The Romero Prayer

A prayer given to me by a fellow missionary. It needs no explanation:

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well. It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.

-John Cardinal Dearden

Keeping reading

“Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.”

I remember reading this passage over and over again in both college and high school. Anxiety. That was the word that stuck out to me the most. Anxious, stressed, worried, constantly thinking about my tests, about my leadership positions, about my friendships, about everything. God seemed to come almost as a relief from all these things, rather than First in my life. I would read this passage weekly, thinking, “God,... let's get through this week.”

Getting through a week? How terrible. I had made myself so busy that I couldn't even take the time to read the full passage. I was simply reading the part that I felt related to me at the time: being busy, and letting God know it. Yes, sure, I was to do it in prayer with thanksgiving, but I was missing something. I was missing the part where God IS first. He is the reason for living. He is the reason for our education. He is the reason for being a leader. He is the center of our friendships. Or at least... He should be. And His intention will never be to make us anxious. If that is the case, something is wrong. The majority of the times that I can look back and see this anxiety.. what was wrong was that I was taking in all the earthly things I thought represented God such as my Catholic organization on campus (and the 10 related groups), my social justice classes, my service sorority, and even my friendships, and I was shutting God out. Saying, now that I have these physical representations of you, I am no longer in need of YOU.
When in reality- ALL we need is Him. To be silent and hear His voice. After we hear His voice- to listen to His voice. He will guide us in these activities, and with that He will help us to read the passage more closely.

“Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:6-7

As I reflect on this passage now, all I see is this phrase: “peace that surpasses all understanding.” What a beautiful phrase. Alone- we know nothing, we can do nothing, we are nothing. Our body in not ourselves, and it is not the actions we do that count but the love inside with which we do them. Peace.... yet a peace we do not understand and do not wish to understand. Giving ourselves entirely, knowing that we will be looked after. God will not leave us when we truly give ourselves to Him.

“The faith given to me in baptism suggests to me surely: by yourself you will do nothing, but if you have God as the center of all your action, then you will reach the goal.”
-Pier Giorgio-

An update on our time here: Many of the missionaries were sick this weekend (5 of 7) and so we postponed our volcano hike to tomorrow! We did have the chance to celebrate three of their birthdays this weekend though with a pinata! There were many children in the park, so we invited them to join us. What a beautiful experience to be able to share in community with the children around us! 2 weeks until we arrive in Honduras!

The children gathering the candy from the 5'5 Buzz Lightyear pinata

Erin, David, and Erin. All three of their birthdays were this weekend!

Allison and I with Buzz

Picture post :-)

This is Antigua, Guatemala. Mountains, Volcanoes and Churches are in large supply. The 5 people standing at the foot of the cross are other missionaries serving at the Farm.
This is San Francisco, where we go to Mass. The church looks as though it is ruins (partly because it is) It was destroyed by an earthquake many years ago, and just recently they have decided to reconstruct it.
Flowers are also in large supply in Antigua. The whole town is colored purple, orange, and red. It is quite a treat to be able to see this on the way to work.
These are 2 of the 7 people I'll be living with for the next 2.5 year. David (from California) and Allison (from Chicago). They are playing with the cootie catcher we had just made. (The things you do when you don't have internet!)
This is Ashley (from Massachusetts) and Kevin (from Tennessee!!) Laughing at David and Allison playing with the cootie catcher.
On the left is Erin Lucía (from Maryland). Her middle name is not actually Lucía... but we have 3 Erins serving at the Farm, and needed someway to distinguish between them. Her middle name is actually Lucy, which sounds like lazy to hispanic people- so they thought we were all calling her lazy.... In the middle is a friend that we met- Gabriella
This is Erin Marina- again... her middle name is not Marina but Maureen is also not easy to say in Spanish.

This 6 people are some of the most wonderful people I've ever met (as you can tell simply by their smiles!) I can't wait to tell you more about them, and about our adventures.

I wish I could show you more about the smells, the sounds, the people and the culture, but that will have to wait for a day when I have hours upon hours.

We are celebrating THREE of their birthdays this weekend, and will be climbing an active volcano! More updates to come.

poco a poco

I started school last week, and have been studying Spanish 4-5 hours everyday at the local school here. There are students from all over the world, including the two that live with me from Quebec and Germany. Classes have been needless to say- a bit frustrating. For those that have gone to school with me, you are aware that I'm not a fan of the classroom. I would much rather be out in the world- talking to people, working with my hands, seeing change. Yet, mi maestra (my teacher) is teaching me valuable lessons every day. Humility at how far behind in Spanish I am. (Amazing that those last few classes on Spanish Art in the 1800, the early history of Spain, and the rule of Franco did not aid me in speaking to people in everyday conversations.) Understanding, while being able to see many cultural differences through her. And patience... realizing that nothing will come quickly or easily, especially if I try to do it alone.

Her favorite phrase is "poco a poco" (little by little) ... you'll understand Spanish more little by little. Little by little your stomach will stop hurting... Little by little you will not be so white.

Poco a poco.

We cannot do anything big. All is done little by little, and even those small things we cannot do without God.

“What I do, you cannot do; but what you do, I cannot do. The needs are great, and none of us, including me, ever do great things. But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful.”

-Mother Theresa

"You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them."

Saint Therese

I'm here! What's Next?

I arrived in Guatemala last night after 5 hours of plane rides and a 3 hour layover!
So 8 hours of travel that were absolutely necessary to prepare me for what is to come.
The first plane ride gave me time to cry. To be sad about leaving my friends and family behind. Everything Ive know, and everything that is comfortable gone. After a couple minutes of crying, the 1.5 hour nap that ensued was also much need after my dad had woken me up at 6 a.m. that morning.
By the time I arrived in DFW I had nice alone time to remember that silence is so necessary for growth. I was able to reflect on the coming years, and how ready my heart actually was for this journey.

The next plane ride was truly a God send. When I handed the attendent my ticket, a busser went off, and she asked me to step to the side and see the other attendent. It seemed that my seat had been taken. The same thing happened to the man behind me and the guy that he was traveling with. All of our seats had been given to two people, and we needed to be reassigned. They gave the three of us seat in the same row with me in between the two of them. They were both with an organization called Project:Living well. The organization sells products to raise money for different projects, and is currently working on providing clean water in Guatemala City. The catch? You have to tell them what difference you plan on making in the world, or even just in someone elses life. To call people to something bigger than themselves and to show them that helping another is so much easier than they believe.
What amazing conversation!
Check out the organization (whose website will be up soon!) And what these amazing men are doing for the Kingdom!
https://www.facebook.com/ProjectLivingWell?sk=info

More blogs to follow!

So much love and peace,
Sara

“I imagine that you may ask yourself, “Ok, what's next?” I encourage you to let the answer to that question be, whoever the next person you encounter is. What I mean is sometimes we have these huge events that we are involved in and when it is over we are looking for the next huge event to get involved in. I am encouraging you to view every interaction you have as the next huge event, because you never know when that one on one interaction is going to change a life. And God working though us to change a life is one of the biggest events we can have”
-Chris Rogers

home away from... 'Home'

You always hear that "A house is not a home"

And it's quite true, it's not... but there can be many memories, people, and events associated with that house that cause it to be home. So when that house is left behind, a piece of the past is as well...

But what, then, is home?

In the past month I've had to move out of my apartment in Knoxville. I no longer have a place to call my own in that city... one which was so good to me for three years of my life. I have many friends still living there, but, alas, being the college town that it is, they too will be gone in the next 2 years. If I ever return to that city there will not be the familiar faces to greet me, as their lives will have parted from it as well. Knoxville is no longer home.

Two days ago, my family decided we would be selling our house in Nashville. It will be on the market at the beginning of August before I leave for Guatemala...

There is so much clutter in our lives that goes unnoticed until we are forced to clean it up- both physically and spiritually, and at the moment, I'm in the process of cleaning them both out.

I've had to pack up not only Knoxville, but now Nashville as well... leaving no physical place called "home" in the U.S.

But of course, we must always remember that we were not made for this world. My home will never be here. The closest thing to home that we will find will be when we are truly following that plan which God has placed on each of our hearts. When we allow ourselves to follow Him completely, He will give us rest. He will provide us with a home.

Many times though we must be stripped of what we thought was home, to allow a new one to enter our hearts.

So now, as I continue this journey walking with God, I'm being stripped, physically, emotionally, and spiritually of what I have called home for these last 20 years, to prepare myself for the Home that God has in store for me, but even sooner than that... to prepare myself for the imitation of that Home, which He provides to us here on earth when we follow Him.

For me... this next glimpse of Home will be Honduras.

Guatemala

Greetings everyone! I just received news about my Guatemalan host family, and I wanted to share!

On August 27th I will be leaving to go to a school in Antigua, Guatemala for a month. This is a language school to assist me in my Spanish speaking skills and is part of the Farm of the Child experience. I will be staying with a host family in the local area, attending classes during the day, and immersing myself in a culture completely unlike my own. The house is a 5 minute walk from the school (La Union) and a 10 minute walk from the park. My host family is a woman named Juanita, who is 75. She has a daughter and 3 granddaughters that visit her everyday. The granddaughters are 22, 24, and 26, so it will be nice to interact with people my age.

While living with them, I will be able to receive a full experience of their culture by participating in their everyday lives.

Here is a picture of the area:

All of the other volunteers will be in the general vicinity as well, so that we will be able to meet the people we will be with for the next few years, and become acquainted before beginning our 27 months.

After a month of Spanish training, I will head to the Farm of the Child and be able to communicate better with the children, locals, and other staff/volunteers.

I am looking forward to this wonderful opportunity, and the many ways God will reveal His glory. Again, thank you so much for all your support and prayers.