{"id":1322,"date":"2011-04-22T09:00:27","date_gmt":"2011-04-22T14:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=1322"},"modified":"2011-04-21T22:55:05","modified_gmt":"2011-04-22T03:55:05","slug":"donuts-oral-roberts-and-mary-pt-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2011\/04\/donuts-oral-roberts-and-mary-pt-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Donuts, Oral Roberts, and Mary Pt. 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continued from Here<\/a> and Here<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

I knew I wasn’t going to be able to enter the Church that Easter, but I still wanted to participate in Lent. Being the OH so brilliant person that I am (sarcasm), I decided that giving up caffeine and coffee for Lent would be an adequate sacrifice.<\/p>\n

Except I was working three jobs.<\/p>\n

And recovering from a broken engagement.<\/p>\n

And in the middle of mid-terms and then finals.<\/p>\n

Not the most intelligent decision I’ve ever made in my life. By – and only by – the grace of God I survived. And vowed to never, EVER do that again, unless I heard it straight from the lips of the Almighty. (Or the Metatron).<\/p>\n

Summer came and passed, school started back up, and I began RCIA in earnest – and started dating a wonderful man who was also in the process of converting to Catholicism. Before I knew it, Advent had arrived, and I celebrated my last Christmas outside of full communion with the Catholic church.<\/p>\n

When Lent began I could feel God whispering in the back of my heart, and I tried to ignore it. They were whispers of change, and if it’s a change I don’t initiate, I am so not on board with it. I cried, and prayed, and talked to my mom, and a few special women in my life, and then cried and prayed some more, and realized that the plans God had for my life did not match up with my boyfriend’s. No fault on either side, just different paths. It was a painful decision, and, you know, ending the most stable relationship I’d ever had in my life, with an awesome man, wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for a Lenten sacrifice. My boyfriend was understanding, and supported my decision. My equilibrium was thrown off, though. As I knelt before the congregation during the Scrutinies, I fought back tears.<\/p>\n

Am I doing the right thing?<\/em><\/p>\n

I don’t want to do this alone.<\/em><\/p>\n

I’M NOT READY.<\/em><\/p>\n

But with my sweet, sweet godmother’s hand on my shoulder, and the prayers of the church rising around me, and far-flung friends I’ve never even met in person began to petition Heaven for me, I could feel peace that I’ve never felt in any hypercharismatic marathon revival service. Living out the rest of Lent hasn’t been easy. There have been temptations and trials and tests I should have passed and didn’t, and things I wish I could go back and do differently. But I’m 48-hours away from the Great Vigil as I type this. In less than two days this portion of the journey is going to come to an end. I wish I could say I felt like a Catholic Dalai Lama.<\/p>\n

I don’t.<\/p>\n

I feel more like a kid transferring middle schools in the throes of pre-pubescent awkwardness.<\/p>\n

But I can truly sense the prayers of everyone lifting me and everyone else preparing to enter the Church right now.<\/p>\n

I’m scared, but I’m excited.<\/p>\n

I’m coming home, guys. Next time you hear from me it’ll be from the opposite bank of the Tiber.<\/p>\n

And I’ll be eating donuts after Mass.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Continued from Here and Here I knew I wasn’t going to be able to enter the Church that Easter, but I still wanted to participate in Lent. Being the OH so brilliant person that I am (sarcasm), I decided that giving up caffeine and coffee for Lent would be an adequate sacrifice. Except I was… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-blog","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":365517,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2017\/02\/a-lent-of-luminous-darkness-and-wild-seeds\/","url_meta":{"origin":1322,"position":0},"title":"A Lent of Luminous Darkness and Wild Seeds","author":"Shawn Rain Chapman","date":"February 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I love Lent. I am always happy to hear that I am dust, and that to dust I shall return. When I close my eyes to pray, I can really tell I am dust. In here where I live, it's quiet and dark. Simple. Nothing to it. \u00a0Who am I?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/maxresdefault-332x187.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":378707,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2017\/03\/living-lent-like-little-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":1322,"position":1},"title":"Living Lent like a Little One","author":"Rachel","date":"March 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Lent is a\u00a0season of conversion, a call to repentance, a time of turning back to God. To me, these are Christ's most striking words on conversion: Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,\u00a0you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. \u00a0(Matthew 18:3) Unless you turn\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/child-angel-statue.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/child-angel-statue.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/child-angel-statue.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/child-angel-statue.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":387756,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2017\/04\/father-love-lenten-reflection\/","url_meta":{"origin":1322,"position":2},"title":"To My Father For All His Love: A Lenten Reflection","author":"Anonymous","date":"April 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Guest Post by Deacon Dan Lupo In Chicago, where I grew up, March days are shrouded in gray, blasted by icy wind, and blanketed by snow. Perfect Lent weather. The weather is Lent-perfect because the gray skies evoke a somber mood, which matches the serious attitude Lent fosters. Lent calls\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/deacondan-2-ordination-157x190.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":101478,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/03\/what-my-husband-taught-me-about-lent\/","url_meta":{"origin":1322,"position":3},"title":"What My Husband Taught Me About Lent","author":"Britt Echtenkamp","date":"March 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This Lenten season is the first one Danger and I have experienced as husband and wife. We began the season as brand new parents, and didn't spend much time discerning what our Lenten sacrifices would be, either\u00a0individually and as a couple. At first, I declared I would give up Sonic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Face of Jesus","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/sufferingservant-184x190.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":44563,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/03\/slipping-lent-questions-lenten-sacrifices\/","url_meta":{"origin":1322,"position":4},"title":"Slipping Up in Lent – Questions about Lenten Sacrifices","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"March 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"When we start Lent with a day like Ash Wednesday, it sets a somewhat somber tone for the season. This is a season of sacrifice, penance, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Definitely sounds like a no-fun zone. Thinking about doing something that makes you happy? 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Or it will find me a short cut??\u201d A couple of weeks ago I was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/IMG_6463-550x310.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/IMG_6463-550x310.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/IMG_6463-550x310.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1322\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}