to life! le chaim!

So, remember that whole expect the unexpected theme we were rocking for the new year? Well, maybe it’s just me...but either way, no matter how it may unexpectedly turn on me, I have decided to stand by it.  I can’t be a fairweather theme friend and leave my theme shivering out in the cold the moment things get dicey.  That would be very unmotherly of me.  

I wrote the above before i left the house on Sunday--little did i know that i was about to be unexpectedly doused in beauty and blessings from Heaven. I have been sick upwards of 10 days with some non-descript virus that seems to really enjoy its’ host (aka my body) way too much to abandon ship (that’s where things have gotten dicey).  

I had plans, you see.  Plans to be with Lianna the morning of her birthday, plans to go to an Anne of Green Gables party on Saturday, plans to have a big pre-March for Life brunch at our house on Sunday, oh yeah, and I had plans not to be sick during any of these things.  To nutshell it nicely, I had lots of plans to do just what i wanted to do.  

Then the virus took my plans and smashed them into tiny little broken plans pieces.  Instead of the Anne of Green Gables party, I lay in bed and had my own little Elisa of Self Pityville party.  And then, I thought of the people in the ICU, and people who cannot leave their house at all due to illness.  I still felt sad about missing things, but at least I received a healthy dose of perspective.  And I heard that question repeat itself in the recesses of my soul.  The one that Jesus keeps placing in front of me.  

Do you trust Me?  Do you believe what you profess?  That I am the Creator of he universe, and that I know the plans I have for you-plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future full of hope?

Well, do I?  When push comes to shove and all my plans are thrown to the winds, do I really trust Him? Not enough, is my answer.  But, that’s why I need grace.  And I’ll just keep asking and trying and failing and needing.  And He will keep supplying.  I didn’t suffer the illness with the abandonment to God’s will that I wish I did, but practice makes perfect, and knowing my immune system, i’m guessing there’s plenty more practice where this came from.  

But then there was Sunday.  When we were supposed to have a big brunch (we cancelled since I was still not 100% better), we instead headed into the city to meet with my cousin James who was in town for the March for Life.  James is in the Seminary, preparing for the priesthood, and he is a joy to be with.  And if we had had our big brunch, we would not have received the gift of so much one-on-one time with him.   

The bond of family is a beautiful gift.  I have marvelled at times when I have been with members of my extended family and realized that if we were not bonded by blood, we probably would have never met or chosen each other for friends because of differences in lifestyles/interests/personalities.  I have loved that experience and am so grateful that we have been brought together in this life to teach each other a lesson in loving.

But, I also have the blessing of having cousins that are also dear, dear friends.  People we affectionately call “fousins” (friends + cousins)-people that we have shared so much of our lives with.  

This has been another wonderful gift in learning to love and how to let others love me.    

Recently, I have met a new experience with extended family.  James and his family have lived in Minnesota for many years, and we have not been able to spend very much time with them as a result.  I have followed them on facebook-their weddings, their babies births, their traveling photos etc.; but I have not gotten to really know them.  The first time in several years that we saw a few of them was our beloved Mimi’s funeral.  

We had the gift of going to dinner with them and our fousins, Michelle and Rachel, the night before the funeral. 

 It was like magic to me, the bond that seemed to have been there all these years, just waiting to be awoken at 10pm in a nearly deserted mexican restaurant surrounded by vibrantly painted walls, bottomless chips, and la margarita.  And I know that bond was so tangible because the foundation for each of us is Christ.  We share the bond of the Eucharist, and no bond is stronger and more unshakable.  The rest fell into place because we are all part Lyons--and the Lyons family knows how to have a good time.  We danced that night in that restaurant to TLC’s classic No Scrubs, while James beat boxed like a boss for us.  We got that from Mimi, who gave it to our Mommas, who gave it to us.  I am forever grateful for the gift of the willingness to shake what our mommas gave us pretty much anywhere.  


below is a video of my fousin Rachel and i keeping it real on a Sunday at the lakehouse with an impromptu dance party to prove that what i say about us and dancing is true 

So, being with James on Sunday felt like family should.  We spoke of the beautiful, the good, the true, the silly, the little things, and enjoyed the blessing of meeting each other again in this life years after we were children dancing at a family reunion together like maniacs.  We toasted to Mimi, and thanked God that I got sick, allowing us to have such a time together.  

The fact that we were with not only our cousin, but a man who has chosen a life of total sacrifice to God, was a blessing and a true honor for me.  I was telling my momma about our time with him, and I said that James has such a peaceful way about him, and she completely agreed.  He bears the mark of one who has willingly denied himself, picked up his Cross, and followed Christ.  He has the eyes and the peace that assure me of Jesus, and I am so thankful that he has chosen to answer the call to serve Christ and the Church in this way.  We need good priests, and I know my cousin James will be a good priest.  

After we broke bread together, we headed to the National Shrine for the Vigil Mass for the March for Life.  

It was like a mini World Youth Day.  The church was packed with pilgrims in town from the Mass.  There were so many buses dropping off groups of people and their were habits everywhere you turned.  It gave me that thrill of gratitude for the universality of the Church, and how we can all come together and share in the same Mass being celebrated everywhere in the world on any given day. 

just a few of the various states represented in the parking lot of the Church

Sean and I went downstairs to the Crypt of the church to scout things out, and all of the sudden I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see a huge bearded and habited man saying to me “excuse me ma’am you can’t go past here”, and honestly he looked so different with that beard, shaved head, and habit that I truly believe it was my soul that recognized him before my brain.  It was my dear friend from college, Jorge, who left about a year or so ago to enter a Fransiscan monastery in New York.
I did not have a chance to say goodbye to him before he went, and wasn’t sure if I would ever see him again in this life.  It’s a missionary order, so when he takes his final vows, he will be sent to another country to serve.  And boom.  There he was.  Beaming, absolutely radiating from his face, Christ’s Love.  He gave me a huge hug, and I felt the Love of Jesus hugging me for at least 5 minutes after we parted.  For real.  If you knew Jorge in college, you would know that he never ever ever looked so wonderful, happy, peaceful, joyful or beautiful than he did in that moment.  He looked like this is exactly the way God always intended him to look.  Just like Lianna became more beautiful and more herself after she was married and had her baby, Jorge is glowing with the discovery of his true Vocation.  It was tangible, his happiness.  And I got to say goodbye.  But we didn’t actually say goodbye.  I said God Bless you and he said Ave Maria.  We offered each other the love that does not end.  So, even if we won’t see each other again in this life, we hoped for each other the blessings of Christ, and the intercession of our Blessed Mother.  We will be friends forever, because we are first and foremost bonded in the Sacrament of Eternal Love.  

please pray for my friend Jorge, my cousin James and all those who have been called to serve our Lord in these beautiful ways

I’ll say it again, Expect the Unexpected.  I would not have guessed in a million years that I would run into Jorge there in that moment, and get doused in the radiance of Love that he has been clothed in because of his obedience and abandonment to God’s will.  It was so clearly out of my hands, and the amount of beauty in this experience proves it.  I could never have imagined that level of love and joy that was covering my old friend from head to toe.  Only God dreams such glory for us in this life.   

After those little glimpses of Heaven, we met Beauty Himself in Mass.  I sat in between the love of my siblings, who have been so wonderful during my sickness, and we shared in the Eucharistic Feast together.

I loved Sunday.  Not because I got to do what I wanted to do, but because I moved a little bit out of the way, and asked God to do what He wanted to do.  And that made all the difference.  



I did not think I would make it to the March for Life on Monday, but I woke up feeling well enough to brave the cold (not without the proper accoutrements of an eskimo, of course)

and march with the multitudes who came from all over the country to demand justice for all, born and unborn. 

It was indescribably moving, being there with all of these fellow sojourners.  We were praying for those who could not pray for themselves, speaking out for those hidden in their mothers wombs, unable to speak for themselves.  They cannot stand up for their own right to live, and so we must be their voices.  I was so grateful that even though we live in a country that shamelessly allows the lives of the most fragile and innocent citizens be taken, we also live in a country where hundreds of thousands can gather and march to the steps of the supreme court together and protest this atrocity.

Sean, Christina and I started out together praying a rosary, but we soon joined up with a large group being led by a priest and we prayed together with strangers who are our brothers and sisters.  

And always in front of us was this Crucifix.  Christ was our leader and He was going before us in this March for His beloved children. 

 It was beautiful, and heartbreaking.  I had a moment of disbelief that this was actually necessary.  That we live in a world where such atrocities go on-that we have to protest and fight for a human beings right to life.  A baby’s right to be born.

And I think of how Jesus felt the pain and suffering and sorrow of this during His Passion and as He hung upon the Cross dying, and how it must have broken His heart.  Watching His children being killed, watching His daughters and sons being lied to and lying to themselves--that somehow taking their child’s life will make their own lives easier.  I think about Mary, seeing her children suffering and mourning for the loss of their children, and I felt as we were walking that the rain was so appropriate.  It was Jesus’ and Mary’s tears for the hearts and souls, born and unborn, broken and lost because of abortion.  

It was heart breaking, but I remembered there is always hope, because there is Jesus.  Jesus who said:   “In this world you will have trouble.  But take courage! I have overcome the world” John 16:33

So we pray for the end of abortion, and for those suffering the effects of abortion, and for those who perform, support and encourage abortion.  And we hope that this new year will be the beginning of the end of abortion in our country and in the world.  

All will be well.  



And now, to remind us of the beauty and hope in this world, I will give you some love pictures

As Rachel Lynde says in Anne of the Island: "Where there is life, there's hope". It's TGIT, peeps! It's almost the weekend! Woot to the woot! Go out there and let God surprise you with all of the unexpected beauty that He longs to pour into your life!

oh, and while you are throwing your own personal and fab pre-weekend party, be sure to take a moment to enjoy the new moon. He made it this beautiful just for you, so go enjoy your present from the Beloved!

Live it up, pre-weekenders!!