On the Shoulders of the Good Shepherd

Recently we were introduced to a Sister Mary who has begun an orphanage in Tanzania.  The orphanage is named after St. John Vianney.  Through a series of emails we shared with her the Children's Rosary prayer group movement.  Providentially she was visiting the United States and will be returning to Tanzania on April 30th.  

We have been praying for some time that a Children's Rosary might begin in Tanzania after meeting a missionary priest this past summer who spoke about the region.  Yet shipping materials to Tanzania is both difficult and expensive especially to more rural regions that do not have postal delivery.  Yet Our Lord would take care of every detail.  Through a series of beautiful threads woven together we are now in communication with a priest from Rombo, Tanzania and now Sr. Mary who lives in a nearby region. If you read our earlier post from yesterday you will recognize the name Rombo, Kenya.  The towns are neighbors separated by a national border.  The question of how to get materials to the priest in Rombo, Tanzania was resolved by our providential meeting of Sr. Mary who is returning to Tanzania in just over a week.  

With a unique moment of opportunity to bring Children's Rosary materials to the region of Tanzania we asked Sister Mary how many Rosaries she would need. She gave us a number.  At first we did not know if we had that many to send.  The children began counting.  Providentially several packages had arrived last week with Rosaries.  

As each new box was filled with Rosaries the children counted.  Three large boxes in total filled.  All the rosaries requested were all accounted for and when the final count came in the the goal was met plus twelve extra Rosaries.  The twelve extra Rosaries brought a smile to our faces.  Had the apostles been helping us as well?  Indeed we felt more than ever that Our Lord had been seeing to every detail.  We were on His shoulders and the tasks that lay before us had been arranged so that the children could fulfill the request.  Such a task might have seemed too big and with such short notice but the children were not alone... Our Lord was helping.  

On Saturday my husband read from the Bible to our children during family prayer.  The portion of the Bible we had reached that night was Psalm 92.  

"I shout for joy at your handiwork. 
How great are your words, O Lord, 
how very subtle your designs."  (Psalm 91: 5-6)

As we do each night we ask each person in the family to pick out the part of the reading they like.  Our youngest son Asher liked the portion I have included above and in particular the phrase, "How very subtle your designs".  He commented that to some God's designs may seem subtle or small but to another they may be big and very important.  The people who sent the Rosaries to us may not have known when they would be used.  Yet Our Lord through His designs and handiwork would allow everything to be present and ready when the request came.  Today we rejoice in the kindness of Our Lord who chooses to carry us on His shoulders when we are in need.