Gem, from Olathe Kansas, got really vulnerable and shared her story with us this morning. It started before she was even born; her birth mom wasn’t married and considered terminating the pregnancy. A group of Catholics (including her new parents) found out about it and started praying for her – and she wasn’t aborted.

Looking back on this situation, she now realizes that she should have been grateful – but in her heart she felt rejected and unwanted. She also struggled with fitting in. She thought that even God couldn’t want her.

One year at Steubenville, during Adoration, a feeling of God holding her heart overwhelmed her…

“I invite all of you…to open yourself up to God, because God will touch you if you let Him.”

Father Chris Martin started out his homily this morning by mentioning the world didn’t totally stop when Jesus was born. In fact, many people viewed him as “ordinary” and rejected Jesus because he didn’t meet their expectations early in his life.

Father then turned to the story of St. Augustine, who was a Doctor of the church. He went from city to city searching for God in truth and pleasure. For us as Catholics, similar to Augustine, we sometimes think there should be a big sign or angel appearing proving God is with us. The truth is that Jesus comes into our lives with humility and gentleness.

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Ross and Debbie have been married for 23 years, and they are members of Immaculate Conception Parish in Dardenne Prairie, MO (aka ICD). Ross has been volunteering at SteubySTL for 12 years, and Debbie has been for 13 years.

At our conferences, their forte is Speaker Hospitality. They find it fun to get to know the speakers personally and enjoy serving their needs by taking logistical concerns away from them and allowing them to focus on the spiritual emphasis they are so good at providing.

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