Dear Bert, Well, don\u2019t get too worried about how things will work themselves out down the road; it\u2019s good to plan ahead, but you should keep in mind that God may want things to turn out a bit differently than you think.\u00a0 If that\u2019s the case, stick with God\u2019s suggestions and scrap your own plans \u2013 he\u2019s got a much better track record.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get me wrong, I am not saying that you shouldn\u2019t apply to graduate schools and interview for jobs and all that good stuff, I\u2019m just saying that every time you send off an application or finish an interview, you should conclude with a sincere and heartfelt \u201cThy will be done \u2013 not mine\u201d in the depths of your soul.\u00a0 He, after all, is the artist; we are just the paintbrushes.\u00a0 Which reminds me a bit of today\u2019s saint. Bertilla grew up in northern France, and as she came to know the ways of the world, she felt God calling her to leave it behind and dedicate herself exclusively to him and his Kingdom.\u00a0 With the encouragement of her bishop, St Ouen, she entered the convent at a relatively young age (about your sister\u2019s age, actually), and made rapid progress in the mysterious joys surrounding humility, purity, and a life of prayer.\u00a0 When St Bathildis, Queen of the Franks, reestablished an abbey of nuns near the royal court, she asked Bertilla\u2019s prioress to send a small group of fervent religious to give it a jumpstart, and St Bertilla was assigned to head up the team.\u00a0 She ruled the abbey firmly, with strict discipline, but with such sweetness and charity that it swelled its ranks even more quickly than the convent she had left behind.\u00a0 It attracted vocations from throughout Europe, in fact, including Queen Hereswitha, the widow of King Ethelhere of the East Angles, and even Queen Bathildis herself (once her husband had died and her son was old enough to govern), who learned the art of holiness under St Bertilla\u2019s prudent hand. And that\u2019s my point.\u00a0 This little peasant girl ended her days as the Mother Superior of a large number of nuns, including two Queens.\u00a0 I am certain that none of the three had planned for that!\u00a0 So keep up your prayer life and get ready for whatever roller coaster ride our Lord sees fit to send you on, even as you responsibly and carefully fulfill your normal duties. Sincerely your uncle, Eddy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Bert, Well, don\u2019t get too worried about how things will work themselves out down the road; it\u2019s good to plan ahead, but you should keep in mind that God […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":359,"featured_media":145992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3719],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-142278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncle-eddy"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n