Dear Jesus,    I’ve started to see Beauty in places I didn’t expect The coast,  where rock, trees, and water meet In early morning runs  and daily heart-to-hearts with You   Your Beloved, Rachel

Dear Jesus,  I stand at the edge of the tree line. Everything I have known waits behind me in family, friends, and the comfort of home. I want to take them with me, but You aren’t calling them to follow. You’ve asked them to serve in the places You’ve prepared for their hearts. You’ve called me into a different wilderness. I say yes and step into the woods.  It is here that you’ve called me to share the Gospel. To a place that does not know You. It is uncomfortable. The terrain is uneven and the air is cold. Still, You ask me to prepare a way for You.  As…

Dear Jesus,  There’s beauty when it comes to entering into life with each other. In saying yes to virtuous friendships and choosing to love one another. This is only the beginning of continual striving. Striving to trust You, love You more, and for sainthood. All of the things I could never achieve alone. So, You ask me to enter in. I look back at this summer and recognize the ways You’ve asked me to trust You over and over again.  Enter into the unexpected and fly to a new state for training.  Enter into the boldness of invitation and ask others to join mission. Enter into a new place with…

Dear Jesus,  The final round. With every new year and apartment address, You have worked in ways I could not have imagined. Here I am, days before the beginning of many “lasts.”  But I’m not ready to dwell on the “lasts” of senior year. Not yet. I just want to continue to say yes to the opportunities You provide. Help me to be content in the here and now, taking each day as it comes.  If COVID-19 taught us anything, it’s that nothing is certain. We live in a chaotic and broken world, where unknowns and question marks line the road ahead. But in the anxiety that may come with…

Dear Jesus,  “Let us love, since that is what our hearts were made for.” – St. Thérèse of Lisieux As my friends and I kneeled to pray after Mass, a chorus of cheers from the newlyweds and their wedding party erupted from behind the door next to us. Joy rose within me as I reflected on what we had just witnessed. It was the beginning of their lives together, with You at the center.  This was not my first wedding. I’ve walked down the aisle as a flower girl and sat in the pew as a guest in years past. But this wedding was different. I saw it as the…