Life Updates- Part 1/4: Be Still

*This series of blog posts was originally an email series from July 2025. They have been adapted to this format.

Introduction:

How do I even begin? Since my last email in May A LOT has happened. It would be easy to bullet point it all out for you but that would remove the depth of God's presence, wisdom, and will in it all. It almost feels like it belongs on a podcast but even that would end on a cliffhanger at this point haha

Some parts of this story are actually hard for me to share. Not because they're bad or painful or overly personal but because I know this isn't how God always moves in our lives. Sometimes the painful seasons last for months, years, decades and don't tie up with a nice little bow. I've been there too, I'm still there in certain areas of my life, so I just want to acknowledge that first. Wherever you're at when reading this, I hope you can believe for yourself that God so desperately wants to bless you, all you have to do is say yes to His promptings- and yes especially to the "crazy" ones or the ones that seem like they're over the top or the ones that make your knees buckle a little in fear.

Gosh as I write this, more and more memories from these last 5 months keep popping up of all the ways God prompted me and then all the ways He's revealed a new aspect of His plan in response to my yes to those prompts... It's absolutely wild.

So with that, I'd like to tell you a little story via the four Present Catholic pillars over the next four days. Hopefully one day I'll be able to share it all in more depth but for now, I hope it gives you a taste of the absolute GIFT it is to BE STILL and receive a word from God, follow that word even if it means you're asked to GIVE EVERYTHING to Him, and in turn to be able to CHERISH all the big and small ways He blesses you in each and every present moment.  

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Be Still

Flashback to Lent. We're a few weeks in, the 30+ Lenten Letters have been sent, and your own Lenten commitments of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are just beginning to take form.

You find yourself driving along a winding road next to a reservoir after work while on your way to church when a thought pops into your mind:

Maybe X wasn't the only one who had something to work on. Maybe I need to grow in this area too...

Then it hits you. The Holy Spirit, clear as day:

"Fast for this intention."

Ummm ok, but fast from what specifically?

"Sweets & TV"

Great... and for how long?

"3 Months"

Ha! I couldn't have possibly heard that right.

You get to Mass and wouldn't you know, the first reading and the homily confirm this is a fast you're called to. Actually TWO different fasts. But you still don't want to concede to the 3 month fast. I mean, halfway through would land you smack on your Italy trip! No sweets in Italy?! Preposterous!

So you argue with God. You complain. You even throw a temper tantrum.

But then God.

Oh God. So wise. So thoughtful. So absolutely in every single detail.

He shows you the calendar. The Church calendar.

The first half of your trip (Rome and Assisi) will take place during the Easter Octave, when it is literally forbidden by the Church to fast at all because it is such a joyous and triumphant feast!

But what about Florence- the place you've been dying to get back to for nearly 14 years?!

Another gift- St. Joseph the Worker feast day (a very special feast for you) will land on that Thursday. You'll get one day in Florence to eat all the sweets you can! (And you will 😉)

And those other days without sweets? You'll not only offer them for the main intentions of this fast but you'll offer them back to the generous God who's bringing you to Italy at all in the first place. What a gift to be able to give!

And to your surprise, you'll actually find you're more joyful in those moments you deny yourself sweets for God because you know being there isn't about the sweets or the memories, it's about a connection God formed in your heart over a decade ago to a very special place for a reason you're realizing is much deeper and much more significant than you could have possibly understood as a 20 year old in college...

To be continued...

Read part 2/4 here.