Patience and Faith Leads to a Wink

                       
     Time in the country has its own pace and the pace in the summer slows drastically
allowing a person to think and wonder about most everything.  I wonder about things
that most people never think about.  Sometimes to the point of reassurance, when its
been thought and thought through completely.  However, this kind of time sometimes
brings heart ache.  I want so badly to go and move and stimulate my brain and yet I am
stuck here with my thoughts.
   
     These thoughts need to be said which is what I am attempting to do right now.
Why is communicating with people so important?  Why do I feel the need to
communicate with others?  Why can't I be satisfied with knowing my own thoughts
without sharing them?  It must be why God decided to create a species that was able to
communicate.  It is in my opinion the most important aspect of our existence.  I think
communicating allows a person to dream, develop, and discover.  Develop the skills
needed to discover ways to reach a dream.  My personal dream is to talk someday and
to communicate with others through my writing.  For that dream to become a reality I
need to learn from others the skills required to write something worth reading.  I need to
develop the talent to catch the readers attention.  Maybe then my dream comes true.
Isn't it funny how communication is needed in order for me to learn how to communicate
effectively.
   
     I have been reading a book called When God Winks at You by Squire Rushnell.
Because I shared my thoughts and was honored to be published in the Catholic
Missourian, I was given this book as a thank you.  Through reading this book I have
learned what most people consider to be acts of coincidences in their lives could truly
be considered acts given to us by God, a God wink.  I personally have always felt those
experiences in my life to be God orchestrated, and now I know others feel as I do.  God
appears in so many ways throughout our days, but only with open ears and hearts can
you become truly aware of his existence.  Such as the story I am going to tell you now.
     When my English teacher, Mrs. Pappenfoht and my mom started communicating
with Jay Nies, editor of the Catholic Missourian, it was November of 2011.  Waiting and
waiting for a reply was agonizing for me.  I had written an article called A Seed was
Planted specifically for the Catholic Missourian to read and possibly publish.  When I
completed the article I was sure it was one of the best things I had ever written.  It was
personal to me and didn't know if anyone would appreciate my words.  So when weeks
slowly came and went, I was sure Mr. Nies was not interested.  Christmas vacation was
coming to a close and I was scared.  I thought if it was going to be published, it would
be at Christmas time, and yet no word.
     After a month or so Mrs. Pappenfoht tried again by resending the article and still no
reply.  Apparently there was a mix up with Mr. Nies not receiving the article, so this time
it was faxed.  Months went by and still no sign of a rejection or acceptance.  I truly
thought they were trying to tell us the article was not good enough for their paper.  All this was hard for me because I was so sure it was the best I could do and day after
passing day I was being told, through silence, it would never be published.  I felt
dejected and heartbroken.
     My mom, being the ever diligent person that she is, called Mr. Nies for the third time.
Getting his answering machine, she left a message.  She wanted him to know that we
were waiting for any information, either a rejection or an acceptance.  Either would be
fine, we just wanted to know.  Before she hung up, she suddenly thought to mention my
blog.  Many months before, Mrs. Pappenfoht designed a blog of my writings and had
been updating the blog with essays written by me in English class.  I don't know why my
mom thought to mention this to Mr. Nies, but she did.  Later that evening around 11:00,
Mrs. Pappenfoht received an email from Mr. Nies saying he was going to print my article
in the coming Friday's edition of the Catholic Missourian.  Needless to say we were all
thrilled and elated to not only hear from him, but to find out I was finally a published
author. The date of publication was May 31, 2012.  Seven months after I sent the article
to Mr. Nies.
     I have written before I want to be an inspiration for others.  When I have said this I
was thinking of inspiring other children with autism.  Now, because of my article, I have
inspired not a child at all but a truly remarkable adult who has given her time in
countless ways for others.  She has shown her deep faith in God by working long hours
at the Care and Share in Wein, Mo.  To my understanding the Care and Share, located
in the old catholic school across from the church in Wein, has used clothing, books,
shoes and numerous other items for sale at extremely low prices.  This remarkable
woman, Mrs. Meinhardt has worked there for 22 years.  She had recently hurt her back
and was at home feeling sorry for herself, when she picked up the Catholic Missourian
and read my article.  She said she was so inspired that she cut out a quote of mine and
taped it to her refrigerator.  She was the most thoughtful woman who gave me the book
entitled When God Winks at You.
      I'm assuming, Mrs. Mienhardt gave me the book because my article was a needed
God wink in her life.  Little did she know that several God winks occurred in that 6
month period.  First, Mrs. Pappenfoht had just completed the blog, that my mom, as an
after thought, decided to mention to Mr. Nies, which we are assuming led to him
publishing the article.  Secondly after what seemed like a most unnecessary length of
time, my article was published two weeks after Mrs. Meisner's injury.  And thirdly, my
wish to be an author and an inspiration was granted.
     We all take these little God winks for granted sometime, but we shouldn't.  During
that 6 month period God was acting through each one of us, my mom, Mrs. Pappenfoht,
Mr. Nies, Mrs Meinhardt and myself.  However, we need to recognize and remember the
hundreds of God winks that happen all the time.  We are never alone, just look for him.
He is there!  He is communicating all the time with me, and I will continue to learn to
communicate with Him through whatever means it takes.  With God by my side, my
dream to talk may some day become a reality.