A Heart Journey

 I was at the same Starbucks today that I was at 6 months ago. I can remember it well. It was also a Wednesday and it was Veterans Day. It was a somewhat cold and cloudy day but the dark blue and gray hues of the sky shimmered from my seat and the landscape breathed in its beauty majestically. There was anticipation, excitement as well as inspiration for the near future. I had recently applied to the MLIS program and felt really ready for a change in schedule as well as an enticing challenge that filled my spirit with possibilities. It had already been a very challenging Fall, one that I think I will remember for a while. There was a lot of inner struggle, interior hardship being shifted, processed and chiseled like God was working on my heart and gently whispering in my ear of His plan little by little. Most days, I felt I was blindly walking in faith, and not very often receiving consolations that we can easily rely on in our faith. 

On that day, there was a sense of hope, and a joy that was interconnected with an inspiration in a way I hadn't fully experienced. It had been a few years since I had been a student, and months since I had felt productive, useful and busy to really feel like I was using my God given talents. This step like the right direction to take, but there was also a lot unknown, and that continued with trust. 

I think having that day off and being at a Starbucks cultivated this much needed inspiration and light that was headed on the horizon. I didn't know how it would all play out, let alone if I would be accepted to the program. Having a varied schedule with work (though would still be pretty slow) and school was very exciting and like I had an inner leap within me. 

I couldn't help but remember and think of it all today. Today was the day that I found out how I did on my long, tedious and daunting research paper, as well as my class as a whole. I was relieved, surprised and overjoyed of my well passing grade and high score on my paper that I wouldn't have guessed but only hoped for. I really felt like my prayers were answered, specifically to St. Joseph and St. Anthony of Padua. And these saints as well as a few others I prayed to throughout this semester as well as just before it begun, the moments like 6 months back when I wasn't sure what would happen. 

The blog I started and created for my course was a fun and unique experience. It was part of this course requirement to write on our school blog and have our fellow classmates read and learn from each other's. I named mine chalk coeur, coeur meaning heart in French. I had a deeper meaning behind it about how our hearts lead and tell us what we are passionate about, and how listening to them reveals something greater. But chalk coeur isn't all about following our passions, but personally it describes part of my artsy side with the word 'chalk'. The background of my blog is like a painting with vibrant color.

 But I think most importantly, chalk coeur goes back to those chalk hearts drawn on the ground at work last spring when students in a science class were learning about the functions and intricacies of the heart. That was the same time when my dear sister and brother-in-law found out about the diagnosis of their sweet baby boy Ignacio Rafael's HLHS heart condition while in utero. The prayers that could easily be thought of or spoken was when I would walk passed these chalk hearts drawn so largely and precisely, and automatically think of my dear nephew and God son. I wanted to dedicate these writings of this school blog to that moment, since I knew Ignacio would be with me in spirit, like he always has. He is close to God and is interceding for us, his family here below. 

This journey is just the beginning. I hope to continue to do well in my future classes and endeavors with this program. So far, it has given me purpose, a future, encouragement, and deep peace and joy to start on this path. I look forward to what's ahead and what else I will learn, grow in. It feels surreal to wrap up this semester, this first step, but I think its one for celebration. It's been a very unique, personal, and rewarding journey all its own.