#ineedmoremoralcourage

I legitimately avoid sleep and I couldn't tell you why.

Actually, I could...I haven't prayed today. 

Little Miss Never Rest

Tonight, as my day off comes to a close, I'm sitting here wrapped in a blanket, drinking blueberry tea, listening to a country playlist, and blogging. This combination makes me happy like a peach. 

I stayed inside all day today. That wasn't the plan, but that's the way it happened and I'm okay with it. 

It's amazing how many things can happen in a single day. It's amazing how much grace God gives me in a single day. Every day is a small version of the journey of life, and every minute is a small version of the journey of an hour, and so on.

The journey. 

Everything is a journey. From the first decade of the rosary to the fifth. From being awake to fading into sleep. From the first song of team prayer to the final "amen." 

I find myself constantly seeking adventure.

Sometimes my prayer becomes, "Jesus, what adventure do You want to take me on today?"

I think I've decided that "adventure" and "journey" are interchangeable in context. And, if everything is a journey...then everything is an adventure. Sign me up.

I just finished the last sip of my tea..even that was a journey - an adventure. 

ǝʌ,noʎ ʇob oʇ ǝbuɐɥɔ ǝɥʇ ʎɐʍ noʎ ʞooן ʇɐ sbuıɥʇ 

   

So Suffer Well, Be Still, and Trust in the Lord

Where does the heart run wild? In making those dreams a humble reality.

I'm physically exhausted..burnt out with all mental and emotional capacity, but my heart is so full.
I love the ministry here in this place. A community tucked away in the northern suburbs where the young generation has yet to be awoken.
But as they come, one by one, my heart sings. This is what I've been waiting for, what I've been called for, perhaps even born for.

I miss home, I do. But I miss home for the familiarity and security. And I miss home for the comfort of yearning for something more that I grew so comfortably in.
Here, there is no where to hide. If I let one moment pass it's a regretted choice by the start of the very next moment.
I can't fathom not being here. The welcoming smile of a parishioner dropping off a meal at our home, old Italian ladies greeting me with a double kiss, people not leaving our house until we're practically tucked into bed with our teeth brushed and night prayers said.
The pattern always goes: people we minister to become friends and friends become family.

"If you are who you were created to be you will set the world on fire." St. Catherine of Sienna

And watching saint biography movies at the Millers house..then doing the dishes as if we were part of the family.
Playing imaginary hockey with the young Hudec boys after mass.
Practicing "Italian phrase of the week" for each Italian mass.
Making a big deal out of every person that walks through our front door.
Picking up meat that Lourdes buys us in bulk at the market.

There are so many more things... I'm meant to be here in this beautiful place.