Be Strong & Take Heart

Christmas break is quite delightful! I have been able to get about 12 hours of sleep a night, eat lots of food, spend lots of time with family, go to daily mass, and take extra time for prayer. I have a boom that I've been reading for pleasure, and am catching up on all my television watching. But I wanted to share today about my prayer that I had this evening.

This past semester was pretty rough. I had headaches almost daily for the second half of the semester and some form of migraine or tension headache about twice a week. I would say that I truly experienced suffering this last semester, and continue to experience it. Even with break I've had quite a few headaches and experienced quite a bit of pain. But I keep offering it up. I know The Lord has asked me to suffer in this way, though I am going to doctors I see what they can do for me because my pain knocks me down some days to a point of not functioning.

Today's inspiration came from psalm 31 and Matt. 10:17-22.

Today's gospel was kind of funny to me today. If you think about Christmas, it's a time of rejoicing in the gift of our Savior. Yet today's gospel says "you will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved."

Those who choose to follow Jesus will be hated and despised. They will face many challenges and have a life where they will endure much suffering, but they will be rewarded, and they will beat the cross, the trials with the grace of God.

The gospel today also says " do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say for it will not be you who speak but the spirit of your Father speaking through you." He tells us not to worry. Know, and be aware that it will be hard but the Lord will speak through you, work through you - you will be His hands and feet, upon choosing to belong to him, to follow him.

Then the psalm says " I will rejoice and be glad in your love, once you have seen my misery, observed my distress. You will not abandon me into enemy hands..." The Lord knows our misery, he sees our pain, our distress - he even monitors it and won't give us more than we can handle. (I know the Lord won't give me more than I can handle, but sometimes I wish he didn't trust me so much -Mother Teresa) Therefore, we know we can rejoice and be glad in the love of the Lord. He is our source of joy, and will ease the burdens and suffering in our lives.

Lastly, it says "Be strong and take heart all you who hope in The Lord." May The Lord be our strength! May we seek him as our source of joy. When we grow weary may we seek our King to reign in our hearts, may we permit him to lead us.

"Do not be afraid, your prayer had been heard" Luke 1:13
May we be strong in our Father in heaven and never fear that he will not provide for us - knowing that he has heard our prayer and will answer!

Praise be to God, may we rejoice in the gift of our savior, as he has been born and come to us in the innocent form of a child!

God bless!

Tuesday Memo

Well, seems that the holidays, and coming of Jesus, and Christmas break too threw off my Monday Memo, so it's Tuesday Memo this week. Praise be to God! Glory to Him in the highest, for the greatest gift has been given to us this day, the gift of our Savior Jesus! And this weeks quote was sent to me today, in honor of Christmas, from a friend! 

"God is so great that he can become small. God is so powerful that he can make himself vulnerable and come to us as a defenseless child, so that we can love him."
 -Pope Benedict XVI

Amen! The little Lord Jesus comes as a child so that we can love him. This year my family was blessed to have a newborn baby around for Christmas, and let me tell you, it is so easy to love a child. Their innocence makes them beautiful. May we come to love our Savior as a child, and rejoice in the gift of the little Lord Jesus for our salvation!

I Just Want...

I just want peace
I just want joy
I just want love
I just want to know
I just want things to be easy
I just want the pain to I away
I just want comforted
I just want to be loved
I just want to be cared for
I just want it to be easy to smile again
I just want justice
I just want strength
I just want...
I just want...
I just want...

Lately, in prayer I find myself saying things like what I wrote above. Asking for all these things, and as I was sitting in adoration the other I realized something - I don't want all these...I just want Jesus. Shouldn't that be our prayer? With each suffering, with each trial, with each moment of distress, in each moment of hurt, each time we feel rejected and just want to know we're loved shouldn't we call on the name of our savior? Jesus.

One of the most powerful prayers is simply calling on the name Jesus. Jesus I need you. Jesus I want you. All those things I listed above our fruits of just knowing Jesus and calling on him when in need.

I just want Jesus. He's the satisfaction of my heart, my soul. He is my everything. Amen? Amen!

Fall Semester 2012: Life as a Student Missionary

I am now about one week into winter break, praise Jesus! That felt like the longest semester ever, and I'm sure as graduation grows closer (don't worry I still have 6 more semesters) it will feel the same way each semester (that it'll never end, of course).  But today I want to tell you a little about what I did, and a little about what I learned, through out the semester.

What I did:

1. Quit panera - it was actually really hard to quit a job, and a part of me felt a little bad, since I was a closing manager, but it was unnecessary stress, that wouldn't help me as a nurse, and impaired my education some.

2. Started a bible study at Capital

3. Learned about the human body - and how cool it is.

4. Attended various meetings

5. Hung out with Jesus in mass and adoration just about every week (at least for the first half)

6. Experienced severe migraines, and chronic headaches.

7. Stayed up way too late eating chocolate with a sister (probably more than once)

8. Hugged people - a lot.

9. Made new friends

10. Lived off of coffee.

What I Learned:

1. Jesus is my source of contentment, of joy, of peace, of strength (I'm still learning this, but learned more than I knew before!)

2. I like giving gifts, and writing letters - a lot.

3. How to say no (this one's still a work in progress, baby steps..)

4. the reality of nursing school, and it's difficulty.

5. Getting up really early in the morning when you haven't done so since you were 16 is really hard.

6. How to love and live with 6 different women (work in progress!)

7. How to function with a headache (this one isn't easy, and made for a grumpy Amber)

8. To find joy amidst suffering, and in offering suffering to Christ.

9. I can eat a single frozen pizza in one sitting, by myself

10. I actually enjoy wearing dresses!

So Fall Semester 2012 - it was a little crazy. I did a lot. I learned a lot, and a lot that I learned cannot be turned into words. I was blessed to be able to start a bible study. I was blessed to build relationships with women in major, and in my community. I was blessed to be able to go to mass, and adoration, to have fruitful prayer. I was blessed to know the depth of my mother's love. The past semester was a challenge, but if there's one thing God has been teaching me in the week I've had of break so far, it's that His grace is enough. Amen? Amen!

God bless!

Happy Advent!

To Love with His Love

This was just something I wrote recently, and wanted to share :)

I pray for God to lead
for patience as I wait for you to know
for peace in the plan God has, in the decision made
for guidance from the Holy Spirit in my heart and yours
for love and sacrifice, for the well-being of one another
for mercy, the ability to forgive the hurts
for knowledge to know where God is leading
for wisdom to love with His love
for grace to love with His love
for understanding of His plan, and of His love. 

Monday Memo

"What really maters in life is that we are loved by Christ and that we love Him in return. In comparison to the love of Jesus, everything else is secondary. And, without the love of Jesus, everything is useless." Bl. John Paul II

Monday Memo

"Whenever anything disagreeable or displeasing happens to you, remember Christ crucified and be silent."
-St. John of the Cross