Giving Thanks

Well, Thanksgiving is over. The day is finished and the food has been stuffed into my stomach as far as it would stretch. Successfully, and without complication, the turkey turned out perfectly, no one got hurt [save a slightly burnt pinkie finger from testing the gravy which we made do with pulverized oats, slightly lumpy but not tasting off from what it was intended to be].

This was the first Thanksgiving I'd been away from home and what made it somewhat difficult was knowing my brothers and parents were all together enjoying Mom's staple Thanksgiving items without me. I am sad to say I missed them all and Mom's fruit salad concoction and crust [although, I did make the pie filling well enough]. I'll work on that 'wife/mom' skill at a later date.

That being said, as my two companions and I said what we were thankful for I knew immediately what I wanted to thank God for giving me...or rather what he didn't give; I was thankful for not getting an internship immediately. Without that failure, I'd never have moved to Oklahoma. Then again, if you asked me in December of 2008 what my life would have been like I would have pictured a very different scene. It is safe to say, I am happy with how it is now, and not what I pictured.

In other news [par for the course if you actually read my blabber, there's always other news] I felt compelled to make my way to church today. Yes, I realize it is neither Saturday or Sunday.

There is something so magical about sitting in that big empty church and knowing nothing is going to interfere with my prayers, except for the setting sun streaming through stain glass windows. And oh, how I will miss the architecture of that church dearly.

So here's how all that went down today -

I got ready [which means I showered] to head to church with the intent of getting there with a half hour before the communion service at 5:30. I managed to stumble upon that during my time here in Oklahoma a little while back [that was another time that I just wanted to be alone with God when I found myself in a side chapel full of people waiting for the priest to arrive, but I digress]. I had grabbed my rosary and this day's mysteries to reflect upon the life of Jesus and headed out the door.

I made my way in the silent church. I stopped to light a candle for my future husband and say a quick prayers for my brothers and I often find myself doing and walked to the chapel where others were adoring Christ in his Eucharistic form. Now, I cannot say I fully and completely understand all the things that make the Catholic Church so...Catholic; even after attending parochial schools all my life I find that the Church is full of things I will not completely 'get' [e.g God is one in three persons: I don't quite grasp it...but I still believe]. Being that it is the oldest Christian denomination it has had a lot of time to become saturated with tradition. Now, I'm not here to argue on becoming a Catholic or living like a good Christian. I am neither perfect nor the appropriate person to persuade anyone on the matter. I am simply telling you that there is something comforting about knowing that people, old and young alike, can come together to sit and marvel at how awesome God is. And so, again, I digress.

Like with other times I've attempted to sit in silence with God I found myself sitting with a dozen other people who appeared to be waiting for something to start. Oh, there's an Adoration Shin-dig about to begin and I just happened to get here with the perfect amount of time!?! So much for that rosary just yet.

The priest entered and began. There managed to be an extra sheet of paper to follow along with and I found it to be idiot proof; everything was written out, as if God knew I was going to be a little lost when I sat down.

And can I just make an observation here? There's one thing I don't do well with when it comes to church stuff. Incense can really choke when you're trying to breathe in and sing out. Thankfully I had food in my stomach, otherwise I would have been nauseous. The trials and tribulations of a finicky stomach. Since my hair was still damp the smell of incense has lingered with the smell of grapefruit shampoo even to this time of the night. Oh well, it could smell like far worse things.

So, back to the story. Instead of sitting in silence after the Adoration ended I found myself moving to the other side chapel as the communion service began [thankfully, I knew how all this went down as I'd attended before]. So instead of saying my rosary and reflecting on the Sorrowful Mysteries of Jesus I ended up adoring and consuming him instead. In short, God is in me and I am His vessel: I am the work of His hands and my actions speak [in adoration] for the glory of His name.