The Blessings of the Lord

today we were blessed to attend the ordination to the priesthood of a friend from our parish. he was one of the first people of the parish we met when me moved here about six years ago. he had a house, a degree and a job but he heard the call of the Lord and he followed. how blessed we have been to see this journey come to fruition today in his ordination. the bishop's homily was absolutely beautiful. he is such a wonderful bishop. the mass was glorious and watching all those priests lay their hands on the new priest's head after the bishop ordained him and then seeing them up there concelebrating...it moved me to tears. it dawned on me as i was watching all the different priests that we are really blessed to have such a large number of young priests in our diocese. it was awesome to see so many young men who have answered the call of our Lord to lay down their life and give everything for the service of God's people. they were so joyful in welcoming a new brother. it was so beautiful to see.
after going home we were also blessed to go share some time with friends of ours in their pool. it was so hot here today that the chill of the pool was superb. we got to hang out, chat and swim until it got dark. it was a terrific close to a blessed day.
oh, and while we are on blessings...just one last one. tonight we finally turned on our central air for the first time. ok, to most people this isn't a big deal but after spending about six years in a 100 year old house that was like a disgusting sauna, no matter what you did...this is paradise. when we turned it on i opened a vent in the floor, knelt down over the top of it to feel the cold air and pronounced "this is something to thank the Lord for." i know the kids thought i was crazy but yes, for cold air coming out of my floor, i am overjoyed and completely grateful! :)