Late 2017 was a season of accepting my sufferings. In October, I had an interview with an advertising agency. I took a written test regarding punctuation and grammar followed by an interview with the woman who’d be my boss. A few days later, she contacted me saying I had made the next round of interviews. I was excited thinking about how I was one step closer to landing a job in my field. I had received my digital marketing certification a few months earlier.
However, the woman who interviewed me sent an email the next day apologizing, because she needed to cancel my interview. The company decided to have the position at its Denver office instead of expanding its office in the Twin Cities. I was bummed, but it would’ve been more disappointing if I had been offered the job.
Not getting the job at the advertising agency wasn’t the only hardship I endured that fall. My mom had another CT scan later that month. The scan showed her tumor had grown a little, which was scary. However, I was relieved her cancer hadn’t spread.
Finding Consolation
Once again, musical theater provided the outlet I needed. I was in “It’s a Wonderful Life” with Chaska Valley Family Theatre. I played Jane Wainwright and was in the ensemble. The production schedule was the most demanding out of any show I’d done. The show ran Thursday through Sunday for two weekends. Plus, we had two shows each Saturday.
This was the first time I’d ever been in a show with more than one performance in a day. It was definitely tiring, but the cast and crew were great to work with. I almost cried at our cast party when one of my castmates told me she couldn’t wait to see what I did with theater in the future. It was humbling coming from her, because her son played George Bailey and had a lot of lead roles in other shows.
Accepting My Sufferings in Sickness
During the run of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” several cast members got sick. My throat felt sore on Sunday night after the cast party. However, I figured it got dry from putting the costumes back in the warehouse. On Monday night, I wasn’t feeling any better, so I contacted the virtual clinic through my health insurance. I had bronchitis.
That was a rough week, because I had a temp assignment working at the front desk for a car dealership and it was busy. I was worn out by Friday. I had to take it easy at voice lessons that night, because I was sick. Normally, I went to Mass at 4:30 on Saturdays, but not that weekend. I ended up spending most of Saturday in bed. I was glad I went to Mass on Sunday instead, but I was still feeling a little weak. During Mass, I was gripping onto the pew while saying the Nicene Creed to keep my balance.
While not feeling 100 percent during Mass wasn’t fun, but I was accepting my sufferings. That Sunday Mass provided me with a good opportunity for self-reflection. I realized one reason why God still wanted me home, is because He wanted me to serve St. Peter’s. I was still cantoring and teaching and I had recently become at extraordinary minister of Holy Communion. Sometimes, it can be hard to understand why something unexpected happens, but we have to trust that God is using those situations for our greater good.
