Today, you see, was not just the first day of the school year. It was the first day of a school year at a new school.

He wasn’t even supposed to be there. The 15-year-old cat had been at the vet the day before. His health was failing, and there was nothing more that could be done.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend a gathering of Catholic women bloggers in Front Royal, Va. We drove down as a family of four, and my husband and our boys went off to explore Skyline Drive and the Skyline Caverns during the day.

My sons and I have been staycationing this week as we get ready for the school year to begin.

Last week I told the boys that today would be our pilgrimage day—that we would pick a destination and go pray for a great school year.

As I stood on the ground and watched them go up, I was suddenly scared. God has entrusted my husband and me with raising these two amazing children, and I just put them on a ride that would take them far up into the sky.

What a frightening time for the people who are affected by the flooding from Hurricane Harvey in Texas. They are in desperate need of our prayers—prayers for those who are being rescued and those doing the rescues, along with prayers for many who are still waiting and hoping that they will be able to stay in their homes.

My niece and nephew are spending the week with my parents, and with Daniel’s Gotcha Day, soccer practice, and other excitement, the week has been getting away from us without any solid cousin time. So yesterday I took our boys over to play.

As we prepared for our first practice of the year, I may not have been the most excited member of the family. Soccer is a great sport, but I’m just not a fan of extracurricular activities that throw our lives into a tailspin for months.

Having the opportunity to be this little boy’s mother is an amazing blessing. It’s also an astonishing gift for me, especially since I wasn’t sure I would ever be a mother—never mind a mother of two sons who were born on the other side of the world.