God In Us
Living a simple life in Orange County — affectionately known as the “Orange Bubble” — has been a genuine gift, one that has opened many unexpected doors.
St. Norbert Parish stands as one of the primary pathways through which the truth of God is taught and shared. When the catechism season drew to a close in late May, a quiet but unmistakable sense of urgency took hold — there was more to do. Reviewing students’ Testimony Worksheets revealed something beautiful: hearts genuinely hungry to go deeper into the Word of God.
One response in particular stood out. Under the prompt My Life Before I Knew Jesus Christ, a former student — who now faithfully attends Bible study — wrote: “I was lost and unhappy. I didn’t know what — or who — to believe.”
Those words are a testament to the transforming power of encountering Christ.
There is simply no holding back praise for His Name. Teaching the Word of God consistently opens doors to truth, and studying Sacred Scripture cultivates the kind of godly wisdom that the world cannot offer or take away.
Deep within us all God is ever present. I want to hear the Lord say, ” Well done, good and faithful servant.” It’s all for His glory!
Family
This past week we hosted some of our family from Louisiana. Torie is the middle child of my sister Jo. He married his high school sweetheart Stacie. He also played football for Tulane. They have three children, 15-year-old Julia and twins, Jake and Tyson, who are 12 years old.
Before they arrived Jacob and I picked up some plain wood artwork that needed painting. As they were busy painting, Julie shared her tips on how to be a good boyfriend.
Julia’s Advice
When Julia discovered that her younger brother Jake had broken up with his girlfriend — and that the two were no longer on speaking terms — she took matters into her own hands. She sat both of her brothers down and delivered a lesson on what it means to be a good boyfriend.
She came prepared with 30 points. Here are a few favorites:
- Be polite, have good manners, and be respectful.
- Get along with her parents and friends.
- Remember important dates — birthdays, the first date.
- Show that you love Jesus: go to church and pray.
- Be good with kids; be playful.
- Take pictures of her and make sure she looks her best.
- Be funny — but not too funny. Don’t be desperate. Have inside jokes.
- Tell the girl you like her, but only if you know she feels the same way.
- Always pay for dinner.
- Don’t be too flirty with other girls.
- Be friends with her friends — but not too friendly.
- Remind her how beautiful she is.
- Keep your standards high; don’t settle for less than you deserve.
- Don’t stay in a toxic relationship, and never date someone just because she’s popular.
What a lesson. Julia’s rules are pure, sincere, and quietly wise — the kind of wisdom that comes not from experience, but from a well-formed heart. She is well on her way to becoming someone who understands love the right way.
The Car Switch
Organization and planning have never come naturally — not with dyslexia and ADHD in the mix. Reading a text message doesn’t always translate to fully grasping its meaning, and when dates and times are involved, the confusion multiplies quickly. A straightforward phone call is almost always the better option.
And then came the day of the car switch.
Driving any vehicle other than one’s own is already uncomfortable. The plan was simple enough: Torie and the boys would meet Russ and the grandsons at Boomers for miniature golf, while Sonja would meet up to take Stacie, Julia, and Lynda shopping at the Irvine Spectrum. But when everyone arrived — no Sonja. A misread text message had set the whole thing sideways, and suddenly, driving Russ’s car became the only option. No backup camera. No navigation. And on the freeway, it became clear the mirrors hadn’t been adjusted. A full nightmare — in broad daylight.
Eventually, a parking spot was found. Not a perfect one, apparently.
“You parked really crooked,” Stacie said. “There’s not enough room for the other car to open the door.”
“Would you like to fix it?”
Stacie — all five feet of her, give or take — accepted the challenge without hesitation. She got behind the wheel, backed the car up, and then… it wouldn’t go into drive. The car kept rolling in reverse. By this point, it had completely blocked the driveway. No other vehicle could pass. This is Southern California — patience is not a local virtue. The more Stacie tried to move forward, the further back the car crept, inching dangerously close to another parked car.
“Lynda, what do I do? Help me — it won’t go into drive!”
At that point, Julia and Lynda were already out of the car — laughing, helplessly and completely, because there was truly nothing else to be done.
Then, suddenly, something clicked in Stacie’s mind.
“Julia — I’m going to put the car in neutral, and you push it into the parking spot.”
“Do you want to kill her? The car is stuck in reverse — Julia, move out of the way!”
Horns blaring. The phone blowing up with Sonja on the other end, wondering where everyone was. It was, without exaggeration, purely by the grace of God that the whole situation resolved without someone getting hurt — or worse, in Southern California, without someone getting shot.
And through all of it, Julia — operating on a learner’s permit — kept asking if she could drive.
Stacie, still holding the keys, looked up. “Should we lock the car?”
“No — let’s go.”
Too flustered to think, no one noticed where the car had actually been parked. By the time the elevators came into view, Julia stopped short.
She had left her purse in the car.
Two full levels of the parking structure. No car. The heat pressing in, dehydration setting in, and the kind of dizzy, disoriented thinking that makes everything feel slightly unreal. A quiet, almost desperate prayer went up — Lord, help us find this car.
And then — there it was.
This time, everyone stopped and paid attention to exactly where it was parked.
My Prayer
Dear Lord, thank You for the gift of family and for the love that unites us in You. May You always remain at the center of our hearts, and may Your grace continually guide us to love one another well. Amen.
