Thanksgiving Surprise

Surprise!!!

We flew down to Florida on Thanksgiving Day.  It was Vincent's first ride on a plane, and I have to admit - he was incredible.  Considering Mommy's first plane ride was woefully embarrassing, I was proud that Vince handled the entire adventure like a champ. 

As we entered the plane, I made a little cross on the entrance hatch with my thumb and asked God to protect the staff and passengers aboard (did the same thing coming back!).  I held his hand on the ascent (so did Daddy) and fed him fruit snacks to keep his ears popping in between Hail Marys.  He played on the iPad most of the flight, then snuggled into my lap for his nippy-nap. 

My father-in-law was there to pick us up from the airport.  John, Vince and I traveled down with John's two sisters, our one brother-in-law, and our niece.  As he drove us back to the house, I texted my mom to let her know we'd touched down safely.  It was then that I noticed the notification that I'd received an e-mail from a friend.

I'm going to post the e-mail here with all identifying information removed.  I could've died.

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Gina,
I wanted to send you a note to say that I was really struck by [our] conversation  about incorruptible saints. I think I was meant to hear you talk about that. You probably wouldn't know, but when I was growing up I developed [a disorder]. I won't go into detail, but because my being Catholic was intertwined with my disorder I let both of them go in a pretty big way while in therapy.

Anyway, my faith has been heavy on my mind lately, much more than it has been in many years. I looked up incorruptible saints and read that Saint Cecilia, who is the saint I chose for Confirmation in 8th grade, was the first incorruptible! Then after Thanksgiving dinner tonight, my aunt, who is my Godmother, told me she had some things for me. It turned out she had gone on a religious pilgrimage recently and brought back some blessed relics for me. For the passed almost 10 years now I usually politely accept these types of gifts so not to insult anyone, but I guess she must have sensed that I was impressionable today because she felt compelled to pull me aside and assure me that I can talk to God anytime and remind me of the reasons we have Saints. I was almost moved to tears as she was talking and got a lot of feelings of confirmation. I decided to further research Saint Cecilia when I got home and it turns out this Thanksgiving happened to fall on her feast day!

I feel like I am getting a lot of signs that I shouldn't ignore. I really admire the strength you seem too have in your faith, Gina. There are some things I believe but other things I struggle with because they evoke a lot of fear for me. If you ever feel inclined to talk about it with me, I would really like to pick your brain.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Seriously... I could've died reading that.  I got teary-eyed myself (and I told her so!).  But wow.  I told her how happy I was that she'd discerned the calling of God and reaffirmed that He was chasing her down because He loved her so much.  It was a nice reminder of how wonderful our Father is... how much He loves us... how hard He tries to win us all back to Himself.  He lines things up in such a way that we can't help but acknowledge His Hand in everything.  And what a splendid picture He painted for her!  How blessed am I to have been a part of it! 

I told her that her message topped my list of Things to be Thankful For.  Such beautiful reminders of how much God loves us and how far He's willing to go to remind us of that love... it's just incredible. 

And to use such an innocuous conversation as a small signal that He's thinking about her.  Take every opportunity, folks.  Everyone opportunity that presents itself is your chance to help Divine Providence along.  Just open the door to communication and God will take care of the rest.  Just... incredible.  What an amazing Thanksgiving surprise.  :)