With St. Raphael As My Guide

The view from the window of the plane.

I have never had the slightest desire to visit Florida…and yet here I am, in the “Sunshine State”, for a week-long stay. The things I do for my daughter!

I mentioned previously that my daughter “signed up” for CatholicMatch.com, in search of a good Catholic husband. Well, she has been communicating with a young man who lives in Florida, and they were so enamored with each other in their virtual relationship, it seemed appropriate to make this trip to see how the “in person” reality would unfold. (The young man is a student with a rather inflexible schedule, while my daughter has a lot more leeway in her work schedule; that is why we are making the trip to Florida instead of the young man coming to our neck of the woods.)

So here we are. Things seem to be moving in a positive direction, but Satan is having his hand in it. My daughter has been sick with a cold for a week, and is still not feeling her best. Moreover, even though most of her friends are unaware of this developing long distance relationship, she was contacted by 2 former boyfriends just before we embarked on the trip! Plus, we left at the end of her graveyard shift at work, which meant she had had no sleep.  

For my part, I was also unable to sleep that night, and got about 45 minutes of  not-so-peaceful slumber before having to arise, pick up my daughter, and drive 2 hours to the airport.

My main concerns have been about the driving portion of the trip once we arrived in Florida. We rented a car at the airport, and then I had to drive it to our motel, a half-hour’s drive away…on a busy freeway. I hate busy freeway driving on a good day! I was a bit stressed about the prospect.

The view out the motel room window.

But everything went very well. I thank my guardian angel and the Archangel Raphael for that! I have been beseeching them for help since we planned the trip a few weeks ago. They have come through with flying colors. Despite the fact that I had not been able to sleep the night before, I was not nearly as nervous about the driving as I have been other times. And the driving itself ended up being much less stressful than I anticipated, because we beat the rush hour traffic.

Every time I sort of stepped back and observed how well things were going and my relative lack of stress, I was struck by the fact that my prayers had been answered and that I was being well-l00ked-after by my angels and saints! What a comfort and consolation this has been!

And so I trust St. Raphael also to guide my daughter and this young man in their discernment process as they get to know each other “up close and personal”. I have a positive impression of him, so that’s good for starters!

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me!

St. Raphael the Archangel, pray for us!