Salutations and greetings!

Good day to you, Reader. So, yesterday I didn’t get a chance to do any writing, and by the time I sat down to actually write, I was pretty tired. Ah, well! No big deal. Just time to get back up on the proverbial horse and push forward, right?

Yesterday, I went to Mass for Epiphany. It was amazing, as always. After Mass, I was blessed with being able to have an in-depth discussion with a friend about some things that have been cropping up (all good) that I needed some help understanding.

I’ve been on a journey towards a degree as a teacher. Currently, I’m working on my Associates of Arts at the community college to get my pre-requisites out of the way, and then, God willing, I’ll be able to go on to a solid Catholic college about three hours from here, a school I’ve had my eye on for many years now. It’s also just across the river from where my daughter lives, so we’d be able to get together and hang out a lot easier in person than we’d be able to right now with me being four hours away. My journey started in Autumn of 2020, and though it’s been quite a wild ride, I’m grateful that even though I’ve crashed into a few barriers, it wasn’t at a top speed, but I’ve also not completely burned. I’ve managed to pick myself up, with God’s help, and dust myself off, and get back to it. God has made it abundantly clear He wants me to teach, and teach I shall!

This past summer, I was asked if I wanted to be the PSR director for the parish. I’ve been teaching PSR for two years by that point, but I’ve never led an entire program, ever, so it’s been quite an amazing experience, and I cherish every second of it.

As this week unfolds, I’m looking over my “to be done” list, and I noticed I had a voice mail waiting for me. Turns out, there’s a family who previously was registered for PSR (pre-COVID times), and the Mom wants to have the children enroll this year! We’ve had a few families this year, but it’s been hard doing everything remotely. We’re doing the best we can, but it’s not been easy. At the end of the day, though, it’s going to be so, so worth it. One of my students, the last time we met before break, said she loves PSR. That made the end of a really rough year completely flip around, and gave us teachers all something to genuinely smile about. During the lesson with the older children, because we were about to go on Christmas break, we were discussing Christmas, as to why our Beloved Lord decided to come to be with us in Human Form, but as a little baby. One of my students came up with an answer that I was not expecting at all from a teen, and I was quite impressed. I loaned her a copy of a book that I was recommended by someone I used to know. The book changed my mind completely about Christmas – I had had a lot of difficulties with Christmas for a long time. I told her that she should at least try the first chapter, and if she likes it, keep reading. If she likes it, let me know, I’ll buy her a copy. If, after the first chapter, she finds she doesn’t like it, then she doesn’t have to keep reading, no questions asked, no pressure to at least try to finish it.

This week, we’re resuming PSR, and I’ve started a challenge for the families to read the Bible in a year. I went online some time ago to find a way to do that effectively, because reading 73 books, cover-to-cover, from Genesis to Revelation, can be a bit of a daunting task. So, the “map” I found on how to do that, I had an idea for 2022 for the PSR families to join me in these Readings. We’ll take about ten to 15 minutes at the end of each session to discuss what we’ve read, anyone who wants to share, and if there’s any questions that come up, if I’m unable to answer them, I can write them down and ask my priest and bring that information back to the person(s) who asked. I’m excited to see everyone again, even if it’s remotely, and I’m looking forward to hearing how everyone’s holidays went. On Sunday, after Mass, I’ll (hopefully) see my two students who are preparing for their Confirmation. Really excited to touch base with them and get everything back in motion again.

In other little things going on, I’m doing a year-long photography challenge. When the weather warms up, I’m hopefully going to be able to start attending a local photography group meet-up on Saturdays, and hopefully hone my photography a bit more. For now, I’m using my mobile phone for its sweet camera.

We’re on the third day of the new year, and I’m trying to be hopeful, trying to be optimistic. Last year was a wild, wild ride, and I learnt a lot. I learnt about slowing down and relying on God, and at the same time I also learned about things I am willing and unwilling to allow in my life. At present, I’m in the process of looking for another job. I have a freelance job, but right now while the weather’s bad, I’m taking a break until the weather warms up and stabilizes. The “regular” job I have, I’ve been working there for a year now, but it’s time I find something else to do because there’s just a lot of cons versus pros why I should stay.