We've finally caught our breath and are settling back into our home routine. So much has happened in the past month, it's hard to know where to start. But I guess I do know.
Tommy is home. That's the biggest news. We are happy to have him back with us. He has mixed feelings. While he's glad to be back home, he's not so glad about the way it happened. Living in community, especially a tiny community like REACH, has its challenges. Especially for an 18-year-old with a strong personality. Some of Tommy's strengths also turned out to be weaknesses within a tiny group. While it may help the community life aspect, it's unfortunate for the retreat ministry, I think. Tommy had much to contribute in that area. I'm still his mom after all and can't help feeling that way ;-) It's also unfortunate for Tommy. The next semester on REACH, with the travel and long series of retreats would have been an opportunity for real growth in spirituality and maturity. For whatever reason, it appears that his place is at home for a little while longer.
All that being said, It's nice to have our family together again, even if it is only for a short time. I am especially happy that Tommy will probably be home when the baby is born in June. His commitment before meant that he would miss the birth and we would have to delay the baptism a month in order to have him here for that. So I am grateful to God for that blessing in spite of the circumstances that have led to it. And I can't help feeling that He has a reason for it. We may not know what the reason is, but I am confident there is one.
When Tommy was in his last months at Reach, he called home several times to ask for prayer over the situation there. I prayed several novenas to the Infant of Prague. Never before have I received a "no" answer in prayer to the holy infant, but this time the answer was clearly "no." So much so, that I prayed several extra novenas (following the example of Abraham's persistence), asking again the same request: that Tommy be allowed to stay on Reach and do God's work there. For a short time, it seemed that the answer might be positive, but in my last novena, it was again, clearly "no." This probably sounds a bit far-fetched to some of you, but it has given me peace about the situation. For whatever reason, either the good of Reach, or the good of Tommy, or perhaps both, Tommy was not to stay. It's what God wants.
Several people have asked what Tommy's up to. He has applied for several paying jobs on base, and will start on Thursday volunteering a couple of days a week during the lunch hour as a receptionist/clerk at the base chapel. He's looking into some daytime babysitting jobs. He has also begun the process to become a Red Cross volunteer. This is needed before he can do any other volunteer work on base. He'd like to help out at the hospital, which means a bit more training before he can get started. Hopefully, by the end of January, he will be set to start volunteering officially.
Since he can't take any university classes without endangering his deferral at the University of Dallas, he's also begun reading his way through the books he hasn't read yet on the UD recommended reading list. Last week it was "Everyman." This week, it's "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." I think he's planning to talk with his Uncle Daniel about reading some other works together and discussing them in greater depth. This would be good for him. He has expressed a feeling of mental stagnation over the past semester and is looking forward to doing something a bit more challenging.
We've been talking about a practical math course. It's tax time and there are those annoying, but highly necessary, Financial Aid forms to be completed in the next few weeks. And scholarship applications are a full-time job in themselves, he is discovering.
Finally, he's counting the days until school starts in the fall and he can get back out on his own again. He is 18 after all. :-)
Please keep him (and all of us) in your prayers during this readjustment phase.
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