Charism: Service

Thursdays are my favorite day of the week.

On Tuesday I begin to get excited that it’s almost Thursday, on Wednesday I’m bursting at the seams, and on Thursday morning I’m jumping out of bed to turn on the coffee and get going. Thursdays are our service day. This past Thursday I was so excited that I didn’t realize until the day of that Thursdays are also pretty awesome because we get to sleep in a little bit, have breakfast/lunch/dinner in household, and have free time in the afternoon which is a prized thing around here.

“They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do.” + Galatians 2:10

Mrs. Glendia

She might be my favorite person here, but don’t tell the other missionaries that. 😊 We visit Mrs. Glendia every Thursday for our service day. Her local priest asked another full-time missionary family here to catechize her in preparation for the Sacraments (Confession, Confirmation, and Holy Communion). They took us to meet her our second week here and in our third, we began teaching her about the faith.  

Her husband is Catholic and kids grew up Catholic, but she bopped between the Baptist church and their Catholic one through the years. I found her story to be beautiful about how she was led to reach out to the priest and all of her hopes for family unity at the same church together. From the outside we have absolutely nothing in common and yet when we visit with her and hear her pains and her life story and teach her more about the Catholic faith, I feel like I’ve always known her. There are many of my own life choices that I can relate to her own- I simply had the privilege of a better-off middle class home and really good education. Those are really the only differences between us.

Every time we’re there she tells a new part of her story past or present that strikes me as crazy and only possible through God that we happened to be the family picked to go catechize her.

Two weeks ago she was ready to start learning but also very upset because her step-son (I'll call Q) had almost committed suicide. He has some serious mental health issues and was not on his meds. By law he was instituted for 5 days. We had hoped he could stay the full 15, but he was at the house when we came to visit the next week and sadly he doesn’t have insurance yet and cannot afford the medicine he needs to help his mind. He’s a sweet young man and very quiet. We pray and sacrifice for them often.

With him there last week, we taught about the Holy Spirit and the many gifts we receive in Baptism and the fruits we may have throughout our Christian lives. At the end I asked what gifts Mrs. Glendia would like us to pray over them for and she asked for patience and joy for herself, wisdom and joy for her husband (Mr. George suffered a stroke a while back and joins us when he can), and understanding for Q. After the prayer Q began to speak for the first time since we got there and was full of questions about the Bible and God. We asked the Holy Spirit to give Q understanding and there he was immediately asking questions trying to understand God more. Beautiful!

Today we found out that the priest would like Mrs. Glendia to be confirmed into the Catholic Church before we leave for home in December so we can be there and I just can’t explain how happy that makes me feel.

We also learned that we don’t have as many Thursdays left as service days as we had originally thought so, I’m going to teach her on other random days in the next couple weeks, while the guys are there building new stairs to the back house/efficiency that Q lives in. Service is a major charism of Family Missions Company as we should all have servant’s hearts and be proactive in seeking service opportunities with each other on our teams and, of course, in the communities which we will belong to.

“Even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve…” + Mark 10:45

Lord Jesus, please send your Holy Spirit to Mrs. Glendia’s family to give them peace, joy, and understanding in their lives. Help Q to obtain the medicine that he needs and send someone with a missionary heart to love and serve them after we’re gone. Please bless this family as they strive to become unified in loving You.

What We’re Reading: Fall 2017

I’ve always been the type of reader that goes through cycles of feast or famine- I’ll churn through a book a week for a few months and then not pick up one for the next few months. After the Thanksgiving mission trip we went on, I was definitely in a feast period. I read FMC’s founders books “Go! You Are Sent” and “Our Family's Book of Acts” then on to “Kisses from Katie” and a really good one about Mother Theresa and at least 2 others from December-January.

In January we went to a Thursday night Bible Study that some friends hosted and I watched women talk about books they were reading and pass them on to each other. I decided then that I wanted to start a book club, never mind that I had never actually been to a book club before. Lol Sometimes you just have to dive in!

Our Washed With the Word (W3) book club kept my reading on track and was a huge blessing to have faith filled women over 1 Sunday afternoon each month! In honor of W3 I’m going to try my best to keep up my reading and I’ll share that with y’all here in addition to what we’re studying in formation.

Studies

Hebrews

My women’s Bible study group is reading Hebrews together on Tuesday nights. I finished reading the New Testament this year (yep, I’d never read it all before!) so it’s nice to have it fresh in my mind and to hear other’s perspectives.

Acts of the Apostles

Every Monday and Wednesday we meet with a small group to study Acts. Kent and I read this together in January so it’s also very fresh in our minds. Jonathan Kiehl teaches it and we love that on Mondays he pulls out PowerPoint and goes more into historical references and comparisons to the Gospels.

Mission of the Redeemer

Another great one I read prior to coming but it’s nice reading with everyone and hearing different reflections on it. Funny the difference in what I highlight a second time around. 😊

Vatican II Missionary Activity Documents

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Personal Reading

The Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae) by Saint Pope John Paul II

Who Does He Say You Are? by Colleen C. Mitchell

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis The Gospels

This past Sunday we were excited to meetup with some Charleston friends in Baton Rouge, LA and attended mass at the LSU campus church. The priest there blew us away. He was maybe 35 years old and had a terrific homily. He quoted parts of I Believe in Love: A Personal Retreat Based on the Teaching of St. Therese of Lisieux and Kent and I are both eager to read the book! Additionally we heard a talk about Fatima on Saturday and the woman mentioned Fatima in Lucia's Own Words. I'd love to learn more about Fatima!