Is it time to re-record?

Within 6 months, I will have started a new job, moved to a new house, and welcomed a fourth baby to the world, not to mention potty training a three-year old. Life is a little crazy these days and when people comment on all that change, I usually reply with a joke that includes the words “apocalypse” or “catastrophe.” After leaving a conversation with another family after Mass yesterday, my wife asked me, “Is life really that bad?” I replied, "Of course it's not. It was just a joke." “You might want to check that tape you keep playing,” replied Tricia. After reminding my lovely bride that nobody plays tapes anymore, I reflected a little more on her comment. I once heard it said “that communication doesn’t just reflect reality, it creates reality.” What reality was my “tape” creating? I had just left a wonderful Eucharist with a great community and what was I putting out there? A heart that seems new? A message of being healed? Or…the apocalypse? This week I’m going to try to re-record the tape and identify all the everyday ways that God is making my heart, and my life, new again - starting with the fact that for, at least two months, our house is diaper-free. Pray for discipline and mercy!