Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

Now that I got that awful song in your head.... hehe.

Thank you so much to all of you who made my birthday so special; Rarely have I felt so loved both in the presence of friends at my house and the messages I received. Wow this wretch is so blessed!!!

Today is the installation mass for Bishop Weurl, our new Archbishop here in DC. He is the Shepherd the Lord has chosen for us, and I hope that he will be humble, courageous and prepared for the enormous task that it is.

I'm hoping to get a seat since I sprained my ankle or did something funky to it yesterday playing soccer. shoooooot. NOT GOOD considering I'm leaving for WorkCamp tomorrow. Is there a patron saint of sprained ankles? Please pray for the 300+ teens that will be there; that they may encounter Christ in their service and our reflections and activities.

Still looking for a job. I want to teach high school religion/theology. I'm willing to move... anyone know of anything???? I thought this would be easy, but it's not turning out that way. There's a plan, right?

Mid-Twenties Crisis

Last night while I was with some friends/wretches I do not see very often, we talked about our mid-twenties crisis, brought on in a particular way by being around or talking about our friends who are already living their vocations (beautifully, might I add). It especially comes on when said friends are younger than you. By years.

We didn't talk too much in depth about it but I'll try to articulate my frustrations and they can affirm or deny them.

• I'm tired of moving. Basically, I'm tired of temporary homes. You move somewhere, live there for a year, then at least one roommate gets married, the house changes, or you don't have a job and have to move home again, only to be wondering when you'll be able to move out once more and who you can live with who isn't guaranteed to be getting married a year from now, all the while secretly hoping one day it will be you.
• When you go to parties with your married-with-children friends (who you LOVE), you're pretty much the only single woman there and may even be asked, "Where is your husband?" (true story- I should have replied, "You tell me!")
• You get lots of comments from you family and friends along the lines of, "But you're such a catch! What's wrong with those guys?" Which you appreciate but at the same time wonder about because it can't really be all their fault, can it?
• Many conversations go like this, "Do you ever hear from so-and-so?" "Oh, yeah! She's engaged- it's coming up next month." or "Yeah she's entering the CFRs in a week"
• You have many many many girl friends who are all in the same boat as you, and you love being with them but you have to laugh about having a "girls' night" because every night is a girls' night.
• And finally... You have to sit in a cublicle for hours to make money to pay rent for your temporary living situation and discuss "career options" and try to sell yourself, all the while thinking, "Actually, all I want to do is get married and have children."

Along those lines, I'll relate a story from my junior year of college. I received a letter in campus mail saying that I'd been nominated for some kind of award/scholarship program. There were a million steps, and I had to go to the dean's office to be interviewed. I went to her office, having no real idea what I was in for. She said congratulations and some nice things about my studies, and then asked the question I knew was coming but still dreaded, "What do you want to do?" I froze. By this point I had figured out that the most important thing in my life was my faith, and that I really wanted to help people. Something vague. I didn't know how to answer her question adequately and I think I literally said, "I don't know; I'm not sure." She said, "That is not an acceptable answer for an intelligent young woman." and proceeded to lecture me on that fact and how she couldn't possibly recommend me for anything if I could not answer such a simple question.

I said, I agree. Keep it; I don't want it! And left in tears. I recall with perfect clarity that I just wanted to say, "I just want to get married and have a family!" but knew that that would go over even worse than "I don't know", if that was possible. That reaction actually surprised me at the time- particularly because I wasn't raised at all to consciously think that that was most important. It was never a question in my house whether I'd go to college or whether I was expected to do something with my mind. Of course I was! School was important, and finding something you loved to do was as well. I also never dated anyone so it's not as if I was always thinking about it or actively "husband hunting." But faced with the question by a stranger I found the answer in myself.

Three years later I'm wondering if it was just me, or the Holy Spirit, or both. That's where the mid-twenties crisis comes in. How do you know if you're doing God's will or just seeking your own desires. Because this time of our life is inherently selfish. The only person you're responsible for... is you. You're not really accountable to anyone else; You're not bound to a person, place, even country. You could go anywhere, at any time, for any reason, if you have the means to do it. Yikes.

Well maybe ONCE in a while

Just once in a while...

Tonight is the vigil mass of Pentecost- a feast that I never understood so well as I do now and certainly never celebrated as well as I plan on doing. Tonight, mirroring what is happening in Rome, we have a mass at the basilica with members of all of the ecclesial movements who have responded to the breath of the Holy Spirit in joining them. I will be singing with the Communion & Liberation schola, and though I'm in no way an "official" member of CL, I love it a lot and am really glad to spend this feast with them.

Tomorrow, Sr. Wave and I are having a Pentecost party. haha. It's gonna be great fun.

In that same breath, we pray for Sr. Spice's grandmother, who passed away this week to join her husband who died only a short time ago.

The Spirit moves where He wills... You give and take away.