Many Blessings

Our family has been blessed with twin baby girls, the newest members of my sister's family. Sophia and Sarah born at 31 weeks are doing well, as is their mom. They are not the only newest members of our family. I have sponsored two children, one from Peru and one from Ethiopia: Jimena and Mesekerem. As most blessings do, more responsibilities follow. My children are adopted, 2- and 4-legged.  

Solemn Manda

Back in April, when I was worried I would lose my job, I made a manda to Our Lady of Guadalupe that not only should she save and keep my job for me but also obtain more hours for me that I would save up to make a pilgrimage to her shrine in Mexico City. By the beginning of May, 6 days after I began a 54-day rosary novena, she answered my prayer in full. My job is secure and I got more hours at work. Now I'm saving $20 a paycheck to go to Guadalupe, even if it will take 5 years to save enough money to go on a pilgrimage. To be honest, I wouldn't mind having a sponsor to get to Guadalupe. And as I don't fancy going alone, it will either be with an arranged pilgrimage party or with someone I know to go with me. At least it gives me time to brush up on my Spanish.

A Moment in Time

Hello again! Almost a year since I last posted anything! So much has happened - graduating, getting work, keeping work... Oh, so much to tell! So many journal entries!

Tonight, as I took the dogs out one last time for the night, I found myself gazing upon the mountain, highlighted with the last rays of sunset. As I gazed, I heard His voice - I heard Him calling to me. It was just a moment, but for that moment nothing else existed - nothing else around me mattered. "The mountains are calling, and I must go" was an expression used earlier this year for commercials on TV. But the mountain wasn't calling - God was. I kept going out even after sunset to hear His voice, but for naught. After everything, all this time and what has happened, I had thought we'd grown apart. But we never separated. I may have gone astray from my heart's true love, my very purpose of being like a lost sheep, but He calls to me. And nothing in this world sounds sweeter or more captivating than my Beloved's voice calling me to Him. Speak, Lord, I love to listen to Your voice. See Lord, here I am.