God's Strength and Wisdom

Last month my youth group went on a mission trip.  Normally we go somewhere out of state like the Carolinas, Texas, Michigan, etc.  This year we stayed in our own state AND our own backyard.  We went to mass Sunday morning and our priest gave us a blessing then we drove 15 minutes to the grade school that we would call home for the week.  It was great!  We were “away” from home, yet still in our hometown!

This year was physically more demanding than my past mission trips.  Most sites only have one crew of 6 people working on their project.  This year I was on a double crew with 12 people and the last two days they sent in a third crew yet, even with 19 people working on our house (including our resident), we were not able to finish in time.  But I will come back to that.

Here is the before picture.  And note that this is only a small portion of the house, it is much bigger than it looks.

First let me explain what we were doing.  This house was huge!  It had wood siding which had been painted, but it was not meant to be painted and they didn't use the correct type of paint...so the wood had rotted and all the paint was chipping off.  Our job was to scrape the paint off, caulk what needed caulked (which was all the edging and a bunch of holes in the wood), prime the whole house and garage, and put two layers of paint on the house and garage.  We spent all of days 1 & 2 scraping and Taylor and our resident, Greg, caulked.  Day 3: I continued to scrape while the others caulked and primed.

Day 3:  We had somehow missed a whole section of the house that needed scraping and I picked the short straw.  By the end of day 1 we were all tired of scraping, by the end of day 2 we all hated scraping, on day 3 when I ended up with a scraper in my hand again I passionately hated scraping.  And it didn't help that I was the only one still scraping.  I was sore, sunburnt, grouchy, and complaining to myself.  At one point I climbed off my little step stool to take a little break and I literally thought “God, I can't do this anymore.  I'm too tired and sore.  I don't have the strength.”  But I knew I still had to do it because no one else was going to...so I got back on my step stool thinking “Lord, give me the strength” and He did.  The minute I got back on my step it was as if I had been regenerated.  I wasn't sore or as tired as I had been and I was able to finish the strip that I had been working on.  It was incredible and I know that it was only by the grace of God.  I asked Him to give me strength and He did!

Day 4: I finished scraping then we all primed and caulked and some started on the paint.  Day 5: we finished priming and caulking, we painted one full layer of paint on the house and scraped, primed, and tried to paint the garage...but mother nature decided to wash the paint off the garage…

Here is one portion of the house getting the finishing touches

Here is the front after it was finished

...and here is the garage after it rained...

 It was disappointing to watch the rain wash our fresh paint off the garage. We had gone as fast as we could, prayed as hard as we could, tried our best to finish the garage too, but in the end it rained and washed the paint away…  At first I was upset, of course I wanted to finish, but then again, I'm sure God had his reasoning.  They had already figured that we wouldn't finish (which, for the record, we got farther than expected) and there was a team ready to go in to finish for us.  Maybe our house wasn't finished because God was going to use someone who was going in afterward.  It’s sad we didn't finish, but I hope that God was able to move in someone’s heart because of it.

Always look at the bright side, even when it doesn't seem like there is a bright side to something.

God bless!

Struggling with your lenten promise?

So, we're about halfway through lent, now and it's about that time that either the lenten promise starts to get easier and become routine or you realize that you're not doing so great on you lenten promise.  I'll have to say I'm both.  I chose to give up nutella for lent (I could literally live off of that stuff!) haha It seems like a funny thing to give up but I knew it would be hard for me personally.  I also chose to DO something.  Lent is not just about giving something up.  You can also do something.  Last year every morning I woke up and first thing I did was kiss the floor and say a prayer for humility (kind of the same idea as Jesus washing the feet of the disciples.)  This year I felt like I wanted to do that again, but it's been hard for me.  I have a hard time remembering to do it!  So, as soon as I remember I just drop to the ground.

It seems silly to me personally that I'm having such a hard time this year!  Lent was a very special time for me last year and I grew in my devotion to God.  Guess I should have kept kissing the floor even after lent, though!  I'm am sad to say that I have been lazy.  When we are in consolation it is so easy to say "yes, Lord! I will thank You for everything!"  But when we are in desolation and we don't feel Him it is so much more difficult.  It that state of consolation we see God in the beauty of everything.  He is in the person holding the door for us or He is the rain that waters the plants; He is in the sunshine that brightens our day or we see him in a teacher or peer.  Consolation helps us to be inspired by our surroundings and we are able to look outward.  In desolation it is much more difficult to see things that way.  Even though God is still there, we look negatively inward and we feel like giving up.  We know deep down that God is with us, but He is not flashing in front of our nose like a billboard sign.  We may feel drained and lonely.

So what do we do when it is so hard to pray and we really don't feel like getting out of bed to kiss the floor?  Be honest.  Tell God that you're struggling.  It doesn't have to be in the form of a novena or some formal prayer.  Just talk to him.  When you find yourself struggling, reach for His hand and ask for his guidance.  You may feel like you're talking to yourself, but I can promise you the He is listening.  Also, seek guidance in those around you.  Talk things out with a friend or just spend time with them instead of being alone.  Spending a bunch of time alone is when most people are at their worst.  It is easy to think about the past and say "well I should have done ____" or "why didn't he/she do ___" or even "Why, God, didn't you help me?"  It is so easy to place blame or focus on regret.  It is important to not dwell on those things.  They happened, but they are in the past: time to move on.

Yet, we're all human, we make mistakes.  I forget to pray sometimes, but I can't let that stop me.  Admit it and say "oops" and then fix it.  I can't tell you how many times I've said "oops!  Forgot to kiss the floor!  Guess now is better than never."  God understands.  Don't beat yourself up over it.  Whatever you are struggling with, give it to God.

God's got you covered!

God bless!

Me!? A Role-Model!?

I apologize for not posting in a while.  Everything has been crazy between school, coaching, and a couple clubs I'm in.

I'd like to talk about being an assistant coach.  I'm still in highschool, so I don't have a child and I'm not old enough to be a head coach.  I love volleyball and I would spend 24/7 playing and practicing drills if I could.  So I asked if I could help out at the catholic grade school I went to.  So, since November, I have been assistant coaching the 3rd grade and 4th grade teams.  It's amazing!  I love being able to help them learn the sport (the 3rd graders are just now starting to learn the skills.  It's their first year.  And for the fourth graders, they started playing games against other teams and are improving on their previous skills.)

It really is an incredible experience to be able to be someone these kids can look up to and who can relate with them in a different way than an adult can.  The one little girl on the 3rd grade team likes to wave at me whenever she sees me at church and she is glued to my side at practice.  Another girl on the 4th grade team likes for me to help her on her serve rather than her mom (who is one of the other coaches.)  It's fun being someone they can talk to.  It makes me feel like I'm making a difference.  

I'm sure every one of us has heard the whole "I'm not your friend. I'm your [coach, mom, dad, teacher, etc.]."  Well, where I'm standing, I can almost do both.  With the 3rd graders I am their friend more than I am their coach.  If they don't understand something, or they aren't doing something correctly, I am able to show them and it doesn't embarrass them as much as if their parent or a coach called them out.  It is a unique position and I love it!  With the fourth grade I typically have to be a little more stern because they're at the age of "I know better than you," but they tend to listen to me because I'm closer to their level.  I'm only 6-8 years older than them, depending on the kid.  Our one coach is more than 7 times their age and the other two coaches are parents of kids.  So we each have a different perspective.  I am in a position to be able to help them in a different way than the two coaches that are parent who are able to help coach in a different way than the other coach who is able to help them in yet another way.

When I signed up to be a coach, I didn't realize how much I would be a role-model to these girls on and off the court.  On the court I have authority, yet I can be a friend to them.  But I'm still a role-model.  They look to me for advice and I show them the correct way to do something.  For example, one key thing in volleyball is to stay low and keep your knees bent.  I've lost count of how many times I say "down" or "bend your knees" or "down and ready, girls" in just one practice.  But if I'm telling them to get down and STAY down then when I scrimmage against them or when I demonstrate for them, then I have to be down too, even when it's not necessary, because it gets the point across and I am being an example.  Do as I say, not as I do? NO!  Do as I say and as I do.  THAT is how they will learn.

I also didn't realize how much of a role-model I would be off the court.  Most of the girls I had never met before I started coaching.  Well, now it's like I see them everywhere I go!  I see a lot of them in church and they'll wave at me or give me that look like "whoa! you're hair isn't permanently in a braid!?"  haha  So they see me dressed up, but still being modest.  I've also seen them at the store or at their school (I occasionally go in and say hi to my past teachers or help out in the library).  It's fun seeing them and seeing their faces light up with that "hey! I know you!" look on their faces.  

I guess where I'm going with this blog post is that anyone can be a role-model.  I'm still in high school and I can be a role model.  The two women that I'm coaching with are parents and they're role-models.  The man that I'm also coaching with is much much older than them and he is a role-model to them.  EVERYONE is a role-model.  You don't have to be a coach, parent,  teacher, etc. to be a role-model.  Look at Jesus, he was born in a barn, in a manger that they put the animals' food in, he was the son of a wood carver.  Yet look at what a role-model he was.  Yes, I realize Jesus was God, but He was also human.  Fully God and fully human.  I'm sure he got nervous too, standing in front of all those people eagerly listening to him.  But I'm not saying that you should go stand up in front of your whole church and give your whole life story.  No.  I'm just saying to be a good example to those around you and be someone they can look up to.

Thank you for reading!

God Bless!

look for toothpicks, not billboards

Recently, I started watching Doctor Who. There was a quote on an episode that I find extremely funny, but also thought provoking.

"Ricky, let me show you something about the human race. You put a mysterious blue box slap-bang in the middle of town, what do they do? Walk past it."

Now, as amusing as that quote is, it's got a point. People can be extremely oblivious to important details. I had seen a show on Tv about how mind tricks work and why they work. In the one example, a man went into store and he talked to a random guy he met. During the conversation the man that was randomly selected was purposely distracted maybe 6 or so times and each time he was distracted the other man would change something about his appearance. He started out with a neck brace, a red shirt, a hat, an eye patch, and a jacket. In the end he had a black shirt, no neck brace, a different hat, the eye patch was moved to the other eye, and no jacket. Sadly, the random guy that was picked to do this didn't even notice. Now what does that say about how oblivious humans can be?

As humans we tend to not notice little things, yet we seek out the big things. But that's not how God works. God doesn't just come down from heaven and say to me "ok, Rachel, here's what I want you to do: you're going to marry this guy, you're going to go to this college for this career and you will never have a struggle ever again." Ha! Wouldn't that be nice? Too bad

As a friend of mine once said, signs from God are like getting toothpicks thrown at you, they may not seem big and important at the time, but later on, when you look down at the toothpicks, they'll spell out what God was trying to show/tell you.

Look for God in the small things that you might normally take for granted. For me, nature is a huge reminder of God's presence. To know that He created everything and that it is all so beautiful.  Have you ever heard the quote "what if you woke up and all you had left was what you remembered to thank God for"? How many of us would be left without anything?

Remember, God doesn't want us seeking out miracles to base our faith on. "Blessed are those who have not seen and still believe."

During a struggle it is easy to be upset with God and to feel like He left you, but looking back on those struggles, we realize that He was there the whole time. Look for the toothpicks! Don't get all down because God doesn't come down to earth and resolve your problem! Look for Him in the little things, He's there, you just have to keep your eyes open!

Are you a Catholic or a Christian?

I hate when people ask me that! I hope to clear up any confusion with this post.

This past Sunday, I was at youth group and it was our first one for the school year and we were playing trainwreck as a "get to know you" game. Trainwreck is a game where everyone sits in a circle and there are enough chairs for everyone except for one person. That person that ends up without a chair stands in the middle of the circle and says something like, "If you go to highschool" or "If you have brown hair," something like that, and whoever has that, does that, or has done that gets up and has to change seats. Or if someone says, "Trainwreck!" then everybody has to get up and move.

Well, while we were playing, the siblings were trying to get each other in the middle of the circle. One sibling's brother was named Christian so he said "If your name is Christian" so Christian had to get up. Well, Christian's response was "If you ARE a Christian" (Now remember this is a Catholic youth group--Everyone should have gotten up). Some people did not get up and their response was "well, I wasn't sure if being Catholic we weren't Christians"...

Let me clear some thing up for you.

->Do you believe in Jesus Christ?
If you answered yes, the you are a Christian
If you answered no, then you are not a Christian

Do you believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth?
Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary: suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell: on the third day he rose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty: From thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead: Do you believe in the Holy Spirit? Do you believe in the Holy Catholic Church: the communion of saints: the forgiveness of sins: the resurrection of the body: and the life everlasting?


Then You are Catholic! AND Christian! Catholics believe in Jesus!


Thank you for listening, this has been a rant from Yours Truly! If there is still any confusion, please comment or message me.
Thank you again and God Bless!

The hands and feet of Jesus

When I was at NCYC, I was given a poster with the following quote by Teresa of Avila:

"Christ has no body but yours, 

No hands, no feet on earth but yours, 

Yours are the eyes with which He looks Compassion on this world, 

Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good, 

Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world. 

Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, Yours are the eyes, 

You are His body."

I came across this quote again a little while back. People often say "Let Christ shine through you," most of us when we hear that think "don't do this, don't do that, be a good little Christian, What would Jesus do?, etc." And most of us cut off after "don't do..." cause nobody likes to be told not to do something or being told what to do in general.

About a week ago I was on a mission trip in Hastings, Michigan. Before my group left, we had our hands and feet blessed with holy water and were told to be the hands and feet of Jesus. While we were there, it was powerful how much of an impact our actions made on the town and on the residents whose homes we were repairing.

I was working on a home with six other people and we scraped and repainted a house. Our resident and her family were so grateful and it was so great to be able to help them! This was my 3rd mission trip, but I will never get tired of seeing the smiles that come from sharing God's love. :) It is is so great to know that you're making an impact on someone's life and the you are able to share God in the process. :)

God bless you all! Never be afraid to show Jesus to someone. You never know who may need Him right at that moment<3

Steubie Changed my life once again

Hi everyone. :) I hope your summer has been going well. Mine has been pretty crazy so far! The last weekend in June, my youth group and I went to a Steubenville Youth Conference, it was AWESOME!!! It's pretty awesome seeing 2,300 teens praising the Lord with all their hearts! there's just so much passion and love and faith in the air that you just wanna sing! Praise and worship is absolutely incredible! I love the music they play and the energy is just amazing! Our speakers this year were really great too! Father Dave Pivonka, Deacon Ralph Poyo, Sarah Swafford, Bob Rice, Chris Padgett and the Awesome LEAD people who gave their witness. Fr. Dave talked about how Jesus comes to Us, He died on that cross for Us, that Jesus loves Us. Deacon Ralph talked about our chains that weigh us down and keep us from God and how confession takes away those chains, that there is healing in God. Sarah Swafford talked about the crowds on Palm Sunday that shouted "Hosanna!" were the same crowd that shouted "Barabbas" on Good Friday and that during the conference, it's like Palm Sunday, are we going to go with the crowd or against it after the conference? One of the LEAD witnesses I really remember and really hit me was by a guy name Daniel. Daniel talked about how he'd never really felt anything during prayer and so he prayed about it and the number 100 came to him. He realized that God wanted him to give 100% in prayer, not 99.9%, but 100%. His witness really spoke to me and really inspired me to work harder to give God my 100%.

During the conference we also spent a lot of time in adoration. Adoration is my favorite way to pray because Jesus is right there, physically in front of us! It's a very powerful experience.
Every time I spend time in Adoration, something in me changes. On Saturday night, The priest (Fr. Dave) brought the monstrance around the field house. He brought Jesus up every isle. It is absolutely amazing, you can literally feel His presence! During that time I did some major praying and contemplating. Lately my prayer life has been, well, pitiful. I lacked the devotion I felt empty and I was upset. Ever since I left Steubenville, I've wanted to fix my prayer life, or, more like create a prayer life. I decided to do that by opening The book, The Bible. I just kinda opened it, letting God turn the pages for me, And I found this: Psalm 13:1-6

"How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I take counsel in my soul

and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

  Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;

light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,

  lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”

lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

But I have trusted in your steadfast love;

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord,

because he has dealt bountifully with me."

God is good! He took how I had been feeling and was able to give me peace. I'm not perfect, I make mistakes, but He's still there, walking me through the day, step by step. 

God bless! Thank you for reading!

Stop! Sit! Pray!

Let us Pray.

Loving Father, we stand before You in the midst of confusion and complexities of life. Our future sometimes seems distant and unknown. Give us, O Lord, the vision to see the path you set before us. Grant us the courage to follow Your way, that through the gifts and talents You have given us, we may bring Your life and Your love to others. We ask this through Jesus, Your Son and our Brother. Amen

Lately, everything has been kinda crazy. Between everything that's going on in the world and at home, sometimes it feels like you don't have time to do anything! The other day My schedule was just packed yet I could not concentrate at all. I do online school, so not being able to concentrate is BAD! I sat at my computer, staring at the screen and then a thought occured to me. Doesn't the bible say something about placing our cares in His hands? ;P of course! John 14:1 says"Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me."

So that's what I did! I went over and sat on my bed and prayed for Jesus to calm my fears and take my worry. I have a chaplet to St. Padre Pio (He's awesome!) and at the beginning of each set you can add in your petition. After I had finished my chaplet I sat there in silence because first of all, it's hard to hear God if we never hush and second, ending prayers with quiet time is really peaceful to me. Giving everything to God is not easy, believe me, I struggle with that a lot. I tend to be a control freak, so the thought of giving my problems to someone else to handle kinda freaks me out. But when we place total trust in God, we will know true peace.

Praying helped me to calm my thoughts and to know that I'm not alone. This world can be extremely hectic, add that to our personal lives and it's like a nuclear bomb went off in our heads and it tends to cloud our thoughts. When our thoughts are clouded we tend to ignor the fact that God is by our side saying, "Don't worry. I got this." Instead we say "no, I've got this," when in reality we don't have it--at all. 

Saying "I got this" without God is like saying "I can eat this tomato soup with a fork! It's all good!" When in reality, your soup will slip through your fork, you will get a minuscule amount actually to your mouth and it will take you a million-bazillion years to get even close to the bottom of the bowl and you will never be able to get that last little bit at the bottom. But if you say, "Lord, I can't do this by myself. Help me." It'd be like Him saying, "here, have a spoon!" and He'd be there with you.

Yes, I know, I'm weird. But think about it. God is the key to our problems. God doesn't give you an impossible task, without Him it is impossible, but with Him you can move mountains (Matthew 17:20   "...if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”)

Next time you are stressed or worried or feel alone. Pray! You're not alone

Matthew 7:7-8

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."

God Bless you!!!

Stations of the Cross

The First Station: Jesus is condemned to death

We adore You oh Christ and we praise You,

because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world

"When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak, Pilate said to the, 'look at the man.'" (John 19:5)

The Second Station: Jesus takes up His cross

We adore You oh Christ and we praise You,

because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world

"When they had finished mocking Him, they stripped Him of the purple, dressed him in His own clothes and led Him out to crucify Him." (Mark 15:20)

The Third Station: Jesus falls the first time

We adore You oh Christ and we praise You,

because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world 

"He advanced a little and fell to the ground, praying that if it were possible this hour might pass Him by. He kept saying, 'Father, you have the power to do all things. Take this cup away from me. But, let it be as You would have it, not as I'" (Mark 14: 35-36)

The Fourth Station: Jesus meets His mother Mary

We adore You oh Christ and we praise You,

because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world

"When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved, He said to His mother, 'Woman, behold your son.' Then He said to the disciple, 'Behold your mother.' And from that hour onward the disciple took her into his home." (John 19: 26-27)

The Fifth Station: Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the cross

We adore You oh Christ and we praise You,

because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world 

"As they led Him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene who was coming in from the fields. They put a crossbeam on Simon's shoulder for him to carry along behind Jesus." (Luke 23:26)

the Sixth Station: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus

We adore You oh Christ and we praise You,

because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world 

 "Then the just will ask Him and say, 'Lord when did we see you hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and welcome You or clothe You in Your nakedness?' The king will answer them, 'I solemnly assure you, whatever you did for the least of My brothers and sisters, you did for Me.'" (Matthew 25:37-40)

the Seventh Station: Jesus falls the second time

We adore You oh Christ and we praise You,

because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world

"It was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that He endured. He was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins. Upon Him was the chastisement that make us whole, and by His stripes we are healed." (Matthew 25:37-40)

the Eighth Station: Jesus comforts the women of Jerusalem

We adore You oh Christ and we praise You,

because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world 

"A great crowd followed Him, including women who beat their breasts and lamented over Him. Jesus turned to them and said: 'Do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves and for your children'" (Luke 23:27-28)

the Ninth Station: Jesus falls the third time 

We adore You oh Christ and we praise You,

because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world 

Jesus said, "the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I solemnly assure you, unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies, it produces much fruit." (John 12:23-24)

the Tenth Station: Jesus is stripped of His garments 

We adore You oh Christ and we praise You,

because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world

"Then they crucified him and divided up His garments by rolling dice for them to see what each should take." (Mark 15:24)

the Eleventh Station: Jesus is nailed to the cross 

We adore You oh Christ and we praise You,

because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world 

"When they came to the place of the Skull, they crucified Jesus there and the criminals as well, one on His right and the other on His left. Then Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, they know not what they do'" (Luke 23:33-34)

the Twelfth Station: Jesus dies on the cross 

We adore You oh Christ and we praise You,

because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world 

"It was around midday, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. Then the veil of the Temple was torn in two. Jesus uttered a loud cry and said, "Father, into Your hands I commend my spirit.' After He said this He expired."

[Take a moment to pray in silence...]

 

 

 

 

 

the Thirteenth Station: Jesus is taken down from the cross

We adore You oh Christ and we praise You,

because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world 

"Afterward, Joseph of Arimathea, secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could remove Jesus the body of Jesus. And Pilate permitted it, so they came and took the body away." (John 19:38)

the Fourteenth Station: Jesus is placed in the tomb 

We adore You oh Christ and we praise You,

because by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world 

"Taking the body, Joseph wrapped it in clean linen and laid it in his own new tomb which had been hewn from a formation of rock. Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away." (Matthew 27: 59-60)

  

Ah, public speaking...gotta love it!

We all have something that scares us. No matter what we do, we just can’t conquer that fear. For some of us, maybe it’s a spider, for others, maybe heights; maybe it’s of small places, or getting lost. But no matter what we’ve tried, that fear still grips our mind. You see, our problem is, we try to handle stuff on our own instead of offering it up to God. But God doesn’t leave us to fend for ourselves; He will carry us through our struggles and give us strength to mount up on wings like eagles, to run and not grow weary, to walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

In the book of Joshua [1:9] we are told to “be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

For me, I’m terrified of speaking in front of people, which is funny because I wish I could be a catholic speaker (ironic, right?) I know I dream big, but hey, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!” (Phil. 4:13) I have wanted to conquer this fear for forever now! I’ve tried reading more in the class room (yes, I’m even scared to read in front of my classes at school) I’ve helped out more with my youth group and reading and speaking in front of them, but every time I get up there and I see everyone looking at me, I start shaking and my voice gets really quiet and I stutter and it’s just not a pretty sight. I’ve gotten better, but I’m still nervous. I even get nervous practicing before I go up in front of people!

Towards the beginning of the school year, I had made a video for my youth group on adoration (sorry I can’t post the video online) and we played it at youth group right before our first adoration of the school year. (Movie making is just one of my hobbies and I’ve gotten pretty good at it, if I do say so myself) My priest, who knows how much adoration means to me, was in the church when we played the video and he gave me thumbs up as he was watching it. After adoration was over, I went back to tell him thank you and he told me that he really enjoyed the video and asked if I would be willing to share it at the other church that he is pastor for. Of course I said yes! I was so excited that Father approved of my video and liked it enough to share it with the other church that I didn’t realize what he was asking me at first. Then he asked me if I would do a presentation on the Eucharist along with the video… Ah public speaking, such a wonderful thing…

“Have no anxiety at all, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving make your requests be made known to God.” (Phil. 4:6) This is the bible verse that popped into my head when Father asked me if I would give a talk…and I said yes. So, for the past couple months I have been editing my witness to surround the Eucharist.

As I was writing this blog post, I decided to look up bible verses on fear and I found one I really like and I hope you like it too. It’s from the letter to the Hebrews [13:6] “we can confidently say, ‘the Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” how true!? So often we worry about what other people think of us, “but in the end, it was never between you and them, it was between you and God.” (Mother Teresa)

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?” (Psalm 56:3-4)

Next time you have to face something that scares you, remember that nothing is impossible for God (Luke 1:37)

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock. ...” (Psalm 27: 1-14)

God Bless You!!! :)

Raising our White Flags

SURRENDER!

Lately that word is the one I run from. Let's admit it, this is probably one of the hardest parts of being a disciple of Christ. Surrender means giving everything to God, releasing all your worries, "letting go and letting God." IT'S HARD!

 

A lot of times, we as humans are too stubborn to admit that we actually need God, we try to do it aloneand eventually realize that doing it alone is impossible, "For without God, you can do nothing." (John 15:5)

 

Some people will raise their white flag and surrender to God during a very emotional moment, but later they turn around and go back to trying to be independent.

 

See, the thing about surrender is that it's not just the easy areas in your life or the part you are worried about. It's EVERYTHING!!! It's surrendering your family, friends, boyfriend/girlfriend, and random people you care about and that you don't get along with. It's surrendering the shame that you hide deep down in your heart. It's surrendering the lonliness you feel or the anger. It's surrendering your hopes and dreams. It's surrendering your feelings of not being good enough. It's surrendering the tears on your pillow at night. The list goes on and on, but in a sum, it's surrendering everything.

 

 

2 Timothy 4:18 says:

"The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen."

 

 Have you ever heard the saying "If God is all you have, you have everything you need" or "When it's too hard to stand, kneel" or "Don't tell God you have a big problem, tell your problem you have a big god."well, those are all true. They may not be easy, but they are very true. God is bigger than all of this. He will lift you up. He won't let you fall. All you have to do is offer it up. And maybe you are afraid, I know it's hard, but God will take care of it. Maybe you start by offering up something small, and then something bigger, and then something even bigger untill you are ready to give to God what is God's: your life. Surrender is a scary thing! We silly humans think we can handle everything on our own but we can't. There is no possible way we can face the devil alone. By trying to face Satan alone, he has already won. Don't give him that satasfaction! Jesus already beat the devil, and He's backing you up. So next time you face your biggest mountain, remember that Jesus is right beside you, walking with you, holding your hand. So offer it up and "let go and let God!"

 

"This is only a mountain, you don't have to find your way around it

Tell it to move, it'll move

Tell it to fall, it'll fall

This is only a moment you don't have to let your fear control it

Tell it to move, it'll move

Tell it to fall, it'll fall"

 

 

 

 

Quit Dancing in the Rain!

Have you ever noticed how the road to hell always seems easier, more fun, than the path to heaven? Well, I'm not saying choose the path to hell, but that's kinda true. The devil is tricky; he can make you feel all alone and make your life absolutely horrible, then he throws a temptation at you that will pull you even farther from God, but at that time it doesn't seem so bad. We've all had those days where you wake up and the last thing you want to do is leave your cozy bed, but it's Sunday... Maybe you're thinking, "I'll just go back to sleep, it's not that big of a deal to miss church just this once." It's so easy to give into Satan and all his temptations. But you don't have to fight Satan alone!

As Father Ezra put it, "God is like an umbrella sheltering us from the devil." We need a shelter and strongtower and that would be God. He is the great protector. Sin is so tempting and hard to say no to. Everyone of us has been at that point in our lives where it's sin vs. God.

My friend added to Father Ezra's quote by saying, "as soon as you let even a finger out from under the umbrella, next it will be your whole hand, and before you know it, you will be dancing in the rain of Satan."  Why do we do that? Why would we leave God's protection?
Well first of all, Satan's temptations may be "satisfying" for a little while. They are wrong, but he messes with your mind and makes you think that it's not really that bad. God's reward you have to keep working for, it's not an instant satisfaction, and yes, the road is long and difficult. But in the end it comes to: would you rather burn in hell? or be rewarded in heaven?

It's your choice. People try to blame God because temptation is so easy. But He says multiple times in the bible that times will be tough, but your eternal reward is in heaven.

God is ENOUGH!!!

Let nothing trouble you

Let nothing frighten you

Everything passes, but God never changes

Whoever has God, wants, for nothing

Patience obtains all

God is ENOUGH

 

 This prayer by Teresa of Avila is so beautiful when you listen to the words in detail.

 

“Let Nothing Trouble You,” don’t worry, God’s got your back! This is always a hard one. I’m one of those people who gets picked on and pushed around or sometimes flat out ignored like I’m not even there and it hurts. I’m not going to lie and tell you that it doesn’t hurt, because it does. But, that doesn’t give me a reason to be upset and “troubled” all the time. God has put each and everyone of us in the certain situation that we are in, we may not particularly like it, believe me, I hate it at my high school, but you know what God picked that specific high school, so there is a reason I am there. Remember that the next time you are shoved around in the hallway or are working on a project all by yourself because you are too shy to meet someone new, God could be using you, just listen for his voice, He will guide you on the right path. It may not be the easy path but it will get you where you need to go.

 

“Let Nothing Frighten You,” you never walk alone, be not afraid. I’ve always loved that bible verse about running and not growing weary because God is at our side. I don’t know the actual Bible citation, but there is a song we sing at church: “We will run and not grow weary, for our God will be our strength, and we will fly like and eagle, we will rise again.” you see, we never need to be afraid because God will never leave our side. I love thinking of God as the big papa bear. He’s lovable and always there for us and guiding us in our ways and our protector. So you never need to fear.

 

“Everything passes, but God never changes,” Now I particularly like this line because it’s pretty much saying: you know what, things change people move on, you may get hurt but you know what, God will be with you through it all and He will still love you no matter what you do. Now, how awesome is that!? J We have a loving God who loves us no matter what we do! J Now, we can disappoint Him, but He will always be ready to welcome us back when we turn back to Him. <3

 

“Whoever has God wants for nothing,” Can you believe it? All we need is God? How can that be? Remember, God is your Father, the Papa Bear, He will provide. Don’t cling too much to this world (money, popularity, society) cause God is not of this world.

 

“Patience obtains all,” ever heard the phrase, “Patience is a virtue?” well, yeah, but is it a virtue you obtain? I’m just going to say flat out: this is the only thing that bugs me about this prayer. I suck at patience! I’m the type of person who will have a count down going a whole year before something. But, God is big on patience. “Good things come to those who wait,” heard that one too? Think about it, we wait for just about everything in life: wait in line, wait for meals, wait for a tv show to come on, wait for a friend to text back, wait for school to start/end, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! But the thing we wait most for is for God to answer our prayers. And sometimes God doesn’t answer our prayers in the way we want, or we don’t realize that He actually did answer that prayer. “Patience obtains all” really does encompass a lot of what offering ourselves to God in pray means. When we get to heaven, it will all be explained. God does everything with a purpose, you may have to wait for the result, but your reward lies in heaven.

 

“God is ENOUGH!” If God is for us who can stand against us!? Well, I will tell you one thing, not even the devil can take you away from God’s love. He can make you think that God has turned His back on you and make you feel like you’re all alone, but you know what? God’s got your back through it all, He will never leave you, He is ENOUGH, SUFFICIENT, ADEQUATE, etc. God can handle this life, heck; Jesus took the butt of it. Jesus knows and understands what you are going through, he suffered too. He understands, this life may throw you into anger, depression, feelings of worthlessness, pain, loneliness… but God will take care of you through it all, He will carry you.

 

GOD IS ENOUGH!

 

Oh no! She's up!

"Be the woman that when your feet hit the floor in the morning the devil says, 'Oh no! She's up!'"

That is my goal. This past week I was on a mission trip in South Carolina. I'm was so excited for a couple reasons: one, I love helping people, It's the best way to let Christ shine through us; two, the program is amazing, singing, jumping up and down, and praising God is such an amazing experience and it feels so great to give everything to God; three, I will be away from home, this probably doesn't seem like much, but I break out of my shell more when I'm away.

Throughout the week crews were working in nursing homes, ophanages, ranches, houses, etc.. This is one of the many opportunities God has given me to share His love and to use the gifts He gave me.


While we were there we were looking for God Sightings. A God Sighting is when you see God's love shine through someone, something, and action, etc. I had two God sightings that will really stick with me. The first God Sighting I had was when we were working at a Restore Habitat for Humanity store. I was hanging clothes on hangers and the lady who worked there was saying how it is really sad when people can't even afford clothes at Goodwill. She said that people come to their store when that happens. She said one day a woman came in and all she had was $2 and they were able to get her a whole outfit and send her away with a smile.

My second God Sighting during the week was on our last day working. That day we went to a pastor's house. He had been sick all week, was still sick, and needed someone to mow his lawn and weed wack for him. After we had finished we went in to tell him we were finished and the adult in my crew (who is also a pastor) went over to him and held his hand as he prayer over him. It was a very powerful experience for me and it was almost as if Jesus was right there with him, healing him. :)


My reason for adding my God Sightings into this blog post is tp show you that God Sightings can be anything. It can be as simple as picking up trash. Most people when they think of God Sightings they think of a burning bush. Yes, that would be a God Sighting, but it doesn't have to be something so obvious. usually God works through the simple things in life.

I pray most days. I've prayed with people before. I've prayed over people before. And I've been prayed over. Praying is one of those things that is reoccuring, something I'm use to. But, when I saw Dave pray over that man, it was so amazing. I can't even really explain it. I just knew Jesus was there, I could feel Dave's passion for Christ and feel the strength in his prayer.

"Be the woman that when your feet hit the floor in the morning the devil says, 'Oh no! She's up!'"

That is my goal, and I challenge you to be someone's God sighting.

God's Healing Hand

I would like to tell you how God pulled me out of the hole I had dug myself into. I had never had a good relationship with my dad, we just didn't get along no matter what. At one point in my life everything seemed to keep piling up; my grandma was slowly dying of cancer, my relationship with my dad had gotten worse, I was sick of constantly getting picked on in school, and I had no relationship with God; I just wanted it all to be over. I started to fall into depression. I couldn't take it anymore. I started cutting myself and I thought about killing myself. Luckily I never got the strength to follow through. Eventually I was able to get help and I was able to stop cutting.

That anger never left me though; I was angry at what I had done. About a year later I had heard a voice in my head saying, "You deformed the body I gave you," as you can probably imagine, that made me feel awful!

This past week I was on LEAD, which is an amazing retreat at Franciscan University of Steubenville. On Tuesday night we were talking about past hurts, we were given a piece of paper and I started making my list. As I was kneeling, I put my hands in front of me and close my eyes and Jesus is there! I could feel my hands closing around His hands. He was there with me! In that moment I realized He had always been with me! He holds my hand everywhere I go;it's like the footprints prayer, He's been carrying me my whole life. I just never realized it! After that I was able to offer up my hurts and give God my life.

Ever since that night I have been on the road to healing. It wasn't easy to let go of something that has been hurting me for so long, but I know God is helping me through it. God pulled me out of everything that was weighing my down, I know He can do it for you too! Trust in God, great things will happen!

Do You Ever Feel Useless?

Lately that has been nagging me. I know God has a plan for me, I just feel like I am useless. I want to make a difference, to share God's love, be like Jesus, but how do I do that? I'm only 15, how am I supposed to make a difference in someone's life? Am I on the right path?


Earlier this year I could really feel why God had put me where I was. At first I really questioned my decision to leave private school and go to public, I didn't know anyone and I went from having 50 kids in my grade to 700ish kids in my grade (that's a little nerve wrecking!) And I'm shy, I really had no clue why I chose public school.


Then it happened.
I was sitting in science class and the kid next to me started talking to me, he was one of the first people to really talk to me, one of my first new friends. He knew I was Catholic because of my bracelet and my dog-tag. About a week later, he asked me about my view on Satan. Obviously, being a Christian I dislike Satan. (Actually, At Baptism and Confirmation I took a vow that says that "I renounce Satan and all his nasty deeds...") I asked him why he was asking me such a strange question and he told me that he was thinking about becoming a satanist. I didn't even know that satanists were real until he said that. I literally didn't know what to say. I was shocked! How could anyone want to worship Satan? Why would anyone want to? It scared me that he would even consider something like that.


That night I went home and cried and prayed to God to help me think of something to do. How am I supposed to deal with something like that? How could I convince him that he was making a HUGE mistake?


A week later he told me that he had made up his mind and he was now satanist. It breaks my heart to think that he could actually do that. But that night, I had a dream, I don't remember the dream but that morning I decided that everyday I was going to tell him that Jesus Loves Him! To me, that was God telling me that I can do something, even if it takes years, he will one day realize that Jesus loves him and is willing to forgive him and bring him back. That helped me to grow stronger in professing my faith. Anyone who knows him, knows that I am christian and that I care about him. And that is my goal in life, to share God's love and be Jesus to others.

Made in God's Image :D

You know what, I may not be the prettiest girl, or the tallest, or have the next new thing, but you know what, that is not what God made us for. We were made for so much more! God made each and every one of us in His image. (Genesis 1:27, Genesis 9:6, 2 Corinthians 4:4) So why is it that our society thinks that you have to have outer beauty to do anything? The sad thing is I know people who think that "ugly" people can't do anything--yet this person is the least coordinated person I've ever met. Why do looks make a difference in what you can or cannot do? Why should there be a line between "pretty" and "ugly"?

"There is not, never has been, and never will be a single person for whom Christ did not suffer."

We are all His children, why then is there separation? What is the difference? Jesus died for you, for me, and everyone on this earth. God puts people in our lives for a reason, but if you treat that person horrible, you may never find out why God put them there. He gives us blessings in everything. The girl you see walking down the hallway may be the one to change your life forever. Or maybe that guy you bumped into in the store needed your help. Or a kid in school that doesn't have many friends and needs someone like you to talk to.

You never know what God has in store for you. Always remember to keep an open mind and be ready for anything He throws at you. I wasn't ready when he threw a whole bundle of things at me and luckily God had put people in my life to help me through it. :)

 

 

 

 

 

"The true friend is the one who’s coming in the door while everyone else is going out. Friends are the ones who love you when you’re hard to love, stand by you when it’s not the popular thing to do and are there for you when you need it, even if it means they don’t get anything back."

No matter what, Jesus will always be there for you. He will always be standing there with open arms. He will never leave you!