One Small Yes

March 25th, 2022 (The start of the Journey)

Good Morning Everyone! 

And Happy Feast day of the Annunciation!

Today, Mary was called to bring the Son of God into the world and we celebrate her “yes” to such a calling. Today I am also celebrating my own small “yes” to finally starting this blog and sharing my journey with all of you.

Here’s How it went:

1. Listened to the Katie Prejean McGrady show 
2. Spent the majority of my day researching how to start a blog for about the millionth time (after classes and homework of course) not thinking much of it
3. Attempted to figure out WordPress (again) after having a domain for three months 
4. Got a text from a friend reminding me we have Christ Encounters Retreat tomorrow
5. PANICKED because I somehow forgot 
6. Quickly packed and realized I also still have to squeeze in Mass today 
7. Went to mass 
8. Heard the Homily [see below]
9. Knew I had to just start even if I didn’t feel ready 
10. Sat down here and began writing 

I have wanted to start this for a while but kept finding reasons to wait; wait until I really know what I’m doing; wait until I really have a plan; wait until I know my purpose; wait until I understand. The problem with that is I can never seem to stop simply waiting. 

The Homily (at least the take aways)

When Mary was told she would conceive of the son of God she asks “how can this be?” and the angel Gabriel replied to her with “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God” (Luke 1:35) which obviously made soooo much sense right? Assuming Mary was anything like us, this response probably didn’t help her much in understanding any of the things that were about to happen if she said yes. Yet in the very next line she does just that: she responds with a confident and profound “yes”.

It was a yes without hesitation.

It was a yes without knowing the plan.

It was a yes without need for understanding.

It was a yes of trust.

She could have said no. She could have asked the angel to come back tomorrow; to wait a little bit until she was ready; until she could explain or understand it all, or until she was married to Joseph and could avoid misunderstandings of others. But she didn’t. She said yes in the moment and in doing so allowed for all of the world to become blessed. 

We were made aware of the fact that it is exactly nine months until Christmas, and we were asked to think about what we want ourselves to look like by then? What will our lives look like? What will our hearts look like? And what “yes” can we give to God today which will be able to grow and be nurtured within that time?

So what now?

There have been many times that I have felt called to start something like this but as an obsessive planner I found myself constantly thinking about a blog and never actually creating one. Pretty soon I realized that my “planning” was actually procrastination; a way to avoid the “yes” without saying “no”. After today’s homily though, I am done waiting and I am done planning. I am choosing to follow in the footsteps of Mother Mary; giving one small “yes” to God, trusting that he will give me the grace to grow and nurture it into something beautiful.

Though I can’t say I know exactly what this blog will look like or what will come of it, but I do know this: it is the start of something new. It will be a roadmap of my journey to becoming happy, healthy, holy, and fulfilled (and maybe even finding my place in this great wide world along the way).

Thanks for tagging along! I can’t wait to see what this journey will bring 🙂

-me 

[elijah jane]