candle lit

Remember this post about praying in a candle lit church with my teenage sons?  I got a chance to do it again!  This is simply one of the best things!  Their high school's team made it to the final game of the state championship.  The big game was last Saturday, so Friday evening found us attempting to locate proper spirit clothing for them to wear to the game.  (Thank you to the wonderful parents of their friend who took them.)  Since we were in the area, I asked them if they wanted to stop at the church and light a candle.  (We seem to mostly do this for football games that we want decided in our favor.)

One son strenuously objected, so I continued on my way.  Gotta pick your battles, you know.  We stopped at the Walgreen's down the street to pick up some items and then I headed the car towards home.  "Aren't we going to light a candle?" the objecting teen asked.  These are opportunities you can't pass up, so I made a U-Turn and headed back to the church.  We bought the candle, lit it, and the objector offered a prayer....out loud!

Not wanting to end there, I invited them to sit down in  the pews in the dark and just soak up the peace.  It was a moment that lasted only a few minutes, but God must know what He has to work with.  We approached the tabernacle, and we talked about that for a minute or two.  And then we headed home.

Their team did not win, but as my husband said, "God did His part....the offense did not."  They had plenty of breaks that they did not capitalize on. 

Maybe this excuses the fact that our Advent wreath finally has candles, but has not been lit.  I'm thinking now, I might as well just save those candles for next year!  And they are objecting heavily to going to confession for Advent, since they just went last month for catechism, and I will probably not force that issue.