Saturday, November 19, 2011

heart smiles

Thankful for some things that have made my heart smile this week...

Friday during the sixth grade recess, I was handing out the balls.  A girl ran up and claimed the last ball - a football.  A boy nearby looked a little sad.  She looked at him, and asked, "You wanted it?"  He nodded.  She thought for a minute, tossed him the ball, and then went on her merry way calling back to him, "Lucky for you, my last name's CARE-ington  (Carrington)."  I had to laugh, but it was really a kindness that we see so rarely these days. 

I sent one of my offspring to the freezer before we left yesterday morning, to get a package of chicken breasts out, so that maybe they would thaw before evening, and I could use them to create something for supper.  He came back with a ziploc bag of deer sausage that some dear (no pun intended) person had gifted us with last Christmas.  I sent him back for the chicken, but he also put the sausage in the fridge to thaw.  That evening, the chicken was still frozen (I think they were secretly glad), and they decided they wanted to cook the sausage outside on the pit.  They sent me to the store for hotdog/po-boy buns, and they handled the rest - lighting the charcoal and cooking.  It was fantastic! They are growing up...at least they will be able to feed themselves, especially if meat is the only food group required.

Tuesday morning, I had time to spare before Mass.  Sometimes I just get to the church early and just sit, but this church is very "busy" before Mass - at least on Tuesdays.  They say the Rosary and then the Our Lady of Perpetual Help devotion.  Then the sacristan and her two grown daughters who seem to be a little special, go  about fussing and fixing everything on the altar.  It is really a little much sometimes.  So this particular day, I went to the Adoration Chapel near my house.  I hadn't been there since the summer, because there is a school on the same campus, and I was afraid of getting caught in their before school traffic.  It was SO wonderful.  At 6:30 a.m., there was fog and the whole place was quiet.  Except for the crow overhead.  The school has nuns, and there were sisters praying in and exiting the chapel when I got there.  What a lovely half hour or so that was!

A co-worker of mine lost her sister a couple of weeks ago.  There have been times when this co-worker and I were not on the friendliest of terms, though things are pretty smooth right now.  A third sister attends my church.  I wasn't able to go to the wake or the funeral, so I bought a card and had a Mass said for this past Thursday.  When I walked into church Thursday morning, I saw my co-worker and her sister across the way.  That made my heart smile. 

Does God ever show you something over and over...kind of hammering home the point?  Last time I went to confession, one of the things that stuck with me from the advice was that of seeking God.  Something I've known, but have kind of forgotten or gotten lazy about.  The whole next week, the entrance psalm of Mass was, "Let hearts rejoice who search for the Lord.  SEEK the Lord and his strength, SEEK always the face of the Lord.  OK, God, I hear you.  Then, a week or so later, there was the homily on St. Martin de Tours that ended with an exhortation about seeking and surrendering to God.  Then, Tuesday, the Gospel about Zaccheaus in the tree.  The priest pointed out that the most important, but often overlooked phrase in that Gospel is, "...and he was SEEKING to see Jesus."  Lord, I seek.  And I find.

Got one more minute?  I got a long email from my BFF Monday evening.  How I love long emails! 

All in all, a good week.  One in which small blessings added up in a powerful way!

Thank you, Lord, for all of the blessings that you send our way.  
Help us to recognize them and remind us to be grateful - always.

Have a great Thanksgiving week!

1 comment:

  1. It would be so interesting to see inside the life of a nun during this day and time.
    I suppose if I got up even earlier than I do now, I could pop into the adoration chapel before school, but I'm afraid my mind would be wandering so badly it wouldn't be productive.

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