those are my hobby. I will have them on shelves, hanging from the ceiling (as allowed) and around! That is what I do in my spare time. This summer, I have worked on the Enterprise NX-01 and finishing touches on the Galileo 7 Shuttlecraft. Follow this link to go to the Blog with pictures!

Status on Brody

Brody is finally able to wear Clothes! 7-13-08

How precious and Tiny life is! Brody's hand can now wrap around two fingers!

His eyes open! Seeing the world, and his mother!

This is a boy that needs to come home! We are still praying for this to happen soon!

Back from Tulsa

Well, we had a visit to Tulsa on Friday and Sat. Linda had a chance to meet my team teacher, Sra. Tshida, and my Principal as well as see my new room. It is big and she was impressed.

From Zarrow, we went on to look for houses. I wish that was as good of a adventure as the first, it was not. We looked at several and just did not have a good feeling about any. There was a duplex but that was six blocks from the highest crime area in Tulsa! It was nice, but not that nice! Sat, we had a bit of a scare with Andrew while we were there and his mother passed along a house for rent close to them. We liked that one and submitted our application. We will hear back Tuesday or Wednesday. Unfortunately, there are a couple ahead of us in line (a couple of applications, not A Couple!). After seeing that house, we saw another one that was also close to the school. We fell in love with that one and applied there as well. We are PRAYING for a house to move to!

The trip is a long one to just go and drive around looking for signs! Keep Drew and his intentions in prayers. We love our son and keep his spiritual wellbeing in prayers constantly before our Lord.

Until next time....
J.

Certified (no longer just Certifiable!)

Well, I am patting myself on the back today! I am now Officially Texas Standard Certified! I am validuntil 2014!
Since I am now official, I was able to apply for my Oklahoma Certification and should know soon about that. I still need all the prayers I can get, I am now in the hands of Oklahoma Department of Education to get my Oklahoma License before school starts!

Keeping my eye on the prize...

J

Thoughts on Good and Evil and a video

I receive emails from St. Joseph Covenant Keepers and this was included this week:

Random Thoughts: Freedom and evil

"A man who is free to love is free to hate. He who is free to obey is free to rebel. Virtue in its concrete order is possible only in those spheres in which it is possible to be vicious. Man can be a saint only in a world in which it is possible to be a devil! You say,

“Well, if were God, I would destroy evil.”

"Well, if you did that, you would destroy human freedom. God will not destroy freedom. If we do not want any dictators on this earth, certainly we don’t want any dictators in the kingdom of heaven. Those who would blame God for allowing man freedom to go on hindering and thwarting his works are like those who see blotches and smudges and errors in the student’s notebook and would condemn the teacher for snatching away the book and making the copy himself.

"Just as the object of the teacher is sound education and not the production of neat and well-written copybooks, so the object of God is the development of souls and not the production of biological entities."

By Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (t 1979), Servant of God.

Below is a short video of Rainee, Chloe and Alec as we went up to visit Brody in the hospital over the weekend.

Another tidbit of news: My certification has been recommended and I should receive my Texas Standard Certification soon!

Brody Not Out Of The Woods

Last night was a night to thank God and be anxious at the same time. Brody reminded us that he, though having done incredibly well this past two weeks, is still Eight Weeks before his due date! He stopped breathing in his mother's arms last night and had to be resuscitated.

As Frances watched them revive by bagging her 3 pound, 12 ounce baby boy in the NICU, she was all too aware of how fragile life is. They did successfully revive Brody and told Frances that it would be alright. I guess it is easy, when you work around the fragile all the time, to see things in 'alright' terms. For those of us that do not encounter it everyday, or when we do encounter it, it is our own flesh and blood, it is hard to see it as "alright".

This episode did remind us, and them I hope, that Brody is still in the woods, that he is still early and his lungs are still not to be taken for granted and are still developing. No matter how well he is doing, his body still is not ready to be in the world just yet and needs our prayers and the Hand of God. Though he was born two weeks ago, Brody was not due until August 31st, still almost 2 Months away!

So, please, keep him in prayers. I believe in prayer, it works! God Bless you all and thank you for your prayers.

Happy Independence Day

Happy Independence Day! Alec, Chloe and Linda are at the pool at Dannie Needham's, our past Grand Knight, for their annual pool party. "A Good Time was Had by ALL"

Alec jumped the gun and dived into the pool. Linda rescued him! He was so excited that he forgot he didn't know how to swim.

Hot dogs, Hamburgers and all kinds of goodies were brought by the Knights and Ladies to the party. Good eats and good company.

Chloe and Rainee found friends to play with and J. had a blast playing volleyball in the pool. Oh, well, we had fun, though we did not come close to winning!

McDonald's chooses to support homosexual agenda

Refuses request to be neutral in culture war

I am reprinting this message from American Family Association. There are links below to sign an online petition and also see video from McDonald's stating their position. I want to make it clear, I am not homophobic. The issue is NOT denying rights from people with homosexual orientation. They should lead lives free from violence or any kind of denial of basic human rights. However, their is no 'right' to marry someone of the same sex. Marriage is between a man and a woman for the God-given purpose of procreating the species.

Romans 1:26-27 (English-RSV)

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error.

1 Corinthians 6:9 (English-RSV)

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor sexual perverts,

Jude 1:7 (English-RSV)

"just as Sodom and Gomor'rah and the surrounding cities, which likewise acted immorally and indulged in unnatural lust, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire."

July 3, 2008

Dear Joseph,

McDonald's has refused a request to remain neutral in the culture war, choosing to continue support of the homosexual agenda. AFA wrote McDonald's asking the company do two things:

• 
  Remove McDonald's name and logo from the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) Web site listing McDonald's as a "Corporate Partner and Organization Ally" of NGLCC.
• Remove the endorsement of NGLCC by Richard Ellis, Vice President of Communications for McDonald's USA, from the NGLCC Web site.

McDonald's refused both requests. McDonald's donated $20,000 to NGLCC in exchange for membership in the NGLCC and a seat on the group's board of directors. The NGLCC lobbies Congress on a wide range of issues including the promotion of homosexual marriage.
This boycott is not about hiring homosexuals, or homosexuals eating at McDonald's, or how homosexual employees are treated. It is about McDonald's, as a corporation, choosing to put the full weight of their corporation behind promoting the homosexual agenda, including homosexual marriage.

Pat Harris, Global Chief Diversity Officer, Vice President, Inclusion & Diversity at McDonald's, responded: "I would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm our position on diversity." Notice that Ms. Harris said "reaffirm." Translated: McDonald's will not change their policy of supporting the NGLCC and their promotion of homosexual marriage.

Richard Ellis, who is openly homosexual, was given a seat on the NGLCC Board of Directors. He was quoted as saying: "I'm thrilled to join the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and ready to go to work. I share the NGLCC's passion for business growth and development within the LGBT community, and I look forward to playing a role in moving these important initiatives forward."

Addressing McDonald's promotion of social issues, McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner said earlier the company will aggressively promote the issues they approve. In remarks on its Web site, Skinner said: "Being a socially responsible organization is a fundamental part of who we are. We have an obligation to use our size and resources to make a difference in the world ... and we do."

Take Action!

Sign the online Boycott McDonald's petition and urge your friends and family to do the same.
Print and distribute the Boycott McDonald's petition.

Call your local McDonald's. Speak with the manager. Tell him or her (in a polite manner) that you will be boycotting McDonald's until they stop promoting the homosexual agenda, including homosexual marriage. To find the phone number of your nearest McDonald's, click here.

YEAH! I Passed my PPR!

Well, I am on the way to my Texas Teaching Certificate (which means that I will be able to transfer it to Oklahoma)! I passed the final exam and just have to fill out the paperwork now!

Whew!

Andrew's Confirmation

Andrew's Confirmation at St. Pius X in Tulsa at the hands of the Bishop, Edward Slattery, April 24, 2008.

Acts 8:14-17
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Michael's Confirmation

This is a video of Michael's Confirmation on April 24, 2008. Yeah, I am a bit behind in getting this up! I will post Andrew's video in a bit. Congratulations!