watching a miracle unfold

so I've been bumping this post around in my head for a few weeks. I don't think anything I could throw together would do justice to the situation, but since I know my couple of readers are likethis with G.O.D., I thought I'd put it out there in whatever form it comes in hopes of continued prayers for continued miracles. so here goes:
when Charles was in cuba, the year before we got married, he surprised me (understatement) by going through RCIA and joining the church. so this guy, who had never belonged to a church in his life, was impressed by what he saw in my family and became catholic. pretty awesome stuff! well, after we got married, real life crept back in and his work schedule was ridiculous and unpredictable. he start out coming to mass with me when he wasn't working, but to be honest, the priest was TERRIBLE. we lived in a small town and the next closest small town happened to share the priest with our town. awesome. so I trudged through with fr. fire and brimstone, but Charles was pretty quickly disappointed with how his big conversion had turned out and fizzled. he did not join me at church (other than Christmas) until about a year ago, when I was pregnant with lucas and no longer able to contain Cameron and deal with myself. he was very reluctant, much bitching was done. often he would wake up 5 minutes before we left and was rather huffy throughout mass. but he was there.
a number of factors have played in to the recent events:
1. our priest at st. frances de sales is AWESOME! he is the most REAL priest I've ever had. that's a long story, but suffice it to say, he has his struggles and he is not shy about talking about them. 10000% relatable.
2. our good friends janet and terry. I was lucky enough to meet janet at my job a few years ago and we are very close. she and her husband are my parents' age and they are amazing. we go to mass together and they have been very encouraging, for all of us.
so yes, the miracles. things started occurring to me lately, and when I looked back it was hard to pinpoint when changes started happening - but check this out:
- "hey michelle, will you wake me up 30 minutes early so that I can shower and get dressed before church?"
- then: "what is up with you staying after and talking to everyone after mass!?" now: no lie, we were there a good 20 minutes after mass ended the other day because he was talking to the guy who sits behind us. him, not me. I was chasing Cameron all over the place because he's a turd. just a week or two after my long-winded explanation to Charles about what a "church family" really means, there he is - making it!
- a couple weeks ago we had some guys from Jerusalem selling incredibly beautiful carvings. so we were all visiting with the people who sit behind us again, and their son comes up and hands Cameron this little carved heart magnet thing with the holy family on it. ok, cool. I was wrestling kids again so I only half paid attention to him when he said something about 'he gave me money'. turns out CHARLES had given THIS KID $20 and told him to buy something for him and something for Cameron. whaaaaaaaat?
oh! oh!
- so one time, janet and terry weren't there and I don't feel up to the task of taking both kids up by myself unless I'm wearing the baby, which I wasn't. so I tried to hand lucas off to Charles so that I could take Cameron up to communion for his blessing (and he always tries to weasel a host out of father because he "wants one too"). Cameron started to throw a fit because he wanted to stay with Charles. so Charles stepped out of the row so that I could take my place in line with lucas, then he GETS IN LINE BEHIND ME. uh, what? I am pretty confident that he didn't take communion, but he went. point: he went.

I know we have a lot of people praying for us. I know it, because I see it and feel it every day. and trust me, I pray for those who pray for us right back. but if anyone, myself included, ever feels like their prayers are not being answered - just think of this miracle. it's a slow one, but there is no denying that it's happening. might not seem like much to you, but to know this man and his past, it is. it really is. :)