So I talked to the priest this past Friday…

making it only my second time to talk and the first face to face.  He was helpful and it was a great relief to hear an objective opinion.  He said to focus on Jesus for the next month.  Try not to think about marriage or the religious life but Christ and what He wants.  I am also rereading the New Testament keeping an eye out for anything vocational.  The priest also suggested I start to keep a spiritual journal but its slow going as Ive only made one entry, however he did say it could be hard at the start and not to quite.   I told him I had started rereading Story of a Soul and he said thats fine  but pay attention to how Therese prays not stuff to do with the Carmelites, so thats what Im doing.    He invited me to come back in a month and talk to him then and thats what I will do.

I should clarify that Im not clingy to the Carmelites, in fact they were my last choice.  Remember I did a novena to St Therese with a general intention that had nothing to do with the religious life.  She came back with “follow me to Christ”  I rejected this at first and thought I was nuts.  Eventually I gave in though and thought ok I will look through women’s orders just to prove there`s nothing for me and thats not my path, that Im meant for marriage.  During this I learned of the Carmelites but rejected them because I wanted no part of the cloistered life.    Therese seemed to be speaking to me in my prayer time again though saying “wear my habit,” and thats when I started to consider them, and the order I felt the strongest pull from when I let go of my preconceptions.

Unusual Events 4

For parts 1-3 look on the right side of the page for the about me category.

Summer 2005 my Mom and one of my brothers are visiting me.  My Mom bro and a couple of Japanese friends are sightseeing one weekend and one place we go is Tokyo city hall because it has a free observation floor on the 45th floor or so.   We were having a good time taking photos, eating ice cream, and just enjoying the view on that clear sunny day when suddenly I felt an intense urge to leave there ASAP.  Everyone wanted to linger more but I insisted, so we got the elevator and went to the main floor.  Less than five minutes later while browsing around a small gift shop/ tourist info center the strongest earthquake to hit Tokyo in thirteen years hits.  article The elevators stopped running, as is their design, trapping people for over an hour.  By less than five minutes we avoided being stuck on the 45th floor  or worse stuck in a elevator.  My Mom was very frightened by the quake and she was only on the first floor so if she had been back on the observation floor, which is designed to sway tremendously, or in the elevator she would have been terrified.

I have no doubt that I have a guardian angel and that day he guided us to safety.

Unusual Events 3

One summer a friend and I were to take a night flight to Paris from Narita.  I was able to arrive at Narita earlier in the day than my friend so I had time to kill while waiting for my friend to show up.  As I was waiting the weather outside was getting worse, and while I was sitting in a massaggin chair with an outside view I saw heavy rain and lightening so I prayed that my friend’s train would not be stopped and that the friend would make it to the airport on time to catch the flight since there would be no more flights that day.

I got a call on my cellphone from my friend saying their train had stopped and that they were trying to catch a taxi.  Now there are several points here.  One Narita airport is one hour or so away from Tokyo, so there aren’t that many taxis at the various smaller stops along the way.  Two if the train stopped that means a bunch of people want to get a taxi, so that combined with the other people who need one because of the rain and you see how slim the odds start to get.

So my friend had phoned me and said the train had stopped very close to a station and was now trying to get a taxi.  Now I really started to pray  because I knew how hard it would be to get a taxi.  Some time passed and my friend called again this time from a cab!  Oh I was so happy because my friend had gone down the road a bit from the station (and the long waiting line for the next taxi) and caught a cab that was headed for the station.  Usually people dont hail taxis in Japan people wait at taxi stands, so my friend was lucky that the only cab in sight actually stopped.

My friend arrived at the airport in time, we checked in for our flight and had a great trip.  All thanks to a little divine assistance I think.

Unusual Events 2

One the same day, just minutes before the story in unusual events 1 took place I had another thing happen to me.    As I said it was my first day of work at a new job so before finding my way to a new school I had to find my way out of an unfamiliar and large train station at rush hour.  I was standing on the train platform looking at my map and an exit map of the station trying to figure out which one of the many exits I was to find when suddenly a young woman stopped and offered to help.  She spoke little English and I spoke little Japanese.  I showed her my map and without saying  a word she motioned for me to follow her and she then lead me through the maze of the station to my correct exit.  I said some very appreciative thank yous and  went on my way.

For a complete stranger to help someone like that  young woman helped me in a rush hour train station is very unlikely but she appeared and helped all without my asking.  Without her who knows how long it would have taken me to find my way. Same goes for the preceding story about running into my coworker.  I think that these events had some divine help of course I have no way to know for certain but when I was in great need help appeared.

Unusual Events 1

I remembered today some unusual things that have happened to me in my time here. These are things that many people would probably write off as luck, a coincidence or something along those lines. I think, however, they were instances of my guardian angel, or somebody else heavenly looking out for me. This story happened on my first day of work at one job.

Finding any place in Tokyo is hard, even Japanese people get lost, so although I had a map to find my way to the school I wasn’t sure which tiny little side street I was supposed to turn down. Feeling worried and helpless I stopped at a vending machine to buy a drink, and to give myself a chance to calm down & regroup. As I was standing there about to buy my drink one of my coworkers approached on her way to work too. She knew where to go so I happily followed her and we went to work. I never told her I didn’t know where I was going but I was so relieved we crossed paths! Id swear the timing was heaven sent because otherwise the odds are so unlikely, plus I was in great need, so I think God heard my prayers.