Once again, blog fail. So here goes another try at this.
I've been wanting to share this one for awhile. It was one of those overwhelming "God moments" where you absolutely know he is trying to tell you something with a very simple gesture. It was just about a week before I was to take my National Board Exam to become a Registered Occupational Therapist. Exhasuted, stressed out and needing a break from looking at one more thing about psych, peds, musculoskeletal disorders and on and on and on --- my lovely friend, Kay, invited me to STL to join her for a Cards game and simply to catch up. I went back and forth on whether or not I should make the trip when what I really needed to do was buckle down and study for the biggest exam of my life. I decided to make the trip, and it proved to be one of the first things of many that God would provide me with in the next few days to put things back into perspective in my life.
God moment #1: The weeks leading up to this trip I had been desperately missing a good friend of mine - Sr. Alexandra. When I left KC in December to move home, she also moved home to Houston and later joined a religious order known as The Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matara. At this point in time it had been roughly 8 months since I had seen her sweet face. I get a letter through snail mail from her every now and then ---oh, how I love those days, but it simply isn't the same as spending time with her. The entire drive to STL, all I could think about was how much I missed her, how exhausted I was from the studying and worrying about what the future held for me. Alex and I made a deal before she left that every time we thought about how much we missed each other's company, we would offer it up for the poor souls in purgatory. For the first time since she left I felt like I was failing miserably at just offering it up! There was nothing I wanted to do but swing by KC Art Institute to pick her up for Mass or Thursday night Adoration, grab a burrito at Chipotle or see what amazing creation she had come up with in her studio. During this drive I felt like Jesus was trying desperately to tell me – “Hey sister, get over yourself. Your day will come when you get to see each other again.” That’s when the song came on…If you haven’t heard this one, you should listen to it. Angel By Your Side, by Francesca Battistelli. I really felt like He was trying to tell me that no matter the miles or the time that lapses between us, we are united at His table, and Alex will always, always be by my side – praying for me and cheering me on from afar. Eye opener. Every time I hear this song now, it makes me think of her and I am so happy to say that I will be seeing her when she receives her habit in December (God-willing.) She doesn’t know I will be making the trip out east for this though, so shhhh don’t ruin the surprise!
God moment #2: Without a doubt, the retreat that I went on the weekend before my big test. I had been telling Kay that the one thing I felt like I needed most was a silent retreat. Prayers answered… the first day of the retreat was “silent.” God provides. It’s as simple as that. (I’m not sure if I ever told Kay this fun fact about my retreat!). AND I got the surprise of being on a retreat with an old friend - much needed time to catch up and share in His love.
Last but not least, the day I spent in STL was perfect. Kay and I lounged by the pool as we caught up on what was going on in our lives, enjoyed Gus’s pretzel dogs (my first time), and went to a scorching hot Cardinals game after enjoying a few drinks at the rooftop bar…I’m drawing a blank on the name. Thank you Kay, for a wonderful time and more importantly for allowing me to be a part of your mission :) I am so blessed.
Until next time… enjoy this song and a couple of pictures from my STL roadtrip.
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| Gus's = an STL fav. Can't wait to go back there! |
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| View from the rooftop bar before the game. |
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| I am so blessed to have this girl in my life! Love you Kay Frances. |
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| Compliments of Kay. God is so good. We were in baseball heaven @ Busch and the view was stunning. |
