"SURPRISED BY JOY"

An encouraging sign I noticed in the first few days of this novena:
was that my anxiety about the situations I had been praying for subsided significantly. This is no small victory to someone diagnosed with anxiety disorder.


Next,  early into my 54 day Rosary commitment:
my younger daughter who had been on disability for a couple of years, finally landed a good job. It was not the job I expected God to bring her, but really, what do I know about where He is leading her in her life.



Next, around the middle of the thanksgiving rosaries:
everyone around her noticed a huge change in her. She was happier than I have seen her since before her teens. She seemed more natural, laughs a lot, and is really maturing in her thinking and in her relationships. She has always been a generous, loving person, conscientious person, but now these qualities were shining through brightly and consistently. She was becoming more..more unhindered.


Finally, my last intention:
was for healing in the relationship that had gone sour between her and her brother. To my surprise,  I heard that she had called him, congratulating him for his new sobriety, took him to lunch, and treated him to some  things he could not afford.  It was amazing.  I never dreamed this would happen this way…without my motherly prodding, and maybe because of its absence. We actually had an uneventful family get together this Father's Day, which we have not had for years. Amazing!


And..over and above all I had asked and been given, He manages to surprise me with more:

the novena ended on July 3rd. On the 4th, we enjoyed the family hoopla of a neighborhood parade, made up mostly of toddlers on trikes  shimmering with silver, blue, and red fringes, wrapped in whirling ribbons, followed by a gaggle. of tail-wagging patriots, parading  pooches, proud as princes, vintage rides, and, and, or course,  a floating rock band.


After we got home for some rest and quiet, we were happy to see my daughter's boyfriend there We thought he seemed a little antsy. A few minutes later, my smiling husband proudly welcomed him to the family as his new son.  He engaged my daughter by surprise  a few minutes later as she lay sunbathing  poolside in her nearby apartment. 


YES! as she grabbed the ring from the long awaited black velvet box he held so tentatively, above a wet and bended knee. A hugh joyful splashing answer to a prayer not even articulated!!! The spirit hears the pleas from our hearts even when we don't know our own groanings.


Tomorrow is the first of a new 54-dayer. Intentions abounding. Let's strike-with prayer-while the Spirit is hot!