The Voiceless Prayer and a Toy Airplane

“The truth is that God has a miracle planned for you too, if you are willing to expect it, look for it, and wait for it to play out in God's perfect timing.”   ~Tracie Miles

As you might recall, I checked "pray a voiceless prayer" off of my 30 by 30 list while I was at Notre Dame in September.  At that time, I wasn't sure whether I'd blog about that little event or not.  But over the last couple of months I've had several things happen that made me feel like I should share the story because it might speak to someone else in a way I couldn't know.  Anyway, I was still debating when Super Mom posted about her prayers being answered by St. Therese and a miracle flower appearing outside her church.  So, I figured if she could share, I could share.  Here we go.

Over the course of the year, I had several different ideas of what I might leave for my voiceless prayer.  In the end, I decided on praying my voiceless prayer at the Grotto at Notre Dame, which is hands down one of the most spiritual and beautiful places I have ever been.

 

Given the fact that I'm in this long distance relationship that you all are well aware of, I wanted to leave something having to do with that situation....something to ask that all of this work out to where The Boy from Texas and I can live, you know, in the same zip code (hopefully sooner rather than later!)  I decided that a toy airplane would be the proper item to leave at the Grotto as my voiceless prayer.  But, well, life got crazy and I got behind and ended up on the way to Notre Dame with no toy airplane purchased.  Never fear, Southwest Airlines to the rescue.  I decided that a bag of airline peanuts would serve the same purpose, so my plan was in place.

On a cold, dark September morning, I began a run around St. Mary and St. Joseph's Lakes on the campus of the University of Notre Dame under the shadow of the Golden Dome.  It is my absolute favorite place to run in the world.  I approached the Grotto and it was almost empty, save a man replenishing candles and another man praying. 

 

I lit a candle, knelt for a while, and left my peanuts on the railing.  If you've never done a voiceless prayer, I'd highly recommend it.  There is something special about offering up a tangible item and walking away, trusting that God hears and sees and understands.

 

 

So, then I continued my loop around the lakes and watched the sun begin to come up that morning.  As I finished the run, I was walking back along the path near the Grotto thinking about all the things we had to do that day.  As I walked, I glanced down and something caught my eye.  In disbelief, I knelt down.  A toy airplane.  No lie.  Just laying there.  I hadn't seen it on my way in and there was no one else around.  But there it laid.  I snapped this picture and continued on my way.

 

Well then about 5 minutes later, I realized that I should have picked up the airplane and kept it as a reminder to have faith in this situation.  (I'm a little slow, obviously.)  So I turned around and headed back down the path to pick up the plane.  And it was gone.  Nowhere to be found. 

I suppose that you could argue that all of this could have been pure coincidence.  That some kid dropped his toy and someone else picked it up.  After all, we are now 2 months down the road and The Boy from Texas and I still live in different zip codes.  Perhaps you could argue that it was nothing divine at all.  You could argue that....but I'll never believe it. 

 

When I left the Grotto that morning, as the sun began to rise over the steeples of the Basilica and the campus would soon be bustling with people and bagpipes and drumlines, I took with me a gentle reminder that God is there.  That He hears our prayers, even the voiceless ones.  That He answers them, albeit maybe not in ways that we would expect.  And that we must have faith in Him.  Even when we are left with no tangible proof that He listens, we must have faith that He does....listen, hear, and answer in his time.

Notre Dame Through Uncle Buddy's Eyes

"Whenever I go to Notre Dame, it gives me a warm feeling of faith in humankind. Everything that's good and decent and fair is right there on that campus--I can feel it in the air."  ~Regis Philbin

Back in September, Uncle Buddy (known to you all as Uncle Black Belt) and I went on a little adventure to South Bend, Indiana, to watch a Notre Dame football game.  This was my third trip to Notre Dame and I've got to tell you, there's just nothing like it.  But since you've heard about these trips from me before (here and here), I wanted you to get to hear about the trip from Uncle Buddy's perspective.  So here's a look at Notre Dame through his eyes.

A Visit to Notre Dame

What a ride.  In September, my niece and I attended a college football game at the University of Notre Dame.  What an experience and a fulfillment of a life-long dream.  We both flew into Chicago, arriving about the same time, went to get our motel and get ready for the next day's activities.  It was a wasted night as very little sleep came due to the excitement of what lay ahead.

The next morning we went to this little café in Chicago where they served pancakes with all kinds of stuff in them....fruit, chocolate, etc.  (Bongo Room, for those of you visiting Chicago in the future.)  Mine tasted very good, but had I known what was in it, I probably wouldn't have ordered it.  The best thing about our breakfast was that I got to meet my  new niece, Rozann (aka ND Friend on this blog), and welcome her to my family.

The nieces at breakfast.

Best pancakes ever.  Bongo Room.  On Wabash.  Go.  Trust me.

After breakfast, Tiffany and I headed to South Bend and the University of Notre Dame.  (We made a quick detour so I could check Michigan off my list of states I've been to.....these pictures combined with Uncle Buddy's facebook post of "How did we end up in Michigan?  Tiffany was driving!" caused some concern amongst family members back home.) 

First stop was the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore.  I entered thinking about buying a couple of t-shirts for my children and grandchildren.  A couple hundred collars later, I was able to leave that bookstore, but I tell you, it was an amazing place.  (In my experience you might as well just open your wallet and fork over $200 bucks if you set foot in that building!)  The people I had met so far in my visit made me feel that I was part of this fine University. 

The Golden Dome

Tiffany and I put our purchases in the car and then took a walk around the campus.  First excitement was that I ran into the Notre Dame cheerleaders and Leprechaun, and of course, had my picture taken with them. 

He posted this on FB to let my aunt know he had found the cheerleaders!

Along our walk, we were stopped by one of the Alumni driving a golf cart around giving rides to whose who looked like they needed one.  Along the way, we got to talking and he served in Vietnam with the U.S. Navy.  (Uncle Buddy served in Vietnam as well and the reason we were offered the ride was that the guy saw his purple heart jacket.)

Trumpets Under the Dome

Touchdown Jesus

On Saturday, we met up with my new niece, Rozann, and her friend and walked over the campus while we waited for the football game to begin.  What a dream come true.  We had excellent seats, right up from where the team comes at the end of the game to sing their Alma Mater.

Pre-game group photo

Bagpipers on campus

Uncle Buddy and Rozann with First Down Moses



Game Time!

Uncle Buddy in the stadium.

Push ups after a TD

Uncle Buddy recording the Alma Mater

(But wait, kids, the fun wasn't over yet!)  Long story short, we were fortunate to be offered to take a tour of Notre Dame stadium on Sunday morning.  When this came about, Tiffany told me that I would probably have to pull her off the benches in the locker room if we got in there.  (I think what I said was that I might get so excited that I'd pass out...)  On Sunday morning, we met up with the head man for a stadium tour.  What excitement!  And, of course, Tiffany was standing on a stool giving the "Rudy" speech.

"We're gonna get 'em on the run, and we're gonna keep 'em on the run..."

Uncle Buddy in the locker room.

Win one for the Gipper plaque.

We then went to the field to through the tunnel where the players enter and got to slap the sign at the bottom of the stairs that reads, "Play Like a Champion Today." 

 

The field was magical.  To stand on that turf, closing your eyes, you could actually hear the greats.  Coaches like Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian, Dan Devine, and Lou Holtz.  Players like The Four Horsemen (Stuhldreher, Crowley, Miller and Layden), Angleo Bertelli, George Gipp, Dave Casper, Joe Montana, Joe Theismann, Tim Brown, and Paul Hornung.  And if you listened very closely, you could hear the chant, "Rudy, Rudy, Rudy...."

Our tour guide.

A dream fulfilled thanks to my niece, Tiffany.  (There is nothing like taking someone to visit Notre Dame for the first time, especially when they have been a life-long fan like Uncle Buddy!)

On the field at ND Stadium

What Might Have Been

"I try not to think about what might have been, 'cause that was then, and we have taken different roads..."  ~Little Texas

This was pre-blog time, which means that everyone on the internet didn't know my business, but back in the good ol' days, I got accepted to law school at the University of Notre Dame.  An Irish fan from the time I was a little kid (I was probably the only 6 year old in New Mexico to have a ND pennant hanging on my bedroom wall), I couldn't have been more excited.  But then the other shoe kinda dropped when I found out that Notre Dame would be the only school that I applied to that wasn't going to offer me a scholarship.  At all.  Zero.  Zilch.  Nada.  None.  And so after putting the pencil to the paper a little bit, I realized that my dream of attending Our Lady's University was not in the cards for me.  (I also turned down UNM and had all my plans in place to attend William and Mary before waking up one morning and deciding that wasn't happening anymore....but that's another blog for another day.)

Last weekend while I was in South Bend to watch Notre Dame take on Michigan State, I got a quick tour of the law school from one of Mr. FFA's friends.  Y'all.  It was amazing.  Beautiful.  Breathtaking.  The huge library.  The study areas overlooking the quads or the football stadium.  The tiny chapel where Mass is said once a week.

Notre Dame Law School Library

I left the law school and couldn't help but wonder what my life would look like had I gone there.  What might have been? 

But the truth is, I don't regret the decision that I made.  Because had I gone to Notre Dame, some great things would never have happened.  I never would have introduced College Roomie to McCain and gotten to talk all about it in a Maid of Honor speech at their wedding.  I would have probably missed working with some absolutely great people at my first job.  I would have missed out on making the great friendships that I did while I was at UNM, including people like Brett-Brett and Top Gun and and Law School Partner and a whole list more.  I wouldn't have been in Albuquerque to visit First Valentine for what turned out to be the last time or to witness the birth of my precious Goddaughter (as traumatic as that experience was).  I wouldn't have been at a football game in Oklahoma to meet The Boy from Texas.  I might not have known the true value of my law degree.

Had I gone to Notre Dame, my life would have been different.  I would have met different people and had different experiences and probably would be doing a different job in a different place.  Would it have been better?  Who knows.

What I do know is that it's hard to regret the "might have been" when the real life is so darn good.