Toastmasters

About 6 or 7 weeks ago a friend of mine invited me to a Toastmasters open house. (For those of you who don’t know it, Toastmasters is an international organization that helps people to develop public speaking and leadership skills.) My friend had joined Toastmasters years ago to help her speak up for life issues. Although no longer active in the organization, she has kept in contact with her former club, the Texas Stars.

I liked what I saw and heard at the club meeting, so I came back the following week. Since I feel that God is calling me to speak up for those with mental illness, I thought it behooved me to learn to speak in a coherent manner, so I decided at the end of June to join the club.

The idea behind Toastmasters is that you learn by doing, so members are given the opportunity to perform various club roles and to give prepared speeches during meetings. The first “assignment” for new members is a 4-6 minute speech called the Ice Breaker, from the training manual, Competent Communication.

The goal for the Ice Breaker speech is to introduce yourself to the other members. I didn’t want to just do a laundry list of where I was born, how many children I have, etc., so I ended up talking about my lifelong battle with fear and anxiety.

After at least 12 revisions and much practice, I was finally ready to give my speech this past Wednesday night. Although I was nervous, I felt pretty confident and was able to push my way through the 4 ½ minute presentation without any major errors.

I got many compliments on my speech and even tied with the other, more experienced speaker, for best speech of the night. Most miraculous of all, everyone said they could hear me clearly, even in the back of the room (with no microphone).

Stepping out of my Comfort Zone

Since my move to Texas, God has been leading me more and more to step out of my comfort zone and do things I never thought I’d have the courage to do. Back in May one of my friends from church asked me to participate in a brainstorming session for the pro-life ministry in our parish. For the past several years the ministry has been very inactive, and she was hoping to get it going again.

The meeting went very well, and we came up with some ideas for the future. We also decided on a new name: The Sanctity of Life Ministry.

While preparing for the meeting, I felt God calling me once again to do something for those with mental illness. I did some research and came up with a plan for a ministry which emphasizes prayer, support, and education and awareness. I presented some of my ideas at the brainstorming session and got a very positive response, so I’m hoping we can incorporate a mental illness ministry within the Sanctity of Life Ministry.

Shortly after the meeting, our former pro-life coordinator, who is 73, decided to retire, and I agreed to be the interim coordinator until our pastor appoints me or someone else to replace her. On August 20 I will be attending the annual pro-life gathering for the diocese, where the diocesan coordinators will lay out their plan for the coming year. The theme of the gathering is “A Ministry of Mercy.”

Last Saturday I accompanied five other women from our parish to an 8 hour training session in Llano, Texas (about 2 hours from here). We are all being trained to be Gabriel Angels, as part of a new Gabriel Project ministry at our church. The Gabriel Angels minister to women in crisis pregnancies, meeting with the women twice a month, throughout the pregnancy and for the first year after birth.

The training session was pretty overwhelming, but the material the diocese is using for the ministry is really exciting. We figure it will take us at least 6 months to digest all the material before we can start taking referrals. In the meantime, we’re hoping to recruit more members.

Living in Texas, we are blessed to have no abortion centers in our immediate area, but there is still a great need for this ministry. Being pro-life means more than just ending abortion. It also involves promoting a culture of life, and our ministry hopes to do this through prayer, education, outreach, and advocacy. As I undertake these new responsibilities, I would appreciate your prayers for me and for our Sanctity of Life ministry. Thanks.

Greetings from Texas

It’s been quite a while since I updated all of you, and a lot has happened in the past 7 months since I last wrote. Bob, who arrived at the end of December, is slowly getting adjusted to his new job and to life in Temple. He misses the rolling hills of Pennsylvania, but I’m sure he doesn’t miss the snow and ice.

The weather here has been very hot and dry this summer, with highs in the upper 90’s and low 100’s, but it hasn’t been unbearable. It’s actually quite nice in the morning. Two or three times a week I try to take a walk around 7:30 A.M., before it gets too hot, and at that time the temperature is usually very comfortable, especially in the shade.

The best part of living in Texas is getting to see more of Liz and Charles and Genevieve. Paul and I, and occasionally Bob, have made many trips down to Houston since we moved, and Liz and Charles have visited us here twice.

Genevieve turned 18 months a few weeks ago, and she is growing like a weed. She’s been walking (and running) for about 6 months now, and her vocabulary has exploded. She also loves music and loves to dance.


As I mentioned in my post back in September, our church serves a hot breakfast after the 8:00 Mass every Sunday morning. A few months after moving here, I joined the ministry to help prepare and serve the meal every week. We usually serve about 50-100 people. It’s a lot of work, but we have a great team.

I’m in a faith sharing group on Monday mornings. Many of the women in the group attend daily Mass and pray the rosary and Divine Mercy chaplet before Mass. These women have become some of my dearest friends, and I’m so thankful to have them in my life.

I’m looking forward to starting up with Bible Study again in about 6 weeks. I’m going to be participating in a study on St. Peter on Tuesday nights and facilitating a class on Wednesdays after morning Mass.

I hope all is well with all of you. I miss everyone back home, and hope to make a trip back one of these days. Have a blessed summer.

God's Will, God's Way, in God's Time

When we first started planning our move, there were two big obstacles that caused me some anxiety. The first obstacle we had to overcome was selling our house in Pennsylvania. The house was over 100 years old, and it was in pretty bad shape. I was worried that we wouldn’t be able to find a buyer, but I tried to put the whole thing in God’s hands and trust that He would work it out.

We had already decided to sell the house “as is,” rather than sinking a lot of money into fixing it up. Therefore, a private buyer was pretty much out of the question, since the house would never pass inspection and no bank was likely to approve a loan on the house in its current condition.

We therefore had to find someone who was independently wealthy and fond of fixing up old houses or a company that buys “fixer uppers” and flips them. Since the first option was not very likely, we decided to try the second option.

I did some research online for companies that buy houses, but most of them were not in our area. Shortly before Paul and I moved down here, I happened to look on the back of our church bulletin and saw an ad for Stonegate Management, a local company that manages properties in Southern York County. That sounded promising, so I checked their website and discovered that they do in fact buy houses. I gave their information to Bob so he could check them out when he was ready to sell the house.

Before we could sell the house, we had to get everything out of it. I tried to get rid of as much as I could before Paul and I left for Texas, but there was still quite a bit of stuff that Bob had to deal with. He was still working full time, so it took about him about six weeks to get everything cleared out. Finally, by the end of October, Bob was ready to look for a buyer. By that time, he was living in a nearly empty house, sleeping on an air mattress, and getting by with a few essentials.

Thankfully, God was merciful, and Stonegate Management was interested in the house. They made us an offer, not as much as Bob had hoped to get, but at least it was better than nothing, so Bob accepted their offer. Before we could actually transfer the property, though, we had to overcome our second obstacle: Bob had to find a job.

Bob’s intention from the beginning was to transfer from the Walmart in Shrewsbury to a Walmart in Temple, so he wouldn’t lose his benefits and vacation. Back in September, he had switched to day shift and had started a new job in customer service. He really liked the job and hoped to find something similar down here.

There are four Walmarts within a half hour of our apartment here in Temple, but the closest one is on 31st Street, just a few blocks from here. In November, Bob put in transfer requests at all four stores, but did not get any bites at first.

Since most stores cut hours after Christmas, Bob said that if he didn’t get a job by December, there probably wouldn’t be any openings until the spring. I had visions of him being in Pennsylvania for another six months, but I prayed and asked others to pray that God would intervene. Through all this, Bob had the right attitude. He told me that he just tried to remember: “God’s will, God’s way, in God’s time.” We just needed to trust that God would work everything out.

At the end of November, Bob contacted the new Walmart on Adams Street in Temple. They did not have any openings, so they suggested he call the 31st Street store. That store did not have any openings either, but they said they were thinking of creating a new full time customer service manager position and asked if he would be interested.

Bob wasn’t really interested in a management position because of the added stress, but he had to get a job, so he decided to apply for the position with the hopes that he could eventually transfer to something less stressful. Once Bob verified that he had a job, he worked out the details with Walmart, set up a date to settle on the house, got plane tickets to fly into Houston, and made arrangements to store his car in a garage for a month. His last day of work at the Shrewsbury Walmart was to be December 18, and his first day of work in Temple was to be on the 21st.

About two weeks before his scheduled transfer, the personnel manager at the Temple Walmart called Bob at work to do a formal job offer on the phone. She started reading him the details for the CSM position, but was interrupted by someone. She put him on hold for a few minutes, then came back on the line and said, “I’m sorry, but apparently the CSM position you applied for has been filled. The only position we have is for a customer service representative.”

When I heard about this, I was blown away. I could clearly see the hand of God at work. Trusting in God, Bob had applied for a job he didn’t want; then, without doing anything on his own, he ended up with exactly the job he had wanted in the first place. Besides that, of the four stores in the area, the only one with an opening was the one closest to our apartment. God is so good, especially when we put our trust in Him!

That last week in Pennsylvania was a bit of a whirlwind for Bob. He checked into a hotel after work on Monday, the 14th, settled on the house on the 15th (our 36th wedding anniversary), and worked for the last time in Shrewsbury on the 18th. Very early on the 19th, he dropped his car off at a garage, where his sister picked him up and drove him to the airport. He flew into Houston, visited for a few hours with Liz and Charles and Genevieve, then drove for over three hours to Temple.

Bob arrived here about 8:30 that night, exhausted but glad to finally be reunited with me and Paul. Thanks to all who have been praying for us for the past six months, and especially for the past three months. We are truly blessed by your faithfulness and love.

Our New Spiritual Home

Although the past ten days have been pretty intense, Temple is already feeling like home. One of the main reasons for that is our new parish here in Texas. The first thing Paul and I did the day after we arrived was to go to the church and get registered.

From the very first moment we stepped into St. Luke’s, we felt welcomed and loved. Many people have recognized us as newcomers and have introduced themselves and welcomed us to the community.

As far as getting involved in parish life, Paul and I just dove right in. I figured that was the best way to meet people and make new friends.

Last Wednesday, we joined a Bible study on the book of Acts. Today was our second class, and we are enjoying it so far. I must confess that I felt a little out of place last week, though, when I discovered that all four of the other women in the class are nurses or retired nurses (one of the consequences of living in a town where health care is the main industry). There are also several men in the class, including one who is about Paul’s age.

On Thursday night, there was a dinner for the women of the parish, and one of the women at daily Mass invited me to come. It was very nice, and I got to meet a lot more people. It was freezing in the parish hall where the dinner was held, and I had forgotten to bring a jacket, so the woman sitting next to me went out to her car and got a jacket for me. I felt blessed to be with so many thoughtful and loving women.

On Saturday morning I attended a meeting of the “Blessed Women,” a group of about ten women that meet once a month. This month they started a study of the book of Ruth. It was a great group, and the Bible study was very interesting.

On Sundays the parish has “Coffee and Donuts” (which now includes a hot breakfast as well) after the 8:00 morning Mass. Paul and I attended this past Sunday and met even more wonderful people. Two of the ladies had noticed us at daily Mass, and they befriended us. They even invited us to join their faith sharing group on Monday morning, which we did.

Paul is hoping to get involved with the young adult ministry (“YAMS”) here. They used to meet on Tuesday nights, so Paul went up to the church last night, but there was no one there. Apparently they have been inactive for a while, but are in the process of trying to get the group going again.

It’s amazing how much St. Luke’s reminds us of St. John’s. They pray the rosary, and sometimes the Divine Mercy chaplet, every day before Mass, and they even end the rosary with the prayer to St. Michael, just like at St. John’s.

St. Luke’s has an amazing lending library. They must have thousands of books, and the whole back wall is just DVD’s, all of which have been screened for suitability. They even have a copy of Fr. Robert Barron’s Catholicism series, as well as all kinds of mysteries and classics (including Alfred Hitchcock and most of the Agatha Christie movies). They also have music CD’s, audio books, and a whole section of children’s movies. I can hardly wait to make use of the library when I have time.


I feel so blessed that God has brought us to this parish, and I look forward to all that he wants to do in and through us here. Please pray that we continue to hear and respond to God’s call as we work with our new parish family in building up the Kingdom of God.

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Well, we have now been in Texas for a little over a week. So much has happened this past week, it seems more like a month. We flew out of BWI on Saturday, the 19th, and arrived in Houston about 1:00 in the afternoon.

After grabbing some lunch on the way back from the airport, we headed for Liz and Charles’ house to relax for a little while. They had plans to take us to Kemah and meet up with Charles’ family for dinner. However, once again, God had other plans.

Two days before we left for Houston, Paul had smashed his thumb pretty badly in a car door. By the time we arrived at Liz’s house on Saturday, it was looking pretty nasty, and Liz thought he should get it looked at. Therefore, Paul and Charles and I spent the next 3-4 hours in the emergency room at the VA in downtown Houston. They x-rayed the thumb to make sure it wasn’t broken, but did nothing to treat the swelling. The P.A. said to put ice on it, and that the blood would re-circulate on its own. Although it was frustrating to wait all that time for nothing, it did give us an opportunity to pray for the other people in the emergency room.

The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful. We had a nice visit with Charles’ family in the afternoon, and had a chance to play Clue with Liz and Charles and Charles’ brother and sister in the evening. Of course, the highlight of the weekend was spending time with our precious patata, Genevieve.

We left Houston about 10:30 Monday morning to drive to Temple. Paul and I went to Mass and breakfast first, in an attempt to avoid rush hour traffic in downtown Houston. However, there was a terrible accident on I-45, and traffic was practically at a standstill for about an hour.

To make matters worse, the air conditioning in the car had gone up and was blowing out hot air. We eventually turned off the AC and opened the windows, but with temperatures in the 90’s and no air moving because of the backup the car quickly became a sauna.

I’m afraid that I was way too focused on how hot I was, and I did a lot of complaining. Paul, on the other hand, had the right idea. As soon as he saw that there was an accident, he started praying the Divine Mercy chaplet for those in the crash. He also led us in the rosary and the chaplet for the sick and dying. As soon as we finished the second chaplet, the traffic cleared (right in front of the St. Joseph Medical Center), and we started moving again. Although the ride through Houston was quite an ordeal, Paul and I both felt that God had placed us there for a reason. We never saw the accident, but I later learned that someone died in it.

Because of the heat, we made several stops, so it was about 5:00 in the evening by the time we arrived in Temple. We were hot and exhausted, but we were very thankful to finally be “home.” We did not have any furniture yet, so we spent the next few days eating meals at the kitchen counter and sleeping on the floor.

On Thursday, we took the car to a local repair shop to get the AC looked at. Unfortunately, it was not going to be a simple job, so we had to leave the car overnight. Thankfully, the owner of the shop lent us a car, so that we could get home and get to anywhere we needed to go.

While we were at the repair shop, the moving company called to say that our stuff would be arriving on either Friday or Saturday, and that the truck driver would call us about 30 minutes prior to arrival. Our delivery window was Sept. 20-Oct. 5, so I was thankful that the actual delivery was going to be earlier rather than later. We had already scheduled an appointment to get our internet hooked up on Friday, plus the car would probably be ready sometime that afternoon, but I trusted God to work out all the details.

The cable technician came about 10:30 Friday morning, and we were finally able to connect to the internet again. Shortly after the technician left, I got another call from the moving company saying that the truck would arrive between 3 and 5 that day.

About 2:30 that afternoon, a thunderstorm popped up out of nowhere, and it started to pour. About 2:45 the truck driver called and said that he was 15 minutes away. When the truck arrived, it was like a monsoon outside our apartment.

The movers decided to wait a few minutes to see if the rain would let up, so I took that opportunity to pray the Divine Mercy chaplet. As soon as I finished praying, the driver knocked on the door, and he and his helper began bringing in our furniture and boxes. By that time, the rain had dwindled to just a drizzle and eventually stopped altogether. God had been merciful once again. Within 2 to 3 hours, the movers had everything unloaded and were on their way.

Almost as soon as the movers left, the owner of the repair shop called to say that the car was ready. I was amazed by how well the day had gone. It was clear to me that God had been with us, perfectly orchestrating every detail of the day.

After the movers left I was a little overwhelmed with the amount of stuff, but we’re slowly working our way through the boxes. Since we will hopefully be moving into a house in about 6 months, I probably won’t bother unpacking some of the stuff, but I still need to figure out a place to put the boxes in the meantime. Please pray for me that I can stay focused and not get overwhelmed.

Phase 3

When I first scheduled our move, the moving company gave me a 3 day window for the pickup of our furniture in PA. They said that the truck would arrive on Sept. 16, 17, or 18, and that they'd give me 24-48 hours notice of the actual date. I was hoping for one of the later dates, so that I'd have more time to finish packing. However, God had other ideas.

While I was on the plane to head back home from Houston, the truck driver called and left a message. He asked if it would be possible to pick up our stuff on the 15th! If that was not possible, he said he could come on the 16th.

We didn’t arrive back in town until almost dinner time on the 14th, so I knew there was no way I could be ready by the 15th. Even the 16th was pushing it, but by the grace of God, we were able to get everything packed up in time.

I must admit, though, that it was not a pretty sight at our house on Tuesday night. It had been a very long and stressful day, and I was exhausted. As my husband will probably attest, by the time I went to bed about 2:00 Wednesday morning, I was not a “happy camper.”

I got up at 5:00 Wednesday morning to finish the packing. The driver had given me a window of 7-10 A.M. for the pickup time, and thankfully it was close to 10 before he arrived.

I was very impressed with the two movers. They were very efficient and had everything packed in the truck by about 2:00. Our stuff is now on its way to Texas, with an estimated arrival date between September 20 and October 5.