a pizza my mind....

the emblem on my glamorous black work polo

there is nothing impressive, glamorous, or obviously virtuous about being a waitress.  no one is actively dying at the restaurant, no one needs a care-taker for the rest of their lives, in fact, no one has any immediate or right in your face needs.  people come in hungry, but not dying of hunger.  fellow employees come in tired and full of their individual life concerns, but all still capable of serving.  and as my manager said yesterday to help me relax about the job: “you are serving pizzas, not saving the world”.  perspective. and that, my friends, is exactly the kind of job i needed.  i have been harboring under the impression that if some job is obviously good and a ministry to the poorest or most in need in our world, then i should be able and willing to do it.  after two failed attempts at just those kinds of jobs that seemed to allow me to directly and obvious-to-the-universe serve Christ, i have learned my lesson.  

learning to be little and hidden

lesson learned: to accept who i am as the Lord created me and to serve Him wherever i am, even if it seems to be a pretty lame place.  whether it be waitressing, in a metro, at the zoo, by myself, with a friend, baking, resting, driving, breathing...you get the idea.  at every moment He offers us an opportunity to love Him, and then He gives us the next moment to ask for forgiveness when we didn’t love and to try again with His grace always at our disposal.  ask and ye shall receive.  

finding Him in the hydrangeas

so, though both very good and beautiful acts of service to the Lord and our fellow man, i am not called to be a chaplain or to work with people with special needs.  not now at least.  now? i’m called to serve Him by serving delicious, oven-fired, cheesy and so many other-good-thingsy, pizza.  and to be present to my co-workers.  to bring Christ there, just as i would try to do in the “real” jobs.  there is poverty of spirit and need for Christ out the yin yang just in my small little shopping center pizza place.  and i can offer up every little mundane menial task to the Him who gives me strength.  rolling silverwares, slicing lemons, sweeping the floor, swiping a credit card, smiling at a co-worker...again, you get the idea.  i can practice being present in the moment instead of willing myself into the future that i cannot even see.  because all i have is this moment, baby.  that’s it.  to exist in love or not in love.  He gives us the freedom to choose because He Loves us that much.

i mean He gave us this color purple . hello , love in our face.

plus, bonus, i am really into working in a place that smells always of warm crust covered in a blanket of cheese and multi-colored toppins.  and yes, i do mean toppins.  

it looks way better than this but this is the best i could do in a crunch incidentally i highly recommend this particular pizza : gorgonzola and onion . pretty darn good . 

side note: vaseline and silk are not and never shall be compatible.  just ask our silk couch pillow that had to learn that lesson the good old-fashioned hard way with my assistance.  God bless the dry cleaners.  


moving on.

for the record, being an aunt to Sophia Rose McCabe is my favorite part about my life.  she is always moving, always curious, always ready to plop in my lap with a “gook”, always ready to sing horsey horsey, and always making me love her more and more.  

little bear loves "agua"

she melts my heart when she addresses me unprompted.  “aunties”, she says, and cue the heart overflowing happiness. 

 and even though i told her to say “i love you” to me the other night and even though she does not know what it means yet, i melted into a puddle of love when she said it for me.  and little bear says “por favor”.  it might be the single cutest thing in the world.  

thank you, Li and Ed, for sharing with me the joy of your love.  

if this doesn't make you smile i don't know what could

and there i be.  here in this one moment in time never to be repeated or re-created.  and He stands there extending His hand, full of Love.  sometimes it’s obvious, in those glowing happy life moments that sparkle and dance with the joy of it. like when Sophia starts singing in her fairy voice “Jesus”, completely unprompted. 

obvious sparkly love

sometimes it is veiled in the mystery of pain and suffering.  

blue in the midst of gray

but always there is Love.  and He that is Love waiting in every moment for us to take Him up on His offer of eternal happiness.

there is always the Light of Jesus in the middle of darkness

easier said than done, right? big time right.  but that’s why there is time. and grace galore.  because we really really need it.  really.  

these hydrangeas really are blowing my mind . when i first met them , they were all white , and then they just up and decide to become pink and green . i love it .

finally, to top this pizza post with the best quality toppin, it is a wonderful Feast day today.  the Feast of the Archangels.  the Messengers of the Lord. they are, for lack of a better term, awesome. Gabriel is my favorite because that Archangel was there to announce to the Blessed Mother the coming of our Savior. so I am a leeetle biased. but, I love them all.


so a very happy Feast day to you and your kin!  

Saint Michael, be our refuge here ,
Preserve us from all useless fear ;
Through you may God His peace bestow
On all the nations here below .

Saint Gabriel, be with us this day ,
Reveal God's will to us, we pray ;
As Mary once did answer you ,
May our response be firm and true

Saint Raphael, heal our sinful heart ,
May God His grace to us impart ,
And may you guide us on the way
That we may never go astray . Amen .

nota bene: pumpkin is still my primary ingredient in baked goods these days.  let’s just say soft pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, warmed to perfection in the microwave and always willing to be dunked in a mason jar full of ice cold milk are the pumpkin infused winners of the season so far.  pumpkin pie with ginger snap crust may trump it, but we’ll just have to wait and see. 

nota bene part 2:  thank the Lord for mamas and gradmamas.  nothing saves a Monday like a package of candy corns and ferrero rocher garden variety pack.  thank you, momma and mimi, and i miss you so, so much (even before you sent me a package of treats )  

treatsville u . s . a

happy happy Feast and life!