Thankful Thursday - reminders

Picture this.

I'm on my hand and knees carefully running my palm over the carpet in my room.  I'm desperately feeling for the back to my earring.  Naturally, it's a small, clear back for dangling earrings and I have a cream white carpet. Not a good combination.  As I'm tamping down my frustration, trying to decide how much time I really should spend looking for this, a bible story comes to mind.  The woman who lost a coin:

"Or what woman having ten coins and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it?"  ~Luke 15:8

I glance around and think, 'No way am I moving everything in this room!'  The room isn't that big, but not for a single, replaceable earring back.  It's not worth it.  And yet, I am reminded that when either I or another person is lost, God would overturn everything to bring us home.  

"And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’ In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”  ~Luke 15:9-10

And so it goes . . .

Church of the Transfiguration - Israel

Life has been rather surprising the past 6 weeks.  When I started writing my Christmas letter for 2015, my focus was on my pilgrimage to the Holy Land, as most everything else in my life was the same . . . At least at that moment in time.

Advent 2015 began much the same as previous years - focus on preparation, worrying about getting things done, and trying to remember the real reason we celebrate Christmas.  There were Christmas parties to plan, and reconciliation service to attend.  It was especially memorable to think that I was preparing for my pilgrimage to the Holy Land just one short year ago.  I felt a new connection to Mary and Joseph and their journey to Bethlehem.  

The week of Christmas was when life took an unexpected turn.  A casual inquiry about a job quickly became an interesting dilemma.  I wasn't looking, and it showed up.  Lots of prayer and thinking happened over the next days.  It quickly became obvious that this could be a huge opportunity for me, which was both scary and exciting.  Despite the fear of change, I felt called to this move.  This was the opportunity to focus on my passion and dream - a full-time job with a basis in my Catholic faith.

Holy Land - One Year Later

A year ago on the Feast of Our Lord's Baptism, I was boarding a plane from Omaha, on the trip of a lifetime.  My dream of visiting the Holy Land came true much sooner than I ever imagined it would.  Yesterday's readings had another layer to them, reading about the Jordan River and remembering how we all renewed our Baptismal vows there.  What an incredible experience!

Here is a little compilation of some highlights:

Remember

December 15, 1990.

The day Donny died.

It was one of my first experiences with the sudden loss of someone close to me.  We were neighbors and friends.  We rode the same bus, and played together at each other's homes.  I was devastated by the sense of loss and the sheer emotion that poured out of me.  

That particular grief has lessened over the years.  Time softens the sadness, while still allowing the memories to remain.  I don't remember when I stopped asking why it happened.  I don't think any answer will suffice this side of Heaven.  Yet I can look back now and instead of wonder what might have been, I can appreciate what was.  My reminiscing isn't motivated by regret, rather, it is a strong reminder that even after so many years, my memories can be a gift.  

As I have more recently experienced the death of my niece, I know that it is a gift to have others share their memories of her.  This sharing can lessen the sting of the loss because it unites those left behind. These shared experiences are a gift given to those who grieve.  To me, it says that you recognize my loss, my suffering, and my sadness.  You give me the gift of remembering.  It doesn't really matter if you knew her or not, because when you honor her memory, you honor me.  

Looking back

This time last year I was preparing for a trip of a lifetime - a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  How do you top that?  Looking back on this year it's been amazing and ordinary, challenging and blah.  Apparently I don't do the middle ground.  So my prayer this Advent is for a continued awakening.  One day, one person, one moment at a time.  Join me, won't you?

". . . Therefore, it says:  'Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.'"  ~Ephesians 5:14