Today is Thanksgiving Eve and I am wondering. . .. what makes something "Thanks" worthy?  It is because it is new?  Expensive?  Much needed?  Much wanted? Given with love?  Maybe.   

OR maybe we should see what things are we NOT thankful for?   Illness?  Financial worries?  Rough times?   Relationship failures?  Employment or education failures?  

I think that we would better serve our spritiual growth if we could be thankful in all things:  good and bad.  The good things are nice and welcomed.  The things that we deem as bad may not really be bad at all. . .. maybe they are just misunderstood.  These are things that we should be thankful for because they help us grow.

Tomorrow be thankful for all things.  Because in the end, may it is all good.

Lemonade

Today is a cold day in New York.  I am here with the youth group on a ski trip.  It is ideal; for most of us. The skiers are in paradise, but only after standing in line to get tickets and rentals.  The ones that don't ski are swimming, but only after some debate as to what to do in this winter wonderland that doesn't involve strapping something to your feet.  One of us has a stomach virus, but is doing her best to keep a smile and avoid food.  I have a torn hamstring so I have a choice to either watch the skiers with my nose pushed up against the glass and whimper or blog, shop and go to the weight room.  My choice is obvious.

It occurs to me that often life is less than ideal.  Often television portrays such a romanticized version of life that we fall in to deep depression when our life does not turn out like it does on tv.  We don't have the house, the car, the clothes or the friends that our tv heroes have. We expect the same of love.  We see these romances that are beautiful and lovely, passionate and picture perfect, but love is not that way.. . .in the real world.  Love is stepping out of yourself to give to the other, and they do the same for you.  Love is more.  Love is more than flowers and candy.  Love is more than hopping in to bed.  Love is more than having a picnic in a field of wild flowers.  Love is praying for each other as they dive into their day.  Love is listening before offering an opinion.  Love is not trying to fix, but allowing to heal.  Love is covering them with a blanket when they fall asleep in the chair or offering to take this leg of the carpool because it's really snowing.
That is the kind of love that sometimes takes your breathe away but more often than not, allows you to catch your breath.

Yesterday we celebrated Valentine's Day.  Saint Valentine was a martyr because he believed in love, real love, true love, lasting love.  He performed Christian marriages even after the Romans forbade it.  His weddings were not ideal.  His life was not ideal.  But he took what he had, and made the most of it, enriching as many lives as he could.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  When life gives you snow, ski.  And when life gives you love, breathe it in and be glad that it is imperfectly real.

Angela Merici

Today my son and I drove into the city.  It is unually cold here in Pittsburgh, even for January.  I believe that they are calling this a "polar vortex".  The kids don't have school tomorrow because the wind chills will be somewhere around minus 30. Everyone is complaining.  They complain about the snow.  They complain about the cold.  They complain that their cars are dirty.  They complain that the kids are off.  They complain that heating bills are too high.  I saw a man today that was not complaining however.  He was standing bundled and huddled on a corner holding a styrofoam cup with a gloved hand and pleading eyes.

One of the reasons that St. Angela Merici is a saint is because she saw.  She saw what God needed her to do, she went to see the holy relics, she went out and saw the needy on the streets.  . . .and she was blind.  She did not see with eyes, but with her heart.

Maybe this is a time to see with our hearts.  As we sip our hot chocolate and see what is on Netflix, maybe pick up your Ipad and make a donation to Operation Safety Net or Catholic Charities, shovel a driveway for a neighbor, call a lonely relative, spend some extra time in prayer or even play a board game with your kids.

Maybe a polar vortex is not just a lack of heat, but also a lack of heart.

Winter Day

Today it is January 25 in Western Pennsylvania.  It is about 10 degrees and has been snowing all day.
You might not thing that this is anything unusual for this state, but we currently have more snow on the ground right now than we had all last winter combined.  But you know what?  I love it.

I love it when the world has to slow down.  I love having a house full of laughing teenagers.  The air is filled with the smell of pizza rolls and chocolate cake.  It was not for the snow today and having to slow down and stay home,  my senses would not be currently filled with the sounds, sights and smells of home.

This day will live in my memory for a long time.  I hope too, my teenagers and their friends will remember spending a snowy winter day at the Dillon's and eating homemade chocolate cake and laughing.

As with anything, it's all in how you look at it.
You can say what you want about the winter, the snow and the cold.  But I'll take it and embrace it. Days like this are a true gift and I for one, am thankful.