Guilt & Gluten Free Communion

Let me see- I could write a book about the stressful things that have occurred to me in the past week. Nobody likes a complainer so I will keep it short and sweet. Raw sewage in my kitchen sink. Husband worked 4 -12 hour shifts in a row. A sick child. Both babies had to get shots on the same day, making them feverish and grumpy at the same time. Blah blah blah. However, this time, from the get-go I told God that I acknowledged that He was trying to teach me something and would He please go ahead and do just that because I was ready to learn and get back to a more comfortable spot. What I witnessed was the love of Christ shown to me through my family- my mother in law as always rushed to my aide on a particularly stressful day, and my parents as always did the same on another day (there were plenty of days to choose from this past week). The feeling that I received from accepting the graciousness of others was indescribably wonderful, and therein was my lesson. I really need to concentrate on making an effort to be gracious and helpful to those around me- it is easy to walk around in an oblivious haze, but if we stop and pay attention there are so many simple ways that we can be a living, breathing blessing to others. And it's not that hard. The very day that I had all the above-mentioned horrible things happen to me, I had a man come to my door asking for donations for a local drug rehab center/church. He has come by before and I had shrugged him off, but on that day I felt like God was saying- "I put this opportunity in your lap; take advantage of it." So I made a donation and hopefully that donation will make someone feel as blessed as I did that day when I received help from my family. As I mentioned previously, I am in the process of joining the Catholic Church, and I am taking 6 months or so of classes in order to do this ( it's less impressive than it sounds) I learned tonight that they now make gluten free hosts (communion wafers) and this caused me to chortle. (Thats not all I learned) I also began to think about how we as Christians are really living, breathing communion to those around us. Romans 12:1 says 

1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spirituala act of worship

In essence, how we live our lives as Christians could be someone's only view of Christ. We have been commissioned to be His hands and feet on earth. It is our job to seek out ways to practically do that. When we accept God's grace (whether it be through communion on Sunday, or prayer, or any other way) we are saying to God that despite our imperfections, we recieve His gift of grace and the sacrifice that He made for us. He gives us His body and blood in order that we allow Him to use our bodies and talents for His glory here on earth.