Monday Memo: Identity

Last  night we had our second girls night at youth group. Our first girls night we talked about gratitude, and being thankful for all the beautiful gifts God gives us each and every day of our lives. So this time we decided to talk about God as our ever loving Father, and how our unchanging identity is as his daughters. How beautiful is this - how blessed are we to have a Father who loves us so much. I remember being so struck the first time it really hit me that God created us out of the goodness of his heart. He had absolutely no need to create us, but out of his goodness he created us, and he loves us so much. It gets me every time.

In the gospel today Jesus picked his 12 Apostles. The 12 men he would take under his wing in a special way to form them and build them into leaders of what is now the Christian faith. But before he did this Jesus went off to the mountains to pray.

             Jesus went up to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. (Lk6:12)

Jesus spent time talking to his Father, to our Father before taking any action. This is how the communicated with each other, that the will of the Father may truly be done. 

As the mere humans we are, prayer is crucial, is vital to who we are, to our Christian identity. This is how we develop a personal and intimate relationship with Christ. This is how we come to know who we are and who we are supposed to be, and what we are supposed to do. Praise him. Praise God for our identity as his daughter, as his son, and for that identity to never, ever be changed. It is the one constant in our lives. God will always be there. Praise him. He is our unchanging source of life, spend time with him this week!

In Christ! 

Monday Memo: Where's Your Treasure?

"For where your heart is there also will your treasure be." Luke12:34

Jesus has been so good to me lately, clearly pursuing my heart and swooning me, sweeping me off my feet and truly showing me how is the one and only who can truly satisfy every desire and longing my heart has for love. 

Today he reminded me of this verse - that where you heart is there also is your treasure. We ought not store up thins on the earth, but spend out lives serving God and loving others so that each person has an opportunity to encounter the love of Christ. And this is how we place our heart, our treasure in the hands of God - by making all we do be for the glory of his name. Pray for each person we encounter, knowing that we crossed their path for a reason. Love each person where they're at - love the sinner, hate the sin. Unite your day and all you do in it to Christ who wants to help you and who is with you. 

Remember, in him is our true home. Jesus, help us find our home in your most sacred heart. 

Monday Memo

Rejoice always. 

Pray without ceasing.

Give thanks always

for it is the will of God

in Christ Jesus.

 - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Jesus is constantly speaking to us, and seeking to win over our hearts. The past few weeks Jesus has been placing a theme of gratitude in my prayer and in my daily life. I find myself constantly looking for what I'm thankful for, and asking myself 'how is God revealing His love for me today?' Yesterday I went to adoration, and the last part of this verse was the Gospel proclamation yesterday, so I looked it up in my bible, and was struck by this whole part. 

Rejoice always, pray always, give thanks always. But the funny thing is - these are all tied together. If we give thanks always, we are looking for how God is loving us, thus we are praying always - and if we are looking at how well God is loving us then it is quite easy to rejoice. Pray, give thanks, rejoice. 

Happy Monday friends! and God bless you!

Rain Drops Dancing on the Street

As I sit here working on a gratitude talk, a rain storm has started here in Columbus, and I find myself pausing to watch the rain. We have an attic fan in our house, so we have that one bringing in the cool, rain-scented air. My roommate and I sit here working and continually sigh of happiness and contentment with the weather.

A warm cup of tea. A good book. My journal. My bible. My favorite pen. Good music.

Sometimes we take the little things for granted, or we get annoyed by the inconvenience rain may cause us. However, other times it is so clear, so easy to see God's presence working in our lives. A friend posted on facebook that a child told her she was beautiful, and another told her she had beautiful hair - Jesus gave her a little extra loving through little children today.

I work in a hospital, and I try to look for Jesus when I'm there - I mean, he is the Divine Physician, so he's clearly present in a hospital setting. One time I saw him through a father loving his sick daughter. I see him through a son loving his father. Those are the 'easy' ones per say. Some of the hard ones have been when I am with a patient who starts acting at. One time a patient hopped out bed and started running down the halls, going into patients rooms, and through the help of other staff we were able to get him into bed, and calm him down. After this night, I left feeling a little distressed, but then as I was driving home, I asked myself - where was Jesus in this situation? I realized then that Jesus was present in me... this patient can be seen as the follower of Christ rebelling against Jesus, and lashing out on Jesus - where I am in Jesus, loving this person regardless of him hurting me, and staying with him through the hard time. Jesus does that through us.

Seeing Jesus in all scenarios is challenging, and it's something we learn. "I have learned the secret of being well fed and of being hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need." Phil. 4:12

Gratitude, eucharisteo - thanksgiving and joy - is not something found over night, but something we learn in a slow, life-long process. We start with the easy, and as it's easier to give thanks in the easy times, we begin to look for thanksgiving opportunities in the hard too.

May we rejoice in the little things, the rain drops dancing on the street.

Monday memo: Love our Lady

Love our lady and she will help you conquer in your daily struggle. 

St. Josemaria e

Monday Memo: Divine Mercy Edition

O life so dull and monotonous, how man treasure you contain! I look at everything with the eyes of faith, no two hours are alike, and the dullness and monotony disappear. The grace which is given me in the hour will not be repeated in the next. It may be given me again, but it will not be the same grace. Time goes on never to return again. Whatever is enclosed in it will never change; it seals with a seal for eternity. Diary if st faustina 

The Art of Letting Go

Well, it has been some time since I've posted. Through the chaos of moving, new classes, and adjusting to all the new things that begin in the fall, I've been kept pretty busy. This semester I'm really working on easing my way back into school. For those who don't know, I took off spring semester due to chronic daily headaches, so I've been on quite the journey so far in my short 20 years of life, and can't wait to see what the rest holds. However, my point is I took spring semester off to get better, so I could actually do the work required of a nursing student. So where I was in my program left me kind of stuck taking electives this semester. I have nutrition (required for my program), Spanish, Hip Hop Aerobics, Pilates, and Holistic Nursing: Therapeutic Touch.

I've come to realize this semester is really giving me an opportunity to take care of myself. Specifically, through my therapeutic touch class. The overall theme of the class is we need to be able to take care of ourselves in order to help others to heal themselves in their illness. As a part of this class we had to complete a self assessment and choose a mindfulness practice to work on throughout the semester. I chose letting go. I've always held onto things. My past has formed who I am, and I hold my memories very dear to my heart. I often re-live moments of my life over and over and over - sometimes cherishing the good memories, sometimes relishing in the pain of the old ones. And sometimes I dwell in something I wish I could go back and change. This summer I had to tell once of my friends they needed to be gone from my life because they were causing me to emotionally be hurt repeatedly and I was allowing unnecessary distress in my life because of this relationship. Now, I keep wanting to go back to this, to not do it or to do it differently or to contact this person asking if we can be friends again, but really what I need to do is let it be. let it go. So I haven't learned much yet, other than this practice is a moment to moment practice. Often times I have to take it one moment at a time, take a deep breath, calm myself down, and remind myself that it was the right decision.

The art of letting go - that's exactly what it is - an art. It takes practice, each day, reminding yourself that it's okay - the past is the past, learn from it, but leave it in the past. As I continue on this journey of letting go, I will fill you in on what I learn, but for now this is all I've got.

Peace, love, and blessings of God to you!