Letter to my parents

Hi Parental Units,

So I had the most interesting experiences over the last few days I wanted to share with you. (First off, I hope dad's birthday was EXCELLENT!)

Wayne and I went to our Parish's New Members Dinner, where they explain some of the lay ministries to get involved in , etc. This was important to us because we were so active at Manna Church that we couldn't fathom sitting on our hands at St Patrick's, but we had no idea where to start. It was very informative and we were glad for the opportunity to be welcomed into the community--- this really is an amazing parish. We had gone, years ago, to a similar dinner at our old church, but while at that time we were catered a very fancy restaurant meal and introduced to the pastors, this time we were served a simple homemade meal and introduced to the lay ministers who were requesting our help in the community. We were really impressed with the dinner at Manna Church, but this time were doubly impressed with the simple dinner (yay for spending money on the things that REALLY matter!) and the exciting opportunities to work for peace and justice in the world, not just by WORDS of God but by His actions as well.

I am joining the Immaculate Conception Sodality, which is an organization of women which promotes devotion to Mary by their own personal prayer life as well as by serving the community in various ways (praying for the sick at the hospital, bringing meals to new moms, etc. All the stuff I used to do at Manna.)
I have also joined the Legion of Mary, which is a prayer group with an evangelical focus. I am excited to be a part of this group because it is Mary through Medjugorje and Fatima who drew Wayne and I to examine our faith more deeply in light of the History of the Church, etc. We are both very thankful to her! Wayne even wears a miraculous medal now---given to him by the Legion of Mary--- which is amazing considering that two years ago he asked me if I thought it was ok that I still had mine in our belongings!

As I told you, during the event, we ate with Father Tony, the priest who was at the kids' baptismal mass on easter. He is a great guy and a total Godsend. His parents are both HARDCORE baptists, as was he until he became a Catholic. He is in LOVE with the Word of God and has most of the Bible memorized, which is so cool because he speaks about the faith using Scriptural terms, like an evangelical, which helps us so much to really grasp the depth of what he is saying.
Yesterday, I went to my first confession with him. Because he knew I had no idea what to do, he made an appointment with me early, before confession normally starts, to walk me through the whole process. He began by taking me back into the back of the church behind the altar and explaining to me the vestements as he put them on--- which gave me a greater appreciation for the reason behind them! It's based on the Ephesians six armor of God. (the stole representing Christ's authority, and truth, the over garment representing LOVE, because we must wrap the truth in love so that it is received, etc. )

He took me to the front of the church and catechized me with regards to what I was looking at, where everything was, and why. He let me look at the Shofar used to annoint with oil, to look at the sacristy(?), and to really understand the "lay of the land" in the church.
Then we went into the confessional, which these days has a wall panel with a kneeler if you choose, or a second chair so you can do it face to face. He walked me through the entire sacrament, and it was a VERY profound experience for me! In all my years as an evangelical making private confession to God every night on my own (which we can and should do!) I have never so profoundly experienced God's mercy as I did yesterday upon absolution. It was very, very cool and I recommend it to anyone. I went because Mary told the visionaries that it was good for everyone to go to confession at LEAST once a month at Medjugorje, but now I totally understand why.The best part was that it was as moving for HIM as it was for me--- this sacrament is really, really cool.

After confession Wayne and the kids met us and we hung around for a while until he was finished hearing all the other parishioner's confessions. Then we all went out to eat with Father Tony. This was amazing to us because Wayne had set an appt with him at 5:30 to discuss some of the issues he was having a hard time understanding (purgatory, the Real Presence, Mary's perpetual virginity, etc.)
Instead of meeting him in the office, Fr Tony took ALL of us out to eat in a restaurant! He was so personable. He had ordered all these books for Wayne to read (mostly by scott hahn and then the classics-- Ignatius, etc.) and had so much fun explaining all the issues to Wayne using the Bible....which was awesome. In fact, in explaining the Real Presence he pointed out a verse I had never noticed before. I've read it in 1 Corinthians over and over again but I've never noticed that it says we must "discern the body" when we take communion, lest we come under condemnation. How amazing that I never noticed that!!

I could go on all day about the theological chat-- he has a very profound understanding of and appreciation FOR many protestant theologists, in fact, more so than when I had my ongoing series of "letters" both with tante roselyne and with Fr. Ben at Our Lady of Sorrows. But the best part was just how welcoming he was! I mean, he's the parochial vicar of a very large, busy church, and yet here he was taking us out to eat, asking us to join him at the movies when Prince Caspian comes out, offering us a private retreat to soak in all that's happened, and even making plans to take us to a Latin Mass in Dunn with some of his other friends in the parish. He told us we were like fresh wind of the Holy Spirit for him-- an answer to prayer because he had been praying for young couples to join the parish who were active in their faith and catalysts for fellowship, etc. He was as thrilled as we are. Wayne has decided to begin RCIA next thursday!! Also, I have discovered something amazing--- there is a HUGE population of French, Italian, and French African congregants at St Pats!!! Really! Fr Tony even hears confession in both Italian AND French!

It was a monumental change for us, because we are so accustomed to feeling like we are bothering busy business men when we ask our pastors for spiritual guidance. But here was this guy, so enthusiastic to share a moment in the Lord with people, and even better-- so humble that he was as excited as we were that God was at work in our lives. It was very refreshing. Sean and Jess are coming with us tomorrow and they now want to be members here as well. And we are bringing Wayne's friend Mike, who has never been to church.

Anyways, yesterday morning I was at the Park with the kids and the most extraordinary thing happened. This is the real reason I'm writing. First of all, the day I called you about Annika's sleeping problem, she had been, that evening, looking at the cieling and telling us there was a baby there. She would reach her arms out to the baby and try to smooch it and hug it. She told us how much she loved it. I just thought she had an active imagination and played along. She did it again when her grandpa came over and he also played along.
That night is the night she didn't sleep all night because there was a problem with "owies" and "hurt" in "feet" and "hands." I blamed it on growing pains and called you, you'll remember , to ask about it.
The next day we were at the park and she ran off to the sand pit. I ran after her and found her holding a book! The book had this black leather cover and had sustained MAJOR water damage. I opened it to see what it was and though the first twenty five pages or so are pretty much ruined, I was AMAZED to find that it was a book called "The Catholic Girls Guide and Sunday Missal," by a priest named father Lasance. This book, let me tell you, is a GEM. It is absolutely full of little anecdotes and stories designed to instill virtue in young catholic women, and is just so awesome. The back is a missal and prayer book with the prayers in english and latin. It had some prayer cards in there from funeral masses for people that had died in the sixties. I looked around and saw no one, so took it home and I've been reading it ever since. It occured to me at that moment that this was totally a God thing. That's when I realized Annika had been so concerned about owies on HANDS AND FEET. I wonder if she was talking about Jesus?? Maybe that was the baby she was seeing :) Who knows?

Anyways, I looked this book up on the internet and it's really hard to find. It's out of print, but I found it at this Catholic bookstore called Halo Works online. Amazon also sells a couple used ones for like 45 bucks. I want to get one for Annika when she's older and one of the young men's version ones for Ishod. Apparently, this father Lasance made one for girls and one for boys, and it is a TREASURE. I wondered if the sisters at Santa Catalina know about it and if not, you guys should look into getting a copy at your library-- it's absolutely incredible. Book of Virtues times one million, really.

I thought I wold share. I love you!
Mom, since you didn't take home the book on Medjugorje, I want you both to click the link in my signature that says "Pray: Gospas Mission."

Wayne and I had a talk with one of the key players in the Medjugorje phenomenon and he asked us if we would open our home to seekers wanting to know more about the events there because there was no such center in our area. So, we have. We show them videos and pray with them and have a lending librarry with books about it available. Part of that is this website that I made. So check it out and read more about it!






Barbie Nesbitt
Live: Team Nesbitt
Work: Mission Travel
Play: StitchLove Blog
Pray: Gospa's Mission