Blessed Are the Feet

Moments of Grace

2012-02-17T06:10:00.000-08:00

The women of Suscipio have set aside Fridays to recognize the God's grace at work in their lives -- to document Moments of Grace in the midst of busy lives. I'm sharing this week's "Unforgettable" moments there. What about you -- where did you find grace this week? Join us to share, encourage, and uplift by recognizing the Giver of all good gifts and His grace at work in your life. Share a blog post or picture, or leave a comment with your grace moment for the week.

Unforgettable

2012-02-16T17:41:00.000-08:00

This week we have had our friend, a priest from the States here visiting us. It has been a busy week, but a good one. Ministry is picking up in pace quickly as the priests introduce to more and more aspects of the work they do here and the need for additional help.

Last Sunday, we hosted a fiesta for our community in Grano de Oro after Mass. It was to honor the youth of our community as they begin a new year of school and catechism, but all were invited to attend. We provided food and drinks, built an incredible bonfire and introduced the concept of s'mores. There was music and a clear sky full of stars. We roasted most of the marshmallows for everyone as the fire was so hot it was nearly impossible to stay close to it for very long. I handed roasted marshmallows smashed between cookies and chocolate to my new friends and smiled at their appreciation. In one dark corner sat a mother holding her baby and her small son. They were Chirripo, indigenous visiting town to buy, sell, or begin a longer voyage to another city. The indigenous people are very shy with us, rarely talking to us or even making eye contact. But this mother had joined us with her children that night and I wanted to make sure that she had her taste of the goodness that is s'mores. It was dark, so I leaned in closely to ask her if she had already had one. Her baby slept peacefully in her arms as she sat rocking back in forth in the light of the fire. And as I began to speak and I saw her face in its flames, I smiled wide. There she sat, face happily covered in sticky marshmallow and cookie crumbs. And she smiled back at me, wide and lively, as she shook her head yes. She had tasted the goodness. And so had I. I pray I shall never forget the sweet joy I felt in that moment.

I pray too that that night that mother felt remembered, appreciated, cared for. That all of our community felt that. For is it not the longing of every human soul not to be forgotten? And isn't it easy, when we suffer with our day to day cares, to feel all alone in the world. Even in a house full of people or with our arms full of baby love, we can feel forgotten and alone. And even more common, right there, in the center of our church, we can feel like no one notices us.

Yesterday, Padre Johnny came to our house early in the morning. We loaded up into his truck, the back full of happy boys, and headed up into the mountains to the indigenous villages closest to our town. The two priests of our mission are responsible for ministering the entire Chirripo reservation, thousands upon thousands of acres of mountain land dotted with small communities of people, our brothers and sisters, wanting to be remembered. They minister to some 40 communities, all of which lack proper chapels to gather for worship. They walk for hours every week to visit, to baptize, to say Mass, to tell our brothers and sisters that they are not forgotten, that they are remembered by their church.

We stopped to visit one village and look at the land that a member of the community is willing to donate for the building of a proper chapel. A man approached and introduced himself and we began to chat. He was so thrilled for our presence and begged for us to help them. He told us of their need for a chapel, of their need for help with ministering to their youth and the people of their village. He looked straight into my eyes as he told me of his fear that as his people lose their faith, they will lose their culture and their history. My heart ached to do something right then and there. I held his hand and listened. I promised that we would be back. I invited him to our home. I asked him to invite anyone in his village to our home. It didn't seem enough.

He asked me not to forget them. Not to let the Church forget them. Oh, kind sir, if only you knew. My heart is marked indelibly with the memory of that conversation. The blue sky, the mountain view, his hand in mine, his face lit with zeal for his faith, for his community, and his voice begging not to be forgotten.

God has not forgotten his people tucked away at the ends of the earth. He has charges us with the responsibility of bringing them His love. Oh, that we can find a way. Please pray with me for the indigenous communities here and for their needs. Please pray for priests and missionaries to serve them. Please pray for us to be able to find parishes who would be willing to help build their chapels. And in their honor, today, find someone who needs it and make them feel remembered, special, loved. Perhaps the end of the earth could be right there in your own home, your own office, your own church today?

He Keeps Giving and I Keep Counting

2012-02-07T11:06:00.000-08:00

Another week has come and gone and I am counting on, sharing graces, noticing with an attentive heart the ways God shows us His love very day. In a life that can sometimes feel lonely, it is a grace to give thanks, always turning my heart back to Him who loves and gives and is ever present, never leaving me to myself, always drawing me out, drawing me up, to think on things good and holy and lovely and eternal.

These photos are from our Sunday play at the river, just a stone's throw from our front yard.

25. For a change of pace just when my heart cried for it most.
26. For the man who loves enough to see my needs and meet them as best he can.

27. For the determination of little boys to do what they set their minds to.

28. Especially when the things they set their minds to makes a momma smile wide (Kolbe was determined to walk around the river in these fins. He did not give up easily. I could not stop giggling.)

29. That I have a friend here I like enough to miss.

30. And that she came home today.

31. For the conversation and laughter shared around her table this morning.

32. For the Lord's provision for transportation. Always there is a way to get where we need to be when we need to be there even without a car of our own.

33. For constant invitations to be somewhere.

34. For the gift of song and the way it lightens my heart when the daily duty seems redundant and tedious.

35. For boys who sing the hymns of faith loud and clear and confident in morning prayer.

36. For a long walk with my group of girls that opened the door a bit wider than shy smiles and awkward giggles. For the hope that real relationships will grow there.

37. For the Sign of Peace at Mass where everyone travels, everyone embraces. No one nods or waves or looks the other way.

38. For e-mails and messages that encourage.
39. For a God who lives and breathes and speaks -- in His Word, in His Eucharistic presence, in His Church, in His people.

40. For an evening walk that we called a date that lingered on into the dark of night.

41. For a glass of wine offered and sip slow, savored.

42. For a calendar gifted and filled with dates and activities scribbled in Spanish -- in my own hand. I am ever amazed that He has taught me this.

43. For a walk in the rain and a stop for ice cream -- the laughter at the irony of it all.

44. For the Super Bowl on TV and how ESPN International call to mind a friend I miss so dearly and brings her just a wee bit closer in my heart.

45. For boys who jump bravely and smile wide at their valor. And for their excitement at being caught in midair.

46. For all things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small.

47. For eyes to really see those things and recall that Lord who made them all.

48. For morning glories blooming bright on the birthday of a friend who bears their name. For the quiet celebration of her life I had in my heart.

49. For a to -do list that filled only with ways to love, ways to serve, ways to really live.

50. For the people who give and pray and love from afar so that we have the grace to count on.

Find Me in Yet Another New Place

2012-02-02T11:31:00.000-08:00

Today, I am sharing my heart over at Suscipio, a beautiful nice place for women of God "raise up, support, maintain" their shared faith. I am honored to be part of this community of beautiful voices and do hope you'll give yourself a few moments today to stop by, read, and be inspired by this beautiful place. My post, Sandaled Feet on Dusty Roads is just one of many. Go, read, be inspired, live better, love more.

Giving Thanks

2012-02-01T09:41:00.000-08:00

So I am a little late toSo I am a little late to Ann's Monday Thanksgiving party but I know that the One for whom I count, He doesn't mind the dates, only the state of a heart. And mine, it's all filled up and overflowing with joy and peace and the gifts of this place, this time, these people I call husband and sons, family, and these I call "hermana y hermano", faces new, yet already etched deep into me. The breathtaking mountain views, fog clouds rising to reveal morning son, flowing rivers and trucks full of fruit -- they make my heart sing its song of thanks to Him who gives all good things.

1.For simple buildings that become Churches because He is present and we come.
2. For the prayer warriors who come, who pray, who kneel with us and implore Him for the salvation of souls.

3. For boys who pray hard, love deep and smile big.
4. For their scuffles to be the one who sits next to Mom each time we sit to pray.

5. For the gift of childhood and that it lingers long in the hearts of my children.

6. For dusty roads to be walked long and far in search of those who need Him.

7. For open skies and green vistas and blue, clear blue heavens at which to gaze.

8. For the fruit of the earth growing right there in the reach of my finger tips.
9. For the detailed beauty of His creation, ever a reminder of the intimate way He loves.

10. For this man and the way he lives and the way he loves and the way he serves.
11. And for his sheer joy in this new adventure.

12. See that friend laughing deep and long and wide in the back there? For her. And that smile. And all that is says about this day.

13. For the farmer and his feeding us with the work of his hands. And how it made me smile long thinking of another friend and her pig farming husband.
14. For his shy invitation and his care in providing all for us that day.

15. For kids who find friends in every place and every time and play. Really play.

16. For boys almost men who become boys again under the arch of a turning rope.
17. For tentative words in languages not their own that open the door of relationship.

18. For this. This scene. Forever pressed in my heart journal. Sweet and pure and tender.

19. For a fire stoked all the day, offering treat after treat.
20. For cool mountain air and warm when day falls to night and cool becomes cold.

21. For chocolate eyes that warm the soul.

22. For the green that speaks of new life and for the Life that speaks of Love who gives it me all as gift.

23. For strong, healthy bodies.

24. For the work of our hands and the expected joy of what it will produce.

There are so many more to count. But night beckons and children drift off and a husband sighs deep with tiredness. So I shall count on as we sleep and awake to new reasons to count.Count with me? Count our blessings as yours? Look deep and long into your days and see the work of God? It will change you. For good.

Where to Begin?

2012-01-22T15:34:00.000-08:00

It's hard to know exactly how to tell the story of the last few days. So many family and friends loving us, praying for us, supporting us and wanting to know all the details. And then there is me, just trying to ease in, go slow, savor this new life, take it in slow sips, like a perfectly brewed cup of warm tea on a quiet afternoon after a string of hectic days.

I have created this slide show to tell the beginning of our story. It is hard to believe that a three hour plane ride and endless grace is all that was needed to transition from our life in Louisiana to life here. But so far, it really has been that simple. I know that the grace your prayers have won has made that possible. I cannot thank you enough. For now, my thoughts are quietly forming themselves into all the things I want to share about this new journey. While they incubate, enjoy the sights of life in Grano de Oro, Costa Rica.

A free picture slideshow by Smilebox

Useful and Beautiful

2012-01-16T04:44:00.000-08:00

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”

I've always loved this quote and I would say it applies doubly to a missionary's suitcases. When you are at home, with space and storage to spare, it is easy to justify the possible usefulness of many things that in the end are in fact just things that you'll never use. Not so much with a two bag allowance per family member.

We are blessed in that the home we are renting is furnished and the owner is leaving many of the household items in the house. Nonetheless, a mom making home still reserves the right to bring a bit of her own beauty to that space. And a dad on an adventure reserves the right to a few fun items of his own. And kids, boys anyway, can beg space for legos, soccer balls, and football trophies. And somehow amidst the clothes and boots and rain gear, there is space for each person definition of useful and beautiful to be fulfilled in small, intimate ways. There is great joy in this mother's heart for that part of the process.

I think every family would learn a great deal from this challenge. Imagine a two suitcase plus one backpack limit per family member. You need not consider furniture, and kitchen items and things like bath towels and sheets are packed as choices based on pleasure or frugality, but can be replaced where ever you're heading. Your allowance must fit all clothes, shoes, homeschooling books and supplies, toys and games, personal items, and any items you would bring to make that place feel like home. Oh, and just for fun, eliminate one allowed suitcase for the monstrance you are bringing the parish for a gift and another for your husband's computer. And if you really want to make it a challenge, another for the guitar.

Here is a little look at some of our choices:

Useful: Boots for All the Adventurers

Both: A Basket of Favorites for my Kitchen

Beautiful: Just a Little Box of Pretty for Mom

And the most useful and beautiful of all the items we bring, a vessel of honor for the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord. A gift from the moderator of the Saint Bryce Foundation, Msgr. Jefferson DeBlanc and his parish to the San Juan Diego mission.

We pack in our suitcases all the things we think we need to live, but the one thing we really need is already there. Him. Present. Waiting. And the most important thing we bring does not fit in a suitcase. It is a desire to love Him. comfort Him, adore Him, and enflame that love in the hearts of others. To tell the poor and the sick and the hurting of the Great Love that sits quietly waiting to meet them, to pour Himself out for them, to bring hope and healing and peace.

As I began the process of packing, I knew well that feeling of being emptied as we prepared for our mission. I have walked this road before. I pondered early on about what a good feeling it is to be emptied of so much stuff, of so many day to day worries and cares. That the space made in not just a blank, bereft space inside, but room for Christ to grow, to fill more of me.

I had no way of knowing the very hard emptying He was about to ask of me. I could not calculate the waves of emotions that would set in as the moment of driving down the drive way for the last time grew near. That gaping space, that emptiness, it hurts. It is raw and real and deep. But I know with all my heart, in all my frail brokenness, that the truth remains. It is His space. He has emptied it for His good purpose, and He will fill it with His goodness.

As we drive away from one home today with the blessing of another awaiting us, I pray for you all to find a way to empty yourself of something you do not need to be carrying in your heart, to let go of the fear of feeling empty, and to make a little room for Him. He wants to fill us all. We must make the space. Would you too pray for us and especially for the people to whom we go? Pray that we may be able to bring the love of a Savior and the witness of His presence in the Holy Eucharist in a way that fills empty spaces with the warmth of heaven's love.

We thank you for the kind support and prayers you have offered this past week. They have buoyed us and propelled us forward in a great wave of mercy and grace for which we could not be more grateful.

Our Gabriel, a sweet friend, and Msgr. DeBlanc

It Wasn't The Goodbye We'd Planned

2012-01-13T06:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon we were supposed to take a break from our packing and preparations to have a BBQ and some fellowship with our friends before we head out. A little "goodbye" gathering.

But on Wednesday afternoon at my doctor's appointment, we found a sweet little baby that had already left us and flown home to the Father. So yesterday, instead of a joyful gathering of friends, we spent the day at the hospital, and, in our hearts, we bid a sad goodbye to our third sweet saint.

I have long ago given up any desire to understand the will of God. I beg Him only the grace to know His will and to do it. In the situation where we now find ourselves, there is no room for wondering. I know what I must do. So there is only left the begging of the grace to do it.

I have been surrounded by the prayers and love of beautiful souls and the compassion of a wonderful pro-life medical team. It has been a great consolation. But I hold in my heart the greatest of all consolations, the hope of heaven. For I realize, that even when my body is well past the age of bearing babies, even if I should live until I am 100, always, I will be an expectant mother, until the day I hold my babies for eternity.

And the hope of that day makes the suffering and struggle and strength to do His will in the hard times all worth it. For with every drawing near to His cross, we draw near to the glory of the Resurrection as well, and with every bowing low to His sovereignty, we come closer to bowing before His Holy Throne.

With His help and the grace won through your prayers, I will continue to count the ways He loves in the midst of the sadness, to seek joy in the midst of the pain, to trade the ashes of brokenness for the beauty of grace, and to live with expectant hope.

So goodbye for now, sweet baby...pray for us always.

Welcome

2012-01-06T19:03:00.000-08:00

Whether you have found your way here from Facebook or my dear friend Elizabeth's blog, thank you for coming by. In this new space, I hope to provide a glimpse into the life we as a family are embracing as missionaries in the Catholic Church in service in Costa Rica. Right now, that life is all about packing and preparing and praying our way to our post. Will you join us in prayer as we fill our final days here with the business of work, the still silence of prayer and the warm embrace of family and friends? And why don't you leave us the intentions or one word your heart is speaking to you this New Year? We will carry them with us on our journey and deliver them safely into the hands of Our Lady of the Angels at her shrine in Cartago. We would love to take you all on this adventure with us.