Last month, I shared my awareness of a shift in our family and in myself. All four of our children are now married and have started families of their own—a grace of God that deserves to be pondered with deep gratitude.
As I have been reflecting on this Divine grace, I am also aware of another milestone. It has been ten years—a decade—since our family returned to live in the United States after living abroad for almost a decade. A time of great transition and an opportunity to deepen our trust in God.
So, in honor of our ten-year anniversary of returning to the States, I am re-posting my very first blog— A Time to Write Again. Re-reading it, I was reminded of my WHY for writing. It can be very helpful to remember why we began to do something. I will then follow that by my first three posts in 2018 reflecting on the transition of returning and beginning again.
Life is full of opportunities to begin again. Hopefully, you will find something in these writings that you can relate to, or perhaps they will invite you to reflect on your own opportunities to begin again.
A TIME TO WRITE…AGAIN
Writing a monthly blog was a part of my life while living and ministering in the Dominican Republic for almost ten years. Since our return to the states over two years ago I have continued to write out my thoughts as a way of processing life but only sharing with a few selected friends and family. My thinking was “there are just so many WORDS out there now— I don’t want to add any more”.
Recently I read Pope Francis” apostolic exhortation “On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World”. His words “Each saint is a mission, planned by the Father to reflect and embody, at a specific moment in history, a certain aspect of the Gospel” grabbed me. What an appealing and hopeful thought. I am here at this exact moment in time to live out a unique part of the Gospel, God’s divine plan. I am not to copy anyone else or strive to be something I am not. I am to simply trust that I am a one-of-a-kind work of the Creator who has something unique to say and do through my life.
Thinking that my life can be God’s divine word living in and through me was the final “nudge” I needed to begin to “write online” again. If my life can be a message that God wants to speak to the world, then sharing it would be good. And it motivates me to stay faithful to my deepest self so that I become what the Father had in mind when He created me.
I would describe myself as a “seeker” who enjoys sharing what she has learned as a way to encourage others. I see that pattern throughout my life. I am grateful to God for all the experiences that He has allowed me to live. I want to share some of those as they reflect His goodness, power, faithfulness and extreme love for humanity.
I plan to start this blog with a series about my “RETURNING” to the United States. I pray that everything I write reflects how I am held by Divine Love, how we ALL are. May we be aware of that Divine in our day to day.
STAY TUNED…
For today I’ll end with a few words that give me hope—
“Do not be afraid to set your sights higher, to allow yourself to be loved and liberated by God…Holiness is an encounter between your weakness and the power of God’s grace.” Pope Francis
