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My daughter got confirmed on Monday. This sacrament has always been one of my favorites, and yet it always seems to me we haven't done enough to celebrate or prepare for it, to let our children know how amazing this single moment in time is, with respect to who they will be for eternity. How do I explain that while they may not see tongues of flame come down from heaven or hear a voice declaring their particular gifts and vocation, they will have something they did not before, a relationship with the Holy Spirit from that point forward? It is an encounter which shakes us from the complacency of whatever it is we are doing, and points us toward God and others. We know it when we find ourselves outside of what we planned, and going deeper into relationship with others and thus God. The Holy Spirit always creates or seeks to create community.

I can only tell them what I know. Here's what I know:

1) the Holy Spirit seeks to bring joy to your life. God's plan for each of us is hallmarked by joy.

2) For most of us, we cannot bear all of what God's plan is at once, so God tends to bring us gently into His vision for our lives. (For example, if I'd heard a voice saying you will marry the first person you date in college and have ten kids, I might have been scared to set foot on campus).

3) when you don't know what God's plan is...pray. Ask God for directions. The Holy Spirit wants to guide us.

When I sponsored my sister, she asked the question, "What is an experience with the Holy Spirit?" It is a question that needs perpetual answering, because everyone who encounters the Holy Spirit experiences something specific, something of God's plan for the divination (sainthood) of that individual person. I can't wait to see what God has planned for this daughter, who has already shown herself to have a kind heart and thirsty soul.

In other news, we celebrate this week as my oldest daughter returns home from college. We also continue birthdaypalooza, hosting fifteen nine-year-olds for a ninja party.

Here's hoping your week was full of encounters with the Holy Spirit and lots of small successes.

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Copyright 2016 Sherry Antonetti