Oh, When the Saints Come Marching In

I have written so much about the intercession of the saints in heaven and how we have prayed to so many of them and I have noted so many their feast days for the past year.

And I am reminded of a homily a young Francisican priest who was at St. Joseph's, when Jon and I lived in the San Franscisco area in 1986. When he spoke, you really wanted to listen! This one particular Sunday, he had sheets of paper in the pews with a 'picture' on it. It was a lot like a Rorsach ink blot! He said that a man went in search of the meaning of life and after spending a lot of his money and life on this project, he was told by a very old wise man that the answers were in the Matthew, chapters 5,6,& 7. He said that too many of us search so hard for Jesus and He has been right with us all along. The 'ink blot' was actually the face of Jesus,
and it was really hard to see it. Jon said it reminded him of the kind of art done by Peter Max (1960's). Anyway, I could not see the face at all. I actually had thought originally that it was a tree! Nice try Rebecca. The priest said to take the picture home and tape it up somewhere and look at it everyonce in awhile.
I was up at about 2 AM and was feeding James (who was about 5 months old). I was very tired and was missing my family so much, since we had moved to San Francisco only a few months before. I was in the family room and glanced over to the kitchen and noticed the picture taped to the refrigerator and the face of Jesus just POPPED out at me! I actually laughed out loud and said "There He is!" I remember thinking that I guess I wasn't as alone as I thought...............smile.

All of this is to preface why I chose that title. We have looked to heaven so many times this last year for the intercession of the well known saints, and right in our midst, we have some present day saints. Living in our neighborhood! I just have to dedicate this posting to the Hufford family. Judy Hufford came to our house in May to bring us dinner. She is part of the Helping Hands outreach program at our church. This group provided dinner for our family for 3 months! I knew they lived in our neighborhood and went to our church, but never stopped to introduce myself. She brought dinner and Jerry, her son, helped her get it to us. We got to talking and Jerry said he read our blog everyday. I was literally shocked. He said it was so great getting to meet us finally. He started to come by during the Summer and help James with Paul. Then, when James left, Jerry organized the help we would need to pick up the slack for James. He made up a chart (which he keeps up for me) with the names of who is going to get Paul to daily Mass, then to DTSi and back home. Brenda Stoll takes care of this on Monday's, Judy Hufford has started to take care of Paul on Tuesday and Thursday and Jerry has Wednesday and Friday. That means Jerry also gets him to his personal trainer on those days. He comes early and helps me get Paul's medicine packed up for the day, runs any errands we might need, takes Paul to any other outing they can fit in, along with swimming at the local aquatic center. They have taken Paul into their family life with such ease. To top that, Abby is always along with them. They have a dog named Emma, and the 2 dogs are now good friends and spend most of those days together. Paul and Jerry take the dogs to the park a couple of times a week. Even though Jon and I are home on the weekends, Paul will either be at their house or Jerry might come to ours. This past weekend, since Michael would be gone in Europe, the Huffords took Paul to their home to give us a chance to rest and get some things done. Abby and Paul were gone until Saturday at about 9:30 PM. They said that they enjoy Paul's loving and gentle ways so much, along with his quick wit. Paul loves them all so much and he doesn't think twice about calling Jerry to see what is up for the evening. On the days Jerry helps out with Paul, he will email me the next day with everything he can remember about what Paul said or did and will fill me in on any new accomplishments or funny moments. He is terrific with keeping us up to date. Together, we plan new things for Paul to work on to help in his recovery. It is absolutely wonderful to have this family working along side of us, with encouraging words and so much love being offered. Paul will put out extra effort for them! They have the patience of saints!! Jerry also got Mike involved in another outreach program at St. Stephen's and that is helping bring food to some people who live under a bridge downtown. The church van goes every Saturday and gives out a hot lunch, and then also bagged food. They will hand out clothes if they have them, or any other items that have been donated, like hats and goves and blankets in the winter. He also will be taking Mike to a shelter on Wednesday nights where they take care of the men's feet, to help keep them healthier. It is the same outreach group that does this and Jerry got Michael involved. Mike loves being with Jerry and thinks nothing of stopping by the Huffords house on his way home, to just sit and chat with Judy and Frank. They are always there with open arms!

God has been so generous to our family, providing so many saints on earth who have walked along our pathway. I could fill a book with everything that has been done for our family. It certainly opened my eyes to the fact that I had so much to learn about being a loving and generous giver. What an example ALL these living saints have set before us this past year.

We leave for Charlotte today to see the neurosurgeon who might be able to answer the issue of the enlarged ventricles that Paul still suffers from. I pray that the saints in heaven will pray for God's intercession and that this doctor will have the wisdom to know the answer. And to all you saints on earth, who continue to pray us forward, we ask for one more prayer in this day. God knows each and everyone of you and what you have done for his world. Our prayer is that you will be blessed far more abundantly than we have!!!

My brother reminded me to post his email address on the blog, so that if any one wanted a copy of the talk I gave last week at the prayer breakfast, he will send it to you. His email address is kbrown@paychex.com. Thanks for doing this for me Keith!

Oh - your prayers for a safe trip for Mike were definitely answered! And they were needed. James was going to meet Mike in Frankfurt and flew in about 6 hours before Mike. Bev's son, Joseph is back from Iraq and is in Germany, so he too was going to be at the airport to meet them both. James got there at midnight and Joseph called us to say he had not found James and in fact, thought that maybe James was at the other airport in Frankfurt. Well, that is what happened. The other problem was that Joseph had his cell phone with him, but forgot the charger and it was no longer working. Bev and Joe were at our house when Joseph called them and said he thought James was at the wrong airport, so my niece, Courtney, called the Hahn airport and asked for them to page James. Praise be to God, James understood his name when it was spoken over the intercom and he came to the desk. We told him he needed to get to the other airport. Turns out - it was over an hour and a half away. He kept asking around for ways to get to the other airport and not have it cost $200 and finally found that there was a shuttle bus. He paiad $15 and was the only one on the bus, AND got to catch a very long nap. He got to the correct one a couple of hours before Mike landed (at 7:40 AM) and found Joseph. When they found Mike, James made a quick call home and the joy in their voices had me crying. It was 2:30 AM our time and I was so happy they called. I had not been sleeping well, knowing that they had a few mishaps occurring. Joseph was so thrilled to finally see family, James was so happy he didn't miss Mike and Mike was ecstatic he was actually IN GERMANY! They were all talking and laughing at the same time. It was a very joyous moment for me to share.

Michael has emailed us a couple of times and they are having a terrific time. He also managed to let us know that the price of oil had gone down another $1. Something he watches daily!! That's my youngest son for you!

And I am running late. Again.

We will keep you posted tonight. We will be staying in Charlotte over night and meeting up with Jon and Marie. They are driving in from Washington DC after Jon's last class. That way their trip will be split up a bit.

God bless all the HOLY MEN AND WOMEN in our world today.
Love,
Jon and Rebecca