I have so much I want to blog about and so little time these days!

Thank you so much to all who have been praying for me. I have been so much calmer as the challenge I mentioned earlier has manifested into a sure thing, rather than a possibility. But it's going to be great, and I wanted you all to know that the attitude change I was seeking has happened.

Something else, as briefly as I can. I have been saying, "I believe in...the communion of Saints..." for a while now, but I was saying that "on faith" as they would put it in pentecostal circles. Meaning that I wanted to believe it and I was operating on the assumption that it was true, but I knew my feelings/opinions/experience still were pretty unformed on that particular issue.

While facing the situation I'm in right now, I have particularly sought the prayers of a number of Saints, including the Holy Mother and St. Joseph. This is a new thing for me, and like I said, my feelings about it have been pretty nebulous. But I felt like it was an allowable privilege for me to seek the intercession of these Saints, and I needed all the help I could get, so I did it.

I think I had this notion of, for example, Mary in Heaven praying something like, "Help all the people with X problem...all the women with Y problem...all the people seeking Z..." and so on. Like praying for us in categories, you know? And then, last night I had this sense of...well, it's kind of hard to describe. It was almost like somewhere in my peripheral vision I could sort of see a door to Heaven open, and the Glory streaming out. And there in the doorway was Mary and Joseph and two of the other Saints I was praying to, and I knew that they were praying for me, but exactly me, not just me in a category with a whole bunch of other people who are facing the same sort of thing.

Please don’t think I'm a nutcase or some freak who has illusions of becoming some sort of mystic. I only phrased things this way because it was the best way to explain the experience -- it's not exactly how it was, but I ca'’t come up with any other way to describe it.

I accept this event, whatever it was, as a gift. I think it helped resolve a main misconception I had about what the intercession of Saints really means. It's hard to fathom a Saintly person in heaven actually caring or having time enough to pray for me and my little struggles specifically, but now I really believe they do. It's brought me an enormous sense of comfort and relief, and it was really the catalyst that helped me see that I was being helped to the attitude I knew was correct. I am full of joy and thanksgiving today because of it.

I'm sorry, I really must sign off right now. I'll be back as soon as I can.

--Sparki