Small Encouragements

 Yesterday was a long day of three meetings held one after the other after having had trouble sleeping that night before and by the time I pulled into the driveway, I was dragging my feet. I knew I wouldn't be home for long as I was on the schedule to cover my group's shared holy hour that evening. I had even debated driving straight from campus to the chapel but had 25 minutes before my scheduled time so I opted to still go home even for just a few minutes so I could see Adam and Charlotte. 

As soon as I entered the door, I could tell Charlotte had a lot of pent up energy. A few minutes later, when it was time to go back out to the car, she asked if she could come with me. I hesitated because the last time I had taken her to that particular Adoration Chapel, she was just an infant. 

Since those baby days, she has gone to family-friendly Holy Hours, participated in Adoration with her peers at school and in Girls GIFT, recently attended Praise and Worship during a Divine Mercy Holy Hour at the local Sisters' motherhouse, and has popped in and out of chapels with me during trips and on adventures. However, she had not participated in a full one-hour silent time of devotion with me since moving out of the carseat days. In this post, from when she turned three months old, I had written about those early days in the Adoration Chapel with her. 

These were all reasons that gave me pause last night when she asked if she could come with me. Partly because I wanted to try to cultivate in her a posture of silent prayer and partly because I was exhausted from work, I gave in to her requests and said yes. In the car we went and drove the two minutes to the chapel. Upon entering the chapel, every seat was taken and she and I patiently stood in the back as we waited for the family who had the hour before us to finish their scheduled time. Within five minutes, the other individuals had filed out of the chapel and it was just Charlotte Annie, Mr. Snuggles (a large teddy bear gifted to her from some classmates after her recent accident), and me in the chapel for about ten minutes. She began getting antsy about eight minutes in so I asked if she would like some praise and worship music played. A girl after my own heart, she said yes. We were about halfway through listenting to a song when someone arrived in the chapel. I quickly turned off the praise & worship music and we settled back into silence with the third adorer.

You can spot Mr. Snuggles in the bottom right hand corner because at this point, both Charlotte and he were snuggled up on my lap in the first row of the chapel as close to the Eucharist as we could get.

A few other people came and went for the remainder of the hour and, while settled on my lap, Charlotte wound up falling asleep in my arms. I felt the stressors of the day, the worries about the unknown, and feelings of unrest I had been battling slip away as I felt her warm body curled up on my lap. God knows what He is doing. Usually, I read while in the Chapel but my arms and hands were occupied. Other times, I listen to the daily Gospel reading but I left my phone on the table next to me. I just sat and was still as I held Charlotte and let myself be held. I likely wouldn't have experienced these things had I told Charlotte she needed to stay home. 

Shortly before our hour was up, someone slid the below note into my view. I didn't get a glimpse of who it was or even if it was a male or female given I was in the front row. 

Thank you, Lord, for the small encouragements and for the way You encounter each of us right where we are. Today is the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fatima. Fun fact:  the school I attended for 1st grade was named after her. Then, in 2nd grade, the school I attended had a beautiful larger than life mural painting of her in the main hallway of the school. One of my favorite pictures with Charlotte was taken with her at the foot of the mural when I took her to my old elementary school when she was a baby. 

God may show up in big ways like the encounters of the three small children with Our Lady in Fatima or He may do it through a stranger's note but He is always there. 

Spend some time looking for the ways He is working in your life today! 

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.