As I have gotten older there are certain things I just begin to understand more clearly. One of these truths is that what you seek, you will find. If you live your life looking for the negative things around, you that is what you will notice. On the other hand, if you’re looking for positivity, that is what you’ll notice.
It has been a little over a year since our daughter, Georgia Claire Powell, entered into Heaven and the loving arms of our Lord.
Serving as an advocate for the Tribunal of the Diocese of Owensboro has proven to be a unique calling – one rooted in compassion, understanding, and above all, hope.
This summer I was fortunate to work at Gasper River Catholic Youth Camp, spending each week growing around the Jubilee theme as “Pilgrims of Hope.”
Sunday Mass had just finished, and I was looking forward to grabbing a quick bite to eat prior to visiting a couple of families.
Hope is based upon faith—belief in God. When I give myself over to hope, I am free to see what He sees, hear what He hears, and love what He loves.
There are times in my prayer life when I feel nothing. I sit in silence, waiting, but there is no sense of God’s presence, no warmth or consolation – only emptiness. Those seasons of dryness can be discouraging, and I sometimes wonder if my words are even reaching Him.
Hope and trust are, for me, intimately intertwined with each other. Without trust in my Creator, hope is empty, flat, and without buoyancy, easily shattered and rejected.
During this Jubilee Year of Hope, let us give ourselves permission to long – for whatever it is we are waiting for.
I was at the airport waiting in line for food when a little girl in front of me, maybe four years old, slumped her shoulders, looked up at her mom, and said with total exasperation: “Everything takes so long, Mom. I can’t wait anymore. I’m broken.”