Walking in the Light

To anyone still following, I have a three word message for you today.

Are you ready? Here it comes:

Yesterday. Was. Awesome.

Seriously, I had the best day yesterday. From beginning to end, it was perfect. Definitely the best day I’ve had since graduation, hands down. Let me walk through it again.

So my best friend Jason spent the night Saturday night. We’re really close and we live about an hour and a half apart. We lived together for three years, and not living with him anymore has been a really big adjustment for me, and I miss him a lot, even if I talk to him all the time. Anyway, I love it when he spends the nights, because it feels kind of like we’re living together again. We can talk as long as we want to, and then see each other again in the morning, hang out, have breakfast. It’s a really refreshing thing for me, and I always really value any opportunity I have to see him.

So Jason and I woke up on Sunday, hung out, put together some magic decks and played with them a bit, which was great too. I love playing magic and I haven’t had the opportunity to in a few weeks, so it was really fun to get back into it and play a couple of games, especially with these two decks that I’ve been working on putting together for a while. It was a ton of fun.

Then Jason left and I headed to my grandmother’s house for her birthday. While my grandmother herself is generally kind of miserable and depressing to be around, I got to see my cousins and, especially, my cousins baby girl Ella, who was so hyped up I’m certain her mom injected her with a pixie stick before they came. Anyway, Ella was adorable, and I got to play with her for a long time. I’m usually a huge grouch when it comes to kids, but when I actually interact with them, I always just fall in love. And there’s something about being around little kids that’s just great for your spirit, you know? It really invigorates you and helps put things in perspective.

Then, after Babs’s party, I had the opportunity to partake in my absolute favorite midafternoon activity – NAP!!!!

Now, I love taking naps. Ask my roommates in college, on any given day at around 3-4 PM I was locked behind my door taking a little snoozelet. I think I love taking a nap so much because it’s an opportunity to actually physically slow down, pause, and give yourself a real break from life for a while.

I slept from 3 until 5:30. It was a good, deep, solid little nap, and I woke up tired but refreshed, and ready for the great night ahead. I hopped in my car and went to St. Margaret Mary for Mass.

This was awesome. There was nothing over the top, outrageously great or noteworthy about the Mass, but SMM is really a sacred place for me. At that Church, I decided, as a young adult, to pick up my cross and follow Christ. I matured from a cradle-Catholic to an adult in my faith there. Later, in college, when I started losing my focus, and falling away, it was one fateful trip to SMM that got me back on track. Going there is almost like going on a pilgrimage to me. It’s not my home parish, nor do I regularly go for Mass, but so many moments of real spiritual growth occurred for me there, that going back is always a real joy and an opportunity for reflection. I realized there last night that my spiritual life has been languishing a lot since I left from college. I’ve definitely been under a lot of attack and I’ve taken a lot of hard blows – from the enemy, from my family situation, from my financial situation, and from the people still at school. And even though I’ve known in theory that all comfort and solace comes from the LORD, last night that really sunk in and allowed me an opportunity to make a decision to re-embrace my relationship with my God.

After Mass I headed over to a local pub to hang out with one of the other awesome, solid men I call my best friend. Daniel is much further away from me than Jason is, but we talk very frequently, and he’s been such a great friend and a real rock for me. Our relationship has definitely been one of the most challenging in the past, but the fact that Daniel and I have been able to face a lot of really daunting challenges and make it out no worse for wear gives me a lot of faith in him as a Brother and a Friend, and a lot of faith in our relationship’s ability to endure a lot of hardships and make it out shining. (Yeah, I know you’re reading this. Don’t get a big head about it.)

Anyway, Daniel was in town for the evening, and I met him, Jason, and some other great people to spend some time and catch up. We joked and laughed and played and tackled each other and made bets and called bluffs. And it was such a healing experience for me, to be in the presence of all these people, but especially these two men, these two brothers, and be able to feel and understand and trust in their unwavering love for me and commitment to our friendship.

Have I mentioned that I love these guys?

Then, on the way home, I got on the phone with Jace (did I mention that we talk a lot?) and talked to him about how I really felt at Mass that I wasn’t stepping up, wasn’t doing my job as a spiritual leader in our friendship, which is something that is just so important to me. We prayed together on the ride home. It was a really awesome way to end off just a great day.

I know this post wasn’t funny, or witty, or insightful, and I’m sorry if I disappointed you on that front, but I was just so moved by the gift that Christ gave me in my entire day yesterday that I felt like I needed to both reflect on it for myself and share it with you guys.

Here’s hoping that all your days are filled with as much joy and love as mine was yesterday.

Stay strong.