Things are stressful, but there is nothing like a good ole fashioned talk about Saint Augustine to put you into perspective. He said lots of cool stuff that I could try to repeat, but there is too much that really hits home with me, so I won't start.
One person that I do keep in mind is Saint Monica and her relationship with her husband. She put up with hardship faithfully and I wish I could be a better person and not complain about the usual abusers out there.
Augustine reminds me that God loves me no matter how far I could fall, but he also convicts me that I am called to the greater sainthood. It is not an easy road to love and not receive too much in return, but at least children see your convictions well.
"The retreat in question is to be taken to mean, not only the careful avoidance of occasions of sin, but still more that, when engaged with the enemy, we lift up our minds and hearts to the things of God, fastening our eyes above all on the One to whom we have pledged our virginity. 'Gaze upon the excellence of your Lover,' St. Augustine reminds us."
Pope Pius XII Sacra Virginitas quotes from St. Augustine's De Sancta Virginitate
