Stung on the Tongue
On Wednesday of last week, I was (literally) stung on the tongue.
The details are fuzzy (or… buzzy 😉), but one moment I was walking down the street, gabbing on the phone with my mom, and the next a big bug had flown into my mouth and stung me quicker than I could spit it out.
After 15 minutes (and a Benadryl and a popsicle), I became a bit more confident that I was not going to die. However, I couldn’t quite talk, because my tongue had swollen to the size of a tennis ball (not really, but it sure felt that way). So instead, I enjoyed some sweet, sweet silence.
We humans love noise, and I’m no exception to the rule. I rarely take a walk without reaching for my AirPods to blast a podcast or music or call a friend. I love watching YouTube videos while I cook and listening to audiobooks on long flights. My quietest moments are those right before I fall asleep, and on a good night, I go right to bed, so even those are limited.
But Blaise Pascal’s words ring true:
“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”
I think this is why I’m such a massive fan of adoration. I try to make a holy hour once a week, and it is without a doubt always one of the best hours I have. Of course, adoration is even better than what Pascal recommends – we aren’t alone, we’re with Jesus! And I find that sitting in silence with Him helps to get my thoughts in order in a much more peaceful way than when I’m striving to get it done myself.
I hope you don’t need a bee to sting you on the tongue to remind you of the importance of silence. Maybe you’re like me and need to set aside an hour of adoration each week, or you want to pick a morning to take a silent walk, or you have an upcoming flight where you can totally unplug – whatever it is, I hope that this silence is a place where you can rest, reset, and experience God’s love for you.
In Christ,
Jane
What I’m Loving Lately
Episode 105 | Word of the year mid year review with Erica Carnohan!
My girly is back and we are here with all of the updates on our words of the year, and really just a chit chat about how 2024 is going so far. We talk about how the Lord is always working – especially in the quiet seasons, and share some little joys and stories from the year so far! Tune in here on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!
St. Jane Feast Day
Yesterday was St. Jane Frances de Chantal’s feast day… and I just love this woman. Three of my favorite quotes from her:
- “In prayer, more is accomplished by listening than by talking.”
- “Hold your eyes on God and leave the doing to him. That is all the doing you have to worry about.”
- “Must you continue to be your own cross? No matter which way God leads you, you change everything into bitterness by constantly brooding over everything. For the love of God, replace all this self-scrutiny with a pure and simple glance at God’s goodness.”
Aww I love this song. So sweet and good, it’s been my “on repeat” song all week! Also, here’s a whole bop of a playlist from this song I’m loving.
“The Mountains and the Meantime” by Fr. Richard Veras
I mentioned this in this week’s podcast (and Erica reads it about halfway through) but wanted to share it here because it was so good. I love my Magnificat, these reflections are always incredible:

Assumption on Thursday
Reminder that Thursday is a holy day of obligation!! We get to celebrate the Assumption of Mary – YAY!
Prayer requests
- For two friends who celebrated their wedding anniversaries yesterday!
- For those struggling in material poverty
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Jane was born in Australia, raised in California, and is overjoyed to now call NYC home. She graduated from UCSB with degrees in Political Science and Communication and spent the past two years working in criminal justice reform. She is currently an MBA student at NYU Stern, focusing on entrepreneurship and strategy.