A big weekend for our family as a new member makes his first TEC retreat... there is a snowstorm in the forecast, so that is on our mind and with many there from our immediate family as well as our TEC family - our thoughts and prayers are there as the weekend unfolds!
What has this 3 day retreat meant to our family? Foremost for Pat and I - it was something that our kids did first and then they invited us to share this experience with them. For your children to ask you to take a deeper step in your faith is so amazing! It is like nothing else in this world and it has continued to carry over to our Catholic journey since. As the kids have gone off to college and grown as Catholics - they have shared that with us and we have grown with them. 
And then came along John's cancer, and that too was a huge step of faith that brought our family together, and brought the prayer warriors around us in such a powerful way! The prayer that we had discovered at TEC as a real and powerful thing, became as the each breath that we take and every beat of our heart! That is what protected and healed John and his family as we were tossed by the storm! Jesus, we trust in you!
So after working so many retreats over the years - John and I had to take a year away in body, but the prayers and support of our TEC family was huge! I was able to write letters about the powerful experiences we were having as our family was brought together and we were ministered to by our amazing Catholic Church with the sacraments and devotionals that are in place for us, and are instrumental in our healing and getting us through each day!
We are now prayerful for all those at this big retreat this weekend... our hearts are there! As John is called upon to give the first talk, and we know that it will about his cancer journey... It is so right that a year after his stem cell , and the cancer being totally gone... that he should be sharing the healing he found on all levels of his life by the cross called cancer/healing.
Jesus, I am overwhelmed in gratitude for family and for faith this morning. Both of these are what gives us life and love, and there is no limit to how they can grow and grow! Our family grows with each new group of people that comes to experience you in a deeper way at a retreat... our family of faith - our TEC family! So many wonderful friends, and family, and prayer warriors! Each of our immediate family has shared this also... and now our newest member is being blessed with a special walk with HIM this weekend. We place all the new tecites in your loving and forgiving hands! May they all find your peace and joy and happiness that is found in your amazing Church and all the sacraments that are there to help us find that place in life with You as we take up our Cross and follow in the path that you have laid out before us! Jesus, we place this weekend in your hands, and we trust in you! Amen and Halleluia!
Bless-bless, Barb"Do small things with great love." Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
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