OPEN OUR EYES AND HEARTS
"There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding." – Jn 2:1
I'm getting married today. I was told it was courageous of me to plan to take time to write a reflection during the week where many who have walked this path before would have opted for something more practical, like sleep. Yet, here I am. I suppose it was the Gospel reading today – the wedding at Cana where Mama Mary alerted Jesus of the wine running short and he performed his first miracle, turning water into wine. I read it and smiled.
I smiled because I know how it feels like to be a bride who, despite her best efforts, feels at times like she has fallen short when it has come to planning and taking care of guests. Today, and in the days leading up, the wine has fallen and may fall short. But if I just focus on the things I could have done better, I may miss the miracle that is going on right now.
I may not fully appreciate the love my own mom is showing me by crafting together the flower crowns for the flower girls. Or how my dad, though sick with a cold he is desperately fighting, stayed up last night to practice dancing our first dance because it was literally the only time I could do it. I may even miss the eagerness of my future in-laws to help in any way possible, including running errands I just don't have the time to do anymore.
The flowers are being done by two clients of mine who woke up to leave at 4AM on Wednesday to head to the flower mart in San Francisco before their work day. I was texting with them on that morning and there wasn't a mention of how I had "fallen short." In fact, they kept reassuring me to not worry. They sent messages that they loved both Kevin and I and were so excited for the wedding. What a grace! What a gift!
And there is more. More messages, more offers to help, more helping hands willing us to the altar, filling in where I feel I may have missed the mark. As the big day approaches, with each hour we get closer to the wedding, God's ability to love Kevin and I, to care for us through our loving family, friends, and community, diminishes any self-criticism for not "having enough water" and magnifies how I was never the source of provision for this special day.
In so many areas of our lives, at times the expectations of ourselves to give and love others may be so high that we may not have anticipated what we would need to meet them. But if we can shift our focus away from trying to measure up, we may just find God working in our lives, constantly loving us from a place of abundance, always providing more than enough for us.
Lord, open our eyes and hearts to the miracles you are working in our lives
Rae Visita