Matthew 28:19-20

Well, here we are nearing the end of March and my absence from this blog has been going on for entirely too long. Little did I know that my transition home would be harder for me than I had anticipated. I have had completely mixed emotions ranging from loving to hating being back in the small town I had grown up in. My parents have been so kind to take me back in to their home again and for that I am grateful. One of things I have really struggled with since I moved back to Monroe is that I have really felt a lack of community. In KC, I was absolutely blessed with the Catholic community that I was surrounded by. It was a constant. I had people every day who I could go to Mass, Confession, Bible Studies with.... people who wanted to help me grow in my faith daily. I had people praying for me everywhere I turned. My roommates/friends/FOCUS community were a constant reminder of what it meant to truly live my life as a Catholic daily. Moving back to Monroe, I felt very lonely because I did not have that connection with the members of my parish or the people I grew up with. I recently went on a Christ Renews His Parish weekend which is held for the two parishes in my hometown and it was such an absolute blessing. For the past four months I have prayed and prayed to have that sense of community again.  Not only that, but also for God to help me find my place as a young adult in my parish. Through this weekend he not only answered my prayers but showed me ways and opened my eyes to the people I need to minister to, love and serve daily.

Thankfully, my friends in KC are really good about keeping in touch through texts, calls, and even the old fashioned snail mail. One of them mentioned to me the following Bible verse which helped me to understand why it must be this way.

"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." -Matthew 28:19-20 

And so we must.

Chance Meeting at Sea: Operations for USS Halsey, USS Dewey Provide Opportunity for Dual Military Couple to Meet

Once in a lifetime chance for my brother and his wife. Thank you US Navy! 

Lt. Jg. Amy Long & Lt. Marcus Long

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Christopher Farrington, USS Halsey Public Affairs

In the Gulf of Aden, guided-missile destroyers USS Halsey (DDG 97) and USS Dewey (DDG 105) rendezvoused to transfer equipment and personnel in preparation for Halsey's counter-piracy mission.

The planned encounter between the two ships also gave one dual military couple the chance to see each other for the first time since August 2011.

Lt. Marcus Long, the Information Warfare Officer aboard Dewey, was able to ride over to Halsey during the initial transfer and have lunch with his wife, Lt. Jg. Amy Long, the Damage Control Assistant aboard Halsey.

“It felt great to see my wife waiting for me on the boat deck of Halsey as I arrived,” said Lt. Long. “It's great to know that when a chance of a life time encounter happens, both my leadership and my wife’s leadership are willing to make this happen.”

The couple was able to spend a few precious hours together aboard Halsey enjoying each others company for the first time in 5 months. At the conclusion of both ships’ deployments the couple will have been apart for roughly a year.

“Being away from my husband for an extended amount of time has been really hard,” said Lt. Jg. Long. “I feel like being able to see him, even if it was just for a few hours, will make the rest of the time we have to spend apart that much easier.”

Cmdr. Michael Weeldreyer, Commanding Officer of Halsey, and Cmdr. John Howard, Commanding Officer of Dewey, communicated via chat to arrange the visit for the deployed couple during the equipment exchange.

“It was a great idea from Dewey, and the visit complimented our operational tasking,” said Cmdr. Weeldreyer. “Cmdr. Howard and I agreed this would be a once-in-a-lifetime-tell-the-grandkids-event, so who could resist?”

Halsey is the flagship for Combined Task Force 151, a multinational, mission-based task force working under Combined Maritime Forces, to conduct counter-piracy operations in the Southern Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Somali Basin, Arabian Sea, and Indian Ocean. Dewey is deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility conducting maritime security operations.

The Day I Wished Would Never Come

Yesterday was the day. Yesterday was the first time my Granny couldn’t remember my name as I walked into her room at MCM to visit her.

Was I prepared for it?  I don’t think anything in the world could prepare me for it.  Deep down I think I knew it would be the day, because I hadn’t seen her since Thanksgiving.  I know she had kind of rough week and was confused a little more than normal.  There is just one thing – she is HAPPY, and that is simply enough to remind myself that it isn’t important that she remembers my name. 

My Mom and her siblings recently cleaned out Granny’s house on Southwest Border Street.  I sit here and a hundred different images of my Grandmother and Grandpa flash through my mind.  While the house is still in the family, it is no longer “theirs” and what I have left to hold onto are the wonderful memories of the most loving grandparents I could ever dream of having.  I consider myself one of the lucky ones, growing up in the same small town as my grandparents and seeing them every day if that is what I wanted. 

Mom brought home a box of books (mostly about saints, Catholic teachings, apparitions of Mary, etc.) from Granny’s collection for me to have.  My Granny was an author and columnist by profession, and she loved to read other people’s writings as well.  I think she passed on her love for books to my mother, who then passed it onto me.  I can’t think of anything else I’d rather have, than a collection of books to help me grow and learn more about my Catholic faith.  My Granny already gave me the Catechism of the Catholic Church that used to belong to her and Grandpa – and now I have many more wonderful titles to add to my shelves.  As I’m sifting through an old, worn out Bible I understand in a greater way how much Granny longs to spend eternity with all of her descendents.  She wrote many prayers, whether they were on loose pieces of papers or in the margins of her books probably as they came to mind.  They are simple, yet beautiful and I am reminded once again that He knows the desires of my heart – and my prayers don’t have to be extravagant.  He just longs to know me.

It is comforting to me to know that even as my Granny loses her memory, she is a daily reminder of what it means to live life as a Catholic in a world where we are constantly receiving criticism and fighting our own battles to become closer to Him.  Even more comforting, is knowing that she will live on through the stories she has written in her books, through her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.   

Granny Yates, we are extremely lucky to still have you around – 87 years young :)

11 Things I Love About What Happened in the First 24 Hours I Was Home:

Why 11 things you ask?! It seems like a pretty random number, I know.  Or if you know me at all, you may not even be questioning for a second why the number has no rhyme or reason to it and you may simply be enjoying with me the randomness of this little journey I call life.  

1. Immediately having that peaceful feeling I get inside as I turned onto MCo Rd 375 --- seeing the horses in the pasture, the wide open spaces, the barn and the home I grew up in warms my heart.




Home. Sweet. Home.

2. Spending my first night at home with my Goddaughter/niece, Macy.  She is such a happy child and is a constant reminder of how beautiful it is to be a Godmother and an Aunt.  Hearing her ask for "Aunt Cece" --it makes me melt.  I love seeing the way she interacts with Gingaw and Papa and how she constantly wants to show her affection.  It makes me very happy as a Godmother to see her pointing to pictures of and saying over and over the names of Jesus and Mary.  The sweet sweet sound of her voice when she sings her ABC's, Alleluia, or Ring Around the Rosie is music to my ears.  And to see her love on my dog, Haiti - it's absolutely precious.  These are just a few of my favorites.  The list could go on forever.

3. The stars lit up at the top of the Farmer's Elevator.  Even though we live a few miles outside of town, I can still see them after dark.  They have been there for as long as I can remember and have shown over our town through some of the darkest days, including the tornado that ripped apart our little farm town my Senior year of high school.

4. Enjoying the company of my parents in front of a warm fireplace after a long day together.  It was the perfect way to end my day.

5. Waking up at 2 AM to Macy standing up in her bed, looking at Haiti beside her in her kennel.  Over and over she said, "Haiti you so funny (insert cutuest giggle ever here)."

6. Waking up (at a decent hour this time) to a fresh pot of coffee - compliments of my Pops.  I am very thankful I can count on that every day :)

7. Going to Mass at my home parish.  Appreciating the New Translation.  Seeing familiar faces and seeing my Pops back on the altar resuming his duties as a Deacon for the first time since his knee surgery.

8. Eating breakfast at the VFW Hall with Mom after Mass - and seeing half of the people from Mass there.  What can I say?  It is simply the best.

9. Hitting golf balls in the back yard/field with Lunchbox (my brother-in-law).  Golf is one of the few sports I never tried, but today I decided it was worth a shot. :) I could see this becoming a hobby.

10. Visiting my Granny at the nursing home and seeing that she is just as happy as ever - confused, but happy.  And for that, I am  thankful.

11. Running into Ruthie at the grocery store.  Since she is the closest thing I will ever have to a second Mom, her excitement to see me was wonderful.  I love seeing people unexpectedly :)

Once again, I've recently been struggling with being so busy with the end of semester madness and my time ending in Kansas City (refer to my October 20th post). It's official, I have 8 days left here and the past week I have felt like I have so much to do and so many people I want to see before I move home.  

Thank God for His timing - it is always perfect.  Reservoir is always the first Thursday of the month at St. Peters.  Reservoir is just one of many awesome things City on a Hill Young Adult Ministry offers for Catholics around my age.  Reservoir just happens to be a Holy Hour in Adoration with the Blessed Sacrament and an opportunity to go to Confession.  This was going to be my last opportunity to go before moving back home and it was much needed after my last chaotic week of classes in my MOT program at RockU.  AND -- what better timing than my first week of Advent coming to a close?!  It was just another chance for me to reflect on the coming of our King. 

The ministry of presence has taken on a whole new meaning for me and reality has finally set in – In a week I won’t be spending every waking moment with the people I have grown to love and care about so much in the Occupational Therapy program at Rockhurst, as well as my roommates and those wonderful people who I have met through FOCUS.  Tonight in Adoration I finally heard God telling me in my heart to SLOW DOWN in my daily life and discover that I need to stop doing so much and simply BE PRESENT.  I've known this all along.  It's simply something I need to remind myself of each and every day. 

Capstone Presentations

It's been a long time coming...

The past year I have been working alongside 4 of my fellow Rockhurst University classmates on a Research project that is required of us to graduate from the MOT program.  Finally, this past Friday we presented our research data in front of our professors, other RockU faculty and staff, countless family members and the rest of our classmates.

I can't believe how far we have come in our time here at Rockhurst.  I am so proud of my group members - Kolina, Kayla, Emily and Lacey.  We spent many hours after class and extra Fridays at school... not to mention a bus ride back from Topeka to perfect this project!  We could not have done it without our Capstone Mentor, Mary Jane and Dr. Clump for helping us with data analysis (it would have been impossible without him!). I personally could not have done this without the love, support, prayers and sacrifice of my parents, family, roommates, friends ---and most importantly without placing my trust in the hands of my Heavenly Father.

As we walked to the front of the room, the girls asked me if I had my rosary in my pocket (as I usually do, especially during stressful days such as lab practicals).  I hated to respond with, "No, because I don't have pockets today."  However, I was able to quickly add, "But I do have my posse (St. Sebastian, the Holy Family, and St. Faustina medals) and I have lots of people praying for us."  A calm quickly came over me and I knew that the Holy Spirit was with me.

It's been a wonderful experience, but I can't say that I ever want to do another research project again :) Thanks girls, for the journey!

My Capstone Group: Lacey, Kayla, Emily, Kolina, myself

Our poster! So official :)

My beautiful Godchild and sister. Thanks for coming to support me!

My parents. They have sacrificed so much for me to be where I am today.
The love and support is indescribable. I love you both!

Eskimo kisses for Aunt Cece. Shheesh she's cute. 

It was a Happy Flight Redbirds!

I should have posted this before the series started, but now it is over and I still feel like it is necessary to post it.  For baseball fans everywhere this was a seven game series that will never be forgotten - especially for those who grew up with a love for the Cardinal Nation.  I am proud to say I am a Cards fan after fighting to come back and win the series in the final game, and in Busch Stadium at that.  I only wish my brother, Marcus, would have gotten to experience the excitement as well instead of being deployed overseas.  

Twas the Night Before the World Series – written by Joe Rathert

Twas the night before the World Series, and throughout Cardinal Nation, fans dreamt of ball bats and standing ovations. Jerseys were hung in the lockers with care. This year’s Fall Classic, soon, would be there.

Nyjer Morgan was restless and rolling in bed, grudgingly eating the words he had said. Carp slept in his cleats, and Freese in his cap, while some players struggled even to nap.

The Phils had the pitching, the Brewers, the batters, but as of that night, none of that mattered. The Redbirds gave them a run for their cash, and took them each out like a week’s worth of trash.

Fans felt some guilt, for two months ago, they took their towels and gave them a throw. “The Cardinals are finished and I have great fear; we may have squandered Albert’s last year.”

But the Players not once believed they’d been licked. They made up some ground and made it up quick. With heart and resilience, the comeback came. The season hinged on its very last game.

So Albert, and Lance, Allen and Jay, and all of the Cards (except Holliday), delivered a win in game 162, then waited to see what Atlanta would do.

Their collapse was completed on that very same night. While booze filled the air, Redbirds cheered, “Happy Flight!” Most fans regret their early surrender, but this is a lesson they’d surely remember.

One test remained; a club called the Rangers. To World Series baseball, they were no strangers. Nor were the Redbirds, with history so great. Last rings in ’06, not 1908.

So with hearts full of hope Card Nations slumbered. hopes to reach four, the new Magic Number. Twas a perfect year to get number 11, and bring home the trophy to MLB Heaven.

Go Cards!