Reunions are joyful, even when they happen again and again

I have to start this story with a different story, one that happened to me years ago. I was shopping at the grocery store late one evening, as one does, when a ton of individual agendas (see eight kids) means time after work gets filled until about 9:30.
I'm in the middle-ish of the store and I hear a whoop. Not an Aggie Whoop, mind you, but a spontaneous, joy-filled, gush of unexpected emotion. It was followed by another cry, accompanied by tears. I could make out that two dear friends had lost touch and not seen each other for years, only to re-unite by chance in the produce section. I pushed the cart over, and, noting that one of the people there was wearing the grocery store's uniform, played a bit of a mean trick, "Did you know that I could hear you way over in the middle of aisle seven?" I let it hang for two heartbeats before following with "It was beautiful! I could hear such pure joy in your voices! Thank you!"

So yeah, I'm not so proud of that little joke. I inserted myself and made it about me. Mea culpa.

OK, fast forward to last week. The Middle School ministries at our parish are going to adoration that night in the chapel. And I volunteer with both the 5th & 6th graders and also the 7th & 8th graders, back to back programs, so I get to go twice. As I knelt down with the 5th & 6th graders, and heard them sing along with this guy, Dave Moore, I felt that same sense of reunion. I get to see Jesus in the Eucharist every Sunday at Mass, and I don't think I'm insensitive to His presence there. Not always, because Consolations aren't Candy, but most Sundays. I know He's there and I can feel Him there. But during adoration, it just felt, I dunno, more. Not only was He there, but it seemed He was there for me. He was gazing back at me somehow. A focal point for my worship of Him and a fountain of grace pouring out for all of us. And I recalled that reunion I had heard years before, of two old friends so thankful that they could see each other's faces. They were so surprised and so amazed at the joy that had accompanied their reunion. As was I. And the tears came as Jesus and I caught up.

We talked about my wife and her health. We talked about my college-aged kids who have strayed from the Church. We cried and we bonded.

And then I walked the kids back to the Hall for the rest of the session. Our small group discussed what we felt, what adoration was like. Those are good kids. I've seen compassion among those 5th and 6th graders that would make their parents proud. Or possibly even make them jealous that they don't have that level of compassion shown to them in their own lives.

An hour or so later, I'm walking back to the chapel with the 7th and 8th graders. I'm in the lead group and get to kneel down on the front row. And suddenly, it's another reunion. There are more tears. It's not just His Presence but somehow, His Face is shining upon us. And it was, honestly, a surprise. The catching up goes over the same topics and digs deeper in significance. Again with health issues. Again with our kids. And He still smiled and inquired more. I don't know how to describe it exactly. Maybe like putting on clothes still warm from the dryer on a cold morning.

But what was more amazing to me was not what Jesus and I had discussed, but the re-union of the re-union. The picking back up and going over the same ground, but instead of starting over and just scratching the surface, the furrows were dug deeper. Love doesn't tire of us. Love doesn't need to be entertained with novelty. Love is always fresh and new.

Aggie Catholics: Prayers for Finals

I know that I've been out of school for a while, but I still have school age kids. God willing, my oldest will be at A&M in a little over a year. For him then,

Aggie Catholics: Prayers for Finals: Remember - as long as there are tests, there will be prayer in schools. Here are some prayers for students who have finals coming up....

Riding with the Next Racer in the family

So now my second son, Jacob, is interested in riding bicycles. He just turned 11 and he is very internally motivated. He actually will pull out his bike and put it on the trainer and pedal without anyone telling him to do so. I bought him a used Specialized Hotrock and he will tool around on that all afternoon long, just going around the cul-de-sac. He's also inherited his older brother's road bike. And we have actually done two, count 'em, two rallies this year. Yep, t-shirt rides. I so enjoy riding with him. This past Friday, the weekend forecast was so beautiful that I had to guilt my wife into letting us ride (sorry honey). Lows below 50, nearing 60 at the start of the ride, never getting above 75 and the wind was light. Positively perfect. We went out to Aledo and did their Ride for Heroes. Actually, Jacob has ridden it before, four years ago. Wow, I had forgotten how long ago it was. He was a little bit faster this time. And until he took a spill in the gravel he was having quite a time. It was about 10 or 15 miles from the finish. Fortunately he wasn't going that fast. So he still has some spiffy scars to show off but no road rash. There was barbed wire on the side of the road and I guess if he had been really trucking he could have gone full Hoogerland but fortunately Jacob is only 11 so he doesn't get going up to TdF speeds quite yet. Here's the damage:

From then to the finish he didn't really whine at all. He was definitely in pain though. More of a low level moan. But this was taken at the finish. And when offered the chance to stop at a rest stop six miles from the finish, he said, nah, let's just get this over with. Not bad, Jakie, not bad. I think we'll be riding again tonight and maybe take in a little racing action on Wednesday.

Funny Stuff My Daughters Say

From Isabel:

"Ewww! Over there where the boys are, it smells like TOOT!"

Words every Daddy wants his daughter to live by.

Reasons to turn off the TV

So two of our children get visited by the electronic baby-sitter quite often. Since we don't have cable, they end up watching a heavy diet of Qubo, broadcast over the air in DFW. It's basically PBS kids-type shows with commercials. And they seem to have a limited selection of commercials. Which leads me to the meat of my post. I got this text from my wife today.

"TV is off. Audrey is playing with her doll & singing her daily opera. Isabel is drawing a baby fawn. Over the course of 10 min (1) Audrey told me her baby doll's automatic sleep number bed popped last night and (2) Isabel told me that her baby fawn has flowers in her hair that her mommy put there. they stick on but come off easily...like command strips!
We'll leave the TV off some more. :/"

Feel free to ridicule my amazing powers of non-parenting. And no, I don't support any of the stuff I'm linking to. Except Qubo, 'coz it's free.

A new twist on the Nativity story.

OK, it's not a new story, just a new way of telling it. I like these view-historical-events-through-today's-techno-doohickies videos. Enjoy! Hat tip to Mark Shea.

I'm not even a cat guy

Hat tip to Marcel.