Today’s Readings: ACTS 8:26-40 PS 66:8-9, 16-17, 20 JN 6:44-51

Ten years.

Maryrose Hall married me ten years ago today. We had no idea what we would face in ten short years. Infertility. Foreclosure. Two failed adoptions. One reversed adoption resulting in the loss of a child we named, baptized, and raised for almost her first full year. A legal battle that spiraled us back into debt. But there have been more than just valleys. An all-expenses-paid Alaskan cruise. The ability to get my degree. Becoming debt-free…twice! The adoption of our amazing little girl. Realizing the resilience and faith of my wife runs a thousand times deeper than I could’ve imagined.

But because of all we’ve been through, I’d planned to shock Maryrose today. I lined up babysitting for the day (with one grandmother in the morning and the other in the afternoon and evening). I bought a morning flight for two and an evening flight back. I was going to surprise my wife with a day-trip to San Diego, complete with dinner reservations on the water. She deserved to be honored by me today. If I’m honest, it crushes me that it couldn’t happen.

I recently heard a priest say there is almost always a space between expectation and experience. While most fill that space with discouragement or disappointment, we have the opportunity to fill it with faith. All of us.

So this is the question to ponder: How can we fill today-a day none of us could’ve anticipated just six months ago-with faith? How will we allow that faith to overcome discourage or disappointment?

 

David is the Director of Faith Formation at Our Lady of Joy.

If you have comments or questions, send your emails to dlins@oloj.org.

 

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