Thursday, January 23, 2014

Winning

I've won a few things in my life. When I was in college I won a $300 drawing. I've won turkeys, hams, and quilts at bingo. I was a finalist in the Father of the Year Essay contest in High School.  I don't say "I never win anything" because I recognize it simply isn't true.

On Tuesday evening my sister and I went to mass then to the boys basketball game at the High School.  At the end of mass I was thinking about what I would buy from the concession stand and I decided then that I would buy some raffle tickets as well.  I don't usually buy any, so I'm not sure why I decided to that night. At every game there is a "Half and Half" Raffle. Half the money taken in goes out to the winner at half-time.

I bought my 20 tickets for $5 and found my spot on the bleachers.  When it came time for the drawing, I pulled out my stubs, and the number called was not in my string of tickets.  What are the odds anyway, right? The number was 987882.

My sister and I met our friend Arlene at the game.  She had immediately commented on my long string of tickets; I promptly ripped one off and handed it to her saying if she won she had to give me half.  We joked throughout the first half of the game at how funny it would be if she won and how few people were at the game, so if she did win we would both end up with about enough to buy a bottle of soda.

She went on about how she never wins anything, it was a waste to give her a ticket, she never gets drawn...
When we pulled out our tickets at half-time, I looked at my numbers for the first time. The last digits on the end tickets on my strip were 63 and 81.  I didn't even know which end I had taken hers from, so I asked:" what did I give you, 62 or 82?" Her reply: "82."

 I had a feeling it was going to be a winning night.  I definitely won. Not only did 'we' win (after collecting her $42 prize, Arlene promptly gave it all to me, and I gave her back $10), we had a fabulous moment of shock and a great laugh.  We have a good story to tell, and of course, those who know Arlene know that it couldn't have happened with a more perfectly suited friend for this sort of thing.

Be careful what you tell yourself will never happen. Don't miss an opportunity just because you think you "never win." Every day is a W!

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Thankful for Mistakes

Whenever I see someone rushing through something and not really caring about how it's done, I think of a quote from the grandmother of some of my dearest friends: "Have you no pride?" This same woman told me, in German, that a lazy girl uses a long thread. Short cuts are just that. Cuts.

Details are very important. Not every detail, but I think some make or break a special event.

As the Confirmation coordinator/teacher of four rural Catholic parishes, anything Confirmation related goes through me and is my responsibility.  We shared the ceremony with another group of churches, 58 candidates in all. I saw 20 of my students Confirmed on Sunday.  And I could feel the Holy Spirit fill the Cathedral. I volunteered to make the program.

I volunteer for jobs most people don't want--all the time. I worked on the 2-page, 11x17 document for hours trying to make it perfect.  Or at least adequately perfect... not perfectly adequate, there is a difference.

I went over it and over it. The choir director and I spent 20 minutes on the phone reading song lyrics to each other. I looked through the past programs to make sure I had all the parts in the right places. I went over the student name list about 9 times. The phone book and Google are my dear companions. But, I know God, and God knows me.  I knew he wouldn't let me create something without flaw.
I printed a proof. One of the server's names should have two Ts.
I printed the first 100. A student's name was the wrong font size.
I printed the next 100. A comma was incorrectly spaced.
I printed the next 150. I hadn't put a space in the name of the city, St.Cloud.
The morning of the service I printed 30 more just to be sure we would have enough. At least those 30 would be correct. But, I prayed as I printed.  "God, just please let whatever is wrong not be terribly obvious to everyone." I knew I would find the error(s) eventually.

A student came to ask if we had more programs about 2 minutes before we were to begin.  I had enough to make sure all four priests and bishop had them, and I found one for myself after the students processed in. I had made a great guess on the number.

The students were Confirmed.  The presentation, anointing, and Liturgy of the Word had gone on relatively hitchless.

We came to the Holy Holy Holy.  From the back I scoped the crowd to see who was religiously (ha) following along in the program and who had put them down and participated from memory.
I had left an entire line of text that had been a note to myself so I wouldn't forget anything.  I prayed again "There it is, God.  I knew you'd come through, like you always do."

I know people noticed because it was blatantly incorrect. He could have left something a bit less serious like a misspelling or punctuation mistake.

Life is an endless lesson in humility.  I know God will not ever let me, a simple human, do anything perfectly. He cares and wants me to care for others and accept their mistakes. I'll do better next time... maybe.