Paul and Holli

Paul and Holli Scelsi 

 

 

 

Eight weeks after meeting Holli in 2003, she gave me a gift – the Bible, personalized with my name on the bottom front cover. It was a travel-friendly size I could take with me on business trips. As a Catholic born and raised in Philadelphia (Our Lady of Calvary Church, NE Philly), reading directly from the Bible in a leisurely manner was foreign to me. While I was very familiar with the contents of the Bible, I did not read it like I read a book on a topic of interest. Holli changed that for me. And that changed my life. 

Raised a Baptist in Tyler, Texas, Holli converted to Catholicism while we dated. We married in St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Dallas, Texas, in May of 2006. We joined St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Plano in 2010.  

My converted wife knows the Bible much, much better than I. I am grateful that God brought her into my life for that alone. 

From the beginning of our relationship it struck me that Holli started every day quietly reading the Bible, reading from a devotional prayer book, making notes, and silently praying. With her encouragement, we both read the entire Bible, cover-to-cover, simultaneously over the course of 3 years.  

Today, the first thing I do every morning shortly after waking up is read from the Bible. I don’t go for a run (we’re both avid runners and it’s how we actually met), I don’t eat breakfast, I don’t even organize my day until I read from the Bible and spend some quiet time with God. It’s a gift Holli gave me when we were dating, and now I give it to myself every day. 

We’re passing that example on to our 12-year-old daughter. Stella has started to read from the Bible in the mornings. She also participates in Faith Formation, a program which Holli has volunteered as a teacher in-person when groups were meeting, and now at the house for our family. Stella enjoys attending BLAST at the church once a month, which is a youth group for middle school students.  

As a family we like to participate in the volunteer activities introduced in our Faith Formation meetings.  

I am thankful that Holli has helped us make the Bible part of our daily lives and that as a family we are growing in His word.