Embrace the Stains

“Oh no! She’s getting chocolate everywhere- and on her future saint shirt too!” My mom says, as my daughter continues to eat her chocolate bar.

After washing her shirt, the chocolate stains were still there.

“Great!” I thought. Why does it seem like whenever my kids wear their future saint shirts they are particularly rambunctious that day, or in Theresa’s case, gets chocolate all over it. Why can’t things just stay nice and clean? Am I failing at raising future saints?

Messy Past

But the more I thought about it, the more appropriate the message of her stained shirt was becoming. So often when we think of the saints, we think of very holy individuals and put them up on a pedestal failing to acknowledge their humanity and mistakes. This in turn can lead to us creating a wider gap for ourselves and our journey to sainthood.

But so many saints have complicated pasts! Each had his or her own struggles that they had to overcome. Many of them weren’t even Catholic and led very sinful lives before they converted. Even after converting, they were still humans! They still had messy lives and made mistakes. But despite all of those, they still reached for sainthood and embraced their crosses they were given to bear.

Behind Friday Features

This is why I started the “Friday Features” project on my blog. Mother Teresa’s quote “Do small things with great love” is a way for us to focus on reaching sainthood through one small act of love at a time. For me, hearing how we can focus on little things to reach it, makes it seem attainable, rather than unachievable. And that is my hope for everyone else following along and reading all of the guest’s reflections on how they live out the quote in their lives and are working towards sainthood.

We are all called to be saints. Despite our messy pasts, or sinful lives we have led. And remember that some of the best of the best had the most complicated pasts before finding God again. If you are overwhelmed by the holiness of the saints and feel like you cannot compare to them (I struggle with this at times), remember to focus on small ways you can make a difference.

Whether it is giving your kids their drink for the 15th time that day (I like to think of “I thirst”), saying a prayer for someone, volunteering, donating to a charity, or even sharing a smile with a stranger. Every little bit helps.

And if you get another stain or two on your “future saint” shirt, take a deep breath, focus on the small things you can do to please God, and keep moving forward.

Those stains are a part of your story. They are what helped you get closer to God. By the end of your journey, there might even be so many stains on it that you can no longer see the words “future saint” on it anymore. But I guarantee that if you live each day for God, and “do small things with great love” the word “saint” will shine through the stains.

*I am NOT saying to go ahead and stain your shirts- just a fun metaphor 😀

About the “Future Saint” shirt: I found this shirt at His Glory Company https://hisgloryco.com/collections/youth/products/future-saint-baby-jersey-short-sleeve-tee

Each of my kids got one in their Easter baskets this year. If you like them and want to get one for your kids, you can use code Michelle20 to get a discount 🙂