Last weekend was a surprise for me--both in how Christ looks at me, cares for me, and how my eyes were opened to see others.

Friday at the Well-Read Mom dinner in Houston, I saw a level of togetherness and friendship among some women in my community that I had not seen before. I arrived at my friend Marcia’s house to a banquet. From the food, flowers, table linens, drinks and background music, it was evident that this was a celebration. I saw the tenderness with which some friends spoke and a new freedom as they were themselves in a way I had not seen before. Why? What happened to them along the way?

Being there and seeing these women, I thought that they had something I want, a closeness or bond like those who have fought together in a battle and are now joined to celebrate their victory.

The following day, at the Well-Read Mom presentation, a simple phrase pierced me in a familiar and new way. Marcie Stokman was speaking about the importance of reading as a way to take care of your heart. Take care of your heart. These words hit me as an unexpected gift and reminder of what Christ wants to give me. He who calls me to be His now has something more to give me. I realized that I had become so comfortable and settled in my life with School of Community and the retreat texts of the Fraternity of Saint Joseph that I was not expecting to be given more.

The proposal of the Well-Read Mom is more because it carries with it a new way for me to take care of my heart and for Christ to love me in and through novels shared together in friendship with other women. I am someone who struggles with finishing a book because I read all day for work on the computer. I have so many books that I started but didn’t or couldn’t finish alone. Christ did not overlook this desire of mine to read and finish novels or the desire to grow in deeper friendship with friends in my community. Instead, He showed His face this weekend at a small school in Houston during a talk on reading books.

This is the contemporaneousness of Christ with my desire and need, and the way I saw again how much He loves us.

Natalie, Houston, Texas