Hey, there –

Have you caught any of the new TV shows this season?  One is especially fun to watch – I think it is Ordinary Family – the story of (you guessed it) an ordinary family who is in a plane accident, survive and come out of it with extraordinary powers.  They are ordinary people doing extraordinary things = modern heroes. 

Heroes give instead of take – they act instead of talk (or stay in bed on Saturday mornings).  They step forward (or up a ladder) and do the hard and unseen jobs…Give the best of themselves (even when they think that they have no skills) measuring their own success not by wealth or comfort, but by the lives they touch (like Annie’s).

Our Habitat crews – you – are ordinary people….doing extraordinary things.

You are our heroes and those of CTK…You are so appreciated.

We remember you in our prayers -

 

Jane

Andy

Colleen

Joanne

Bernadette

Hey, there -

I had a conversation with a friend recently about a relationship that did not seem (to her friends) to  be a positive one for her.  And it went like this:

She -  “He loves me”

Me – “How do you know?”

She – “He tells me every day”

Me – “but if he didn’t tell you, how would you know”.  And she thought for a while and then said “I guess I wouldn’t – he never does anything that makes me FEEL like he loves me”  And her eyes filled with tears.

We know that God loves us – He told us so and He gave us his Son to die for us  so that we may live.  But, to be honest with you,  sometimes when everything seems to be going wrong and you are hurting, it may be hard to feel God’s love.  And then unexpectedly someone or a friend does something to help, or gives support and whoop – there is it!  We feel God’s Love through and because of someone else.  After all, He did say “I am the vine – you are the branches”.  We are and can be the transmitters of His love to others.

Annie had a dream and that was to have a house….and I’m sure that there were a few moments in the quest of this dream that things were not going well.  And she may have felt alone with a goal that just was out of reach.  And then she was accepted to Habitat and the CTK team signed on and she felt His Love…..through you.  He IS the Vine…  YOU are the Branches….with work gloves on. 

You are so appreciated and we are so thankful for you - the branches.

 

 

Jane

Colleen

Andy

Bernadette

Joanne

Another week - but what a week!!!!

 

Father Frank has been preaching about "How can I give back"? and I have to tell y'all, Stewardship is a funny thing.  Most of the time people sit there and wonder "What time and talents do I have?" that would be of value to someone else.  And then I see a group of sleepy volunteers meet on Saturday AM when it hardly feels like the sun is up - donate a full day (and a weekend day at that) - learn skills and use skills they didn't know they have and in two weeks, have a shelled in house for someone they don't know.  And I think...."I hope our volunteers aren't wondering how they can give back"  because y'all are the poster children.  We have been truly blessed with great volunteers....and I bet y'all thought you were just having a good time!!!

 

Thank you - you are so appreciated.

 

Jane

Bernadette

Joanne

Colleen

Andy

Hey, there -

Wanted to get out a huge thanks to what I call the "Rise Up" crew - the crews who for the first few weeks actually make our house "rise up" from the foundation - Whoo Hoo!!!

 

For those of you who have not participated in Habitat before, you were able to actually witness the start of a miracle (yes, some miracles don't occur instantaneously)...a plain foundation to a new home for our family.  For those of you who have participated before, I'm sure you recognized that feeling inside of a job well done....I know that everyone felt part of something very, very special.

 

Fr. Morrow sent us off mentioning, according to St. John that if we can't believe in work that we CAN see, it is hard to believe in the love of God that is harder to see.  This Saturday,  because of your hard work, you WERE the love of God to those who saw your hard work....and that helped those to now believe. Believe that help does come from people they may not know....believe that they are loved....and yes, believe in miracles.

 

Thank you - please know that you not only participated in something special, but you are special.  Know that we are remembering you in our prayers.

 

 

Jane

Joanne

Bernadette

Colleen

Hey, there -

It wasn't until I worked with the Stewardship Committee of the Cathedral that I truly understood about the different talents people have - and sometimes they have talents different than the ones they think they have!  And that all the talents together make the family whole.  I mean, in the shower I have always sounded like at least Jennifer Hudson, but in reality that just isn't my talent.  And I knew the story about everyone having a purpose, but when you think about all the different kinds of work that are necessary to make any organization work, then the issue of talents makes sense.....
 
All of the emails y'all send to me are great - many times I get emails that say "I think I want to volunteer but I have no talents" - to which I respond "No, you DO have talents that we can use - we just haven't discovered them yet!". 
 
Look at our house and all of the talents/skills and just plain hard work that have brought the house out of the ground, standing proud.  And, it is all of your talents that have brought our house this far, yes even the ones that you didn't even know that you have.    I know that God is proud of our work - given for someone else - and he knows about the great talents - He gave them to us so our work could be whole....and I think He may even think, too, that I sound like Jennifer Hudson!
 
You are so appreciated.
 
You are the heart and soul of our parish family - our very talented parish family.
 
Jane, Andy, Colleen and Joanne