Be Faithful in the Little Things

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Sometimes the single journey gets discouraging, but I like to focus on the blessings I have and not the things that my life is lacking.  In the Mexican culture women don’t move out on their own until they are married and true to my culture I live at home with my parents and my dog.  While on paper I own our house – it’s my parents’ home.  The truth is that I just can’t imagine myself coming home to an empty house.  In the mornings as I Ieave for work my mom sends me off with her blessing and when I arrive after a long work day she welcomes me with a smile and a “Gracias a Dios for another work day.”  

When I am home I enjoy being in my bedroom and hearing my parents’ laughter coming from the living room.  We are very close and am blessed to have access to them daily! There’s a verse in Ecclesiastes that was made popular by the Byrds, “For everything  there is a season…”   I think this is my time to enjoy and serve my parents.  My mom taught me (what the Bible so clearly teaches) that once we get married our priority must be our husband and the family that comes after.  Due to her sacramental union to my father my momma has left her siblings, parents and even her country to follow him.  Thus, I understand that if I yearn for marriage it is inevitable that I too will have to part and our relationship change thereafter.  This knowledge allows me to treasure this time in which I am able to bond so closely to my parents and I try to enjoy them daily to the max.   The same goes for my dog, I get to spoil him rotten and he gets to sleep next to me every night.  Who knows what the future holds, but today I am enjoying everything God has given me especially my loved ones.

Enjoying a Day Outdoors.

I think the mentality of living in the present and finding joy in all the blessings that God has already given really helps maintain peace and joy in one’s heart.  Looking back, the moments I have had terrible bouts of depression and anxiety have been moments were I am either trying to live in the future or focusing on things that I don’t have.  A few years ago I fell madly in love with a man and he didn’t feel the same about me  and I remember not wanting to let go of my feelings for him thinking that one day he would fall for me and if he did I’d better still be in love with him.  When I realized the absurdity of it I walked away from the relationship and gave myself to God for healing.  The theme of unrequited love is one I am all too familiar with; yet, I have learned that suffering occurs when our heart wants to change reality or the truth that cannot be changed and only acceptance liberates us.  Saint Therese of Lisieux tried to live her life free of illusions she felt that life without romantic expectations brought peace.  It’s hard for me who was raised in a culture of soap operas where romantic love conquers all and happy endings always triumph to look at love without the exaggeration of passion or glamour.  Yet, as I learn more about love as God intended it I am thrown into the realm of sacrificial love.  
Mexican telenovelas ruined me and God is now restoring the damage.  I found this great quote in a book I am reading, “your origin is love, your vocation is love and your destiny is love.”  Wow! God wants us to love like He loves (not just our one-and-only), but all the brothers and sisters He has placed in our journey.  Right now my commission is to love my parents, my family, my friends, my dog – to love all of those that are in my life right now; to enjoy and rejoice in their company and to wait in peace for my spouse never losing my cool (smile).  That’s the big challenge to be truly content with what you have.  It’s like that verse if we are faithful with the little things, we will be faithful with the large ones – if we are happy with what we have now and learn to love with God’s love our transition into spouse and parent will naturally come in God’s time.  

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