Have You Found Jesus? Was He Lost?

 

  It may sound a little weird, but one of my favorite movie scenes is from, “New In Town”  when the Blanche Gunderson, the Minnesotan plant secretary  is driving  Lucy Hill  around town. Being the town ‘mom’ Blanche is asking Lucy all kinds of questions to find out how to make her feel at home.

  But by this time, Lucy, a young up and coming executive from Florida is getting weary of all the ‘do you scrapbook’, ‘are you dating’, ‘are you a vegetarian,’ questions so when Blanche asks, “Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?” She sighs and replies, “Isn’t that what you’ve been doing?” But Blanche persists and asks, “Have you found Jesus?” Lucy  turns to look at her and deadpans, “Well, I didn’t know he was missing.”  Then seeing the horrified look on Blanche’s face, adds, “It was a joke.” Blanche stops the car and says,  “We don’t much joke about Jesus around here.”

 

   Some people have no trouble talking to others about Jesus or asking if they have been saved.  But ask some Catholics to talk about Jesus and we all get a blank look on our faces. Talk about Jesus?  Don’t we just pray to Jesus?   But if we don’t talk about Jesus,  how do you share your faith with your family? Notice I said “share” not evangelize because evangelize seems to be a word that scares everyone! “I don’t know how to evangelize.” “Doesn’t evangelize mean going door to door asking people if they have found Jesus.” “I’m not a theologian, I can’t talk to my kids about Church matters.”

 The  best way for us to ‘evangelize’ or talk about Jesus to our kids is by showing them how important He is in our lives.  And while we do need to engage our kids in conversations about the Lord, it doesn’t have to be hard or as uncomfortable as Blanche and Lucy.

 

   It starts with bringing them to Mass when they are toddlers and pointing at the cross and whispering that is Jesus and when the priest is holding up the Blessed Sacrament and whispering that is Jesus too.  It begins in small ways just like you teach them about the sun and the trees and the colors.

   As our children grow in addition to talking we add our example of praying, going to Mass and other devotions help us.  “Why are we going to church so much Dad?”  “Because we go visit people we love a lot, like Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Jo, and Jesus.”   “Why did those people die in that storm?” “Because this world is not forever, but Heaven is and that’s where we’ll see everyone again.”

   Teens need the example we give them going to Mass too as well as talking and listening.  When the news is full of violence and hurt,  we can help our teens cope by talking about how we trust in God to keep us safe, and how some day we’ll all be together again in Heaven.  It’s hard to talk about people dying and getting hurt and answer the most asked question, “Why doesn’t God stop those things from happening?”   That when we need to remind them that we live in a natural world, as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin, and in a natural  world things can happen like earthquakes, and people hurting others because they turn toward evil instead of good.

 

   But God is always right beside us trying to help us get through those things. Quite the opposite of abandoning us, He is there holding our hands carrying us through the natural world of hurts, sorrows and calamities. If we open ourselves to His love can inspire us to help others in those situations and know God is with them.

 

  The Catholic Church gives us prayers of reassurance, of mercy and forgiveness that help us through those times of doubt and feeling alone.  The prayers we teach them are not magic charms that will keep them safe, they help keep their souls centered on the God who helps them not be afraid even when bad things happen.

 

Stop, Look, Listen: A Lesson in Holy Spiriting

   I learned a really big lesson in my faith this weekend.  That no matter how hard I pray and try to work a problem, it's not until I learn to shut my mouth, close my head to all the noise in the world and just listen do I hear the Spirit.
   Saturday was working up to be a really nice day. After last weekend leading a marriage preparation seminar all day, Mike and I were really looking forward to a 'normal' Saturday where we actually get to do our chores in the morning and do some other things around the house in the afternoon.  It was supposed to be a rainy day all day and I looked forward to crafting time after I had done my bill paying, business running and housework.  I had found a new yarn I could make fuzzy bears with and some adorable stuffed Easter bunny fabric that needed to be cut out  and sewn together and stuffed. That was to be my afternoon and evening activities.  The rain didn't begin until lunch time which was fine because we did lunch and I sat down to knit a fuzzy bear. It rained and it rained and flood warnings began to pop up. Mike and I watched some golf while I continued to knit letting my brain just enjoy the act of creating something. Nothing else was on my mind but enjoying my craft.

   But around 3:30 or 4:00 I began to hear a niggling inside my heart to check in with our youngest daughter who was at her home eight miles away with her three month old.  She had said something about coming over to visit, but I was concerned with her getting out in the rain.  We texted back and forth as the storm increased.  She said she would not come over and I offered for us to pick up supper and bring it to her home.  She didn't want us getting out in the worsening storm either and we signed off.  But minutes later as I continued to knit, something kept saying go get supper and go to Jackson. 

    Of course when I asked Mike about doing this he questioned my timing, the storm was worsening and thunder and lightning were now lighting up the darkening sky.  I looked at him and said, "It will be an adventure!"  My husband, being the fantastic husband he is said okay and we packed up our raingear and headed out to pick up Chick Fil A.  As we pulled out of the garage, rain water was already flooding the driveway and overloading the gutters. It sounded like we were in a car wash as we backed out of the garage.  We headed the four blocks to Chick Fil A not really being able to see in the pouring rain. I laughed nervously and remarked how quiet the restaurant was for the first time since they opened five years ago. There was no one in the drive through.  We got our order and when I went to text Cait we were on the way, my cell service cut out because of the rain. That was weird. We drove the interstate highway towards Jackson with flooding rains along side the road and the trees beginning to sway.

   We reached her house and got soaked running inside but we all sat down and enjoyed our meal. Then Cait offered to show us her new workout area her wonderful husband and set up for her in their partially finished basement. Half of the basement is carpeted with a nice bathroom and the other half is walled in.  As we got down the stairs we saw water running across the concrete in her new workout area. Uh oh, looks like a little problem...then we all turned and saw water literally rushing across the carpet.
  There is a walkout basement door in the room with the carpet and water was flooding in through the door and drenching everything in sight.
  We whisked the baby upstairs as Mike ran to see why the sump pump wasn't working. The breaker had thrown on it because there was just too much water flooding the drain outside the door.  Nothing was going to stop all that rain water from flooding into the basement until we could pump out that water in the walkout door well.   So I got wet vaccking and Mike ran to the Ace Hardware to find a pump all the way back six miles to Cape. He was lucky because the highway was flooding out in places all the way back and when he reached the Ace Hardware, he asked the clerk upfront about the pump.  The young man looked at him blankly, "Uh, I don't know what that is, but wait I'll ask another guy who may know."
  Another clerk walked up, Mike told him what he needed and the man just pulled the pump out from under the sales desk. "I just happen to have one right here! It's the last one."  Mike gratefully paid and left the store. The drive back was even more perilous as he followed a police officer. They both drove through foot high water and the officer stopped to barricade the road behind them.
  Finally he got back to the house and worked outside in the pouring rain, thunder and lightning to hook up the pump to suck out water from the outside drain.  That finally eased the amount of water pouring into the basement.
  In the meantime Cait had called her husband at work who had to come home again through all the storm and find us all bailing out his basement and trying to dry the carpet and drywall.  To top it off the next day was their first wedding anniversary. What a way to celebrate!
 
  The lesson I learned is that you need time to hear that little voice inside your head at times. Each day take time to listen, turn off the sounds, music, phones and just listen to your heart, your head and if that little voice is sounding any alarms!