"It's not real until the moving truck pulls away from the empty house," I joke with other military wives.

I have experienced the agony of plans and lives turned upside-down because of deployments, unexpected job changes, and family crises taking hold of what "should have been."

I have stopped planning and believing things will "go a certain way." And I have become the woman who scoffs, "I'll believe it when I see it."

So when I receive good news, or the so-called promise of a long-awaited dream soon to be realized, I want double and triple confirmation. I need to hear the story told over and over, see the photos, hold the babies so I can experience the miracle of life.

I probably would have fit right in with the crowd Saint Peter addressed. It's like he's looking right at me when he repeats, "[L]isten to my words . . . hear these words . . . God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses . . . see and hear" (Acts 2:14, 22, 32, 33).

Drawing upon the stories of David and the prophet's promises in the Acts of the Apostles, our reading today, Saint Peter called on the people to remember their past and to interpret their present experience with the truth of God's work in their lives.

It's no different for me.

I'm invited to pay attention to how God has revealed Himself in the past and the multiple ways I can know and deepen my faith in His saving action now.

The Lord knows I've become a skeptic. He knows I struggle to believe in His promises for a future of hope when there's so much pain and confusion around me.

I think He planned for me to stumble on this reading, to be reminded that His work in my life gives meaning to my present moment.

Turn to the Lord and ask Him to open your eyes and ears to His promises again today. Let Him remind you of His works in your life when doubts creep in. Proclaim His love and Resurrection just as Saint Peter and Saint Mary Magdalene did.

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[bctt tweet="Proclaim His love and Resurrection. // Gina Fensterer " username="blessedisshe__"]

Lord Jesus, give me courage to proclaim You.