The Lord has continued to show His love for me through the friends I’ve made in ministry in the past and especially through the sisters I live in community with now. Now I have no doubt that I have a place to belong and that is wherever Christ resides – in the heart of all his faithful lovers. Because I have received the plentiful grace of God’s kindness I have been able to grow in the virtue of kindness, making sincere efforts to show my sisters I care by: leaving a loving note; helping them when they are overwhelmed; or even through the healing process of forgiveness. I’ve also had opportunities to grow in this virtue through teaching Holy Communion. When I make efforts to know the students better or ask them how they are doing, I see their attitudes change. They are more attentive and willing to learn about God’s love when they can actually experience His love through their teacher. “People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.” (Powell, pg. 88)
Just as my students are encouraged once they receive kindness, I too have been granted God’s reassurance when I find my strength failing. Looking back at moments of deep despair, the right people were always sent to me to share God’s message of comfort and encouragement. This occurs more often now that I live in a community where we stay in prayer and are aware of each other’s times of desolation. I recall a time when I was sitting with my sisters, sharing about our spiritual lives, and most of them shared they were going through a spiritual desert. I reassured them that God would lead them to a deeper intimacy after they made it through the valleys, and it was not too long until I saw these sisters rejoicing in the goodness of the Lord. Shortly after, I was struggling with my own faith and those very same sisters were my source of encouragement, giving me the same hope I had given them just weeks before.
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