On a Mission

I will be leaving in a few days for a mission trip to South Texas, deep south Texas. We will be working there with the poor. Helping in whatever way we can. I have a number of thoughts running through my head as the time for departure draws near. A common theme coming from Pope Francis is the need to reach out to the poorest and neediest of our society. I wonder, on this mission, trip who is reaching out to who. Are we seeking the neediest or are we the neediest?

How will this all come together? I am not in charge of this trip. So, I have to surrender some control and trust that all will be taken care of. I know we will be near San Juan, TX. That is about it. There is supposedly a hotel that we will be staying at and we will be fed. I am driving down there but don't know where we are going exactly. This makes me a bit nervous but not worried exactly. This has been done before and it will all fall into place, it always does.

I have heard a little about the people and conditions down there. Will I be up to the challenge? Will I be able to put my own selfish desires aside for a while, for these people? 

I don't really know what I will be doing or much of anything about this trip but I find myself excited for the opportunity. The times in my life when I have felt most satisfied and fulfilled have been when I was able to put myself aside for the service of others. I can't think of a better way to spend spring break. 

I have no doubt that this will be one of those times where no matter how much we help the people down there, we will undoubtedly feel that we have received even so much more in return. For to give of oneself will help to reach that place in us that can only be filled with the love of God. As St. Francis says, "It is in giving that we receive".

What's In Your Head?

Last summer I spent a week doing Zumba everyday with my wife. Let me tell you it is quite a workout.

For those of you that don't know, Zumba is an exercise program designed mainly for women. The music, the moves and so on are all designed to appeal to women. At least that is my experience. It was a really tough workout. I did enjoy it. After a couple of days I started having fun with the girly songs and tried to have as much fun as possible with it.

Anyway, these catchy songs get stuck in your head and this was certainly the case with me. One of the songs had a line in it that went, "La, la, la". It was so stuck in my head that I finally texted the instructor and said, "La, la, la GET OUT OF MY HEAD". Luckily this did not stay forever. I am back to "normal" now, kind of. 

My journey so far through diaconate formation has been good. I realized last night that God seemed to be stuck in my head. It seems that everything going on around me suddenly reminds me of God.

Last night we were trying to get my son to practice his guitar. He like the guitar but because practice was going to interrupt what he was doing, he came back with, I don't like guitar, I never liked guitar and so on. I was getting frustrated with him and then it dawned on me that this is the same way we treat God.

Oh God, I love you and will do anything for you. At least until it interrupts what I want to do. I love you, God but the big game is on. I love you God but I have to work more to make more money to buy more things. I can only imagine how frustrated God must be with us when you emotions and devotion can just turn on a dime. We can easily fall into the trap where we only want to follow God when it is convenient for us.

The good news in all of this is that God is way more patient than I am.

A Love Like No Other

One of my college girls challenged me to think about Valentines Day differently this year. To think of it in the terms of Christ's love for us. 

As I think back over the years, I see so many examples of His love for me. Mostly, I see this in my wife of 25 years. This is our 27th Valentine's Day if I am doing the math correctly. When I try to recall those past Valentine's Days, I really can't recall much. Rather, what comes to mind is all of the other days. The days when my wife would continually put my wants and needs ahead of hers. The countless times she gave up what she wanted for our children. 

She truly shows what it means to love in the way Jesus loves us. Now, understand, my wife is not Jesus, none of us are. We all still have our human side that we have to deal with everyday. not just our humanness but that same humanness in others.

When God came to Earth as Jesus Christ, he came as God and man. He had the capacity for love just as God does for he is God. He had to deal with all of us humans, with all of our shortcomings. How frustrating that must have been. 

When my wife and I got married we made vows to love each other with a Christ-like love until death do us part. It is a choice we both make everyday. To love each other in that way. Our human sides to get in the way, our hurts, disappointments, anxieties, and desires all pull us away from living that Christ-like love. But, I thank God for a good wife that continually strives to put aside those human things for the things of heaven. She is my inspiration for doing the same with with my selfish human side.

Dearest wife,

Thank you for being the best example of Christ's love here on Earth for me. I love you. 

Your loving husband, 

Rob

Running

I have an extremely strong dislike for running. Or at least I did. Something strange happened last June, I started running with my daughters who were training for a 5K. I was only doing it to help them out, or so I thought. I found myself strangely attracted to running. I started running as often as I could.

I would generally run in the 3 mile range. Then, I decided to start running longer distances. Once you get past the initial hump of running on a regular basis, you can generally add distance without too much issue.

I have worked my way up to longer and longer distances. This last weekend I ran 13.2 miles. When I started pushing for longer distances I realized that running farther was more of a mental discipline issue than a physical issue. Yes, your body aches but it is the discipline that will allow you to push through the discomfort and continue on. When I set my mind to the fact that I will run a certain distance the largest factor is my mental attitude. 

Running has given me a great opportunity to learn discipline. Discipline to keep going. Discipline to pace myself so I can get the distance I desire. Learning discipline in any activity is good. Successful discipline will help you anytime you start something new.

This can be done by anyone. Just start small and celebrate your successes.