Beads of Joy 03-20-10
Always Praying The Rosary©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO
Lent 2010 - Day 32
Hello Everyone,
Today I'd like to share, some very special personal joy, that I have found in always praying my rosary. As many of you know and some don't, four years ago I began my second career in my life. Yes I am at that age where I have time after spending twenty years doing one thing; I now have the time to do something else. LOL, no I am not going to slip into the goofy mode, though these experiences are so exciting. Well 4 years ago I got my CDL-A License, meaning that I can drive tractor trailers or any other kind of truck. I obviously chose to drive a tractor trailer. And in that choice my first experience was for over-the-road; meaning I'd be transporting goods over all of the continental US, and Canada. Believe me it turned out to be even more fun then it sounds. I was very blessed to have been in pretty much every single major city in the US and 45 states. And I was even in Ontario, Canada at their John Deere plant where on several occasions I delivered tractors and tractor equipment to multiple Texas locations. The reason I start out by saying all that, is to kinda have you envision the excitement that there really was. And I want to kinda take you there in this blog experience. I do miss it, and I may return by this summer, we'll see. Janelle and Al were my two online spiritual buddies on this journey.
See there is some significance's to this experience. In 1983 I began a Rosary Ministry, the beginning of it all... then about a year prior to this experience on MySpace I began a Rosary Ministry called (Praying The Rosary Across America). And the object was and still is, to create a fellowship network of people who share the same love and devotion to the rosary. All that was started without ever thinking I'd actually be going across country. I dreamed that maybe one day I would, but I never thought it to be within a year. Anyhow I know that living in a truck don't exactly sound glamorous, but I want to make it sound more than what it is. But I will say that a sleeper in the average tractor trailer, especially if it's the condo style is actually pretty nice. I had a brand new black, all chromed out Peterbilt with a condo sleeper, stereo throughout, a/c - heat, cabinets, closets, refrigerator, bunk bed with normal mattresses. See what I mean, for one person, or even two, it's pretty nice. I had my spiritual library with me, all my rosary making supplies and my laptop. The laptop was a blessing, I got to see (we have cams) and talk to my family every single night, plus I was able to continue building the ministry on my-space. By the way in my my-space albums there is one album showing over a hundred plus pictures I took. Now is all this starting to make sense?
I'd like to try and share some of the most spectacular exciting times and places I have prayed my rosary. Not one day went by that I didn't. I was so blessed to have the opportunity to pray my rosary in 45 states and Canada, countless times. Being I spoke of Texas already, I will say that I spent a lot of time there, I have slept, ate and been in pretty much every single major city in Texas (Amarillo, Lubbock, Fort Worth, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Corpus Christi and so many others). And there was this one little town Anthony,Texas, where I spent a lot time also, I use to food shop in this town, it's on the western edge of Texas, at the first exit on Route 10 as you come from New Mexico. I was there so much that I got to kinda know the people at the supermarket. I made many friends along the way. In Lubbock I met this older gentlemen who as telling me all about his two friends who died in that collapsed bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Rt 35W. We chatted, he was very emotional about it, I told him I'd be praying for their families and him, he was grateful, it was very touching. I had gone over that same bridge one week prior to its collapse. When it happened, my family, my parents, and friends all contacted me, concerned knowing I was in that area of the country.
My whole experience was very exciting I hope to share all of it soon. You have not seen the stars in the sky till you get to see them under the dark sky of a desert; when I say you can see probably countless billions of stars, I am most likely under estimating it. I was in Utah, in the San Rafael Valley, I have slept in this desert terrain a couple times by choice. When you pray the rosary in a tranquil place where you can't see or hear anyone or anything except the planet and the stars, it is breathtaking. This place and one other like it was the most incredible place I have ever spent in prayer with God. I felt like Moses. The other place was in Arizona near the eastern edge of the Grand Canyon, where there is a power plant. Twice I delivered huge transistors out of Massachusetts from GE. The trip to that plant was through the Painted Desert. From that location you were looking up the canyon, I have never seen something so beautiful as that. Elevations exceeded 10,000 feet the whole ride up through Arizona. Look through my pictures and you will see God's hand. When you pray in this places it is so incredible how you feel and I tell you first hand it changes you; by drawing you ever so much closer to Him. Thanks for coming along with me on this journey, hope you enjoyed the ride.
Today's Challenge: Find that place where you feel like you are face to face with Almighty God. Embrace it, keep it close to you and absorb His love and His presence. We all live near places that are breathtaking.
Your brother in Christ Jesus &
His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO
