The Happiest Halloween Ever!

Eighteen years ago on Halloween, the long-anticipated but still surprising happened in Richmond, Virginia. No, it wasn’t a visit from The Great Pumpkin, though some who’ve spent a little too much time out at Ashland Berry Farm in the pumpkin patches may try to tell you otherwise.

    
My sister Mary was nine and a half, and I had turned eleven just five days before the events that changed our family forever transpired. My grandma helped us finish getting ready to go trick-or-treating after my dad drove my mom to the hospital.

    
Nikki, my friend from our neighborhood, and her dad offered to take us trick-or-treating. There weren’t many houses on the street where we lived, so he was going to drive us to an apartment complex where we could get lots of candy. We climbed into the backseat of Mr. Wilcox’s car with our pillowcases ready.

    
The temperature was comfortable even after dark, so he put the windows down and opened the moon roof. He blasted “Monster Mash” from the stereo and kept it on repeat as we went from one door to the next collecting tons of candy.

    
We’d been out for a while trick-or-treating and had become so accustomed to the “Monster Mash” blaring that we were surprised when it stopped suddenly. He called us over to the car. I wondered if something was wrong. As we walked across the lawn, we saw him on his car phone.

A moment after hanging up, he shouted out, “Guess what girls? You have a new baby sister!”

    
A huge smile spread across my face, and I stood there in a semi-shocked state. Mary and I took a moment to let it sink in that our baby sister had been born.

    
From then on, my mom talked about how we went out and all we got was candy, but she brought home the real treat.

    
It’s hard to believe my cute little baby sister who I loved to help take care of has grown up. Fortunately, some things about her remain the same as when she was little. She still wears costumes regularly (though now she limits her decorative attire to dance performances and special occasions). She loves to dance, listen to music, laugh, and make others crack up. She has a good sense of humor and a definite mischievous streak. She knows how to have fun and tends to look on the bright side of things.

    
Theresa, you have definitely brought a great deal of joy to our family over the years!  We love you, my dear—always have and always will.

Harvesting God's Abundance

This photo of my teammates and me was taken during
our time of formation for the 410th Women's Cursillo Weekend.

The idea of harvesting God's abundance has been on my mind this month since last October I was on team for a Cursillo weekend that spent months examining how we are called to gather the multitude of blessings the Lord showers upon us.
    
In the theme song of the Cursillo Movement, "De Colores," there’s a verse that speaks to the “Harvesting God’s Abundance” theme of the 410th Central Virginia Women’s Cursillo Weekend.  “Joyfully, joyfully/ we will bring to our Savior/a harvest of souls/Pouring outward the light from within/The grace of our God, His infinite life.” I can almost hear the excited “pio, pio, pio” of our brand new babe chicks…or maybe that’s the slightly muffled sound of a stolen bell.
    
For a plentiful harvest, seeds must be planted in fertile soil that has been tilled. Our minds and hearts need to be prepared to receive God’s Word. As it says in Ecclesiastes, there is a time to plant and a time to reap. The hard work of preparing the soil and planting are necessary, though they may not feel as rewarding as the part of the process when the harvest is ready.
    
Sometimes it seems as if we are throwing seeds into the wind when we share our faith with others, either as part of a church ministry or as part of who we are every day because the seeds we sow aren’t always the ones we reap. Sometimes we see the results of our toil, and other times we see the fruits of our labor and love mixed in with the efforts of many others along the way finally yield the crop longed for and conceived of from the very beginning.
    
It’s not as often in the sprinkling of seeds, but in the waiting for those seeds to break out of their casings, expand down into the soil, and break up out of the earth that we often let fear and anxiety about the future of our crops set in, though we have no control over some aspects of their growth.
    
The fertilizer of formation in its many varieties is essential but can’t do its job without the blessings of water raining down and sunshine bursting forth. The shower of grace and the rays of love are freely given, but the new plant must be in a position to receive them.
    
The bugs and insects of sin and temptation must be kept at bay, so the crops may have a chance to grow and flourish. Pruning becomes necessary at a certain stage when the crops are strong enough in some areas, though they are beginning to wither in others. The pruning shears clip close to the stem, cutting off all that will not bear fruit.
    
Sometimes, even when the crops are healthy, and the yield abundant, problems arise. It could be the harvester’s scant planning or limited thinking that fails to bring forth what could have been a field of plenty. Too few laborers, not enough tools, poor timing...could also diminish the abundance.
    
I know there have been times in life when I have felt more like one of the women in the famous painting by Jean-Francois Millet called Les Glaneuses (The Gleaners).  I am a peasant scrounging for leftovers in a field once full of golden wheat.
    
When I am more focused on what I lack inside and out than on God’s abundant blessings, I feel as if I have been sent out into a field once rich in grain that has already been harvested. I come with a downtrodden spirit to glean what I can from what’s been all but picked clean, thinking this is all I am going to receive, what’s leftover from God’s best crops. I feel an even deeper void at the thought of having so little to bring home for my family and friends.
    
During those times, God is probably up there shaking His head with a warm smile, wondering when I’ll look up at the endless rows of golden wheat all around the extremely small area I’m focusing all my attention on, which has, indeed, been picked clean.
    
God showers upon us abundant love, grace, mercy, joy, and courage which we are more aware of when we become people of abundant prayer. The Cursillo Women’s Weekend that took place October 2008 was indeed chock full of a multitude of blessings. Our little red wagons and sturdy green wheelbarrows were overflowing with beauty, countless graces, a symphony of prayers, and the love and compassion of a God whose heart dances at the mere thought of us.
    
With a fullness in our hearts, we have gone back out into the world to continue Harvesting God’s Abundance in our families, with our friends, at church, at work, and all the places in between confident that we will be led by the Lord of the Dance to rejoice and be glad.
    
How is God calling you to harvest His abundance in your own life?  Do you take time to thank Him for the many blessings He's bestowed upon you today and throughout your life?
    
Lord, thank You for increasing our awareness of Your blessings in our lives so that we might spend more time praising You for Your love and kindness.  Amen.

For My Name's Sake

For My Name’s Sake

I

Her tiny heart beat into a coffin
and tore you from more than playtime
and afternoon birthday parties.
A child with whooping cough
came to your friend’s party
and made you and your brother sick.
Your sister caught it from one of you
and died at six months old.
You remembered her name,

One Less Stone, One More Voice

     The song “One Less Stone” by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir has been on my mind a lot lately. The lyrics really speak to me at times when what God leads me to pray for, say, and/or do goes against what’s popular, mainstream, and/or of value in the world’s eyes. 

Facing Your Giants

I recently finished reading a book by Max Lucado called Facing Your Giants. I gave the book to my dad for his last birthday, but he didn’t get a chance to read it. As it turned out, God called my dad to face his own giants: fear of total dependency, leaving his loved ones behind, and going from this life into the next.

    
For a number of reasons, I know my dad had gotten to a place where he was ready to face and overcome the biggest giants in his life once and for all with God leading the way.

As his body grew weaker, his spirit was growing stronger. When the worldly marks of a successful life (the big house, fancy car, expensive vacations, football player physique, high profile career) fell away, the treasures in heaven and in his soul became more apparent.
    
I picked up the book at the perfect time. God’s been calling me to confront many of the giants in my own life. I certainly need to be reminded frequently that it’s better to focus on the magnitude of God and His power rather than concentrating too much on the scope of my challenges and weaknesses, both internal and external.
    
In Facing Your Giants, Max Lucado takes the reader through David’s life, showing how the impossible is possible when he trusts in God, and how everything falls apart when David lets his ego guide his heart and actions. I can easily see this being the case in my own journey as well.
    
There have been a number of times when I’ve taken the easy way out or taken the path of least resistance when I knew God was calling me to more and would give me the grace to meet His challenges.

I regularly find myself more likely to reach out to friends who are suffering than family members who are having a tough time and may be less likely to appreciate my attempts to encourage them. I’ll catch myself spending more time praying for and encouraging friends than Kevin, my sisters, Mom, or Grandma. I’ll go out of my way to send a care package to an out-of-state friend who is sick, but I’ll neglect a chore that my husband would really appreciate not having to do himself.
    
What are the giants in your life? What do you need to do to focus on God instead of these giants?
    
Lord, help us confront the internal and external factors in our lives that are keeping us from a closer walk with You and the people You put in our paths. Amen.

Don't Miss the Boat

     Can you identify with Jonah’s response of running the other way when God calls him to do something difficult? I know I can. Though I’ve never actually boarded a boat and headed in the opposite direction of where God wanted me to go, I have felt like getting as far as possible away from some things He’s asked me to do.

The Crosses We Bare

My grandma is living proof that God’s still working miracles. Close to a year and a half ago, my grandmother was in the hospice care wing of St. Mary’s hospital. We’d been told she only had a few days to live since her kidneys had failed and her heart was too weak to make it through even one dialysis treatment. Though my grandmother has said for years that she’s ready for God to take her at any time, she expressed that she wanted to get better and intended to do so.

Apparently, God wanted her to get well, too. She went from living on her own, walking an hour a day outside with two canes, playing bridge as often as she could, attending Mass and Bible study, to ending up in the hospital for several months with numerous complications and a dim diagnosis. Her oncologist gave up on her and advised us to do the same, but she wouldn’t give up. Since she wanted to persevere, we were committed to helping her. First order of business was firing her oncologist. After that we set about preparing for her life after leaving the hospital and opened up to God’s ability to work miracles.

    
Today, my grandmother is celebrating her second birthday since being discharged from the hospital. Not only that, but she’s been doing so much better, she got kicked out of hospice. She’s now living at Little Sisters of the Poor, attending daily Mass, making new friends, watching golf on TV, going to Bible study, narrating plays, reading voraciously, and enjoying outings with my mom and family.

    

I am truly amazed by my grandmother’s strength and determination in the face of adversity. She has been through so much over the years, yet she maintains a zest for life, is a strong prayer warrior, and a devout Catholic who walks the talk.

    
I know about some of the crosses she’s had to carry over the years, and I am very grateful to have inherited one of the gifts God has given her: faith. The identical crosses that my grandmother, my mother, and I have show three generations of Catholic faith, prayer, and devotion.

   
I can still remember when my mom was packing for the pilgrimage she and my grandmother went on when they found the original gold cross necklace in Mexico. We lived in Rowlett, Texas at the time, so I was still pretty young, under the age of five. I kept putting my slippers into my mom’s suitcase, because I thought if my slippers were packed then she’d have to take me along with her. She would take my slippers out and laugh each time when she’d come back from the closet and find them in there, again.

    
While on the pilgrimage, my mom and grandmother found an unusual gold cross necklace. When they returned home and looked for another one, they couldn’t find anything like it so they had one made. On my eighteenth birthday I was overjoyed to open a box containing my very own gold cross, just like the one my two biggest role models for women in the faith wear.

    
Lord, thank You for the gift of faith, and for the women and men in my life who have taught, inspired, and guided me closer to You. Amen.

God as the Ultimate Agenda Bender

     God is the ultimate agenda bender. I can’t count how many times in my life I’ve had things planned out, scheduled to the minute, and then things go off course, sometimes setting me back in my plans for several hours, days, months, or even years. Occasionally, I end up abandoning the carefully made plans all together.

Life= Daily F.R.O.G. Practice

     A good friend Kevin and I met a few years ago when we first became involved in Cursillo taught us about a concept we’ve since embraced and try to live by; it’s Fully Relying On God, otherwise known as F.R.O.G. This friend of ours taught us this concept by his example of trusting in God, especially when the going gets tough.