St. Michael's Parish

“What’s that book about?” 

I hear that frequently as I usually have a book sitting in my bag, waiting for a free moment to catch a few pages.  Sometimes it’s while I’m in a waiting room, sitting in the van waiting for the boys or waiting for my children to figure out that mom isn’t leaving for school until chores are done.  My life right now is in the “Hurry up and wait” mode.

Right now the books I’m reading aren’t all my choice.  I am involved with Leadership Mecosta this year, meaning I have a book to read for them (along with another yet to be determined).  That’s a surprisingly good read about servant leadership.  Still, it’s slow going when I can only catch a few pages at a time.  Then I am also in our Parish’s Just Faith program.  Any of you who have gone through that are right now shaking your head knowingly.  It’s assigned reading every week.  It may not be a lot, but it certainly is difficult to muddle through some of the material.

I have read these type of books in the past simply because Social Justice is an issue close to me and near to my heart.  I never want to be anesthetized toward the plight of our brothers and sisters who are living in conditions that I would never dream about simply because of where they were born.  The difference is that I have always peppered these difficult books with some light fluff to ease my soul.  This go-round I have to read back to back to back and it will consume you if you let it.  Something I’m struggling with.

It’s also hitting close to home since we are dealing with an issue in our own family.  Without going into detail to respect a child’s family, we have a young man who has been spending much time with us . It’s clear that my son’s are so much more fortunate than they could ever imagine.  As you who have gone through Just Faith understand the feeling of “I just need to DO something” know why my heart is so deeply affected by this young man.  For those of you who have not been through Just Faith, I truly and highly recommend this program.  Start praying about it right now and see if you may be called to attend next year. 

I had a mission and On Sunday, after Mass when we came home, it was time to go through the boys’ clothes.  I realize that the majority of their clothes are from yard sales and God’s Helping Hands, donations and friendly people passing along clothes (and I am truly grateful) but, for the plain fact that there are 5 boys and I love a good deal, they have an abundance.  We gutted their bedrooms, passed on clothes that didn’t fit to the next brother, folded new piles and had ‘junk’ piles for those clothes too worn to donate.  Next, I looked at what they still had and said “O.K., now take that pile of (t-shirts, shorts, etc,) and cut it by half.  I was met with blank stares, enthusiastic smiles and/or “But Mom!” depending on the child.  Still, we ended up with 1 bag of rags, 1 bag of worn jeans (anyone know where we can send them for recycling?) and 6 garbage bags of stuff to take to GHH.  How could I have had that much!   

I’m glad to pass it along.  I hope I can help someone stretch their dollar a bit father, put a smile on a kid’s face or ease a family budget.  To quote from one of the books I’m reading, in the words of a seven-year-old living in the ‘poorest of the poor’ in New York City, “Why would my parents be mad [for sharing his only piece of food] God said to share!”