just a typical spring evening in Kansas

I went to mass at 8pm like usual.  Only the entire hour before I was looking out the window and watching the sky.  I was watching it get darker and darker and darker.  And then the lightning came.  And then the rain came.  And I was like fantastic.  So I grabbed my rain coat and walked down the hall and downstairs and walked outside ready to face the downpour.  What I hadn't realized was that it was also windy.  And hailing.  So I'm holding my skirt down and holding my hood up and getting soaked and feeling all the hail hitting my head and getting stuck under my feet in my flip flops.  I get to mass and all of my dress that was exposed below my coat was dripping wet and I felt bad taking a song book with my wet hands.  But I had no place to wipe them off.  All of me was wet.  There were basement and tornado jokes during the homily as well and you could see the lighting flash throughout mass.  I guess this was my welcome to spring in Kansas, this is what happens when it goes from being 90 to being 50 in a matter of a few hours.

Otherwise mass was very nice.  I really like father Brendan's homily about shepherds and how they break the legs of sheep that wander off and then carry them on their shoulders until the leg heals.  Then after that the sheep is closer to the shepherd than before.  It is just the same with us and God.  Whenever something happens in our life that leaves us feeling shocked and scared and broken, God carries us through that time of sorrow and brokenness and when the hurt heals, we are closer to him than we could have possibly been without that trial.  It's like what Dr. Rammage said this afternoon in his talk.  I forget who actually said this but he said that God allows desolation, but he doesn't will it.  God loves us and he wants us to be happy, but he allows us to experience suffering so that we can use that as an opportunity to grow closer to him.  That also reminds me of the footprints poem thing which I absolutely love.

FOOTPRINTS

One night a man had a dream.  He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord.  Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.  Each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; one belonging to him,  and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand.  He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints.  He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it.  "Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way.  But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints.  I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me."

The Lord replied, "My precious, precious child, I love you and I would never leave you.  During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you." 

Isn't that beautiful?  Lord, help me to remember that you are always with me, even in those times when everything seems to be going wrong and all hope seems lost.  Help me to trust in you and know that I am never alone.