Busy Butterflies

To day that the past week has been crazy would be an understatement.

Last week after the silent retreat, I got sick and was out for a good 2 and a half days. It was so sad to miss the practicals (what we were learning in the main classes for the day), but it was so nice to see how much people cared about me. My teammates, my college, and friends I had made all texted me, asking if I was ok, bringing me lunch and water when I couldn't leave the room. Then this weekend I went on a day and a half prayer team training, and ended Saturday night with an etiquette dinner followed by a dance. The missionaries were taught how to waltz and salsa. The men were given the command "you are not allowed to be a wallflower. A woman may sit out of a dance if she chooses, but men must always offer the ladies an opportunity to dance." Needless to say, the women all grinned anticipating a night of dance while the men all groaned and rolled up their collared-shirt sleeves. Despite the slight groans, most of the men did a superb job of asking different women to dance, and by the end of the night they had mastered leading a simple waltz. It was nice as a woman on the dating fast to be asked to dance by a man without instantly panicking: 'Why did he do that? Does he like me? I now must scrutinize every encounter with him to see if he likes me.' Quite refreshing. And when the DJ had mercy on the poor men and their courage, this happens. Oh, I love being a missionary. Sunday...I'm really not sure what happened to Sunday.

Monday was my birthday! I woke up to a text from my mom (sent at the exact time I was born) and the day just got better from there. I had a package from home with my favorite cupcakes in them: chocolate chip cookie dough! :) I got to lead the rosary for all the first-years and someone told the MC it was my birthday, and he got up and announced it aaaaand everyone proceeded to sing me happy birthday. Then I got to have lunch with a beautiful friend who gave me a stunning drawing (not the one referenced earlier) and then my team came over with Cold Stone cupcakes and made the ENTIRE CAFETERIA sing me happy birthday. I blushed, but anyone who knows me, knows I loved every second. Later, I got to go to confession, which was beautiful, and did a little bit of work before going out with my college. We (plus our deans' boyfriends) went to a bar, which was practically deserted, and played cornhole (or bags) and darts. My team lost every time, but THE SWIMMING OLYMPIC QUALIFIERS WERE ON. So basically, Jesus loves me a lot. Oh, did I mention that while we were there, both Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte swam the 400m IM? Yeah, He loves me A LOT. As a side, thank you to all of you who wished me a happy birthday! I promise I will thank all of you individually once I'm back in Tampa.

So yesterday when I woke up and realized how much I had to do, I sat down and prioritized. With only 4 days of training left and seemingly exponentially greater mountains of "fun"d-work to do, I made the decision to put off some phone calls and facebook messages to friends until I got home. I feel so guilty about doing so, but I know (hope) they (you) will understand. So if you are reading this and I should have called you, I am immensely sorry and will call you as soon as FOCUS-missionary-ly possible.

So I wanted to go into a little more depth about the retreat on Saturday. It is an area of my spiritual life that is continually growing but has become a huge part of my prayer time. Also, Peter Herbeck came and talked about the Holy Spirit on Monday, so kinda appropriate. Prayer teams are rooted in the charismatic movement of the Catholic Church.  The past few popes as well as calling for a New Evangelization, have talked about a New Pentacost, a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. My understanding of the charismatic movement is that one invites the Holy Spirit more intimately into one's life. You pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit into your soul. I was introduced to the charismatic movement last year through Freedom to Worship, a movement in Tampa, and my spiritual director for the past year, who I met there, was helping me explore the Holy Spirit and His gifts in my life. Though I had experienced being prayed over a few times and was learning about the Holy Spirit and His gifts, I had never learned how to pray over someone else. It is such a powerful and healing experience!

We had three teaching sessions followed by a practical session, where we got to practice what we had just learned. In the first, we learned how to listen to what God had to say to us for the other person. And no matter what it was, you shouldn't be afraid to say it. The speaker gave an example that when he was praying over someone and listening for the Lord, he kept thinking (or receiving, same thing) "I hate mommies and daddies". He was like, I can't say that! Jesus doesn't hate our parents! What is this nonsense? But the phrase kept repeating in his head, so finally he said "Um, this may sound strange, but I think the Lord wants me to tell you: 'I hate mommies and daddies'". The woman promptly burst into tears. It turns out she had been abused and she used to call it 'mommies and daddies'. Moral of the story: if the Spirit moves you, don't be afraid to respond. Now you may be thinking, as I was, Megan, that's an experienced, spiritual man. That could never happen to me. I am here to offer you hope in the form of two more stories. When people were listening for me, this guy, whom I had never met before, was in my group and said, "My stomach hurt, and I just kept getting the word 'nausea'". If you look up to the beginning of my post and I said I had been sick? I'd been feeling nauseous for 3 days at that point. Hadn't told him about it. Story two: I was praying over another girl I had just met and kept seeing light and feeling open spaces. That was the best way I could explain it. What does that even mean? But she looked at me when I told her that and I later heard from a friend that what I had said/received from the Spirit 'spoke to her soul'.

If you have never experienced prayer ministry, I highly encourage you to look into it. It is so powerful and I feel the closest to God when I am being prayed over or praying over others. He really does want to heal our wounds and comfort our souls.