I was talking to a friend tonight and she was telling me how she was currently able to truly trust in the Lord, in this time when she feels blind and unsure of what's going on. And I was talking to her about moving into college and adjusting, yet still finding time for prayer and the like.
My friend told me " I know he's got everything taken care of now. I have this natural trust to the cross" Which I then told her this was what she needed right now and God knew that this was what she needed. He was providing for her by giving her the graces she needed to trust in his love and mercy.
And I realized how God is working in my life, within my personal relationship with him. Right now, I need to learn to lean more on him. I've always leaned on my friends, and youth group, but I need to learn to rely more on my God for my strength and my support. Obviously, I need my friends because Jesus doesn't ask us to live this life on our own, but to live it with others, all striving to reach holiness together; however, there are times in our lives when we must learn and grow on our own. God has given me a deep desire for prayer, to deepen my relationship with Christ, to love him, and come to know him more fully. Even more so, he has given me time and opportunity to pray and to spend time with him.
Therefore, I want to remind my readers - God knows. He knows what we're going through. He knows what we need. He knows how to provide exactly what we need of him.
May we always trust in the Lord and remember that he knows exactly what we need and how to provide for us.
As we adjust to new school schedules, and falling back into the rhythm of craziness and life - may our lives and hearts be focused on seeking to know the Lord more intimately.
God bless.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
May You Be Mine
May you be my Savior
O Lord, my God
I cling to you
Rescue me
From my sin
Fill me with your love
In times of change
May you be my rock
On which I stand firm
In times of distress
May you be the calm
Reigning in my heart
In times of worry
May you be the one
In whom I trust
In times of fear
May you bring me peace
To trust in you
In all trials of life
May you be my strength
My Lord and my God.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Our Lady of Peace, Pray for us.
There has been so much stress in my life lately. I have a job. I'm moving out in 2 days. Two of my closest friends are leaving for ministry in 2 days and I won't see them until December. I'm trying to figure out all this loan stuff and paying for school. My car is in the shop, I'm driving my mom's car, and my mom has a rental - which is just really annoying. My room looks kind of like a tornado ran through it. I won't be home all day tomorrow until Thursday morning, which is the day I leave, so I need to finish packing tonight. And that's not even all of it.
This morning it took all I had to get out of bed, it took all I had in me to hold myself together. Then I remembered something a friend told me once. "The sooner we accept the fact that we are imperfect the sooner we will be at peace. It's Christ who is strong, not us." Thus I paused for a moment. Actually, I was driving to Walmart, but I started thinking about all the stress I was feeling - I was feeling stressed when I couldn't find anything to listen to on the radio, which is what sent up a red flag. Therefore, I turned off the radio and pulled out a rosary. I prayed my rosary - the sorrowful mysteries are today - and asked for graces and peace in this stressful time. During the fourth mystery I prayed for the graces to carry my cross, with the help of God, and for the graces to not try carrying it on my own, but to carry it with the help God is offering me. I prayed for the graces to remember that I am his weak little lamb, and he will carry me. It is Christ who is strong, not me. When I finished that rosary, I was more at peace. I was able to be calm.
This is not the first time something like this has happened. Our Lady, Mary, Queen of heaven & earth will always give us the graces we need. Our lady is truly a Queen of Peace. She sees we need her help, and automatically comes to our aid.
May we always come to Mary, our Mother and our Queen. I also believe we should look to her as our Lady of Consolation as well as our Lady of Peace because they are so closely linked.
Our Lady of Consolation, Pray for us!
Our Lady of Peace, Pray for us!
This morning it took all I had to get out of bed, it took all I had in me to hold myself together. Then I remembered something a friend told me once. "The sooner we accept the fact that we are imperfect the sooner we will be at peace. It's Christ who is strong, not us." Thus I paused for a moment. Actually, I was driving to Walmart, but I started thinking about all the stress I was feeling - I was feeling stressed when I couldn't find anything to listen to on the radio, which is what sent up a red flag. Therefore, I turned off the radio and pulled out a rosary. I prayed my rosary - the sorrowful mysteries are today - and asked for graces and peace in this stressful time. During the fourth mystery I prayed for the graces to carry my cross, with the help of God, and for the graces to not try carrying it on my own, but to carry it with the help God is offering me. I prayed for the graces to remember that I am his weak little lamb, and he will carry me. It is Christ who is strong, not me. When I finished that rosary, I was more at peace. I was able to be calm.This is not the first time something like this has happened. Our Lady, Mary, Queen of heaven & earth will always give us the graces we need. Our lady is truly a Queen of Peace. She sees we need her help, and automatically comes to our aid.
May we always come to Mary, our Mother and our Queen. I also believe we should look to her as our Lady of Consolation as well as our Lady of Peace because they are so closely linked.
Our Lady of Consolation, Pray for us!
Our Lady of Peace, Pray for us!
Monday, August 15, 2011
...But Offer This Heart, O God
Life is a roller coaster. There are good days there are bad days. Today, was an okay day. Being a woman, my emotions can be crazy sometimes. Today was one of those days. But when I was feeling rather upset, and somewhat overwhelmed, and kind of frustrated a profound phrase came to mind.
So what can I say?
What can I do?
But offer this heart,
O God,
Completely to you!
Whether it's your first day back to school, you're starting a new job, moving out for the first time, experiencing car trouble, feeling confused about what's going on in a relationship, helping a friend with a struggle, celebrating new life, experiencing change, anxiety, peace....no matter what is going on in our life, we must remember our Jesus. We must spend time where it is just you and Jesus. We must allow him to bring peace. Regardless of the situation we are in, there is always room for Jesus; there is always time for Jesus; it is up to us to make the decision .
I''ll stand with arms high and heart abandoned
in awe of the one who gave it all
I'll stand my soul Lord to you surrendered
All I am is yours
May we remember these words always. May we live abandoned to the Lord, in awe of his glory. May we surrender ourselves to his love, and pray his will always be done. May we pray to forever be guided by his light. Amen.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Trusting Christ Hears Prayers
"About eight months ago my boyfriend and I broke up. I was hurt a lot by him, but it wasn't because we broke up. I was at peace with that. It because he was no longer the person I knew. However, I realized that nobody is perfect. Everybody makes mistakes, and as an apostle of Jesus Christ, and as this man's sister in Christ, it was my duty to pray for him. It was my duty to forgive him, without an apology. It was my duty to love him, as a brother, where he was at, and pray for conversion of his heart, and continue being his friend. For a long time I've done this now, and I see the fruit of my prayers. Tonight, he apologized for hurting me. He thanked me for loving him despite hurting him. Most importantly, he thanked me for holding him accountable in his faith.
I share this with you for encouragement. It is easy to become discouraged in this world. We pray for an end to abortion, and it doesn't seem to do anything. We pray for conversion of our friends and even our families, but we seem to see no result. We pray and pray, for big things and for little, but we never seem to see the result. We get frustrated. We become angry with God because he is not doing what we want. When this happens, we must pray for trust in the will of the Father. God's plan is perfect. God's timing is perfect. We must trust in this.
Tonight, I was blessed to see the fruit of my prayers. I pray that you may be encouraged. I pray that you may not become discouraged and that you may find hope in the Father's perfect plan.
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
May we trust in the Lord, and continue praying, even when we don't see the fruits of our prayer.
I share this with you for encouragement. It is easy to become discouraged in this world. We pray for an end to abortion, and it doesn't seem to do anything. We pray for conversion of our friends and even our families, but we seem to see no result. We pray and pray, for big things and for little, but we never seem to see the result. We get frustrated. We become angry with God because he is not doing what we want. When this happens, we must pray for trust in the will of the Father. God's plan is perfect. God's timing is perfect. We must trust in this.
Tonight, I was blessed to see the fruit of my prayers. I pray that you may be encouraged. I pray that you may not become discouraged and that you may find hope in the Father's perfect plan.
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
May we trust in the Lord, and continue praying, even when we don't see the fruits of our prayer.
Monday, August 1, 2011
What Will Separate us from the Love of Christ?
Brothers and sisters:
What will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?
No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly
through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities,
nor present things, nor future things,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35,37-39)
I love this reading. End of story. Not really...
In this life, in this modern world, it is so easy, so very very easy to feel separated from Christ. We are easily consumed by the media, most especially, but also by the busy-ness of this life. We get consumed in doing homework, doing chores, going to school, going to practice, going to sports events, going to concerts, performing our instruments, working, etc. In doing all this - in living life, we put Christ aside. We forget him. So often it seems there's barely enough time to squeeze in that one hour a week for Sunday mass. Which we should be making efforts to have a personal relationship with Christ, but that can't happen until we allow Jesus into our hearts. That can't happen until we make a determined decision to change, and have a support system to back us up and help us. But this reading tells us - no matter what, no matter how busy we get, despite the fact that we put Jesus aside - He STILL LOVES US. He loved...no loves us so much he died on the cross for us. He suffered brutal beatings, carried a wooden cross up a mountain, was nailed to the cross he carried, and died upon that cross - because he loves us that much. With a love like that - what can separate us from it? For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
May we have the graces then, to continue on. May we become better at choosing Jesus first. May we always remember: no matter how far I've fallen, Jesus still loves me where I'm at and he wants to help me reach the perfection I am meant for. And may we turn to Our Lady, Mary Mother of God, in our times of need - trusting that she will wrap us in her mantle, and draw us to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ.
God bless!
What will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?
No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly
through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities,
nor present things, nor future things,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35,37-39)
I love this reading. End of story. Not really...
In this life, in this modern world, it is so easy, so very very easy to feel separated from Christ. We are easily consumed by the media, most especially, but also by the busy-ness of this life. We get consumed in doing homework, doing chores, going to school, going to practice, going to sports events, going to concerts, performing our instruments, working, etc. In doing all this - in living life, we put Christ aside. We forget him. So often it seems there's barely enough time to squeeze in that one hour a week for Sunday mass. Which we should be making efforts to have a personal relationship with Christ, but that can't happen until we allow Jesus into our hearts. That can't happen until we make a determined decision to change, and have a support system to back us up and help us. But this reading tells us - no matter what, no matter how busy we get, despite the fact that we put Jesus aside - He STILL LOVES US. He loved...no loves us so much he died on the cross for us. He suffered brutal beatings, carried a wooden cross up a mountain, was nailed to the cross he carried, and died upon that cross - because he loves us that much. With a love like that - what can separate us from it? For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
May we have the graces then, to continue on. May we become better at choosing Jesus first. May we always remember: no matter how far I've fallen, Jesus still loves me where I'm at and he wants to help me reach the perfection I am meant for. And may we turn to Our Lady, Mary Mother of God, in our times of need - trusting that she will wrap us in her mantle, and draw us to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ.
God bless!
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