Thursday, July 14, 2011

happy discoveries

Moving in Louisiana in July is hot, sweaty, icky work. And at least in my case, it seems to be never-ending.

The dumpster arrived today. Yep, I'm serious. The amount of garbage we have generated will never fit in our government-issue trash container. At the risk of looking like the people on Hoarders, I did do a quick look-through of the bags before they landed in their next destination, the dumpster. Actually, I was looking for a rather substantial sized 3-ring binder containing info on the lives of the Saints. It was a 2-binder set, and I only salvaged one from the house. The other, I did not find in the garbage bags....I'm rather at a loss as to where it went. I saw them both there a few days ago.

Anyway, I found only a few things worth pulling out of the bags. The dog's heart worm and flea meds at the top of the list. That stuff is expensive! Not sure why a 3-month supply got tossed. In and amongst the bags of trash, two pieces of paper made their way into my hands. One was a note written to me from my grandmother while I was at Girl Scout camp in Wyoming in 1980 and the other was a note written to me by my confirmation sponsor.

The grandmother note was mostly just newsy chit-chat, but written on August 15, she noted that she and my granddad needed to get to Mass for the feast day.

The note from my confirmation sponsor made me smile. I was confirmed in 8th grade...1977, by my calculations. She spoke of "the help of Our Divine Savior's presence within..." and being an example for "today's troubled youth in this space age." She continued, "In planning each probe into space, our scientist must reckon with the physical laws of the universe in planning his venture. So must we all acknowledge certain spiritual principles to find a proper relationship with God. And in receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit - God promised you all you need - Read the Acts of the Apostles in your Bible to know what you have received...". I was really struck by this short little note. Undoubtedly the Holy Spirit had a hand in the writing, and I am almost certain that it is more meaningful to me now than it was 30+ years ago. I wondered, too, if hand-written notes will become something so "last century".

I have to tell you, that there was a fleeting temptation to go dig through those bags in the dumpster to see what other shreds of wisdom I could unearth. But I'm going to go with the truth that these are the ones that I needed to see, and God put them where I could find them.

I made another happy discovery this week. As of July 1, there is a Perpetual Adoration Chapel about 2 miles from my new house...although, if I could walk through the woods at the back of my subdivision, it would be less than a mile. It is a beautiful setting...a drive down a oak-tree lined driveway. I promise, pictures will follow soon. And a chapel secured by key pad. I found those two notes this evening while working at the old house, and I took them with me to read at the chapel later in the evening. (Evening is the best time to do anything here!). I thanked God for those wonderful faith-filled women who came before me.

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