Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Generosity: What it's really all about

Being a missionary can be hard. Some days it seems nearly impossible to continually be called to give all of yourself. Not only are we called to give of ourselves, but also our things. Sometimes I feel that as Americans we have this selfishness ingrained in us. We have this “mine” mentality. I have tried to spend this year undoing that mentality. And I have failed miserably over and over again. But the other day, I witnessed something that inspired and challenged me in a whole new way; something that has changed my outlook on generosity, forever.

I was giving my friend Francisca a ride home. She had just been grocery shopping (which needless to say is a treat for her.) Her husband has never held a steady job so they rarely if ever have money. Their family usually lives week to week from “dispensas”(a bag of groceries we give to the people here with just basic food items). But this week, she had sold some earrings and earned $100 pesos(about $8USD) and was able to go grocery shopping! She was very excited and came home with one bag full of food. As we were driving home, Lucy, who is perpetually hungry, kept trying to dig in the bag and steal some food. We laughed about it and I even joked that Lucy was trying to rob her. As we got out of the van, Francisca started to dig around in her grocery sack. I of course thought “Oh no, she’s checking to see if Lucy got into something” and went on to think about how I was going to apologize to this woman for my daughter stealing her food. She continued to dig, I began to sweat and feel terrible, and then she pulled out a banana. She handed it to Lucy. I was blown away.
Here this woman is who rarely has enough food to feed her family, and she just hands a banana to my daughter (who obviously isn’t going hungry) out of her precious bag of groceries. She could have easily thought “l am not going to give these people anything. They could go buy food anytime they wanted and I hardly have enough.” But no, she didn’t think anything of it. Here, one of the poorest of the poor gave away her own food to my baby.

And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.” Mark 12:41-44
In the past, I read this bible verse and knew that I have always given out of my excess, and at that, barely given. But Francisca showed me what Generosity truly is. It is opening your heart to every single person in every single situation. It is giving when it hurts and not thinking anything of it.  I am so grateful for these moments where God slaps me in the face and gives me a wakeup call. Today He is calling every one of us to give whether it is of our time, our finances, or our prayers. He is calling us to give ESPECIALLY when it hurts and we feel we have no more to give; to give out of our poverty, not our surplus. My prayer is that each of us will open our hearts to give everything for He who gave it all for us.
 

Friday, October 17, 2014

Authentic LOVE

Last Thursday, after 83 years of life, my Grandpa passed away. Thanks be to God, we were able to come back from Mexico for the funeral. Seeing my Grandma was heartbreaking.  I cannot even begin to imagine what it would be like to lose your husband, let alone a man who you have been married to for 63 years.  As she spoke to my sister the other night, she shared with tears streaming down her face, “I loved him. I really loved him.”

I am 100% certain that they were in fact, the love of each other’s lives. I remember growing up, always seeing them together and thinking “Wow, they really are in love”. My Grandpa would look at my Grandma like a young man looking at his bride on their wedding day.  They would always laugh and smile together. There was a “oneness” between them. You could see that they thought as one, lived as one, loved as one.

Seeing her sadness caused me to reflect on what marital love really is. What does a couple really vow to one another in marriage?  When they married, they vowed “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.”

I know that they had hard times. Having 4 kids aged 4,3,2, and 1 and later the addition of 3 more children, was beautiful and blessed. But I can also imagine sometimes that it was extremely difficult and maybe felt “for worse.” With only Grandpa working and many mouths to feed, I can guarantee that wasn't a time of “richer.” Over the years, both of them spent many times in a state of “sickness”; Grandma with breast cancer, and Grandpa with many heart surgeries, times in ICU, and his stroke. 

To me, my Grandma is a heroine. She is an example of what love really is. Because during what was most likely the most difficult times in their lives, she didn't give up. She continued to sacrifice and love her husband.  You see, for the past few years my Grandpa had been in the nursing home suffering from dementia following a stroke. Every day she went and sat with my Grandpa from breakfast to bed time. They laughed, talked, read the paper, watched TV. She didn't just put him in the nursing home and “move on”. She spent almost every moment of every day at his side. I know some days it was very difficult for her. The beauty of their relationship is that through all of these difficulties, they persevered. They continued to love. They continued to push forward and support one another; even when it seemed impossible. Even up until the last moment as Grandma held his hand and declared one last time, “I love you Bernard” he smiled, and breathed his last;  “until death do us  part

Their love is a love that inspires me. In a time when the world tells us to take the easy way out, or do what feels right, a time where people believe that commitments and vows are null and void; it is in times like these that we should look to a love like theirs to understand and aspire to what loving another really means. It is a life full of many sacrifices and difficulties to authentically love another; but is most definitely possible and truly one of the most beautiful things a person can do. I love the quote from the movie Frozen, “Love is putting someone else’s needs before yours.”  Let us remember this and pray that we can learn to love in the same authentic way as my awesome grandparents!
-Andrea

We love you Grandpa!

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Chapel Update #2

The chapel is coming along fantastic!  We have painted the ceiling, primed the walls, installed the lights and windows, and finished all the stucco.  We have gone as far as the money will take us for now, but with a little help from some donors we can put in floor tile, tile the altar, install some sidewalk outside, and paint the walls.




This is the tabernacle door that Gallo (one of the Mexican missionaries) and I made.

It was an honor as well to have the bishop at the Casa de Misiones for breakfast today.  He is in town for a couple days to help celebrate the feast of St. Francis (the patron of our parish).  He visited the chapel as well and blessed it.  It had to be a preliminary blessing because it isn't finished, but he still seemed pleased with what we had done.




Bonus Photo:  Another fun project I had this week was trying to repair this statue that was donated by the Schmidt family (new missionaries this year).  This statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus will be taken to Cuchilla del Indio where their chapel has the same patron.  The hand was damaged in transport.  Plaster of paris is a common building product here, so I used some to re-fashion the hand.