International Women's Day

 A year ago, I was working alone, waiting for some students to return and teachers back to a new normal. I would try desperately to keep inspired on the daily by writing in the notebook I would bring to take notes, but also jot down things for myself...books to read, quotes to remember and saints to recall to. Yesterday was International Women's Day and somehow, I always remember and particularly like this national holiday.

 In that notebook, I had written some wonderful quotes from a book regarding St. Edith Stein. One of them is, "The deepest longing of woman's heart is to give herself lovingly, to belong to another, and to possess this other being completely. This longing is revealed in her outlook, personal and all embracing, which appears to us as specifically feminine." This also relates to a favorite speaker on called Relevant Radio, Trending with Timmerie. She spoke about women's role in the home, society, and our natural gifts and purposes in life as well as some of our weaknesses. 

"Edith sees women as natural contemplatives in the world because they have a knack for blending attentiveness to concrete tasks with a capacity for cultivating silence and peace. She notes that women frequently yearn for an integral life in which their spiritual, intellectual, emotional and practical concerns merge and they can connect their faith to everyday tasks." 

The author of this book "My Sisters the Saints" by Colleen Caroll Campbell has a beautiful way with words and describing her seasons of life as woman, vocations and what God was calling her to in each season. "I marveled at how stealthily God works in the soul, one day and one trial at a time. He softens your edges so slowly and subtly that you can fail to notice how far you have come until you have moved on to the next problem. I wondered what other changes God might be working in my soul now, even as I saw no outward signs of progress at all." 

Last year, I celebrated International Women's Day by going to my longtime favorite library. It had been a long while, and it felt nice and refreshing to go back. Though with COVID, there were no places to sit, walking around for 45 mins and browsing was almost just as good. It's important to seek and find that wellness inside of you. My sweet sister has a picture that says, 'joy is a deep sense of wellness' or maybe it was the other way around? I find that to be true, especially now as these days feel long, somewhat hard and counting down the time. What happened to the inspiration, the wellness? Why does it take a few hours to get back on track again, and let things sift more normally? 

God made us to be joyful, to be well and to serve Him and others. As my sister has said before when she was going through a hard time, "If I'm not well, nothing else matters." I think I may still be processing a lot and wondering what's next? Where is God leading? And just learning to trust, but also to embrace this time. Every season is so different from another. Things that are coming up- Ali's Bridal Shower, High school Play, praying at 40 days, gardening, quality time with my dear sister again and seeing new nephew again:), more books to keep me motivated and inspired, language learning, Library Science program and other things. 

It's a day-by-day kind of thing. A blog I forgot about, but I do enjoy, I was reading through some of his more recent posts yesterday. His main focus on his blog is happiness, creativity, innovation, and his posts were helpful and dare I say again, inspiring! So Happy International Women's Day, a good reminder to continue seeking God's purpose and plan, and also to unite all things international and find that joy and wellness. 

Lovely plants, on way to Starbucks