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<p><a href="https://toddkmarsha.com/amp/witnesspath/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2012/07/Christ-Renews-color-logo.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-1894"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1894" src="http://toddkmarsha.com/witnesspath/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2012/07/Christ-Renews-color-logo.jpg" alt="christ renews his parish" width="300" height="171" /></a></p>
<p>I volunteered to speak at Mass this weekend as we begin our recruitment drive for the next Christ Renews His Parish retreats. I was nervous, although well prepared but I couldn&#8217;t have been prepared for what happened as I sat in the pews waiting for my moment to be used by the Holy Spirit.</p>
<h3>A Different Kind of Passover</h3>
<p>I was nervous and I knew I would be. Jennifer and Jack were with me which made it easier but I&#8217;m sure I wasn&#8217;t very good company during Mass. I knew I&#8217;d be going up to the ambo at the end of Mass so when we all stood for the final blessing I moved to the end of the pew and waited to be summoned. But the cue never came&#8230;</p>
<p>Are you kidding me? I&#8217;ve been sitting here for an hour on pins and needles for an hour and you skip over me? Arrrrrrgggggghhhhhhh!!!!!</p>
<p>Well that was going on inside. On the outside I did my best to remain gracious. After all, it was an honest mistake. I had my part in it too. I found out afterwards that I should have let Father know I was speaking, just as a reminder, and see when he wanted me in position. Would have been nice for someone to tell me that up front, but things do happen.</p>
<h3>The Spirit at Work</h3>
<p>I got home and let out some frustration. Purging those emotions was good – beats letting them devour me from the inside out. Shortly after I’d made peace with the whole thing I received a text message.</p>
<p>Probably text spam.</p>
<p>I checked it out after dinner was over. (Cooked the steaks a little long &#8211; guess I wasn’t completely focused on the task at hand.) No way. Could it be? The Holy Spirit was hard at work letting me know all things happen for a reason.</p>
<p>The scheduled speaker for 7:30 AM Mass tomorrow had taken ill and would not be able to make it. He needed a replacement and he&#8217;d looked to me for help. How could I possibly say no? Sure 7:30 AM Mass is a bit early, not to mention I was scheduled to usher at 11:30 AM, but this was meant to be.</p>
<p>I won’t lie and tell you I was on cloud nine the rest of the night. The devil was poking around, trying to make me think I was being rejected by Father. He also wanted me to say no because of the early hour, or because I was going to be attending 3 of the 4 weekend masses, or because the early mass usually has no attendees younger than 70. (Which is not true, by the way. I was pleasantly surprised at the age diversity of the crowd.)</p>
<h3>God Spoke To Me and Through Me</h3>
<p>I sat in the pew and wasn’t nervous at all until just a couple minutes before it was my time. Still, I was in the appointed place at the appointed time this go round. I won’t say my witness was excellent but worth a strong B+ for sure. God wasn’t keeping score, though, so why should I? I actually received a standing ovation. Well…it was outside after Mass from a team member at the retreat I attended, but the applause and his kind words meant just as much.</p>
<p>What meant even more is someone signed up to attend the women’s retreat in October. Maybe she was signing up whether or not I spoke, but that’s not important. What’s important is the Holy Spirit was working in my life yet again, teaching me about grace, patience and persistence.</p>
<p><strong><em>Question: Has there been a time when something bad happened in order to teach you a valuable lesson and, once you learned the lesson, something wonderful happened &#8211; almost as a reward? I&#8217;d love to hear your story in the form of a comment below&#8230;</em></strong></p>
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