Too Many Ideas

In bed, most of the time!

But I was making these:

This weekend we finished up a project we’ve been working on for over a month. A while ago I mentioned a friend who has finally come to the place where he can enter the seminary, prior to becoming a priest. It’s an eight year process, and he’s been wanting to begin for more than fifteen years. And in that time, he’s become an indispensable part of our parish.

I know—they say no one is indispensable, and maybe that’s true. However, in his case, no, I think our parish will be much poorer, much lacking, without him. I cried through the Mass before the big event, as our presider talked about our friend. I cried through his party, at which more than 400 people came to honor him, give him love and prayers, and tell him goodbye. Because as much as we say, sure, he’ll be back (and he will) he’s still—going away. He won’t be our youth minister. He won’t be giving the young kids homilies every month. He won’t be there to call on to do the million things he’s always done for us—and making us laugh and love a little more in the process. He just—won’t be there.

Part of what I offered to do was to make up table decorations. At first, we thought we’d be inside, but it didn’t work. I didn’t change the decorations—still made of paper. I forgot the wind….

We had to not only tape the bags to the table cloths, but we had to put a few rocks into each one for stability. And they were still falling down.

On the side of each, I attached a note asking the guests to take a bag home, use it to remind them to pray for our friend, and also to collect their donations for our new Vocations Scholarship Fund. It will help our friend to come home to us each summer, and to live in the seminary while he’s studying.

I cut 100 of these boxes. Ended up with 99. I don’t know what happened to the other one, and unlike the Shepherd, I didn’t leave the 99 and go in search of the one. Still at 14 pieces each box, that means I cut 1400 pieces. I had help gluing them, folding the boxes, and setting them out, thank goodness.

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