Astounding FaithFULLness

I’m moving 8 hours from home in a few weeks. I’m not just going to college where I’ll have breaks and summers off, I’m actually moving. I’ll be there for at least five years. In the last few weeks it’s started to hit me that I really am moving. As I explained that this morning after church to a dear friend of my mother’s, she was confused by the large smile stuck on my face. She could tell the heaviness of the reality that I was sharing with her. But despite that, I couldn’t help but smiling. And that got me thinking. Was I emanating happiness because I am glad that I’m leaving? That is definitely not the case, as I will miss my friends and family dearly and leaving will be the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Is it because I’m in denial about the reality of it all? Nope, not that. I’m pretty aware it’s happening as it’s coming up pretty fast. Was I trying to save face and put on a brave front? I don’t think so. One can usually read my emotions from my face like a book. So what was ...

A dear friend of my mom had her mother pass away yesterday. When I saw her today, she shared a story with me about the day that her mother died. The woman had been unable to eat or drink or really move at all for at least a week. Her family was surrounding her hospital bed and there were rosary beads hanging above her and a second set wrapped in her hand. The praying of the rosary was playing aloud and as it ended, the room began to smell like roses. As her breathing got slower, she raised her hands and head toward the sky as if she was seeing the light above her and she breathed her last breath. This story and this image really sank deep in my heart. It made me think- how could we deny that she was heading home to her father in heaven? Stories like this help me to know even more so that our God is real and he is the way, truth, and life. And if he is real and he is calling us to live for him today then why don't we? Instead of waiting for that moment at the end of our live...