Life gets busy and it’s easy to stop doing things that aren’t within your usual everyday activities. I had been super busy and hadn’t gone to church on Sunday for a while. So, the day before leaving for Ireland I decided it would be a good idea to get a little bit of extra positive energy in me before leaving. Wow, I am so glad that I did.

Everyone was so happy to see me. I wore a cute summer dress and got a ton of compliments on it. I received so many warm, delicious hugs from my church family. And even though I hadn’t attended church for a bit, lots of people still knew what was going on in my life. I felt so loved and joyful that I was important enough to them that they thought about me even in my absence. I felt so supported and right at home.

The sermon was about a book the whole congregation was reading. I thought that was so interesting because I had been taking church courses that discussed books. I was right in line with what was fascinating me at the time. I didn’t know, so I didn’t read the book. It is on my book list now though! I got so many insights just from that talk.

My day continued to be so amazing even after church service was over. I was definitely a money magnet that day. I got a buy one get one on my lunch. A wonderful, supportive friend had given me some money to spend on my trip. When I got gas, I got to save with fuel rewards!

It’s a wonderful reminder that your soul needs to be fed. Sometimes you can feed it from books, animals, traveling, food, journaling, or something else. Sometimes you need some spiritual people to feed your soul with things you didn't know you were missing. I definitely got a boost from the service, a reminder to search for gratitude in the little things and a big dose of love.

-Cassidy