May Jesus be praised, adored, and loved forever by all.
Here is a recap of our past month or so in Wisconsin. We were blessed to play music and speak at a parish in Greenville and a parish in Appleton. God has provided for us every step of the way on this journey. Many people took us up on the offer to host us for dinner at their homes where we ate great meals, prayed, played music, got to know their own stories, and shared about our upcoming move to Nicaragua. Thank you to all you families!
Some highlights of the family visits include an authentic Nicaraguan meal, playing with a baby two months younger than Blaise (and then later a baby two months older at the next house!), teaching a little guitar to a six-year-old, praying the family rosary, playing a new board game called Pandemic, learning about Costa Rica from a native family, and living with a family to help while their dad and sister traveled to Lourdes, France.
We celebrated Blaise’s “name day” on the feast of St. Blaise on February 3rd. Fr. Tom gave him a throat blessing with burning candles like it used to be done in the Church. The next day Jacob played a concert at the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother and told our story. The sisters are missionary and have gone to many countries, but most of them are now retired. Blaise liked playing with the wheels of the wheelchairs.
We went to a youth confirmation retreat to play music, proclaimed our vocational narrative, and shared in a great meal. The high school girls loved Blaise! They also laughed when he tried to lick the granite podium.
Last Friday and Saturday we attended two healing Mass and adoration services. One was at the only approved Marian apparition site in the United States called Our Lady of Good Help. Blaise may have been healed from throwing up as he had a bad cold for a few weeks but has not thrown up since the Mass 🙂 We also attended a high school basketball game and told some of the students that Jesus loved them! Thanks Eric, Jacob’s brother, being there by our side.
We have a few more homes to visit, youth events to share our story with, vaccination shots, bags to pack and concerts before we arrive in Nicaragua in just 11 days.
The big concert that everyone is invited to join us for is on February 14th at 3 p.m. at St. Jude parish. It is our sending off concert for our home parish here.
Lent is coming very quickly this year as Ash Wednesday starts this upcoming Wednesday. Please pray for us as we take a little family retreat from Tuesday through Thursday of this next week. We plan to stay at a couple’s house close to Lake Michigan in order to rest, play, and pray.
Amen. -Calena