Like A Prayer

"When do people pray?" asked Father Jaime during mass this past Sunday. Automatically I began to think about the times I pray and what I pray for if anything in specific.  If I backtracked to the beginning of this year, most of my prayers started off like, " Dear God, thank you for this day of life... Can u please help me... (what I needed help in) and I promise to..." or " Dear God, I'm sorry for... (what ever I was sorry for)" or my favorite " Dear God, I know I ask for a lot of things but can you please give me... ( patience, energy, or a positive mentality were usually what I asked for) and I promise to..." Most of the time when I prayed was in times of need or struggle, and I always felt like I had to do something in return for God for helping me. This was my way of not being selfish and only asking. I was blinded by the thought that "if God didn't help me the way I had prayed for, then he really wasn't helping me." Silly me. As if I could tell God how to help me. Just because God didn't help me the way I wanted him to, didn't mean he wasn't helping me. God only knows when the time is right and it took me a little while to realize that. God will not let me down, and God will help me get through everything because after all, "All things are possible  through Jesus Christ" Phillip 4:13.

     Father Jaime said that giving thanks is the second step in praying because one should not be selfish and forget to give thanks to the Lord just because times are better and you've been helped. Looking back at this summer I went on a streak of giving thanks for everything once I was finally happy with my life and didn't feel the need to ask for anything. I gave thanks for another day, a sunny day, a rainy day, a good day at work, a day with family, a day with friends, a good conversation with my boyfriend, making someone smile, someone making me smile; everything. It felt good to just be thankful. In my head I was pretty sure God, was glad I was just being thankful too.

 Finally, Father Jaime said that the last step in prayer people reach is when one prays for others. I noticed that lately I not only pray for me or give thanks for the things that I have gotten or are grateful for, but I also pray for others and give thanks for the things others have received. Yes, I would usually pray for my family but now I go beyond that. I ask God to help those who are less fortunate, those who are in a time of struggle, those who are sick, and for those who need his guidance. I ask God to help those who have recently lost someone and are sad, to see the light. I give thanks to God, for helping those who were struggling, for those who were sick, and for those whom he guided through a rough time. I'm not sure when I began to do this but now I say things like, " I'll pray for you" or "I'll keep you in my prayers" and really pray for them. I mean don't get me wrong, I wouldn't tell someone "I'll pray for you" and not do it but I would pray maybe once or twice for that person. Now, if I say "I'll pray for you" I do on a regular basis.

So listening to Father Jaime talk about prayer on Sunday put a smile on my face because without even realizing it, I have gone through the three steps he talked about. There's just this pleasure about realizing something after it has already happened. Kind of like an "Ahh" moment; a really good "Ahh" moment. What I find most interesting is that I don't know when the change in my prayer occurred, I don't believe its a coincidence because something had to happen to cause that change. What ever it was, I'm glad for it because now when I pray, I talk to God and not just at night before going to bed like I used to, but sporadically throughout the day. I can say that I have seen God everywhere and all around because I do believe God is everywhere all the time, but it has not been easy. It's hard to see God everyday because I'm not always walking on clouds and having the greatest time of my life, but being able to see God even when my smile is upside down let's me know that I am never truly alone and that I have worked hard to be able to feel God's presence even when times are bad. 

Maybe it's living in a monastery in Puerto Rico and volunteering that has helped me. Maybe it's going to prayers a few times a week, or maybe its praying everyday all the time that has caused the change in my prayers. Or maybe it's this entire experience that caused the change. What ever it was, I'm glad for it because this is something I will cherish and carry with me for as long as I pray.

3 Favorite Things About Today

    Today was an exciting day because we got to take Sister Mary Jane out for the day. We went to a Lechon grill (equivalent of  a pig roast) and sat by a little stream with great scenery. It was Caesar, Yvonne Sister Vivian, Sister Mary Jane, Ashley and myself. After spending a couple hours there, we headed over to Viejo San Juan. As we were driving there, surprise surprise, it began to pour! I thought we were going to look for plan B, but Yvonne insisted that we still go and Sister Vivian prayed to St. Scholastica to make the rain go away and sure enough by the time we reached El Morro in Viejo San Juan it'd stopped raining. We explored three levels of the fort and took lots of pictures. After that we took a walk down Calle del Christo and went into the Cathedral were a wedding was taking place. We also got to see the Plaza de las Palomas and to end our trip we went by The Raices (Roots) water fountain. It sure was a lovely day spent with great people.
    I'd like to mention a little piece of my conversation with Mary Jane yesterday that made me feel a whole lot better. I was talking to her about something along the lines of me finding it hard to see the bright side of things all the time or at least most of the time. So she said that a group of women she knows gets together every night and mentions the three favorite things about their day (I don't remember word for word but I'm sure it was something like that). She said that that helped her feel good about her day even when she thought her day wasn't so great. So I decided to adapt this evening practice for myself. Not that I had a bad day today but I'd still like to mention my three favorite things about today:
1) I really liked that we still went with our original plans and didn't change them because of the weather
2) I really liked that Sister Vivian went with us and had a great time; I really enjoyed all her historical information about everything we saw
3) I really enjoyed spending a full day with Mary Jane and getting to know her better than I did

S Vivian, S Mary Jane, Yvonne and Caesar @ the El Lechon Grill

Raices water fountain

In El Morro

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

Yesterday Ashley expressed how she felt about the kindergarteners, "I am in love I never thought you could be in love with more than one person but I am in love with 62 and they don't even reach my elbows. " I have to admit I feel the same way. Working in the computer lab has allowed me to meet students from k-9th grade. I feel closest to the kindergarten group because I also work with/for them when I help Ashley in Mrs. Velasques class and when I help her paste their work into their notebooks. I love those kindergartners.
      On a different note... Guess who is here? Yes! Sister Mary Jane! Oh, how good did it feel to see her in the airport and walking out of baggage claim. A part of MN is right here with us and it feels great. I am excited that she will be visiting the school tomorrow and supervising Ashley and myself. Thank you Sister Barbara for the cute picture and card, I will be sure to share them with Sister Myriam, Sister Rufina and Sister Flora.Sister Ruth, its unfortunate you couldn't come in Sister Mary Jane's checked luggage but thank you so much for the card that I received. It is still 85 degrees here with plenty of rain! Finally, thanks to all the Sisters who told Sister Mary Jane to say,"Hello" to us.  Really appreciate it. Thanks for the support, prayers, and love you are all constantly sending in my direction. It is greatly appreciated. When ever I start to get a little lonely or homesick I just remember that I am never alone (one: because God is always with me) because I have the support of a wonderful Benedictine Community. Miss and Love you all. 


                                                       ~Peace & Hugs, Laughs & Love~

Bless the hands that prepared this meal..

      After a full week of getting, having, and getting over the flu, I am proud to announce that my taste buds are back. Today just like  every Saturday I've been here Sister Flora has prepared lunch and boy, does she do a delicious job. Today's meal: Pollo en King (Chicken on King) was by far the best meal yet. Along with the chicken was rice, a carrot salad, homemade dressing and avocados. I am so glad the flu is gone and I was able to smell and taste the rice, chicken, mushrooms, bell peppers, and all the other magical ingredients that came together perfectly in order to complete the meal. Dessert was papaya (which I HATE fresh papaya) glazed with cinnamon and sugar. I didn't know it was papaya till I asked what I was eating. Mmm... Thanks to everyone who prayed for me to get well, it worked!
       On a equally exciting note, I am counting down the days (3 more days) till S Mary Jane comes to visit! S Mary Ruth has already mentioned a little place she'd like us to take S Mary Jane! Of course, I'm not going to say where, but I am excited to see a familiar face from Minnesota. I wonder if S Ruth is going to come along in S Mary Jane's check-in luggage? Well, you can't blame me for wondering.