Knock. Knock. Knock.
And then I could hear the rain on my skylights, so I got up, reached out my door and pulled my shrine off of the roof and then dove back into my bed. It was beginning to get light and as I lay there I thought, it's not even 7:00 am, I think I'll stay here for a good long cozy while....
They welcomed me, opened up a seat for me in their sold out conference, waived my admission, served me breakfast, gave me lunch, filled the day with scripture and sharing and blessing and song,
(That is probably why I laughed later today at the Facebook posting from Sandra Boynton:)
Whatever the question, fuzzy socks are the answer.
I was feeling good but kind of tired after my emotional day yesterday. It is draining to do so much soul searching and prayer. But I was happy that I had decided to put my troubles behind me, ask forgiveness of Jesus for holding onto grudges, and then move on.
Then I had another thought: maybe I would go to Mass today to recharge and kind of seal in the blessing. I knew that St. Michael's in Garden City had a 12:05 service with the Charismatic group meeting right after, so I thought I'd probably go to that. It would be good to go back and see the women who were so welcoming to me the week before.
Then, I don't know why, but I had the idea to make a second visit to Precious Blood in Pawley's Island instead, and then remembered that their Mass began at 8:05 AM. Thinking I might go to the post office on the way, I was up and out and on the road in about half an hour with nothing but a thermos of hot Irish tea (a gift from my daughter) in hand.
When I arrived at the church, the old Irish priest Fr. Pat was in a celebratory mood. He said it was a special day for the women of the parish as he sang the praises of the woman deacon from the neighboring Anglican Church who would lead them that day and then sprinkled us all with holy water and blessed us with incense as the Mass came to a close.
What was the occasion that so many were gathered for, I wondered.
And then I heard that 150 women from many different churches and denominations were there for a Day of Prayer and Spiritual Retreat on the topic of the Radical Faith of Mary, Mother of God.
Must just happen to be my lucky/blessed day!!!!
....and then the opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation
with Fr. Pat as everyone was going their separate ways.
Tonight as I type this, an old spiritual is on my lips and in my soul,
"Jesus has done so much for me, I cannot tell it all!"
And just now I wonder, was that Mary,
knocking on my door this morning to lead me to the graces of this day?
Wow. The blessings just keep coming and coming...
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