The Gift of Limitations (09/07/2025)

When I was a child, I was convinced that I was invincible. What else would explain the number of stitches I’d had before the age of 13? But eventually, I realized that I could not do everything, and that I needed others. Needing others, I came to realize with time and grace brought me closer to others, closer to truly knowing myself, closer to my LORD who created us all.

It's appropriate that learning about the gift of limitations would be part of my journey, after all, I am named for St. Catherine of Siena and baptized on her feast day. She wrote the beautiful text The Dialogue of Divine Providence in which she revealed the source of her recognition of needing others – the LORD Himself. Indeed, we need others and their gifts if we are to live as the LORD created us to live.

My favorite times are those spent with my family. When we come together, when I look around the table, I recognize the limitations of each one of us but at the same time what is possible when we all work together for love of the LORD and one another. We are all so very different. My husband is our strength, not just for his muscles but more importantly his character. My oldest daughter brings us resourcefulness, the ability to find answers and resources available and a love that accepts us as we are. My youngest daughter brings to us creativity expressed with transformative joy. My son is the engineer who can diagnose any situation and draft the solution. And I bring the vision of unity no matter what. There is little we can’t do together lovingly.

I’ve watched our family over the years tackle multiple challenges lovingly. I remember the first time I saw my kids in action involving other kids for the good of themselves and others. It was a very hot day in our rural Iowa community. My kids and the neighborhood kids were gathered at our home, playing outside when they saw the paving crew coming up the street, the heat visibly radiating up from their giant machine as it pressed the asphalt on the roadway with workers walking along side with shovels. One of the children commented on how hot it was and how hot the workers must be. Another chimed in that they must be thirsty. But what could they do about it?

And then my oldest daughter suggested lovingly that we should give them something to drink. My youngest daughter suggested lemonade in paper cups. My son immediately conceived the idea that we could set up a dispensing station with runners. And before I knew what was happening, they had it all together. And 15 kids under the age of 12 were running paper cups of lemonade to the workers who were taking turns taking a break and drinking the refreshing and thirst-quenching lemonade. The kids all recognized that none of them could have done that alone. They all recognized that day the good that could be accomplished when everyone brought their gifts.

I see this same understanding in our communities. None of us can do it alone. But we recognize we aren’t meant to do it alone. We are meant to work together, each of us bringing our gifts to the table and lovingly employing them for the good of all. And I pray that we never lose sight of our need for one another and for our LORD who gave us these gifts to bring to others and to serve the LORD and others.

As we go forward, continuing our journeys of faith, buoyed by hope, and fueled with the love of the LORD, let us look for those ways that we are being invited to share ourselves, our time and our talent, for the good of the whole. Let us seek ways to use that which was given to us individually for the good of the whole. Let us welcome our limitations as the gift it is that encourages us to put down isolation and pride and pick up in their stead community and humility. Let us seek to serve our LORD by working with others to build the world of unity the LORD desires.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.