#SmallMerciesMiércoles: can I be grateful for change itself?

Rejoice in the Spring-time of the year. Let there be Spring-time in your hearts. The full time of fruit is not yet but there is the promise of the blossom. 

Know surely that your lives too are full of glad promise. Such blessings are to be yours. Such joys, such wonders. 

All is indeed well. Live in My Sunshine and My Love.

~April 30 entry in “God Calling,” 

edited by A.J. Russell

Spring-time in Oklahoma can mean just about anything. Cool temperatures. Warm weather. Dry conditions. Unceasing rain. 

Yet two variables seem constant lately:  unrelenting winds, and always, the possibility of serious storms.

The terrifying, destructive storms that hit across the southern states earlier this week left Oklahoma untouched this time.  And in spite of the wind that comes sweeping down the plains, just like the song “Oklahoma” promises, we’ve had gorgeous weather… mostly sunshine, beautiful cloud formations, and temperatures in the upper 50s and low 60s.

Much like the capricious Oklahoma weather, life can and does change in an instant. Without any warning, a storm can quickly develop, wrap its arms around me, and literally change my life forever.

Now be honest. What did you imagine when you read that sentence—something terrible or something amazing and good?  

Change can be either, or both!

On this #SmallMerciesMiércoles, I choose to be grateful for exactly that, the change itself. 

Whether good, bad, or yet unknown—I entrust it all to the One who loves me most, best, and forever.

Oklahoma weather and becoming Eucharist

Just two nights ago, my parents, two of my children and their spouses and all three of our grandchildren—all piled into a small double closet under the stairs as we took shelter from possible tornadoes nearby on yet another crazy Oklahoma stormy night.

Photographer: Carlos Weaver

courtesy of  Life Teen, Mesa, Arizona

When it comes to weather, May is always a nutty month in Central Oklahoma. We know all too well the rules and patterns of severe weather and tornadoes. But even around here, the past couple of weeks have been especially treacherous.

Once the anxious hours were behind us, I found myself pondering about this experience in light of our feast this weekend. We celebrate what once upon a time as a child we called Corpus Christi—and we now call the feast of the Holy Body and Blood of Christ. 

Someone asked me recently what difference does the Eucharist make in my daily life, how can it affect what we label as “real life”?  For me, it means everything.

It’s what my wise pastor calls the difference between taking communion and becoming communion. It is more than Christ being in us. We, in communion, are in Christ!

Fr. Boyer leads school children in a Eucharistic procession

Here’s how Fr. Thomas Boyer described it in his homily this weekend. We gather together as a Church so that every time we assemble around the altar, 

“we may become more and more the very Christ we consume, so that finally having been gathered in communion and grafted onto this vine, no one will be hungry, no one will go away thirsty from this well of divine life, and all creation where ever we are found will in glory reflect the creator whose life is our privilege to share and whose gifts bring the duty to give. The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is the Church in Communion from which no one should be sent away.”

 [To read his whole homily, go here] 

Our blood family came through the storms with nothing but stories to tell. But our Church family is hurting. Our friend Gary told me today that his mother, his brother, and his sister-in-law all lost their houses and are, literally, “starting from scratch.”

And our young friend Ken, one of those infamous storm-chasers, told me after Mass that he had just found out that his friend, afellow storm-chaser, died covering Friday night’s storms.

When one hurts, we all hurt. This is the Church in Communion.

our farm home away from home

I've never stayed overnight in a building with a thatch roof!

the road to our farm home

There’s something truly different about staying in lodging with its own individual name, even when I don’t know what the name means!  It makes me feel like I’m visiting a distant relative.

Our farm home away from home, La Pelviniere, is located just outside the village of Champ du Boult—which is near the village of Vire, in the Calvados Region in Normandy. It is early spring here, and everything is green, budding, and right now, very wet.

According to the information on the building, La Pelviniere underwent a complete renovation over 18 months—with final additions done just last year—which transformed the insides of this 300 year old thatched-roof building into a distinctive historic lodging, with completely modern facilities on the inside.

way to our bedroom

michael reading his novel in the sitting area

The bottom line is, we’re not roughing it—and I must admit that I have been very grateful for the central heating the past few days, which have been muggy, rainy, and cold.

 I love the little touches around the house that remind me that this is not your usual house...

the "handle" to my bedroom

The "nightstand" next to my bed, a nitch in the wall

enter -- but mind your head!

a nitch in the kitchen with a stereo & CDs

I do hope before we leave at the end of the week to be able to take a walk in the backyard among the apple trees, which are just-beginning to bloom, and to say hello to the sheep, horses, and chickens that live in the farm next door.

looking out my bedroom window

This whole area is awash with World War II landmarks, history and stories, something we’ll be exploring later in the week, perhaps tomorrow?

Needless to say, no Wi-Fi in our thatched-roof dwelling! But I will post when I can, and concentrate on one aspect or place as we continue on our pilgrimage through the French countryside.

Yesterday we visited Mont-St-Michel, an iconic, imposing landmark about an hour from here. I will post on it soon. Like Chartres, that one place alone commands its own write up!

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NOTE: We heard the news today about the terrifying storms that Norman and Oklahoma City have had the last couple of days -- and the death toll from the tornadoes that went through Moore.  I want to assure you all that you are in our prayers, and we will commend you to Our Lady's care and intercession at every church we go.

my candle of prayer intentions today

Do count on my prayers for you—and thank you for praying us through this pilgrimage journey.