A Remedial Course in Trust

Trust. I have a lot of it in the abstract. I trust that Jesus meant what he said about the possibility of eternal life for us. I know intellectually that God also is there in the minutia of life; however, I try to solve or rather presolve a lot of potential problems rather than trust.

In August, I had a journey that started with a vacation and ended with exhibiting at a conference. The first part of the trip had a lot of moving parts--planes, shuttles, ferries, buses. I carefully plotted out plans B and C if any of those pieces fell apart. They didn't, not one. But when I got to the conference hotel, only one of the two boxes I'd sent ahead had made it. I had essentially no books to sell. I had to laugh--that, I had not planned for! But in some ways, it was a blessing. I had a lot of conversations with women who I doubt would have tarried to chat if I'd had a stack of books for sale.

In September, I was in Switzerland with a friend. We had three train connections of less than 15 minutes each. I hyperventilated a bit, I will confess. Then I reminded myself that in each case, another train would be there in an hour--and of what happened in August. It helped. Tight connections were made, and I wasn't a nervous wreck when we got to an alpine observation station nearly 8,000 feet high near Lucerne at the end of the trip.

Yep, I'm a slow learner. But God is a great, patient, loving teacher.

On the Nightstand: Restored and Resilient by Mary Lenaburg

Mary Lenaburg's story of the lessons learned by nursing her severely disabled daughter who died at age 22 have moved thousands of people. Now, she's out with Restored and Resilient: Walking Boldly with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. While I'm not in the place of exhaustion she promises to help relieve, I'm looking forward to learning more about the way she links up the gifts and virtues of the Holy Spirit to everyday life.

Separately, congrats to Michael of Milwaukee, WI, who last month was the first to claim that extra copy of Amanda Cox's Things We Cannot Keep I had ordered.

What's on your nightstand?

What's Up?

Yeah, what's up, October? They're saying my little corner of the world here in northern Virginia could hit 90 today!

Next week, my two sisters and I will be retracing some of our mother's steps here in the DC area. Mom, who would have turned 100 earlier this year, was a civilian Coast Guard worker near the end of World War II and according to her diary had a blast living in a house with a bunch of other gals and dancing at the USO.

On October 17, I'll be exhibiting at the Harrisburg (PA) Diocesan Women's Conference. Please stop by and say hi if you're there!

On October 25, I'll be speaking about "ordinary" women saints with the St. Bernadette Parish Women's Group in Springfield, VA.

November's going to bring some more fun travel. But in the meantime, I continue to attempt to listen when God tells me, "I've got this. Relax. TRUST."

Blessings, Melanie