Be the BACON! by Veronica

During our first couple of weeks in Lousiana, we were told as missionaries with Family Missions Company that we are called to be the bacon. When planning a delicious breakfast…the Hen contributes eggs, the Cow gives milk and cheese, but the Pig gives himself completely! We are called to be the Bacon, like the Pig we need to be willing to give our entire lives to Jesus. I reflected a lot on this during our time of formation. I felt the Lord telling me that I need to trust in Him in all things. After a particular talk given by one of the directors of Family Missions Company, I broke down in tears. I felt the Lord telling me that I needed to give Him EVERYTHING, even my own children, that I needed to put all my security in Him. I felt very convicted because although we had sold our home and most of our things, we still kept things in storage for “just in case” or maybe for other reasons. I felt the Lord tugging at my heart, although I had given a lot, he wanted me to give Him more.  

Luke 18

18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother.’” 21 He replied, “I have kept all these since my youth.” 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money[c] to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 23 But when he heard this, he became sad; for he was very rich. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

26 Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 He replied, “What is impossible for mortals is possible for God.”

28 Then Peter said, “Look, we have left our homes and followed you.” 29 And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not get back very much more in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”

I had never really paid too much attention to this parable in the past, and if I did, I always focused on the part that talks about it being harder for a Rich man to enter the Kingdom than a camel to go through the eye of a needle. During my time at Intake, this scripture made its way into my prayer time a couple of times and reading it in its entirety again, the Lord spoke to me. What Jesus kept saying to me was give all you have away and come FOLLOW me. He kept saying, following Me, is trusting in Me completely, that I will provide for your needs. He knows that in my heart I was holding on to certain things in my storage unit and this I believe He knows would keep me from following Him completely. So since we have been home, we have in a matter of a week, completely emptied our storage...we had a fundraiser and friends and family came and took what they wanted and gave what they could. The hardest part was going through the kid's things from their bedrooms, or kids artwork that I was holding on to. I have never done this, but as Jesus said “What is impossible for mortals is possible for God”…I know that this life I am called to is not going to be easy. I can’t even begin to think about what challenges I will face, but all I know is I need to give my entire self to Jesus. I need to ask Him to help me because I alone can do nothing, and it’s the Lord who will do everything.

Louisiana - Big Woods

Louisiana – Big Woods

We are here! Three months of training and formation before being sent to our “permanent” mission post for next year. We sold our house, most of our stuff, and are down to one family vehicle…and God is not done with us yet! Veronica and I feel God calling us to more, to rely on Him more, to lean not on our own understandings but be completely dependent and trusting in Him. The leaders here at FMC are amazing and keep us focused on prayer and scripture.

 

Community – We are here with 48 other missionaries in training! We all live on the FMC property in missionary housing (donated homes and trailers). No cell phones, cable, or internet…it’s awesome! During the week we have all meals together in community at the “Big House”. And we share the same schedule:

During the week:

• ·      Breakfast
• ·      Praise and Worship/morning prayer
• ·      Training workshops, lectures, and bible study
• ·      Lunch
• ·      Work
• ·      Prayer/study
• ·      Dinner
• ·      Mass/Praise and worship/community hangout

Thursday: Community outreach and service/desert day

Saturday:

• ·      Work
• ·      Door to door Evangelization
• ·      Community “Lord’s day” dinner

Sunday:

• ·      Mass/Rest

The Kids – The kids have adjusted great, God has blessed this entire transition every step of the way! They have a lot of friends here (other missionary families) and spend so much time running free outside! Between breakfast and lunch after morning prayer they go to “kid’s ministry” while we are in our training workshops. After lunch they come back to the trailer for, finishing up school work, naps for the little ones, and chores for the older ones. Then they take off running outside and playing while we work.

The days are packed and very intense with reading, prayer, etc. but it is so SPIRIT FILLED! This is the type of work that our hearts long for and we are being so blessed.

We are leaving for Mexico in about a month and are looking forward to sharing about our mission trip when we get back. We will also know where we will be going for our permanent mission post next year!

Peace and God Bless

Get to know us

Veronica and I met shortly after I converted to Catholicism and she was on fire for the Church going into her second year of college at Texas A & M. We asked God to be in the center of our relationship in the beginning and we have done everything possible to keep him there. Over the past ten years we have been so blessed to be on the same page with each other and God’s will for our lives. Prayer and discernment has been how we have made decisions in our lives since we first met, starting with our views on the church, family, and future before we even got serious about dating. During our engagement God asked us to be involved in the Church through bible studies, retreats, and youth ministry and with our ‘yes’ the Holy Spirit worked like crazy bringing us more in love with Jesus, his Church, and each other. We were able to see Jesus transform the lives of many teenagers and the adults helping in the ministry with us.

Months before we got married God asked me to quit my job and open an automotive shop serving our community with honesty and loyalty. Again, with our ‘yes’ he blessed this shop into a business which would support our family through the first six and a half years of our marriage. It was so exciting and peaceful after we got married that we knew God was calling us to be parents and with our ‘yes’ he blessed us with bringing our first son home on our one year anniversary! Now, in our tenth year of marriage God has blessed us with our sixth beautiful child. We knew that from the beginning of our relationship that God wanted Veronica to be at home with our children to focus on their formation and education and with her ‘yes’ we have been able to see God provide for us financially and with an abundance of Grace to give us the strength, patience, and love to grow our family. I have grown so much closer to Veronica seeing her constant sacrifice and servant attitude homeschooling our children and living a life of selflessness focused on what is best for our family.

Over the past ten years we have answered God’s call to serve in different areas of the Church. We have worked in youth ministry with Lifeteen and bible studies, Teams of our Lady, Eucharistic ministers at Mass, sponsoring couples for marriage preparation, ACTS retreats and retreat teams, youth retreats, and being a part of St. Martha’s amazing homeschool group. Through all of this God never stops teaching how to grow closer to him, each other, and our children while we witness his glorious power at transforming the world around us. Our god is an Awesome God and when we say ‘yes’ we get to see the power of the Holy Spirit work in ways that we have never thought possible.

Now God has asked us to serve the Church by being Catholic Missionaries. He is very straight forward about what that means, “sell everything and follow me.” With our ‘yes’ we have already felt the Holy Spirit enter our lives, our home, and our relationships in a new way. We have also seen the Holy Spirit working during the time of our discernment. We BOTH have an incredible peace and both feel the same call from God and it is such a gift to be on the same page with such a life changing call. Preparing to leave, God is reassuring us time and time again. Everything we have tried to sell has sold very quickly with ease, one miraculous example is our house. Obviously a huge step. We felt God telling us to put it on the market over Memorial Day weekend, we didn’t think it was ready to sell, we didn’t want it on the market long because it is very difficult to keep it ‘ready to show’ with all of the kids, but we said ‘yes’. We got together and prayed asking the Holy Spirit to come over us, bring us a buyer, and sell our house quickly because it’s what God wants and we can’t do it alone. Our realtor (my Dad) posted our house online at 2:30 the Saturday of Memorial weekend, we didn’t even have pictures up yet. A Christian couple who works at a local church came and looked at it five hours later…AND BOUGHT IT!! Their realtor was going out of town the next day, if it wasn’t online that day, they wouldn’t have looked at it. They had been praying for the right house for their family…we weren’t ready but God was! We will continue to say ‘yes’ and we are SO EXCITED to see how God will bring the truth to people who have never heard the gospel and provide comfort and love to the poor. We praise God that we get to be a part of this mission!

Our Call to Missions!

      Michael and Veronica with their six children Michael (8), Mariam (7), Kevin (6), Thomas (4), Lydia (1), and Sarah (due in August) have answered God’s call to serve as a Catholic missionary family!

We heard God calling us to a life in missions in January of 2015, and we both heard Him loud and clear. The Holy Spirit has given overwhelming peace to us both. We are blessed with the gift God has given us to both be on the same page hearing God speak to us about the same life changing decision! After much prayer, discernment, seeking His will through scripture, learning more about Family Missions Company and speaking with our Parish priest, we knew that God was calling us…. Sell everything, bring your family to follow me, and spread my kingdom to those who have not had the opportunity to hear the truth. Our kids are excited and we are humbled to see how the Holy Spirit is going to work to spread the gospel throughout the world. We are looking forward to being a part of Intake in September 2015!

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and rely not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path.”

                                                                        -Proverbs 3:5-6