God knows the deepest desires of our hearts and delights in
granting them to show us His unconditional, limitless love. Yesterday was a perfect example of that. My dear friend Michele Morris is
fast-approaching her August 6, 2013, entry date into the cloistered convent in
Carmel, California, The Sisters by the Sea.
Her vocation discernment and her faith journey have taken some very
interesting twists and turns, but God has made clear to her what the next step
is in her walk with Him, and she’s joyful, peaceful, anxious, and excited to
take it.
Over the past
year, Michele felt kind of disappointed that she wouldn’t get to have a “bridal
shower” to celebrate her vocation, rejoice with loved ones, and receive
affirmation and encouragement for this momentous undertaking. Some who are close to her haven’t been as
supportive or as enthusiastic about her news, which has been difficult and
discouraging at times. People generally
know enough to congratulate someone who’s gotten engaged and is getting
married, but not as many are sure of what to do when someone, especially a
female, has announced that God has called her to the religious life.
After attending a
wedding shower and serving as a bridesmaid last summer, Michele felt a twinge of
sorrow and regret that she wouldn’t have the same sort of joyful gathering in
anticipation of her upcoming lifelong commitment. It wasn’t the gifts or anything like that she
wanted. Her heart really longed for the camaraderie
and support from loved ones coming together and giving her a send-off filled
with love, prayers, and encouragement.
The Lord gave her
a beautiful bridal shower which was totally unexpected while she was on a
special women’s weekend. God loves us
extravagantly, and knows the longings in our hearts, because the truest,
longest-lasting ones are those He puts there.
He takes great joy in blessing us abundantly, often in totally
unexpected ways, by granting those desires.
The circumstances of a women’s weekend Michele attended included an
elegant formal feast with gorgeous decorations, soft music, flowers, candles, and a
personal invitation at each spot. When
she entered, she was in awe and heard someone remark that the ambiance and décor
were that of a wedding feast.
When Michele read
the invitation placed at her spot, one line in it really struck her: “and Christ
is the host.” At the moment she read
those words, it dawned on her that evening, the beauty around her, the women of
faith,the atmosphere of love and joy was God’s bridal shower for her. Few people there knew she had been accepted
at a cloistered monastery and within a year or so would be entering a Carmelite
community on the West Coast.
When she told the
person next to her about her realization that this was her bridal shower, she
was encouraged to share this with the entire group. Michele felt reluctant to do so, because she
didn’t want the special dinner to be about her, but the Holy Spirit practically
pushed her to her feet, and she made the announcement that she’s going to
become a cloistered Carmelite nun. She
spoke briefly of the sadness she experienced thinking she wouldn’t have such a
celebration and her subsequent surprise and joy that God had seen fit to give
her the delight of her heart at an unexpected time and place. The formal, elegant, and initially rather
solemn feast turned into a time of true rejoicing. Someone put on a CD by Danielle Rose with a song that was perfect for the occasion called, "Your Bride." These are the lyrics of the refrain:
"I am your bride.
I am one with my Beloved Crucified.
As you offer me your Body, I offer you my life.
Now and always, I am yours
I am your bride."
Everyone stood in line to dance with Michele
and wish her well. There was a great
deal of laughter, feasting, and celebrating with women of faith who enthusiastically
embraced Michele’s call and share her deep desire to glorify God.
Yesterday was
another desire Michele had in her heart, a day out with some close girlfriends,
women of faith, to come together and help her find a special dress and shoes to
wear the day she enters the monastery.
(They’re making her a postulant dress to wear once she enters, but she
wanted to arrive in something special that she can wear a few times before she
leaves Richmond.) She’d found a dress
she really liked at a shop just around the corner from where she lives. It was the first dress she tried on, and as
soon as she stepped out of the dressing room, the woman at the shop told her
that she didn’t need to try on any of the other dresses, that was the one.
As is her custom,
she didn’t buy the dress right away. She
decided she’d come back in a week, on the day when she and a few of her friends
were free to go shopping and spend the afternoon and evening together. If it was still there, then she’d know she
should get it. The store she went to is
a secondhand shop with only one of what they have there of anything, so she was
very excited to find out whether or not they’d sold the dress.
She went directly
to the rack where she’d found it, but it wasn’t there. The salesclerk was the same person who’d been
working the day she found the dress, so she asked if it had been sold. The woman pointed up to the top corner of the
wall above the dressing rooms where there was a stunning purple dress and matching
shawl hanging. It was the dress she’d picked
out the week before. She tried it on,
and we all knew immediately she’d found the
dress.
This freed up the
rest of our day to hang out, look for shoes in a number of children’s
departments since Michele has such small feet.
We didn’t end up finding the perfect pair for her to wear with the
perfect dress, but the four of us still had a really wonderful day
together.
When Michele had
run up to her apartment to put her dress there, her friends Betty, Carrie, and
I were sitting in my car. We were
wondering if Michele would be interested in doing something like getting a
pedicure. We figured we’d walk by a
place and pretend one of us was interested and see how she responded. It ended up we didn’t have to do. We walked by a nail salon on our way to
Nordstrom’s, and she lit up and said it would be really fun to “have our feet
done” (as she put it). The three of us
laughed and told her about the earlier conversation we’d had and our plan to
deduce if it was something she’d like to do.
We visited
Michele’s friend Crystal who works in the make-up department in Nordstrom’s and
who did Michele’s make-up for the début performance of the original one woman
play she wrote, directed, and performs called “Teresita.” Her student debt, theater background, and the story of her own vocational discernment inspired her to write a one act play
based on the life of St. Teresa of Avila, particularly her life leading up to
her entry into a Carmelite convent. “Teresita”
very closely mirrors the journey of the saint and has some amazing similarities
to Michele’s own walk with the Lord.
While getting our
spa pedicures, Michele and Betty were singing their hearts out to the music
playing. Occasionally, Michele even
remembered the lyrics.
It was a fun,
relaxing, joyful day out with the girls. We had a
delectable dinner at Strawberry Street Café, then we went to a place in
Carytown called Bev’s that makes homemade ice cream for dessert.
Lord, thank You
for the gift of Michele, for women of faith who inspire, support, encourage,
and lift us up on our journey, and help us rejoice in the many blessings You
shower up on us!
