When Charlie and I started this blog, the intention was for both of us to write. I have been personally blogging for a very long time, but we thought we might start this blog to share what was going on in missionary life.
As it turns out, Charlie stays way too busy living that missionary life to get on and share the wonderful stories that he comes home to tell me.
I am planning to keep the blog up in the random case that Charlie might sit down and share, but I also wanted to let you know that I am personally blogging my own thoughts and about Catholic family life at my own blog: Running with Perseverance. I do often write about missionary life and I'll make a concentrated effort to do that more often.
Hope to see you over there, my friends!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Friday, May 2, 2008
Charlie on the Radio in D/FW!
I hear rumors that our donors and friends in Texas read the blog occasionally and in case anyone reads this post in time, I would like to share a message from Charlie (who is in Boulder today for First Friday!):
I wanted to let you know that I will be on Guadalupe Radio this Friday around (edited) 1:15 until 1:45ish (Central Time). That is 910 AM KATH Dallas - Fort Worth & 850 AM KJON (Español)
I hope you can tune in, I will be talking about FOCUS and some of our recruiting efforts.
ALSO, if you are not in the DFW area and would like to listen in, you can listen live at http://www.grnonline.com/. (Choose "Listen Live" in the top left sidebar and then choose North Texas).
I wanted to let you know that I will be on Guadalupe Radio this Friday around (edited) 1:15 until 1:45ish (Central Time). That is 910 AM KATH Dallas - Fort Worth & 850 AM KJON (Español)
I hope you can tune in, I will be talking about FOCUS and some of our recruiting efforts.
ALSO, if you are not in the DFW area and would like to listen in, you can listen live at http://www.grnonline.com/. (Choose "Listen Live" in the top left sidebar and then choose North Texas).
St. Joseph the Worker - Pray for Us!
I wish I would have had time to post these thoughts yesterday, but I would say that today is equally as pertinant. Last night, God used the students at UNC to really show us His love, to offer us consolation, and to confirm for us that we are right where He wants us.
Some History: Charlie did high school youth ministry and Life Teen for about 4 years and in January of last year, he finally left that position to take a job in the "secular" world. By April, he was extremely weary from it all and was completely unhappy doing what he was doing. I saw his distress and made a particular point to pray for him and his job situation on the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker (which was yesterday). St. Joseph really pulled through (as he is notorious for doing) and on May 2, 2007, Charlie received a phone call from the man who is his "boss" today. Charlie had submitted a resume to FOCUS several months before, not knowing what it was really all about or what the job was, but just putting himself out there to find something great. Anyway, THAT weekend he flew out to Denver for an interview. Every time he called me, he sounded so happy and so excited. Everyone he met was above and beyond phenominal and genuinely seeking holiness. At home, I was feeling a little bit fearful. I was 7 1/2 months pregnant, I was alone in the woods (our house was off a dirt road in a pine forest) with a huge thunderstorm that knocked out our power, none of our families knew Charlie was gone (we didn't want to get anyone alarmed about a cross-country move if it wasn't for sure), and I am generally resistant to change.
He came home so excited and confident that we would be moving to Colorado soon. He told me about summer training and I sort of flipped. I was entering the time in my pregnancy where I just wanted to hide and he wanted me to go and walk around all day in a college campus in hilly Atchison, Kansas with a bunch of beautiful missionary women who would surely knock my self-esteem even lower (because it IS all about me you know....::sigh::). Summer training was a spiritually life changing event for me - I think it was all the hours in front of the Blessed Sacrament. He told me that we would have to raise 100% of our income from personal donors and I was a little stressed. Who was going to do that?! What would my parents think!? How are we going to afford to live?! God has been incredibly faithful and has truly given us everything we need - AS ALWAYS (!) and over the last year, He has touched the hearts of our donors who have been so generous as to financially and prayerfully support our missionary life. I have learned so much from this, and that would be another whole post!
He got home on a Sunday night, and Monday morning he got the offer to be the Team Director at UNC. We told our families and started packing. Two weeks later, we left Texas after selling probably 1/3 of our belongings so that we could afford the move and the travel. We endured a tornado in Kanas while moving and Felicity still talks about the night we had to eat pizza in the bathtub of the hotel. We didn't find a place to live when we moved our stuff to storage in this town, much to my discontent. We spent 6 weeks at Benedictine in Kansas for summer training.
When we finally arrived on campus after all the craziness of moving, training, and having a baby, it was time to actually meet the students. They are, after all, what this is all about.
Fast forward to last night, nine months later. The students took the initiate to plan their own "Thank You" event for the missionaries that included dinner, talks by students about how each individual missionary has affected their lives and the student body, prayer over the missionaries by their students, and great social time. It was so lovingly and well done, and I was particularly moved at the end as the missionaries knelt and the students prayed for them - their servants. It brought me back to when Charlie was leaving youth ministry and the high school kids prayed for him in the same way and I just felt so broken and sad that he was leaving something he had such great talent for. God gets His way - and here we are again!
We are so excited to immerse our lives in these young men and women next year as we are moving directly across from campus. We are excited to share our family and offer a sense of home to dorm dreary students. I anticipate personal challenges since I am an introverted, private person who is somewhat afraid to share faults. But we we are putting ourselves out there to share life with them because they matter. They have blessed us so much this year, and I can't wait to see what's next!
To close, I would have to say that I will never forget how St. Joseph interceded for Charlie. I truly believe that he heard me and took my prayer to God, who has blessed us so abundantly!
Some History: Charlie did high school youth ministry and Life Teen for about 4 years and in January of last year, he finally left that position to take a job in the "secular" world. By April, he was extremely weary from it all and was completely unhappy doing what he was doing. I saw his distress and made a particular point to pray for him and his job situation on the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker (which was yesterday). St. Joseph really pulled through (as he is notorious for doing) and on May 2, 2007, Charlie received a phone call from the man who is his "boss" today. Charlie had submitted a resume to FOCUS several months before, not knowing what it was really all about or what the job was, but just putting himself out there to find something great. Anyway, THAT weekend he flew out to Denver for an interview. Every time he called me, he sounded so happy and so excited. Everyone he met was above and beyond phenominal and genuinely seeking holiness. At home, I was feeling a little bit fearful. I was 7 1/2 months pregnant, I was alone in the woods (our house was off a dirt road in a pine forest) with a huge thunderstorm that knocked out our power, none of our families knew Charlie was gone (we didn't want to get anyone alarmed about a cross-country move if it wasn't for sure), and I am generally resistant to change.
He came home so excited and confident that we would be moving to Colorado soon. He told me about summer training and I sort of flipped. I was entering the time in my pregnancy where I just wanted to hide and he wanted me to go and walk around all day in a college campus in hilly Atchison, Kansas with a bunch of beautiful missionary women who would surely knock my self-esteem even lower (because it IS all about me you know....::sigh::). Summer training was a spiritually life changing event for me - I think it was all the hours in front of the Blessed Sacrament. He told me that we would have to raise 100% of our income from personal donors and I was a little stressed. Who was going to do that?! What would my parents think!? How are we going to afford to live?! God has been incredibly faithful and has truly given us everything we need - AS ALWAYS (!) and over the last year, He has touched the hearts of our donors who have been so generous as to financially and prayerfully support our missionary life. I have learned so much from this, and that would be another whole post!
He got home on a Sunday night, and Monday morning he got the offer to be the Team Director at UNC. We told our families and started packing. Two weeks later, we left Texas after selling probably 1/3 of our belongings so that we could afford the move and the travel. We endured a tornado in Kanas while moving and Felicity still talks about the night we had to eat pizza in the bathtub of the hotel. We didn't find a place to live when we moved our stuff to storage in this town, much to my discontent. We spent 6 weeks at Benedictine in Kansas for summer training.
When we finally arrived on campus after all the craziness of moving, training, and having a baby, it was time to actually meet the students. They are, after all, what this is all about.
Fast forward to last night, nine months later. The students took the initiate to plan their own "Thank You" event for the missionaries that included dinner, talks by students about how each individual missionary has affected their lives and the student body, prayer over the missionaries by their students, and great social time. It was so lovingly and well done, and I was particularly moved at the end as the missionaries knelt and the students prayed for them - their servants. It brought me back to when Charlie was leaving youth ministry and the high school kids prayed for him in the same way and I just felt so broken and sad that he was leaving something he had such great talent for. God gets His way - and here we are again!
We are so excited to immerse our lives in these young men and women next year as we are moving directly across from campus. We are excited to share our family and offer a sense of home to dorm dreary students. I anticipate personal challenges since I am an introverted, private person who is somewhat afraid to share faults. But we we are putting ourselves out there to share life with them because they matter. They have blessed us so much this year, and I can't wait to see what's next!
To close, I would have to say that I will never forget how St. Joseph interceded for Charlie. I truly believe that he heard me and took my prayer to God, who has blessed us so abundantly!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
A Long Overdue Update!
Eek! I need to update! There is a lot going on around here and the future is stuffed full of excitement! As an update, we had a lovely Easter here in Colorado, got to spend some time in the mountains with some dear friends, sent out Spring newsletters, endured the strangest Springtime weather, and celebrated Felicity's birthday (yesterday).
I also got to go on a silent retreat (it was wonderful!), Colette learned to crawl, and Charlie's school year as a missionary at UNC has started to come to an end. We will be back here again next school year and we are mainly preparing by packing up to move! We are going to be living directly across the street from campus next year. Even more exciting, is that the house we are going to be living in is owned by the Archdiocese and has a real, live chapel in the basement that has the Blessed Sacrament 24/7! This is the chapel where Father celebrates daily mass for the students. Jesus will be living in our basement and we are so humbled and excited! So, we are moving all of our stuff out of this house over the next two weeks before we head to Texas for fundraising and to do a big donor event for our generous donors in the Fort Worth area.
Following our Texas trip, we are headed to North Carolina for 6 weeks of FOCUS summer training at Belmont Abbey college! We are so excited about the adventures to come!
I also got to go on a silent retreat (it was wonderful!), Colette learned to crawl, and Charlie's school year as a missionary at UNC has started to come to an end. We will be back here again next school year and we are mainly preparing by packing up to move! We are going to be living directly across the street from campus next year. Even more exciting, is that the house we are going to be living in is owned by the Archdiocese and has a real, live chapel in the basement that has the Blessed Sacrament 24/7! This is the chapel where Father celebrates daily mass for the students. Jesus will be living in our basement and we are so humbled and excited! So, we are moving all of our stuff out of this house over the next two weeks before we head to Texas for fundraising and to do a big donor event for our generous donors in the Fort Worth area.
Following our Texas trip, we are headed to North Carolina for 6 weeks of FOCUS summer training at Belmont Abbey college! We are so excited about the adventures to come!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Good Books
Feeling inspired by Blair's blog on Tuesday, I thought I would post what I am currently reading:
Parenting with Grace: Catholic Parent's Guide to Raising almost Perfect Kids by Gregory and Lisa Popcak
Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace: My Spiritual Journey in Opus Dei by Scott Hahn
Divine Mercy in My Soul - Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska
Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfeld
Hold on To Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More than Peers by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate
I'm always in the middle of a bunch of books...I love it!
What are you reading?!
Parenting with Grace: Catholic Parent's Guide to Raising almost Perfect Kids by Gregory and Lisa Popcak
Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace: My Spiritual Journey in Opus Dei by Scott Hahn
Divine Mercy in My Soul - Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska
Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfeld
Hold on To Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More than Peers by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate
I'm always in the middle of a bunch of books...I love it!
What are you reading?!
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Kitchen Fun
This is a video we took today on the Mac's webcam of Colette's new trick. Obviously, the computer is in the kitchen! haha
Monday, March 3, 2008
Check out this video!
I don't know much about this, I heard this clip was used in the Diocese of Phoenix on regular TV and there have been somewhere around 3000 people who have come back to the Church. I can't verify that right this moment, but here's the clip anyway:
http://www.catholicscomehome.org/epic/epic120.phtml
http://www.catholicscomehome.org/epic/epic120.phtml
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