TNTT. Art. Prayer.
I jokingly said that I am Liên Đoàn Phó Nghiên Huấn’s flyer person now, but he actually agreed.
I am glad that I can still serve even in the smallest ways possible.
Designed on Canva, I burred and boosted the saturation of a photo of the original campsite where Sa Mạc was to take place at. The logo at the top ties the rest of the information in the box nicely.
When I am with TNTT, I am at home. 🙏🏻
A few weeks ago, we had our first in-person Liên Đoàn Thánh Gia event in a long time, in over a year and a half.
Afterwards, my brother and I went to get milk tea. As soon as I exited the store with my milk tea in my hand, I heard “Chị Thảo?!” At first, I thought I was hearing things because I truly missed TNTT and the kids I taught, especially after having our first Liên Đoàn event. I heard it again, “Chị Thảo?!” I looked up and saw a young girl whom I couldn’t recognize partly because she was wearing a face mask and obviously, because she had grown up. I asked for her name and she said the name of one of the little girls that I taught when I was Ngành Trưởng for Ngành Thiếu. I couldn’t believe how much she has grown. She was the same height as me now. I asked where her brother was and he was there with a group of friends. He has grown taller than me now. I asked if they were both doing their sports that I remembered they both did. They said they were getting back into it (because of COVID). It was such a wonderful moment to see my old TNTT kids again. They were both so much taller. They still seemed to be good kids. I was so happy to see them both again.
I was so surprised that she knew it was me. Granted, I was wearing my TNTT uniform, but I was also wearing a face mask. However, she recognized me despite not having seen me in a few years. And somehow, she knew it was me, and not another female Huynh Trưởng. I can only be optimistic and hope that it meant I made a good impact on her life.
It’s true that you might only see the fruits of your labor much later in life rather than immediately.
The other day, I was driving on the freeway with the sun in my eye. However, I have driven this path multiple times in the past so I knew I would be fine and eventually make it to my destination. I thought I should visit the church since I was a little bit early, but decided against it to just focus on my destination. The sun dangerously blinded me. When I came to, I realized I had missed my exit and was heading up north.
When I parked at the church, I knew God had led me here. He has never failed to lead me here, especially when I most need it.
In early March, I was given the opportunity to quickly design the Liên Đoàn Thánh Gia’s Lenten Retreat poster. I finished this within 2 days of being given the task.
Like usual, I used Canva and picked out a simple template. After receiving the link for the Zoom meeting, I sent the first draft to the person in charge. The main color was initially red since I wanted to match with the color of the scarf. However, they wanted it to be violet to represent Lent. The final draft was thus violet.
I am always thankful for the opportunity to help out in the small ways that I can.
Since the beginning of my Huynh Trưởng journey, I have usually done almost all of the work by myself. I rarely relied on anyone. I took the workload upon myself to ensure that everything ran (mostly) according to plan. It is a flaw of mine that I rarely trust another Huynh Trưởng.
However, for the first time in a long time, I trusted another Huynh Trưởng to help me out with the virtual sinh hoat activity for Nghĩa Sĩ. He did a wonderful job and a much better activity than what I could have come up with. The virtual sinh hoat was successful, not only because the event ran relatively smoothly, but because Liên Đoàn Trưởng was happy that we had 6 Nghĩa Sĩ from ADL Hawaii to participate!
In my 2nd year of being in my role as Ủy Viên Ngành Nghĩa Sĩ, I have learned how to delegate tasks and have bridged the gap between TNTT in Mainland USA and Hawaii. They are not huge achievements, but they are the small ones that will get the boulder rolling.
I never thought I would go through the First Spiritual Exercises, especially under these circumstances, but somehow God knows what is best for you.
These past three months have been extremely difficult. However, somehow, God placed me in a small group with wonderful individuals to go through the First Spiritual Exercises with.
There were many gifts that God has sent me in the past months. I share with you a few of them:
🟣 Give me strength and be humbled enough to lean myself onto you, God.
🟣 Be my protection, St. Michael the Archangel
🟣 Cover me and protect me with your veil, Mother Mary
“How is a Father supposed to be like?” I wondered.
My friend, IG @meekandlowlyheart , recommended that I consecrate myself to St. Joseph. And I am so glad I finished the 33-day Consecration, ending on All Saints Day. Throughout this journey, I have learned so much more about St. Joseph and have put all my trust in him as my Spiritual Father.
The 33rd day, which is the day I consecrate myself to St. Joseph, was the day that my father followed through with his words and showed that he loved me. God does indeed work miracles.
🙏🏻 𝔄𝔠𝔱 𝔬𝔣 ℭ𝔬𝔫𝔰𝔢𝔠𝔯𝔞𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔱𝔬 𝔖𝔱. 𝔍𝔬𝔰𝔢𝔭𝔥 𝔟𝔶 𝔖𝔱. 𝔄𝔩𝔭𝔥𝔬𝔫𝔰𝔲𝔰 𝔏𝔦𝔤𝔲𝔬𝔯𝔦 🙏🏻
O Holy Patriarch, I rejoice with you at the exalted dignity by which you were deemed worthy to act as father to Jesus, to give him orders and to be obeyed by him whom heaven and earth obey.
O great saint, as you were served by God, I too wish to be taken into your service. I choose you, after Mary, to be my chief advocate and protector.
I promise to honor you everyday by some special act of devotion and by placing myself under your daily protection.
By that sweet company which Jesus and Mary gave you in your lifetime, protect me all through life, so that I may never separate myself from my God by losing his grace.
My dear St. Joseph, pray to Jesus for me. Certainly, He can never refuse you anything, as He obeyed all your orders while on earth. Tell Him to detach me from all creatures and from myself, to inflame me with His holy love, and then to do with me what He pleases.
By that assistance which Jesus and Mary gave you at death, I beg of you to protect me in a special way at the hour of my death, so that dying assisted by you, in the company of Jesus and Mary, I may go to thank you in paradise and, in your company, to praise my God for all eternity.
Amen.
You told me that this was a blessing in disguise. Your confidence reassured me that I am on the right path. However, I am a weak and flawed human.
I feel so lost.
I feel like God is so far away.
Actually, I don’t know where God is in all this.
I finally voice out how I am truly feeling. You answer something but I forgot what exactly you said. However, right before our phone call ended, you reminded me. Your gentle, but firm voice reminds me what I need to do. Pray. Attend Mass (in person if that is available to me), Confession, etc.
Another person told me, “I’m concerned about you, but I’m not worried about you. You’re going to be okay. Because that’s how you always are.”
Lately, I have been feeling like I do not have a father, a protector of the family. How is a father supposed to be like, I wonder.
Last night, I was attempting to pray at Our Lady of Peace. It was difficult. At some point, I was finally able to hear the quiet. And somehow, my eyes wandered over to the right side of the church and I saw St. Joseph. Sometimes, it is the small moments like this in which God speaks to us.
