Who Am I? Part 5

I am a daughter of God.
What does this really mean? Of course, we know the basic answer - it means I have a place to call home, I belong to someone, I have a purpose to know, love, and serve the Lord. As a daughter of God, I have a special mission. As daughters of God we have a special mission because we are women and as woman we have a different mission than man. So what is my mission as woman?

Woman has the ability to bear life - with bearing life you gain a deeper love, so as woman you are called to love. You have a loving heart that is meant for love. The only love that can completely satisfy your heart is the love of Jesus. Then, your mission, as woman, is taking this love that you have been given by Jesus Christ, accepting it, and spreading it. Seek to bring others to know Christ through your love. Through the love you give to others you can bring life because by sharing the love you give people hope.

You are called to be joyful because this love of Christ, given to you unconditionally, can only be spread through joy. Therefore, as a daughter of God you are meant to be joyful and to love with the love of the Lord and spread that love all throughout the world to each person you meet.

As woman, we are also beautiful. We are called to embrace that beauty. I don't mean objectify or promote your body as a pleasure giving object because of the way you dress, but I mean to recognize you are God's special creation. He made you beautiful just the way you are. And, as woman, we can use that beauty, if used properly, to spread love as well. Embrace your natural beauty.
How do we do this properly? In what way can we use our beauty to spread the love of Christ?
Well, to this I do not know the answer. I would say that the way people see you is based on the way you carry yourself and the way you treat your body. So, spread the love of Christ by being respectful to you body. Cover yourself - we don't want to see your cleavage, we don't want to see your butt hanging out your skirt or peaking out of your way too low cut jeans. Therefore, dress in a manner that shows you know your beautiful, but you know that beauty is a gift from Christ. Talk in a way that is respectful and people know you are daughter of God by the way you live your life.

The best way to bring people to the faith is to be a witness. Be a witness in your joy. People will see your joy and want to share in it.

Who am I?
I do not know the answer to this either. What I can say is I am a daughter of God. I belong to God. When we carry ourselves and live our lives as daughters of God we learn who we are. Live your life as a daughter of God. Let the light of the Lord shine through you always!

God bless!
Keep praying!

In the love of Jesus & Mary,
amber

Attitude is Everything

Philippians 2:5 Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus.

Jesus is always a loving and compassionate person. He did all things out of love for others and he dies on the cross out of love for his people with the desire to give people everlasting life. Therefore, all that we do should be done out of live. We should reach out to others and seek to help them because we love them. We should treat ourselves with respect because our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. Your body is meant to honor the Lord, so you - we need to act, behave, and dress in a manner that is respectful to our bodies out of our love for the Lord - because we want to honor him always. All acts should be completed with love and out of love for another person.

Also, over the past week I was on a retreat/mission trip where there was a talk given on being a self-gift. God did not have to give us life. We did not have to be born or put on this earth; however, God chose to put us here. God has on this earth at this time for a reason. We are here to serve and we must learn to serve with joy because that is how Christ served. We must carry ourselves and work joyfully in order to be most pleasing to our Lord. The reason we should treat our body respectfully is because when we are being respectful to ourselves then it is easier for us to be joyful in our service to the Lord.

Therefore, have the same joyful, compassionate, loving attitude of Christ. In serving in joy, you can come to define yourself and find out who you are by imitating Christ because we belong to Christ and we can only define ourselves through Christ.

God bless!
Keep praying!
In the love of Jesus & Mary,
amber

Who Am I? Part 4

Hello, prior to my post tonight I want to inform you all that I will be leaving for a mission trip tomorrow morning, so my series on being a daughter of God and self-definition will be post-poned probably until after the holidays because I will be so very busy this coming week. I wish you a merry Christmas and pray God blesses you! Now, on with the blogging!

You are a daughter of God. You are sacred. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

You are a daughter of God. You have a person you belong to - God. You are His princess. You are the apple of His eye. He loves you more than words can express. He sent his only Son to die for your salvation. Jesus Christ layed his life down for you - because he loved you that much, he loves you that much!

You are sacred; you are beautiful. You belong to God and he has a specific purpose for you. He made you with a specific plan in mind. His love for you is infinite. This makes you sacred. You were made with a purpose to serve the Lord and this purpose makes you important; this purpose makes you sacred!

Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Treat yourself as a body that belongs to Jesus, as a body that Jesus lives in. When we enter a chapel we genuflect out of respect for the Lord. We need to treat our bodies with respect just as we treat Jesus with respect. We need to dress in a way that does not objectify us. We need to talk in a manner that shows we are children of God. We need to demand respect from others. We need to refrain from use of drugs and alcohol. We need to save sex for marriage and remember that we are a tabernacle for the Lord. Upon receiving communion, our bodies enters into our body. We receive the body, blood, soul, and divinity of our Lord. Therefore, Jesus Christ lives in us in a most literal way. He is our strength. We need Him. We must learn to rely on him and him alone for everything because we can do nothing without him!

Because of all this, we must remember Jesus wants to live in us! Jesus wants to be the King of our hearts.  Let Him in. Let Him love you. Let Him heal your wounds. He is ever present in you and in your life!

Dearest Jesus,
We welcome you into our hearts. Please come and fill us with your Divine presence. We love you. Give us the strength to serve you in any way you may call us to serve.
amen

God bless!
Keep praying!
In the love of Jesus & Mary,
Amber

Who Am I? Part 3

Originally, I was only go to break this down into three parts for my series, but I feel as if there is more to it and as I was skimming through my journal to find where I last left off in this I found something I wanted to share, but it doesn't really fit anywhere under my 3 original topics of choice, so I am just going to extend it and continue until I feel this work is complete.

You are a daughter of God. You are sacred. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

I am a daughter of God. I have a special purpose on this earth and in this life to know, love, and serve God. I belong to God and am never alone because He is always with me.

I am sacred. I am beautiful. I was made in a special way, specifically tailored to the needs of Christ's purpose for me in this passing life. Psalm 139 says: "You are fearfully and wonderfully made"
I was made fearfully - God was so careful when He made me, and designed me and my life because He was fearful to mess something up and desired to make me a perfect fit in this life. God was afraid to mess up His perfect creation.
I am wonderfully made - I was made and designed perfectly, wonderfully, and meaningfully; meant to do something amazing and wonderful in order to satisfy the needs of the Father.
Because so much Divine thought went into my creation I am sacred and I am beautiful. I was made for a specific, sacred, special purpose and belong solely to God.

God puts this much thought into each one of His creations. We are all fearfully and wonderfully made. When God made us, he had fear of screwing up and not doing something exactly as it needed to be. Deep thought and Divine planning went into the creation of each of us. Therefore, we are sacred beings!

God bless!
Keep praying!
In the love of Jesus & Mary,
Amber

Who Am I? Part 2

Last night I started the first of a series I am working on, as I come to define who I am in my own journey. Tonight, I shall continue down this path. I pray that the Lord may now guide my words.

The quote we are working from is: You are a daughter of God. You are sacred. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

Last night, I covered you are a daughter of God. Tonight, You are sacred.

You are sacred.

You are beautiful; you are sacred. I feel that when one says you are sacred it can be intertwined with you are beautiful. When we go into churches we see these sacred items and are often left in awe of their beauty.
We belong to God - which makes us sacred. We have a special purpose to serve God, to know and to love Him. We are beautiful, sacred beings who are made in the image and likeness of God. Our beauty comes from the Lord, from being a daughter of God; we should glow with the fire of the Holy Spirit. In our beauty, we should be filled with Christian joy and the joy of the Holy Spirit. We should go through each day allowing our sacred beauty to shine. We should live our lives as daughters of God. We should lives our lives remembering: we are sacred, we are beautiful, we are special, and we have a place where we belong: a home in the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The Lord's love for us is infinite! He has a specific plan for us, and each of our days is written in His book. He has a specific, special purpose for us to serve in His Kingdom - this makes us special; this makes us sacred! Having a purpose to serve the Lord makes us sacred. Everything about us, about our lives, about our creation and our detailed make-up make us sacred, special, important, and beautiful!
As daughters of God, we are the crown of creation! God made us last because he was saving the best for last! We, the daughters of the most high King, are special, important, beautiful, and most importantly sacred!


Therefore, we are daughters of God. We are sacred. We must choose to live our lives as such!

God bless!
Keep praying!
In Jesus&Mary,
Amber

Who Am I? Part 1

Tonight I decided I am going to write a short series of posts with something I have praying with. Each post will break down this quote and what came from it in my prayer. The quote: "You are a daughter of God. You are Sacred. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit." It is a topic I am very passionate about, so please bear with me.
You are a daughter of God.

We are daughters of God. We were made by God and for God! He made us with a purpose and has a reason for us to be on this earth. He loves us and we belong to Him!

"I belong to someone because I belong to God. God is the only one who can define me!" Relationships with other people are not going to help define who you are and cannot let them define who you are. God is going to define you. God needs to define you! God must define you! You are a daughter of God and your purpose in this life is to know, love, and serve Him. He loves you. You belong to Him. You are a daughter of God who is fearfully and wonderfully made!

You are a daughter of God - What does this mean?
This means I have a purpose. This means I belong to someone who is perfectin everyway. This means I am a princess and in the eyes of my Father I am perfect.
This means I am called to love: God, friends, enemies, strangers, family, everyone, including myself, unconditionally.
This means I am called to serve and to lay my life down, to surrender my own wants and desires to the Lord. This means I am to lay my life down for my savior and give him everything, bring everything to Him!
Lastly, I am called to know. I am called to communicate with him. We must be able to tell him everything and anything, but we also must listen and hear what he has to say! Therefore, as a daughter of God I have a purpose to know, love, and serve God; I belong to God.
Being a daughter of God also means I am not alone because I have all of heaven with me, helping me, nudging and guiding me down the right path. I also have my earthly brothers and sisters to push me to grow in holiness, to pray for me and to help me.
As a daughter of God, I am beautiful. I was made for a special purpose, which comes with the general purpose to know, love, and serve God. Most importantly, I need to recognize that as God's creation I am beautiful and am most beautiful when the love of the Lord penetrates my heart so much that it explodes out and shines through; for all beauty comes from the Lord. He made me beautiful and perfect, just the way I am.

I am aware that I used "I" as I shared these thoughts with you, however, I want all to know that this applies to each creation...male or female, I chose I and daughter because it was easiest for me to reiterate from my prayer as I and I am a daughter of God.

God bless!
Keep praying!
In Jesus&Mary,
Amber

Why?

Last night we had a servants meeting for my youth group leadership team. We got into an intense discussion about double life syndrome, and how to call the youth group teens to holiness and call them out of this trance many seem to be stuck in. In our deep discussion, our youth minister pointed something out, that I had never thought of, we talk about these same issues every year. We address modesty every year with a different approach. We brought in Justin Fatica, a profound speaker, who called our youth out and who called youth to live up to their purpose. Kids were on fire for about 2 weeks, then everyone went back to their old ways.

Also, I have to ask - why? Why be catholic? Why live your faith out in your life? Why devote you life to Christ? Why party? Why have premarital sex? Why drink excessively? Why get high? Why? Why? Why?

I can't tell you why. I cannot tell you why to do something because I am a different person than you and have different reasons for my decisions in my life.

I choose to follow Christ. I choose to consecrate my Christ to the Lord. I choose to lay my life down for the Lord and to do something more than live for myself. I choose this because I know that by choosing to live for Christ I will get to go to heaven. I have accepted this. There are days when I don't want to get out of bed. There are days when I want to cry all day. There are days when  I don't want to live. There are days when I feel completely and totally alone. But it is all okay, because I know Christ is with me. I know Christ is suffering with me. And there are days when I am so joy-filled I want to cry. There are days when my life seems like it could not get much better, yet I know that there is something so much better waiting for me in the eternal life Christ has promised me!

Therefore, I ask you why? Why do you choose to disregard the faith? Why do you go to church on Sunday after getting excessively drunk Saturday night? Why do you choose to live this life for the world, who promises you nothing?

Why not choose to do something more with your life? Why not choose to live for something more than just this world? Why not try just giving everything over to Christ and see where it takes you?

Just a thought.

God bless!

Spreading the Light of Christ

There is a mom at my parish who I often saw and would say hello to, but she always had to ask me my name, she could never remember it! I found it funny, and rather humorous, but one day she decided that it was ridiculous she could not remember my name, so she made an association with my name.

My name is Amber, and she made an association with Ember because Amber is a warm golden color and so she remembers my name because embers glow in a fire and she claims that I am always glowing.

We as Christians are called to live a life of joy. This mom tells me that she used this as an association to remember my name because I am always glowing. We are called to live a virtuous life and to glow with love, to have a fire of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. We are called to to be joyous and to shine with the love of the Lord.

Today, I encourage you all to shine with the joy and love of the Holy Spirit. Allow the Holy Spirit to live in your hearts and be source of strength, in order to love as fully as we are able.

I'm sure you are all wondering: How do we obtain this joy?
Prayer. Simple as prayer. You must must must take quiet time each day to give to Christ that is meant to give Christ time to speak to your heart. You will always need Christ in your life and will not get far without Him. Take time each day to pray quietly. Start small, with just 10 minutes and gradually build - it will be easy because once you get started you will not want to stop. When you experience the joy of  Jesus, you will continue to return to Him constantly because he will become your source of joy and you will want to spread his love throughout the world, to each soul you meet!

Here is a simple prayer to get you started, it is one that I say daily!

Dear Jesus, help me to spread your fragrance everywhere we go.
Flood my soul with your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of you.
Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with
may feel your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me, but only you my Jesus.
Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be light to others.
 Amen,

Ahh, peace and quiet

Finally! A chance to relax in peace and quiet, you've drawn yourself a hot bubble bath and are soaking into with your hot cup of tea to relax in peace and quiet after a long day.

Then, suddenly, you remember - I have a final on Wednesday, O I need to study for this quiz, shoot I need to take the dog out, man I have dishes duty tonight, gosh! I have so much to do and never enough time to do it...and when am I ever going to squeeze in time for prayer!? I suppose right before bed will work, hopefully I don't fall asleep.

Rest in our lives is very important, and by rest, I don't mean sleep, I mean resting in the goodness of God. I have learned recently, when we do not rest everything goes off balance and gets messed up. We begin to feel overwhelmed, stressed out, and my favorite - like we barely have time to breathe. Often times, we let our busy lives of  this world consume everything, sometimes we put too much on our plate and can't get all done and repeatedly become overwhelmed and feel like this life is too hard to handle! At least, this is true for me.

However, I have discovered that when we make time for silence in our lives, it's so much better. When we make a point to sit down each day in complete silence and rest with the Lord, He is able to sustain us! He is able to give us the strength we need to press on in this life. The Lord needs to be our source of strength. To him, is the one place we need to run each day.  I want to encourage you, I want to challenge you today and everyday from now on to make time for silence in your day. Be it in the car, in your room, in a chapel - find silence somewhere!

I want to challenge you to go to adoration! Find a church, talk to your priest - see when there will be an opportunity for adoration, and if there is not one, see if you can start one! I have experienced the beauty of adoration, I have been so filled with joy I have wanted to cry tears of joy, and so I encourage you today to make time for silence in your life and rest in the goodness of God!

You are a daughter (or son) of God. You are sacred. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

If you are looking for something to pray with, to meditate over, try these words above - they are powerful, if you let them change you!

God bless!
Keep praying!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

Perfection

How often do we hear the phrase "be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect"?
I know I hear it all the time! But how often do we really look at what that means? What are we being told in this verse?

Last night, I went to One Gospel, which is like a youth group for college kids. It was pretty cool. The topic was being sons and daughters of God. Which, I chose to go because right now I want to learn what being a daughter of God means in my life. I know that I am a daughter of God, but what does that mean? How does it apply to my life? So, I went and we do some praise and worship and during praise and worship I asked God, 'Okay, what does this mean in my life?' And he didn't give me the answer I was expecting. I was expecting like a definition of sorts; but rather, God just told me you try too hard to be perfect. You are too hard on yourself. You don't give yourself a break when you fail.

When we fail, when we fall, that's when we need Jesus most. "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." When we fall, when we fail, Jesus comes. In our imperfections, Jesus is with us most. When we fall he picks us up, and he picks up our slack. In our human imperfection, we fail - that's a given fact, but Jesus makes up for it. Jesus fulfills and satisfies our every need. He takes all our imperfections and looks past them. He sees us as we will one day be, in heaven, and He wants to help us get there - so he lifts us up when we fall. We just have to be willing to get up and to let him help us get up.

So, be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect - by letting him take your imperfections, by letting him be with you and help you in your imperfection. We are called to be perfect, but we can only be perfect if we let the heavenly Father consume us and make us perfect.

God bless!
Keep praying!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

Who are you to Judge?

You don't know me
You don't know who I am
You don't know what fight I'm in
You don't know what I've done; where I've been.

Who are you to judge?
You don't have the slightest clue
From the outside,
My life doesn't look so grim

Once you get to know me,
And you've learned where I've been,
You'll see...
You have no place to judge.

Who are we to judge?
We don't know the inner workings
We don't know where someone has been
We don't know what they've gone through

Judgement is left to one
The Almighty God
The one who was with us
Through it all

You don't know me,
You don't know where I've been
You don't know what I've done; what I've felt
So, who are you to judge?


This is just a little something I wrote and wanted to share.

God's Mercy

Last night I was able to experience Holiness Revolution, a giant youth group. It was a unique experience. The main topic of the night was God's mercy.

God's mercy is so great, many of this know this, yet we struggle to believe that we are included in this. We can easily tell others that they are loved, that God is forgiving and merciful, that they are beautiful, that they are fearfully and wonderfully made (psalm 139). Yet, we cannot believe this ourselves. It does not apply to me. God, you do not know what I did. God, you are not big enough to fix this. God, I am helpless. God, I am broken. God, you cannot fix me.

I want to tell you these are all lies! God is bigger than our minds can fathom. His love, his mercy is completely unfathomable. God is big enough. God is strong enough. God will help you. You are NOT too broken for God!

Be open. Allow the Holy Spirit to penetrate your heart. Let him in.
Let the Holy Spirit change you.


Look at what Christ did for you! He wanted to do this! We, as sinners, all deserve eternal death. We all deserve to die, but Christ died on the cross for us. He died on the cross so that we might have life and have it abundantly. His most precious blood drips down upon us and we are washed clean with the blood of the lamb! His mercy cleanses us and makes us worthy to have eternal life. And the best part is... Christ WANTED to do it!

Keep praying!
God bless!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

I Know God Will not Give me More Than I can Handle, but...

Sometimes I wish He didn't trust me so much. ~Mother Teresa

Many people question, is there a such thing as spiritual warfare or spiritual battle?
My answer: Absolutely.
However, we only experience it and receive suffering with it when we are in touch with God, have a personal relationship with him and seek Him as our comfort and consolation. Don't let this steer you away from this personal relationship with God, because he will be with you through it and be your strength as you suffer...plus, all the suffering offered to Christ saves a great many souls, that we do not realize we have saved until we one day make it to heaven.

The devil has been attacking me repeatedly with the same attack for a really long time now. Even before I became Catholic, I struggled with these thoughts and feelings I have been having...that are completely inexplicable. It is kind of like my heart has been taken and twisted and turned in every which way that makes living absolutely awful torture, but I know that God is doing something with it and that gives me hope, and courage to keep fighting. Now, this does not mean I am perfectly content and okay all the time. I still lose hope. I still feel discouraged. However, I do know that this is a cross Christ has given me to bear. He is with me in all my suffering and when I call upon his name He is right there. He is always right there waiting for us to run into his open arms and feel his presence. So, when the going gets tough- don't be discouraged. Hope in the life that is to come and say a prayer. My favorite prayer in fighting this battle has been to St. Michael.

St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do Thou O Prince of the Heavenly Host cast into hell satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin and destruction of souls. amen.

Another way to fight a spiritual battle is to pray a novena and implore the help of a saint to fight this battle. Their intercession will help you as well. Remember that as you are calling on the Lord the devil will attack even more fiercely and will try even harder to get you to fall away from Christ and instead of accepting it all as a cross you must bear he will try to convince you of the lies he is feeding you and will continue to try harder and harder. It is your duty to spend time in prayer and to get to know and recognize the Lord's voice over the devil and push satan aside rather than Christ.

In conclusion, prayer is crucial in your life. No matter how much or how little, you need prayer. Don't lose hope and remember that this is only a small part of eternity that we are on this earth, so rather hope in the life to come. Lastly, trust Jesus always.

Keep praying!
God bless!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

You are loved, You are worthy!

You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book. Psalm 139:15-16

Today, I was reading a love letter that I received from God, the Father, made up of bible verses I came across this one. A struggle I carry in my heart is one with feeling like I have purpose, I am worthy, I deserved to be loved. When I read this verse I realized that God has a plan and a purpose for you! He has a specific detailed plan and has us on this earth at this time for a reason. We are meant to be here and have a mission. I do not know your specific mission nor do I know my own, but we all have a mission to love and to spread the word of the Lord throughout the world, to every person we meet. So, start there and build from that. We all have a mission! To learn what your specific mission is you must pray and ask God to reveal it to you, but I promise you life has purpose and meaning. You are meant to do something great, whether big or small, it will be great and will change someone's life!

Over the weekend I was on retreat and these two verses stood out to me repeatedly:

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you. 1 John 3:1

Because I love you with an everlasting love. Jeremiah 31:3

Jesus loves us! He chose to die on the cross for us! He wanted to die on the cross for us and give us eternal life. It was his life, and he chose to give up for us! Because he loves us! He loves us with an everlasting love! He wants to lavish, pour out his love upon us and love us.

The catch- We have to accept his love! We do NOT accept his love and do not allow or permit him to love us he can do nothing, but speak words of love to our heart, words that will be drowned out by demons trying to get us to fall away from Christ. Do NOT LISTEN TO THE DEMONS! You are loved. You are beautiful! You deserve to be loved! You are worthy of loved! Christ just needs you to be open to him and permit him to come into your heart and he will take care of the rest!

Let Jesus consume you entirely.

Keep praying!

God bless!

In Jesus&Mary,

amber

Double Life Syndrome?

Last night our youth group topic was Double Life Syndrome. Do you lead a double life? Do you wear one wardrobe for youth group and church events and another for school or social events? Do you say your pro-life, but do nothing to stop abortions? Do you profess the faith at mass and forget about it entirely after? Do you go along with impure, sexual jokes so as not to look weird?
I'm sure you answered yes to one of these questions or would have at one point in your life. Well, how do I fix this problem? How do I take my two lives and pick one and how do I remove the one that I do not want to partake in? Prayer!

Prayer seems to always be the answer to these types of problems, but it is only with Jesus we can change our lives. We are nothing, we are dirt, we are worthless, and we are powerless...without Jesus. When our life is centered on Jesus, when we let Jesus consume our mind, body, heart, and soul - our entire being we can do all things! Nothing is impossible with Jesus. All things can be accomplished and his grace and mercy will be enough for us to keep pressing on. His grace, his mercy is enough. We just have to allow him to come into our hearts. When you reflect on your life look and see where you're one person and where you're the other. You need to choose the life that has Jesus. STOP GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS! Stop settling! Be radical. Be different. As Pope John Paul II says, "Do NOT be afraid" Do not be afraid of what will come of a situation. If you are giving everything to Jesus and seeking to do his will, you cannot go wrong. Jesus will lead you down the narrow path. He will give you everything you need. He will be your strength. He loves you! You just need to say: Jesus, come into my heart. I wish to serve you. I want to come to know you more. Help me to live a life for you, and you alone.

When we pray, when we run to Jesus all things come together and we are able to serve him as he calls us to serve. When we come to know Jesus we will always, always, always have somewhere to run.  When we are living our faith we have a continuous joy because Jesus is the source of our joy and loves us more than our human minds can fathom.  Do not be afraid to live your faith radically. Let Jesus consume you. It will be something you will NEVER regret!

You Are All Beautiful!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hth7GzAoXos

I heard this song the other day and it was interesting because I had been really struggling with some insecurities of mine. Women so often feel insecure about our appearance. We're afraid we look fat, or ugly, and are always striving to be perfect, gorgeous, stunning, and trying to live up to this false standard the media puts forth for us to live up to and we're not good enough unless we can meet these standards of beauty, which are all ridiculous, and impossible to achieve because we are all human and imperfect, plus almost all of those images are computer edited, so how are we supposed to successfully look like an image that is so perfect only because of computer editing? We're not! We are all beautiful just the way we are! God made us beautiful!

One of my favorite bible verses comes from Song of Songs 4:7. This verse states "You are all beautiful, my beloved, there is no blemish within you" How true is this! We are all made in the image and likeness of a perfect God. We are perfect in the eyes of the Father! He loves us just where we are and just how we are.

A great quote from St. Rose of Lima

"Lord, help me to remember what is really important:
That I am Your child
You are my Father
You love me for who I am and how I live,
not what I look like or what I own.
Let me praise you who sees into my heart, who is always with me, and who eases my suffering."


Remember, my dear friends, we are all beautiful and we are all loved by our Father in heaven. You are never alone and you are so loved. Take your insecurities to the Lord and seek him for comfort and consolation when you struggle with your image.

God bless!
Keep praying!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

Curve Balls?

I've grown up spending all summer, every summer watching baseball. It's what I know and what I'm familiar with, so I like baseball analogies...so long as you stick to the basics.

Life has thrown me a curve ball. I don't know what is going on, what is going to happen in the next 5 minutes even. And it seems that when I am wanting to know what's next in my life God is like nope, not yet...you have to be patient and wait. My curve ball this time was a guy...a great, wonderful, practicing Catholic, faithful to the Lord and exactly what I look for in a guy...yet, my fears caused me to push him away. So what do I do now? I wait! I pain-stakingly, and attemp to patiently wait for God's plan to reveal itself in due time. But it's not easy, actually it's quite awful. But when we're thrown a curve ball, we take it as it comes and make the best of it. I encourage you, who may also be struggling with something Christ threw into your life, to run to Jesus and give him everything. Pour your heart out to the Lord and allow him to consume you. Trust in him and surrender to his will. Remember you are not alone in your struggle, we're fighting this fight together, so keep pressing on and giving everything to Jesus. Everything will turn out as it's supposed to.

God bless!
Keep praying!

in Jesus&Mary,
amber

Keep Your Head Up

It is so easy in this world to become discouraged when you're not dating someone because the media tells us that we need to have a boy/girl-friend, otherwise we're not cool, or we expected to be depressed and unhappy all of the time because we're supposed to be 'lonely'. I encourage you to turn away from society! Live and let whatever happens, happen. Trust Jesus! Pray, run to the Lord. Tell him your heart's desires, your wants, you joys, your pains, your frustrations! Pour them all out at the foot of the Cross of Jesus Christ! So often we are not supposed to be in a relationship, but we jump into things too quickly and end up hurt in one way or another. If we are seeking the will of the Father, he will put a stop to things, if they are wrong. Therefore, keep running to Jesus. Seek him as your comfort and your consolation and keep your head up! God has something great planned for each of us! Don't get discouraged when you feel alone or feel like maybe you don't fit in because you're not dating a guy, but ask yourself- who am I living for? and answer that you're living for Jesus, Jesus, Jesus! Jesus is supposed to be our best friend. Run to your best friend (Jesus)when you are struggling. Keep your head up and remember- "You are all beautiful, my beloved, there is no blemish within you" Song of Songs 4:7


God bless!
Keep praying!
In Jesus&Mary,
amber

Accepting God's Gifts

Lately I have been really struggling with my life. I keep being told how awesome, amazing, or wonderful I am by various people. I HATE when people say that to or about me because I've always had it stuck in my head that I don't deserve to be called those things. I always thought I was a worthless piece of crap. Then, I came to know God, and realized that I'm not worthless, but my purpose is to serve him and all that I do should bring him glory. Now, God has blessed me with a great, inspirational story to share with others, some wisdom(so I'm told), and great faith(so I'm told). I don't always believe all these things and these are probably only a few of the gifts and talents God has given me, to better serve him. He gives each of us different gifts though, because we all serve a different purpose in this world and need to different gifts to serve his purpose for us. Since God has blessed me with my "special story", I'm being told more and more frequently how great I am. Last night I was arguing with my friend that I wasn't any of these because they all come from God, I am just his instrument, I don't deserve to recieve the credit for the things I'm doing, etc. My friend conitnued to tell me that I am all these things that people say about me, yet I refused to accept this.

Now, last night I was too tired to take this to prayer, so I made sure I got to it today. God revelaed to me how he was hurt that I couldn't accept the gifts he had given me, so when I realized I had hurt my Lord, I sought his help, whole-heartedly, trying to figure out how to overcome this struggle I have been carrying with me for over a year now. The good Lord revelaed to me a way to help me be more willing to accept these truths that people tell me, by giving each praise I recieve, for what I do, to him and using the praise I recieve to glorify him! God helped me to realize that I have a special role in this world and will be an instrument for him to reach many people. I now want to remind you-  You are special! You do play an important role in this world! You have a specific, detailed plan written out for you; when you come to the Lord, he will meet you right where you are at and help you to move forward at your pace! You just have to put forth the effort and work towards giving Jesus your all!

God bless!
Keep praying!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

What are you living for?

Today's reading really got me thinking! It points out how we are born into freedom, and Christ Jesus gave us that freedom! How awesome is that! Many people don't know of Christ, nor do they know of his great love for them! Continuing on, Jesus died on the cross to set us free. He also gave us the option of free will. We can choose to follow him or we can choose to be stuck in the world. I have learned, through my life experience that when you surround yourself with worldly things you constantly feel empty and move from one thing to another seeking fulfillment and recieving emptiness. We're always searching, wanting, desiring something more.

We all want a reason to live, what are you living for?

I live for Jesus Christ! I live in order to know, love and serve him as best I can! Jesus Christ is my King and Savior. My life would be empty without him! He completely cares for my every need and I would be nothing without him! He died on the cross to set me free; therefore, I owe my life to him. You choose, what way of life do you want? One of empty, endless searching or one where you always have someone to run to for comfort and who loves you unceasingly?

Galatians 5:1-

For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm

and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.

Keep praying!
God bless!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

Food for Thought

During mass today the priest got me thinking, how often do we really give thanks? Once a year, maybe twice...at thanksgiving? That's not nearly enough when we look at how much Christ gives us each and every day! It's truly amazing. He gives us air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat, in the mass he gives us his own body and blood to rely on for strength, he gives us the roof over our head, the job we may have, he comforts us in sorrow and rejoices with us in times. He is constantly with us and constantly giving us exactly what we need at each and every moment of each and every day. I encourage you now to reflect on your life and offer thanksgiving to Christ for the many blessings he has given you. Recognize that we are nothing without Christ. We survive on Christ, and Christ alone!

Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through him who strengthens me.


Some food for thought:
 "The thoughts of those moved by natural human love are almost completely fastened on the beloved, their hearts are filled with passion for it, and their mouths full of its praises. When it is gone they express their feelings in letters, and can't pass by a tree without carving the name of their beloved in its bark. Thus too those who love God can never stop thinking about him, longing for him, aspiring to him, and speaking about him. If they could, they would engrave the name of Jesus on the hearts of all humankind." ~St. Francis de Sales

Keep praying!
God bless!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

Reality

How often are we 'real' with ourselves? For me, it's often never. Who wants to sit down and look into what's going on with their life? Why do we want to think or talk about our pain, our suffering, when it's seemingly so much easier to pretend everything is okay?

When we are realistic with our lives it makes us stronger in Christ because Christ is strongest in our weakness. He builds us up. Therefore, do not be afraid to be real with your life, with pain, with suffering, heartache and more. Reognize it, talk about it with someone. You do not have to tell every person you meet your life story and the pains you suffer, but you should find those people who you can come to with your problems. In reality, it is not healthy to hold in those emotions either. We need to continue to recognize our weakness and let Christ be our strength in them. We, as Christians and followers of Christ, need to be able to unite our pain and our suffering to Christ our King so He can be our strength, our rock on which we stand firm.

Who are you?
What's your story?
Where do you struggle?

Keep praying.
God bless!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

Charitable Love

So often in this world we struggle to love. We are so self-absorbed that we become only concerned with what will benefit us best. I know I often struggle to love an acquaintance of mine. However, when we struggle to love we just need to remember who we are living for, what we are living for, what our goal in this life is: to know, love and serve Christ Jesus. Next time you struggle to love someone ask Mary for help. Say: Mary, help to love as you love; Jesus give me a heart of love. Ask the Lord and our Mother for strength and grace to love each person we meet and reach out to them as their needs require. Give everything to the Lord. Everything you do should be a gift to Jesus. Offer it to Jesus; give it him. One day you will be greatly rewarded. Remember we are living for Jesus, to love him, to serve him, to know him and to be united with him one day in heaven!

God bless!
Keep praying!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

Discernment

God has a plan for each of us. He has each moment of our life planned out and knows the exact way we will go. Each decision we make is discerning God's will.
"Should I help this person, or pretend I don't see them?"
"Should I say my prayers or go watch television?"
"Should I do my homework or go out with friends?"
"Am I meant to be a mom or a consecrated religious; a priest or a father?"
"What career path should I take?"

These are all questions we ask ourselves or have asked ourselves. Each of these decisions should be made with God in mind. Each of the decisions should be made with God. Some of them are easier to discern an answer than others.

However, what's most important to remember when discerning is: ultimately, it is your decision. No one, can decide for you. You have to make your decision, you can seek advise from friends, but ultimately, God will tell you what he wants from you, from your life. Only you will know the answer in your heart. You can't let other people influence your decision so much that they make the decision for you because only you can make a decision for your life. Unite everything to the Lord and he will help you to make your decisions, whether daily or life!

God bless!
Keep praying!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

How to Handle a Busy Life

The past few days I've been wondering, what am supposed to say in my blog? What does God want me to share?

In our busy-ness we so often forget who matter most. We go from one moment to the next, constantly moving and forget to take that quiet peaceful time with our Lord, so like a car, after we run so long we eventually hit E which is when we run into trouble if we don't fill up.

My life has been crazy busy! I was on a wonderful retreat over the weekend. My grandpa passed away. I started dating a guy. School is going full-force. So many things are happening at once, I would be lost. I am feeling burnt out, tired, worn down, but with Christ as my strength I know I can do anything.

Your life is most likely different than mine, but that doesn't matter. What you need to be sure you do is pray. Each day pray and seek God to 'fill up your tank'. Our spiritual lives need refueled everyday because as we seek to serve Christ we run low daily and so we need to refuel in order to serve Christ most fully each day. I encourage you to take time to pray each day. Whatever it is that works for you, do it. Make yourself spend that time with God each day. It's okay if you don't do it at the same time each day. Be careful not to 'go through the motions' either. Rather dive fully, deeply into your prayer each day and unite it all to Christ.

God bless!
Keep praying.

in Jesus&Mary,
amber

Don't Rush, Don't Worry

“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.” -St. Francis de Sales

This is one of my favorite quotes because it reminds us to be at peace always, to trust Jesus always. No matter what is happening in our lives we must always trust Jesus and allow him to reign in our hearts. My life is crazy right now! There is so much going on and with my grandpa being so ill my world should be in complete disarray, but its okay. I am able to trust Jesus and remember not only that he is in charge, but also that my ailing grandpa will soon be with the heavenly Father. In addition, school is going full force and as I am busy with school, youth group, friends, retreats, and more I remain at peace. I know Christ is in control. I know Christ will provide. I know Christ will take care of everything. So, as St. Francis says do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Whenever anything happens do not become fired up, do not become upset, rather remember Christ our king, our true savior allow him to be in control.

God bless!

Keep praying!

In Jesus&Mary,

amber

Life...

It's truly interesting to see the different curve balls Christ throws our way. Last night I gave a testimony at youth group, when I don't have much of a voice. I obtained the nickname squeaky one day because my voice was so bad, yet God was like well, you're giving this testimony tonight voice or no voice. I don't know how well it went, I think good since people came up to me afterwards saying how great it was, but you know, it was all the Holy Spirit. I am simply an instrument for Christ and am here to let him work through me.

Also, yesterday I learned that my grandpa only has 3-15 days left to live, which was really hard to accept and really hard for me to register that it really is the end. However, I must remember to trust Jesus always. He's in control and I have remember that soon grandpa will be out of his suffering. He will get to be with the Heavenly Father and experience the joys of heaven.

My point tonight is that no matter what happens, no matter what curve ball Christ might throw your way, continue to trust Jesus! Jesus will always take care of everything you need! He will always provide! He will always be there for you waiting with open arms to accept you and to help you and to love you!

Keep praying!
God bless!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

Patient and Humble

For months now my dad and I have been car shopping for me. Yesterday we finally bought one! I was very excited to finally be done with the car shopping. Every conversation we had over the past few weeks was almost always about cars. The ones he found that were of interest, ones he looked at, and really awesome ones that he missed. They all weren't meant to be. However, the search is down. Looking back now I see how God was calling me to be patient. I didn't realize it at the time, but my friend Maire and her family would remind me to be patient as we hunted for the right vehicle. I had to trust that the Lord would get us the right car in the proper time. It got to the point where I was praying for the time to come for each car we looked at to be the one because I was growing so impatient and just wanted a car. However, my patience paid off! my car has 90,000 miles and only needs a few mechanical things done to it, that are in no extreme hurry to be done! Now, you may be wondering why I say humility? Well, this summer I learned the true meaning of humility in various ways. With my car, well it's the most basic model you can buy. There is nothing fancy about it. I am used to driving cars that are decked out with every possible gadget. Now I have a basic model honda civic with maual lock, windows, and no cruise, no cd player, no tape player, that I have found. So I've been degraded from top notch cars to as simple as they come, which just goes to show God will provide. The vehicle will take me from point A to point B safely and that's what counts. It took a long time to find, and a lot of frustration, but it's here, it's mine and it sure reminds me that I am the Lord's and my only obligation is to know, love and serve him! So as you may be struggling with something in your life continue to give your frustrations to the Lord. Remember Christ will provide. Be patient and pray. Remember who you are: A CHILD OF CHRIST!

May God bless you!
Keep praying!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

What's Around the Riverbend?

Yesterday I was ill with a sinus infection and chose to enjoy a relaxing day, looking at the bright side of being sick. I ate chicken noodle soup, drank tea and watched old Disney movies all day in order to give my body rest and allow my medicine to work so I can get better! While watching Pocahontas I began thinking about what might be next in my life during the song just around the river bend. What's just around the corner? That I don't know. What does God have in store for me next? I do not know. That's okay though because it forces me to be humble. It forces me to remember who is in control of my life and trust Jesus. It forced me to recognize that Christ is my King, my Savior, my source of life because He is in control and I do not know what is next. I have a plan, but who knows if it will pan out correctly. This is an interesting point in my life as it is my senior year, I have to pick what to do with my future, where I want to go next year. I also have a few men in my life who catch my interest, but I don't know if God's calling me to date them or not. I only know that I can trust Jesus and let him be in control as I continually give him each day and each second of each day! Therefore, the moral of today's story: always trust in Jesus and remember that He is in control. Anything can happen at any time, do not be concerned just trust that is part of the divine will of Jesus Christ!

Keep praying!
God bless!

in Jesus&Mary,
amber

Devotion to Mary

Many people don't understand the Catholic Church's devotion to Mary. It's simple to those of us who already understand that Jesus came to earth through Mary, therefore Mary knows Jesus more than any of us.

So, as we all know from basic scripture the angel Gabriel came down from heaven and told Mary she would concieve a child who shall be called Emmanual. From her birth Mary was special. God, the Father, made Mary specifically knowing that she would carry His only begotten Son in her womb. She would become the Mother of Christ. Mary has the love of Jesus a mother has for a child and because of her fiat, her yes, to the Father she was greatly rewarded in heaven and is our queen, just as Christ is our King. We are the children of Jesus Christ and Mary.

It is often said that Mary draws us closer to the Sacred heart of her Son, which is our true home. There is a special place in the heart of Jesus for each one of us and when we are not there he knows it. He misses us. He calls for us to return to him. Mary can help us do this, if we ask for her help. She will give us the graces we need to complete our daily task and give God our fiat, our yes to his will each day!

Today, as I was meditating over a reading from True Devotion to Mary I realized that Jesus and Mary come hand in hand. You can't truly know one as you should without knowing the other. Mary helps you to know her Son. She intercedes for us to the Father, she gives us graces, she is our Queen and our Mother, she loves us as if we are her children. Jesus loves his mother. She carried him in her womb and raised him from his birth. In today's gospel we are able to know when Christ gave his mother to be the mother of all heaven and earth:

John 19:25-27
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother
and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there 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 the disciple took her into his home.

And so, we can not truly know Jesus without knowing His mother and vice versa. Jesus gave us his mother because we need her help so do not be afraid to ask our Blessed Mother, Mary for help when you struggle for she is our queen and our mother and she wants to help us in our struggles.

God Bless
Keep Praying!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

It's Not Easy

Living your life for Christ is not easy! Being a servant of Christ is not easy! Making a decision to do the right thing is not easy!

Many times when we hear these words fear strikes in our hearts and really, there is no reason to fear for choosing Christ is the most precious thing we can do, but also the hardest; however, Christ will be with us as our strength so must trust in Him with all of our struggles and hand everything over to Christ our Saving King and trust in his unending mercy.

I recently made the decision to not date this year in order to better focus on Christ. Then, all of a sudden, I'm slammed with many guys who like and flirtatious temptations, etc....Well DUH this is going to happen, the devil sees you growing closer to Christ, why wouldn't he tempt you? When you make a decision to follow Christ, don't give up too quickly for your reward will be great in heaven. Keep pressing on and turning to Christ. He is our strength and our salvation! He only desires our well being; therefore, we should turn to him, run to his open arms and give him all that is within us, for though it may be a hard life on earth if we are living for Christ we shall inherit eternal life.

May God Bless you!
Keep praying.

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

Rejoicing

So often in this day and age many people in this world walk around aimlessly, not knowing where they're going or what they're aiming for in life. Many of us are empty and we are missing someone. Today's gospel reminds us to rejoice when one is returned to our home. Coming to Christ, coming to know the King, our Savior is most glorious, and the most precious gift of all. We must rejoice when others grow in their faith. We must rejoice when someone comes to Christ. We must always allow ourselves to be joyful and walk in the light of Christ allowing His light to shine through us and touch the hearts of those around us who may not know Christ nor believe that there is a God. It is our duty, as Christians, to live our faith in every moment of our life and every day. When we are not praised for our good deeds we must remember we are only servants of Christ and only fulfilling our duty as followers, sons and daughters, of Christ.

Mother Teresa says: "People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."

May God Bless you!
Keep praying!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

Answering the Call: Part 2

Forgive me friends for my lack of blogging! My life has been crazy! So, I last left you with forming your sure foundation and doing little things that you may not necessarily really want to do. I hope you have now started a prayer life and that it is going very well! I pray Jesus is blessing your life and moving in your heart.

What's next? We're praying, we're doing little things; however we need more!
Well what's next depends on what God's calling you to do. In your prayer ask him what's next and ask for his help to know what he is calling you to do. Ask him this each day, consecrate your day to him and if nothing major happens that day, then that's okay, just keep striving to please him, to serve Christ!
If God is calling you to do 'big things' then you need to get the idea out of your head that you can't do it! Remember that you can do all things through Christ! If you are being called to change the world in a big way then God will give you the courage, strength, and resources you need to succeed and to accomplish this task. My friend and I are planning to go into high schools this year and bring the gospel to the world! We plan to share the good news. We have to plan assemblies, write testimonies, call schools and have courage to speak in front of youth and reach out to them! I have to overcome my fear of talking about my faith with other people who I don't know from Catholic Youth Summer Camp or youth group or a Jesus Jams/Holiness Revolution. It's not going to be easy, but I know God is calling me to share my story! So, sometimes we're called to do great things, like publically speak and sometimes we're called to do small things like empty the dishwasher when our favorite television show is on. It doesn't matter if you are called to big or small things, you are still deserving of God's love, and you are worth a million bucks in the eyes of Christ! Keep pressing on with Christ as the apple of your eye and you can do all things!

Keep praying!
God bless!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

Forming Your Foundation

So, I'm always telling you prayer is important and we need to pray, etc. etc. Where do you start though? For me, I started with scripture and the Rosary. You can access daily mass readings at http://www.usccb.org/nab, with that you can reflect on the readings or I'm sure you can find various 30 days of scripture type things to get you started; however, I highly recommend you read the daily readings since they are given out by the church.
How do I meditate on scripture?
First off, start your prayer time by asking the Holy Spirit to come into your heart, and ask that He help you to quiet your heart and mind in order to be able to clearly know what the Lord has to speak to you that night. Then, read the passage once through. After your first reading, read again a second time, slower though, and maybe underline or highlight lines that stand out to you and see how they tie into your life. God will do the work if you give him the time and He will be soooo pleased that you are taking time out of your day to give to him. So don't hesitate to start!
 What do I do after meditation?
Well, it all depends. Sometimes I like to sit in silence and just let the Lord speak to my heart. If you're just getting started I would recommend a decade of the rosary or pray a divine mercy chaplet. Neither one takes long and they, of course, are both great ways of prayer! You can also look up prayers (I'll suggest a few at the end) to say. Also, you can just speak to God saying little lines like "Jesus I love you" "Jesus I trust you" "All I am is your Lord" or whatever comes to mind. It's all about letting the Holy Spirit guide you!

One of my favorite websites from when I first started praying and getting into my faith is: http://christmyhope.com/id17.html. They have many great prayers and sweet photos. It is a website I knwo you will love going to!

And now some prayers to say after meditation!

Anima Christi
Soul of Christ, make me holy.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, fill me with love.
Water from Christ's side, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
Good Jesus, hear me.
Within your wounds, hide me.
 Never let me be parted from you.
From the evil enemy, protect me.
At the hour of my death, call me.
And tell me to come to you.
That with your saints I may praise you.
Through  all eternity. Amen.

Hail, Holy Queen
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve: to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then,most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Pray for us O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen.


St. Francis Prayer
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.


If you feel meditation is too much then start even smaller. Start by saying a morning offering prayer such as this:
O Jesus, through the immaculate heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart: the salvation of souls, reparation for sin, the reunion of all Christians. I offer them for the intentions of our bishops and of all the apostles of prayer, and in particular for those recommended by our Holy Father this month. Amen.

You'll build up once you start small. Don't allow yourself to become content where you are, but push yourself to seek holiness more and more and strive to constantly be growing closer to Christ. Bring the Lord to every task of your day. Stand on the sure, true, firm foundation of our Lord Jesus Christ, and you'll be sure to be caught if you fall. You'll be sure to be helped when you fall.

May God bless you!
Keep praying!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

Answering the Call Part 1

My last blog talked about how God calls us to do great things, big and small, the question and problem is: how to answer the call... With prayer of course! But there's more than that!

Prayer is important because we get to know our Lord by spending time with him and the only way to spend time with the Lord is in prayer so we must pray to be able to discern what BIG or little thing God is calling us to do.

Today we're going to start with the little things.
What little things are important in your life?
For me, I find prayer and house chores rather important.
Prayer is important because it sets the foundation for the rest of your life, and for each day. You have to make time to spend with God each day so He can give you the grace you need to fight your battle that day.
House chores: why are the little things such as cleaning your room, the bathroom, laundry, dishes, etc. important? By doing them you build a habit of doing them rather than procrastinating and putting them off until it takes you two hours to complete a task when you could just give 5-10 minutes a day or week depending on the task. 

My advice: be diligent in the little things, doing so will form good habits for your future.


My challenge: pick a "little" thing you struggle with and strive to improve it...I suggest making a schedule for each day and sticking to it like glue.


My suggestion:Plan out each day or each week the night or week before so you know exactly what is going on when and can make time for prayer and the little way you want to improve your life in order to prepare you to do something big.

God bless!
Keep praying!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

The Call

The Lord calls us all to great things, to serve Him, to trust Him with our lives and to put aside our fear of failure and to completely surrender to His will, however, this is extremely hard. Our human fears often interfere with God's great plan for us. I know I'm afraid to be judged by others because of my faith, and afraid to be rejected and persecuted because of Jesus, "Happy are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reweard will be great in heaven..." Mt. 5:11-12 This verse reminds us that we belong to Jesus, and only to Jesus. He will always provide for us. And so we need to come out of our comfort zone and turn to Christ, relying on Him as our strength, and well, completely surrender to him as he is our King, Father, and Savior. He has a divine will for us and the only way we can truly fulfill his will Divine will is by giving him everything that is within us!

Now this is easier said than done, so how do we start? Where do we go from deciding it's time to raise the standards and do something more with our lives?

We pray! Start small and build your way up. Pick somewhere you want to start. A great way is by doing a consecration to Jesus through Mary, Pope John Paul II made one based off of St. Louis Marie de Montfort's original. It's a good foundation for prayer because it has 33 days where you read scripture, meditate on it, say prayers for the part you are on, and make a resolution to improve wherever God is calling you to improve in your life. You can also find in either the front or back of your bible ways to read the bible in 2 years, or something like that and so you can do it that way. You can start with a chaplet of divine mercy, a decade of the rosary, a morning offering prayer, or whatever else floats you boat. Just be sure to take that quiet time in your day to give to the Lord and get to know Him and spend time with him because prayer will need to be the foundation for your earthly journey.

God bless!
Keep praying!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

P.S. if you need prayer sources feel free to contact me via email: amberrose521@hotmail.com, or facebook or comment on here. I'd be more than happy to help you get started on your path to holiness. I promise it'll be a decision you never regret making!

"Do Hard Things"

This evening my youth minister gave me a novel to read for inspiration as I'm going to work with one of my friends to serve the Lord and help bring knowledge of His great love for us to the youth of the world, "Do Hard Things" by Alex&Brett Harris. Alex & Brett are two teens who chose to begin challenging the youth of the world to raise their expectations. In reading 15 pages I am already inspired to be a greater self gift to those around me. I want to cook dinner for my family once a week, unload dishes, clean and be of service to my mom without being asked. I want to be a self gift. I refuse to settle for less than my best, so why am I telling you this? Well, I want you to join with me on this journey! Challenge yourself! How can you be a greater self gift? And I don't mean a literal gift, I mean a gift of your service, of your time, of your hard work? How can you better spend your time? Volunteer at a local nursing home or hospital. Help your parents around the house, complain less and sacrifice that television time for your friends, family or even a stranger. I want to challenge others, you included, to do harder things. Strive to be your best and settle for nothing less! From there we'll grow with our faith as well. Service is part of being a christian, so serve then do something fun, go see a movie, open your time of service in prayer, find those friends who are going to push you to take the next level, get involved with a church youth group. Seek to challenge yourself and take the road less travelled. Seek the good Lord, our God and Savior in all that you do. Raise you expectations!

I challenge you to be a self gift in your service to the other people in this world!

God bless!
Keep praying.

In Jesus&Mary,
amber 

By the Grace of God

This weekend I had a retreat for the servants/leadership team in my youth group. It was a wonderful experience to be able to open up to the Lord and recommit my life to Him over again, as it is important to continually give our lives over to Him. Giving ourselves to the Lord isn’t a one time thing. We started Saturday morning with mass and finished the day with confession and adoration. For me, adoration was amazing, as I’m sure it was for everyone else. Lately, I have really been struggling to see the beauty within me and to see myself as Jesus sees me so I praying all week and starting Friday night in our communal prayer asking Christ to show me myself in His eyes. He kept giving me the verse Song of Songs 4:7 “You are all beautiful, my beloved, there is no blemish within you”. So I was just giving myself to the Lord telling Him I give everything that is mine and completely emptying myself so that He may fulfill my every need and become the strength I need to keep pressing on, but also to spread the word of God and share His glory with others. After our Holy Hour everyone wanted to be crazy and play ridiculous games, but I knew the Lord wasn’t done speaking to my heart. I really wanted to bond and grow in fellowship with my brothers and sisters, but I knew God was calling me to Himself to speak to me in a more intimate way.

You see, during adoration I ended up just sitting with my arms open and completely opened myself up asking the Lord to come into my heart. Now He wanted to speak to me. First I started by reading An Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales to help me come back to my quiet place. That night we also began our consecration to Jesus through Mary done by St. Francis de Montfort, so I began by reflecting more on the day one readings and journaling what had been on my mind during my meditation.

Following this I began to read from my Volume II Conversations with the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus written by Anne the lay apostle(http://www.directionforourtimes.org/). The passage I came to was about something we had heard in one of the talks earlier that day. Jesus was reminding us to examine our intentions of our actions to be sure we are acting from our heart as Jesus desires. He was also reminding us to not become discouraged when things don’t go as we suspect or hope which goes around to trusting in His divine will and that whatever happens must be a part of His will which was nice for me to hear since this year I will be having life changing decisions to make. So finding that passage God was reminding me to be His servant and strive to serve Him with the purest of intentions.

With this I still felt God more to say and He did. I started flipping through my bible hoping the Holy Spirit would guide my pages and surely enough He did. I came to few passages I’d read before, but one really hit home, and it was a new one. The Lord showed me 1 Corinthians 15:10 “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them-yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” This verse, I felt, described me perfectly. Having converted to the Catholic faith many tell me that I am amazing and what I’ve done is amazing, but it was not I who did this. It was not I who nagged at my heart to the point where I could no longer resist, but Jesus. Only by the grace of God am I here! If it weren’t for God placing certain people in my life when He did I wouldn’t even be alive today of this I’m sure. If he hadn’t placed Jaime and Tim in my life I would have never been introduced to the faith. Therefore, it is only by the grace of God that I am where I am. Were it not for His divine will, his mercy, and his glorious grace, where would I be? Where would you be?




If it were not for the grace of God where would you be today?

Keep praying!
God bless!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber

Growing "Old" or Up rather

Remember the days when wearing Hollister Co. jeans made you B.A. and you thought you were the shiznit if you owned a pair? Do I ever! Remember the bad hair(perms/color), bold crazy make-up, ridiculous fights over silly boys you never ended up dating and found out that dating isn't all it's cracked up to be, unless of course you have the right person? If not for those days, we wouldn't be who we are today.

This evening I began looking through all my old photos from my middle school days, and freshman too...even back to last year actually and it truly amazes me how quickly we grow and change. To refer to a specific grade I'll pick 8th because I have the most photos from it. Compared to how we all look now our faces were still chubby with "baby" fat and we all had weird body shapes, poor make-up experiments, bad outfits, crazy moments of boredom with poor judgement. There is just so much growing and changing that we have done in 4 years. We've all matured at least a little, some more than others. We've grown into our bodies, our clothes aren't quite as bad and when it comes to girls and make-up we either don't wear it or have it mostly under control. I think the best part though has to be looking at the pictures of the guys who we've watched grow over the years. They hadn't had their growth spurts yet so they're the size of all us girls and it's crazy to look at when most of them are close to 6' if not over these days. It's funny, really, how we all ended up turning out so far.

We, the seniors of 2011 have more year left together. To enjoy each other, to laugh at each other, but also to grow together, to make life changing decisions. We've been together, some of us since we were in diapers, lets make it a good one, full of memories that will last a lifetime! So as we're filling out college applications, becoming frustrated and not wanting to grow up, to move on, to move forward and start the rest of our lives, we'll remember the good times and then remember there are so many more great memories to be made!
And to finish off, a few photos for old times sake!

Days: Good & Bad

As human beings we should not be expected to be perfect, to be cheerful, to be joyful all the time, but so often it seems we are. So what do we do? We put on a mask and try to hide from the world that nothing is right, everything is wrong and we feel as if we're falling apart, nothing is holding us together and we are weak. But our masks, oh our masks! They hide that. People who don't know you well will buy right into the lie. "how are you?" "Oh...I'm good. how are you?" this would be how a conversation would go, but the oh and ... hint to something more. Something so much more that says my life sucks and I feel so lost. However, from most people this feeling can be hidden and the mask works. When it doesn't work you break down. You start crying, falling apart, crumbling because this person who knew you were not okay is someone who knows you so well to know that you weren't okay.

Truly, it is amazing to me how quickly everything can change. Yesterday, I had my picture perfect day. It was quiet, I had time to think, time to pray, time to read, and simply took a lot of time and gave it to God. It was wonderful and I couldn't have asked for a better day. Then the internet acted up and I just wanted to start applying for colleges like I'm supposed to and so I became frustrated very quickly turning mood all around. I was questioning if I did the right thing in one situation, and extremely agitated. It all went downhill from there. Should I have told this guy or just let it run it's course and pan out? Will I go to college? Why do I feel so alone? I feel so lost! I don't know what to do, my head spinning in circles a millions times a second! Endless thought after thought.

And so, we have good days and we have bad days. That's a fact of life. Today I want to challenge you, don't expect people to be perfect and don't judge them when they fall. Help them up, love them and be their friend because when people fall, when people fail, that's what they need: a loving friend to help them up again. So even in their imperfections love the people in your life.
God bless!

In Jesus&Mary,
Amber

Intercession of saints & Mystery of the Rosary

My parish priest recently showed me a great way to explain why we, as catholics, ask for the intercession of Mary and the saints. Jesus in fact did this! He spoke with the dead, that's the transfiguration! The verse is Matt. 17:1 (Matt 17:1-4 After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with)  and there's a great way to remember this. Now, it's easier to see with a picture, so bear with me as I try to explain it. 7 is the number to remember in the bible and represents Jesus, so first remember 7. Now, the transfiguration was when 2 guys, Elijah and Moses spoke with Jesus from heaven. So you have one guy on each side of Jesus (1 7 1) which when written out you can see how it makes an M to remember Matt or you can also make it to represent Mary, who we ask to intercede for us often. In the Bible Jesus talks to dead people, in essence, therefore,  we can too. Now, why do we also ask for Mary's intercession to frequently? Well, she was obviously special, she carried Jesus in her womb, God chose her to be the mother of Christ, they literally shared everything for 9 months while Christ grew within her. So we ask Mary's intercession because she knew Christ so well and He will listen to His mother, so why wouldn't we. Mary is beautiful! And it's not like we are worshipping her as many would say, but rather we are seeking her help. I read once, and often say, Mary will draw us close to the Sacred Heart of her Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ, which is where our true home is. Which is why we pray the rosary.

Today is Tuesday which means we pray the Sorrowful Mysteries. There are 5 mysteries within the Sorrowful mysteries.
1. Agony in the Garden
2. Scourging of the side of Christ
3. The Crowning of Thorns
4. The Carrying of the Cross
5. The Crucifixion

http://www.rosary-center.org/sorrow.htm


-The Agony in the Garden Luke 22:44-45 "In His anguish He prayed with all the greater intensity, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground. Then He rose from prayer and came to His disciples, only to find them exhausted with grief"
What great pain Jesus suffered through this agony in the garden. He was in such agony in prayer, knowing what was coming, but also He had only asked 1 hour of time for prayer of His disciples and they could not give that one hour, for they fell asleep. I want to challenge you to spend one hour a day in prayer. If you can, make it one continuous hour, but if your day does not allow, spread it out throughout the day, but make time for Jesus in prayer.
-The Scourging"The chief priests with the elders and the scribes held a council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, had Jesus scourged and handed him over to be crucified." (Mk 15:1-16) The physical suffering Christ went through with the the scourging is obvious. This is just one of the numerous times His blood is shed for the salvation of our souls. Blood and water poured out of His side for this!
-The Crowning with Thorns"They stripped off his clothes and threw a scarlet military cloak about him. Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his head, and a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" (Mt 27:27-31)
This shows great suffering. Humiliation first off, and physical pain as well. Imagine being stripped nude in front of a community, being given a crown made thorns that is placed on your head, causing blood to run down your face that begins to mix with sweat and drip into your eyes for you are unable to wipe your face. The great mockery as well. So, when you have been mocked at school for one reason or another, or any other place remember the crowning with thorns and the great pain Christ suffered, remember He was mocked and unite your suffering to His.
-The Carrying of the Cross "Jesus, weak from being beaten, was unable to carry His cross to Golgotha alone. Simon, a Cyrenian, helped him." (Mk 15:20-22)
How weak our Lord was! He suffered so greatly for us, and we're not finished yet. Christ fell three times and was mocked the entire time Simon helped him to carry His cross. This is one way to show why friendship is so important in our earthly lives, Christ, first of all had His disciples always with him, helping him, but even as He carried His cross He had the assistance of another because He was physically too weak to carry His cross, so we must make Christ our strength for we too are too weak to carry our cross.
-The Crucifixion "When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." (Lk 23:33-46)
Our Lord knew what He was doing on the Cross. What great love He has for us, that He would die and suffer so severely in order to give us eternal life! There is also found,during the time of the crucifixion, another reason to turn to our Blessed Mother Mary, seeking her intercession. "Woman, behold your Son. Son, behold your Mother." Jesus says this to Mary. He cared so dearly for His Mother, but He also tells us Mary is the Mother of us, His people. Which is why we seek her intercession.

To conclude: Keep praying. Never give up. Seek the intercession of Mary and the saints. Challenge: work at building your prayer life to spending a full hour with Jesus each day, just like He asked of His disciples in the first sorrowful mystery. Dear children of God, keep pressing on!
God bless!

In Jesus&Mary,
amber