Day 366

Happy Birthday to my beautiful little girl. I can not believe that one year ago at this very moment, I was standing anxiously outside the operating room as they prepped your mother for surgery. I will never never never forget the moment I first laid eyes on you. The moment I first held you in my arms. Thank you. Thank you for all that you are teaching me about love and life, about patience and perseverance, about beauty and about grace. Thank you for being my daughter. Thank you for smiling every time you see me. Thank you for still fitting perfectly in my arms. Thank you for falling asleep on my lap. I love you. Happy Birthday.

Thoughts on grace

This made me smile:

This made me smile more:

Four years ago in a large city in the far West, rumors spread that a certain Catholic woman was having visions of Jesus. The reports reached the archbishop. He decided to check her out. There is always a fine line between the authentic mystic and the lunatic fringe.

"Is it true, m'am, that you have visions of Jesus?" asked the cleric.

"Yes," the woman replied simply.

"Well, the next time you have a vision, I want you to ask Jesus to tell you the sins that I confessed in my last confession."

The woman was stunned. "Did I hear you right, bishop? You actually want me to ask Jesus to tell me the sins of your past?"

"Exactly. Please call me if anything happens."

Ten days later the woman notified her spiritual leader of a recent apparition. "Please come," she said.

Within the hour the archbishop arrived. He trusted eye-to-eye contact. "You just told me on the telephone that you actually had a vision of Jesus. Did you do what I asked?"

"Yes, bishop, I asked Jesus to tell me the sins you confessed in your last confession."

The bishop leaned forward with anticipation. His eyes narrowed.

"What did Jesus say?"

She took his hand and gazed deep into his eyes. "Bishop," she said, "these are his exact words: 'I CAN'T REMEMBER.'"