Spring is officially here. I am ready to walk outside again. Welcome, Spring!

On Friday evening, Mario and I went with friends to Catholic Charities' Casino Night. It was the first time they'd tried this event as a fundraiser. The crowd was small but spirited. The highlight of the "gambling" for me was the mouse-racing. Now this was something to see! Real mice, 6 at a time, raced to the finish line. Well, some of the mice raced, and some just hung out at the starting line when their shoot was opened. My memorable choice named Amazing Grace was slow to start, then took out like a bat outa hell, was the leader when he got to about 2 inches from the finish line, and then turned around and ran back to the starting line. Well, I would never guess mouse racing could generate so much excitement in people. Of course, this was throughout the evening while folks were enjoying their beer and wine. I don't know how much $ they raised, but the live auction with the casino money at the end of the evening made us all laugh and laugh. We thought our pooled $4400 could buy something, but in the end, it wasn't even enough for a bottle of wine. I hope Catholic Charities made some money, and I hope that next year everybody brings somebody along with them because it was a great time.

Saturday I spent all day at church for a retreat, lunch, and afternoon discussion session with the newly formed pastoral council. I enjoy being with these people. All are in servant mode, wanting our parish to be warm and welcoming, good stewards, clearly Catholic in identity, and opening to the world beyond our walls. Our leadership is strong. They are appreciative, considerate, and intelligent folks, and I love working in that environment. Mario says I don't need a JOB, but what I do need is a way that is possible for me to be productive, and I think this is my next way to be that. I believe my first work with the Stewardship group will be to organize volunteers to make one on one contacts with the 1/4 of our parishoners who are not active in our parish and see if we can get them to share their talent and join us for weekly worship. We will need prayer support for that work. I came home and went straight to bed and slept for 12 hours last night. I can't remember doing that for years. My soul rested well, and I am thankful for the quality and quantity of sleep I got last night.

One of the discussions we had yesterday concerned our parish's mission. We were trying to agree on a mission statement. Well the 4 tables worked and worked on agreeing on this. In the end, looks like the executive group, chosen from the 25 or so people there, will make the final decision. But no matter what our group decides, I have chosen a mission statement for myself:

To continue the redeeming mission of Jesus, I will live in the truth, walk in the light, and teach with love.

It's easy to remember and understand. Now if I can just do it! :o)