First off, I obviously have neglected this blog for about a month...and I apologize for that. It's not because I didn't think of things to write about (you'd have about 100 posts if that was the case), but it is because (sadly) I cannot drive and type or hang out with you guys and be writing a blog on my computer... Either way, I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and New Years with your family and friends - I know I did!Now, onto what I wanted to write about before Christmas but am just getting to now. The Sunday before Christmas, Father Kevin had a wonderful homily where he read off a list of questions that really hit home to me. He was talking about Mary accepting God's call for her to become pregnant with Jesus. Father began by asking: How can you say yes? When you know others will gossip? How can you say yes? When you know your family will be ashamed? How can you say yes? When you know people will stare?
But then Father began to ask the flip side: How can you say no? When your actions will bring the Savior long foretold? How can you say no? When your actions will assist in bringing salvation to a world of sinners? How can you say no?
I don't remember his exact examples between the "how can you say yes/no," but the content is (for the most part) comparable.
Often times, we get so hung up on the negative...we don't know how we can take on one more class, we don't know how we can do one more activity, we don't know how we could possible handle helping a person in need since, in the end, it will involve too much time and too much effort....we can't get over the brick wall we place in our mind of "how can I....." instead of looking at the "how can I not..."
Think of how much richer each of our lives would be if we grasped every opportunity given to us? No matter how big or small the opportunity...and what if we sought to find these things? What if we gave ourselves in service to others without thinking about the brick wall of the "how can I"?
As I sit here typing this at an hour when I should really be sleeping (especially considering the fact that Wednesdays are my "marathon" days)...I cannot think of one action I have taken, of one opportunity that I have grasped, that I have regretted. There isn't a person I have met that I regret knowing (even the ones that may have hurt me) and there is not an event/place/trip that I regret attending (I guess I've forgotten all about some of the 'boring' ones ;) ). My only regrets are that there were not more hours in the day so that I could have given my full ability at times when I over-stretched myself.
So as 2009 begins, let's all think of ways where we can listen to God's call in our lives...to listen to where He wants us to go...and instead of saying "How can I when...?" let's say: "How can I not???"
