Friday, July 18, 2008

A note from Jodi Simmons

July 18, 2008

God has truly blessed us with this amazing opportunity to enter into a deeper relationship with Him by bringing us to WYD. I can see Christ's love alive and flowing within each of us as this pilgrimage progresses. He has chosen the 17 of us to share in this experience together and has impacted us all in unique ways.

Each of us seems completely different, but through God's will, we have grown closer to one another through the one thing we all have in common: the Eucharist, God's living presence in each and every one of us . I feel that this pilgrimage will change my life and heart forever so that I may evangelize as God calls us to do. I think everyone has felt a change of heart to "receive the power of the Holy Spirit and be a light unto the world." We met the pope at Sydney Harbor yesterday, and as he prayed over us and blessed us, I felt truly humbled. All the stress and worries in our human lives seemed not to matter anymore because there is something bigger than us!

As witnesses, we go forth from this life changing event to transform the lives of others. I thank and praise God everyday for bringing me here and feel so blessed that he granted me the chance to share the experience with these 17 amazing children of God. Family and friends, I love you all and will continue to keep you in my prayers. Be a light to others when they find themselves in darkness.

In Christ and Mary,
Jodi

7 comments:

Anita Kapchinski said...

Great post, Jodi - thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us in such an open and honest way. Know that we are all changed by this journey, families included. The Holy Spirit is working powerfully in your lives right now and will certainly bear abundant fruit as you continue your journey. We miss you and look forward to your return!

Mrs. Kap

Unknown said...

Jodi – Your words are so inspirational and your “light” is radiant. We are so thankful that your pilgrimage has been so blessed by the Holy Spirit. I have been watching the coverage of WYD on EWTN and the events you all are experiencing are amazing. We continue to pray for you all and your safe return home. We love you – mom & dad

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Jodi,

your post is very insightful, and i am glad that you shared that, because hearing about your experiences and the changes they make in you inspires me and reminds me to go deep in my faith where i am right now (which happens to be in tennessee).
Bloom where you are planted!

I miss you, and i'm praying for you guys!

Love,
Johanna

Jennifer said...

Jodi-WOW!!! I don't think I have ever read something so beautiful and inspiring. I cried and felt an overwhelming amount of joy and proudness. We have all been praying for you and are so glad to hear that God is touching you so deeply. Logan and Abi pray for you every night and keep saying how much they miss JoJo. You are such a beautiful woman of God. I am so glad you are having such a wonderful time. We all love you so much and will conitnue to pray for you all. You make us proud.

Jenn, Matthew, Logan, Abi, and Cooper

DNaggie said...

I am so happy that your trip has been so great! I can tell how truly touched you have been and I am so happy for you! I cannot wait until you get home. Things are still going great here with everything. I hope you figure out those calling cards soon haha. I have so much to tell you about and I'm sure you have much more (and probably much better) things to tell me. I'll see you soon. Have a wonderful journey the rest of the way! Miss you and God Bless! I hope you can come home and touch the lives of all those you interact with in the way you have been touched.

And btw, my mother said that she is going to bake a bunch of cookies for me to give to you when you get back :].

- Drew

Elizabeth said...

Jodi - What a beautiful post! Thank you so much for blessing our lives with such beautiful words inspired by the Holy Spirit. We are so excited to hear that you guys are growing so much and we can't wait to hear all the stories and see all the pictures. We have been watching coverage of WYD on EWTN and praying for you guys. Man, I wish I could be there! We are so proud of you and we are praying for you! We love you so much and we will see you soon.

Josh, Elizabeth, Caleb, Kyle, Ann Marie