Mia and the Holy Spirit
Good evening Catie followers,
Mia came into our room in the middle of the night last night. She was crying and told us that she had a bad dream. Being the typically exhausted parents that we are, Kevin hugged her and offered her the loveseat as a place to sleep the rest of the night. This allowed him to stay in bed and sleep. I really don’t sleep as well if there is a kid sleeping in our room, so I was awake and reading at 6am. I am reading a book called Notes Left Behind. It is the story of another St. Jude family whose daughter died of brain cancer – a different type than Catie had. While the first page of the book had me crying hysterically yesterday and Kevin thought that by 11am the day was lost, the remaining pages were not as emotional.
I sat in our bed; if I move or get out of bed Kevin wakes and I wanted him to be able to sleep. So I just sat there and read until Mia stirred. Mia sat up and we asked her how she was. She began to tell us at once about this “bad dream”. It was about Catie. Not being able to analyze dreams I just listened. Then Mia said something that has continued to echo in my mind to this moment. She said “Catie was alive and now we can live the life that we wanted.” Talk about tears. That statement is absolutely true. If Catie had lived we would be living the life that we wanted to live. Does that mean that we aren’t living a life that we want to now?
Mia came over to us and we soon realized that she was running a fever. So this Sunday, Pentecost Sunday, we had to divide and conquer. I went to 8am Mass alone. Kevin stayed in bed and went later with Max and Maggie. Sitting in Mass alone I prayed and prayed. I still wonder why – but won’t really ask God the question. I am supposed to trust. Was I not trusting or including God when Kevin and I began to build this life that we wanted and were living? Am I now going to view my life and the life that I am living without Catie – sitting at the table, sleeping in her bed, putting on her backpack and going to school, riding her bicycle – as the life that God wants me to live? We are living it so I guess I have my answer. What does it say about my faith and level of trust if I want or would be happier living with Catie. Doesn’t my faith tell me that Catie is in heaven and therefore I can still live my life with her? It does!
So what is so difficult? The human being part is the difficult part. The “not fully understanding the mystery of death being conquered by Jesus Christ” and yet that is the foundation of Christianity. Living life is the tough part; for it is in being human where we are all faced with our challenges. When Kevin and I were first married we met a priest, Father Dennis Berry a Trinitarian, who challenged us to become evangelists. (We have written about our encounters with Father Dennis earlier in Catie’s Story.) My immediate answer to Father Dennis was “no thanks I am committed in my beliefs to being a Catholic, I don’t want to change faiths and become an Evangelist.” Kevin; knowing exactly what Father Dennis was asking of us, just smiled at his crazy new wife.
Now that is exactly what Kevin and I have become through Catie’s Story – evangelists. As we write Catie’s Story and begin the work to form the Catie’s Wish Foundation, we are essentially sharing the only way we have dealt with all that life has thrown at us this past year – the grace of God. Pentecost is the coming of the Holy Spirit to the apostles. Our listening to and following Jesus Christ is living out Pentecost and helping us to find the strength and understanding to live; not the life we wanted, but the life we were created by God to live. Evangelizing is not a job for a few. Jesus Christ needed help and so do we.
We thank all of you who have shared Catie’s Story. We thank all of you who have written to us and prayed for us. Your efforts have been the grace of God which has sustained us and continues to help us live the life that God wants us to live. A life where we all share Catie each and every day and live the life that God wants and has planned for each of His children.
If you want to help us as we prepare the work of establishing the Catie’s Wish Foundation please contact us. This will be a busy summer for the kids, once school is out summer offers them the opportunity to help with the work of Catie’s Wish. It is something that they are all very excited about – not so much M.E., she is just excited about being with everyone.
As we close, please allow us to share this prayer:
Come Holy Spirit.
Come Holy Spirit fill the hearts of your faithful and
kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your spirit and they shall be created and
they shall renew the face of the earth.
Amen
God bless you and those you love,
Christine, Kevin, Maggie, Max, Catie, Mia, Molly, M.E. and Gianna
PS After reading this update to Kevin and the kids we all laughed at the number of times I mentioned that Kevin was sleeping. For all of you that know Kevin, he is never given the opportunity by me to sleep. There are too many projects and he just doesn’t budget his time well because I am always telling him about the next project.
Discover more from Catie's Wish Foundation
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.
