Zero to 80

To all of God’s beloved in Rome, called to be saints…Romans 1:7

November is the month Catholics celebrate all the Saints in Heaven and pray in a special way for all the Souls of the faithful departed.  St. Augustine said there is no greater act of mercy and compassion than to pray for those who have gone before us.  As a Catholic School Teacher the mission this month is to take a dozen opportunities to teach the kids the meaning of this verse from Romans…we are God’s beloved and we are called to be saints.  Becoming saints is what we were made for…we are his and he wants us back.  I suppose we could all use that reminder from time to time.

The first part of November is also the time report cards are due, seats get switched, new bulletin boards go up and the school craft show happens.  I missed writing the past two weeks because Dave and I were in Austria for parents week visiting Shannon.  There are so many stories to tell and I can hardly wait to spill them out on paper but for now, the duties of school in November are sitting on my shoulders like a St. Bernard  on a bug so the Europe stories will have to wait until next week.

When we returned at midnight Monday night and I realized there was a mountain of laundry, an empty fridge, a three column to do list at school and three speaking jobs in the next several days I wanted to get back on that plane and escape it all.  I realized my life had gone from zero the 80 in the blink of an eye.  Tuesday morning when I got up I took my coffee and went to my prayer chair first…before anything else…as hard as that was, God didn’t disappoint and like he always does, he blessed me with something huge in the midst of the chaos.  As I pondered, read and prayed that morning of All Saints Day, I realized he was showing me my path to sainthood.  He was challenging me to live out my vocation as a wife, mom and teacher in such a way that I would grow  in sainthood.  Some saints led army’s, some started revolutions, some lived heroic profound lives and did things we can hardly even fathom.  That’s what he called them to…he’s calling me to something very different.  He’s calling me to reach out to him in the middle of the laundry, the papers, the grocery shopping…the mess of my days.  He’s calling me to live it all with joy because I’m his beloved and this is where he put me and this is how he is allowing me to serve him and work my way back home to him as a saint.

I spent a couple hours Tuesday morning unpacking suitcases, doing laundry, answering email and getting caught up in rapid speed.  Things just seemed to click perfectly, just as they always do when I remember to start with prayer first.  When I did get to school, I was met with hugs and and hello’s and a hot cup of coffee from my students with a note that said, “Welcome back, we thought you’d probably need this!”  I also found a stack of graded papers from my completely awesome sub…enormous blessings within the first 10 minutes of returning to school!  Zero to 80 might be my life, but it’s an awesome ride when I let God take the wheel.  

A Seed To Plant: How is God calling you to grow in sainthood in your everyday life?  Are you cooperating or resisting?

Blessings on your day!