Desperately Seeking...

Here's a plea to all you genealogy people out there! I know there's a lot of you. Don't try to hide it *wink*. I've been on a task which has been proving to be difficult! So, your expertise would be greatly appreciated. Would anyone out there know a sure fire way of tracking down a lost relative? All I've got to go on is a name and a general time period that he served here on Guam.

I'm telling you, if you give me anything else to search for, I can find it. Easy as pie! But, this time around, it's not so. Maybe it's because I'm trying harder than I usually do. Heck! Maybe I'm not trying hard enough. But, until I've exhausted all the resources out there, I suppose I will have to keep searching!

If, in the end, we are not successful in finding him, then we will have to see it as fate... The Will of God. There would have to be a reason as to why we're not able to accomplish this, correct? But, until the end of this journey, I shall remain optimistic. I will keep my head held high. I will trust in the Lord.

Please pray for us. Thank you!

Thank You...

In my life, there are so many things for which I am thankful. Yet, there are days when I question. When I can't bring myself to be thankful. Days where I feel like I'm alone in the world. On those days, God chooses to throw these gifts in my face. As if to say, 'My Daughter, how can you forget?'.


While I was in Japan, I was blessed to have attended mass in the Cathedral in Sapporo. In the homily given that day, we were given a task. We were told to call our parents, to thank them for the gift of baptism. As a baby, we did not make the choice to become Catholic. We did not answer to the questions that the priest asked. Growing up, we all feel like church is somewhat of a chore. It was something our parents made us do. If we didn't go to church, we wouldn't be allowed to play or to watch TV for the day. Unless we were sick. We never viewed it as the gift that it was... it is! The priest told us, 'Your parents may think you are drunk. But, just do it.'.


That night, after more than our fair share of alcohol, we were sitting at our last restaurant of the evening. We were talking about the events of the day. We'd started with breakfast then mass, shopping and lunch, more shopping and wandering the streets of a town two of us had never visited before. We decided, 'Hey! Let's call home and thank our parents for the gift of baptism!'. So, in a drunken stupor, we each made the phone calls. When it came to my turn, I mustered up the most sober voice I could manage and I thanked my mother for having me baptized in the catholic faith. She probably thought that I had gone completely mad. At the time,  I thought I was completely mad!


Looking back at it, it was the most sane thing I could have done. You see, it is my faith that keeps me going. It is my faith that pulls me out of pits so deep and stuffy that I feel like I might drown. It is my Catholic faith that gives me the courage to face each day. To thank my parents for the gift of baptism and the grace of being raised in the church was important. My Catholic upbringing is what makes me the person I am today. This gift is the most precious gift that they could have ever given me and it is the only gift I should have ever wanted.


I am not saying that I grew up in the easiest way I could have. But, it was the best way for me. Any Catholic would tell you that being in the faith is not all rainbows and butterflies! Many times, as an active Catholic, we are judged or mocked. Other people do not understand how we could believe what we do. Many people laugh that we pray to a man no one has ever seen. But, I tell you, this Man... He manifests himself in so many events, so many people. He is the most concrete man I can think of at the moment!


Often times, my faith is tested. Many times, I falter. I stumble. Many times, I fall. But, each time, someone is there to catch me. In these people, I see the love of God. I see the heart of Christ. I see the firm hand of a Father who will never let me down. A love so deep it can not be snuffed out.


So, again, to my parents, thank you for the gift of baptizing me and raising me as a Catholic. I will try to do it justice. I will always remember that it is only through the grace of God that I am.