God knows what I need. He’s good at reminding me of this, because I often forget…. One of his much needed reminders came on my first night home for Spring Break (or “Spring Work” in my case, a.k.a. I have way too much homework). I had been inside the house for only a couple minutes when my brother brought me one of his school assignments and told me to read it. At the time I didn’t feel like it, so I brushed it off, told him I was tired, but that I would read it later. Later on that night, I picked it up. The paper was simply titled, “Hero.” I hadn’t even finished reading the first sentence before I realized who it was my brother had chosen as his hero. My brother had been eager for me to read his paper because it was about me! Reading that paper was exactly what I needed…and God knew it. God always knows what’s on our hearts…He was simply reminding me of that fact. Lately, I have been reflecting on “growing-up” and how different things are than they once were. Family dynamics is one of those things. While I have certainly come to a greater appreciation of my family since being away at college, there are some things about my past that I miss. I’ve felt a though the bond my brother and I once shared, while till there, was not as strong as it once was. I would remind myself that as a senior in high school, he has more important things to care about…friends, sports, his girlfriend, college next year…anything, really. For him to write that paper was God’s way of reassuring me of a number of things. I am still an important part of my brother’s life, even if it’s in a different way than it once was. Relationships change over time, hopefully growing stronger; our relationship as brother and sister has matured because we are maturing…that doesn’t meant the bond isn’t still there.  
I believe God is also reassuring me in another way through this same instance. The longing on my heart to touch lives, to make a difference in some way, is certainly strong, especially when I think about the future, but often times I feel inadequate. My smallness is overpowered by others greatness; my quietness by others loudness. I don’t always feel capable, which is why God has to keep reassuring me that I am. I am making a difference, even if it’s just in the lives of the people I’m closest to, as I’ve been reminded through my brother’s homework assignment. (It’s funny, the things we use to measure our worth, when the only reason we’re worthy in the first place is because of Him.) St. Therese is such a great model for my life right now, as her example reminds me to live a life of humility. To be small is really to be great. She was to touch many lives with her “little way.” I feel inadequate when I compare my own gifts and talents to the gifts and talents others possess, but St. Therese realized it was not her own greatness that converted souls, but the greatness of God within her. Every good act we perform; every good word we utter is only made possible because God’s grace dwells within us. We are empty handed…it is only when we realize this that God is truly able to work within us. 
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