By Maggie Blakeslee
This year my family has gone through some major transitions. In March I began working as the new Coordinator for Annual Giving for the Archdiocese of Louisville. It has turned out to be a great opportunity for my family, but also a bit of an adjustment! However, the largest comes next week when my smart, curious, (almost) 5 year old daughter will begin her first year of Pre-K in a Catholic School! It’s so hard to imagine that 8lb 7oz baby going to school—with her backpack and school supplies lists (and tuition payments), but this mom is trying to keep it together.
My situation is nothing unique—thousands of parents throughout the Archdiocese are sending their children to school for the first time, a new school, or just transitioning back into a ‘school schedule’. Thousands of people are in transitional periods as well, with jobs, family situations, or moves. These transitions are difficult, and often overwhelming. But I have learned that times of transition where one thing is ending and the next has not yet begun, afford us a unique opportunity to grow closer to God.
Finding God in our lives is not a new concept. We are all taught at a young age to find those instances of God working in our daily lives. When I was working as a youth minister I constantly asked my students where they found God in a retreat talk, book they were reading, or in their day-to-day, and they could always deliver a great answer. However, these periods of ‘waiting’, or ‘in between’ where life seems to overwhelm you but stand still all at once, make it sometimes difficult to see God.
These times of transition are best handled when we turn to prayer. By taking a break during these trying moments to slow down and pray, we take the time to open our ears to God’s reassuring voice, and rest our souls in God’s hands. Even in these times of stress and transition, we are never alone.
For myself, going to Mass with my family also helps maintain stability during those moments where life seems to change rapidly. In that one hour a week, we are constant, we are stable, and we are together, in the loving embrace of God who assures us that He is always with us.
I invite everyone who is struggling with transition to go to Mass, receive Christ through the Eucharist, and let Him fill you up with His love.
Maggie Blakeslee is Coordinator for Annual Giving for the Archdiocese of Louisville.
