God is Love

 Koinonia 14 is over :(  

Can you believe that? Because I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around it. I know this seems cliche but it literally feels like yesterday I was getting home from my Koinonia 11 looking back on the fortified friendships and faith I gained from that weekend. SLK is doing great things here in Lawrence and it's been my privilege to be a part of the biggest SLK team and retreat EVER for SLK 14! 

The Holy Spirit was moving in everyone and it was beautiful to see. I had the honor of being a resource giving the "God is Love" talk on SLK 14 and although you can't quite get the same experience as if I were standing in front of you presenting the talk myself I thought I would share it with you anyways, so that you may be reminded of your greater call to Love in this life and the next. So without further ado:

God is Love

LOVE. A noun. 1a (1) : strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties; "love for a child"; (2) : attraction based on sexual desire : affection and tenderness felt by lovers (3) : affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests ;"love for his old schoolmates" b : an assurance of affection

That’s what you’ll find when you look up love in the dictionary. In all of these definitions you’ll find in one way or another that relationships are involved, but when we look closer at these worldly definitions we can see just how shallow they really are. So where do you look when even a dictionary points you in the wrong direction? In 1 John 4:8 he seems to tell it like it is: ‘God is Love’. Oh well duh! God is love! Why didn’t I think of that? I’m glad that’s settled and now we all know what love is [or rather who love is] so we’re all good...we can move on. Great.

Wait a minute...

?!?!?!WHAT IN THE WORLD DOES THAT MEAN?!?!?!

Yeah, that’s what I thought too when I was chosen to give this talk. 

God is love? Cool. But what does that mean? 

What does that mean to me? 

What does God is love have to do with me and with my life? 

How can 3 very small words with a total of 3 syllables and 9 letters be so hard to explain?

     The answer: because God is a mystery, especially when it comes to relationships; because God himself is a relationship. One we lovingly refer to as the Holy Trinity. In this relationship we see the true and perfect example of love. We believe in 3 persons in 1 God and their distinction lies in the relationship of each to the others. One Father from whom all things are, one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things are, and one Holy Spirit in whom all things are. Everyone who glorifies the Father does so through the Son and in the Holy Spirit; everyone who follows Christ does so because the Father draws him and the Spirit moves him. By sending his only Son and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God has revealed his innermost secret: God himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and he has destined us to share in that exchange.

How exciting is that?! God wants us to share in the exchange of eternal love that is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So how do we do that?

Well, we are called to live it. In the Gospel of John 15:9-17 it says:

"As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is my commandment; love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my father. It was not you who chose me but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you; love one another."

So after reading that and remembering that we are called to share in the exchange of eternal love that is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The new question is; How are we called to live this love?

Well in order to give love to others we must first remain in Christ’s love and He tells us how to do so by following God’s commandments. And he also tells us of the greatest love of all “to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” – a sacrificial love

Now God showed us the ultimate sacrificial love when he sent his Son to lay down his life on a cross for the forgiveness of our sins which you heard about in the Paschal Mystery talk and experienced yesterday during ‘Die Day’, but there are examples of this sacrificial love in all of our lives.

When I was 9 years old my parents sat my 2 older brothers and I down on the couch in the basement and knelt in front of us. My mom had tears in her eyes I knew something was up because this sitting on a couch in the basement with no tv on simply wasn’t normal. They had something to tell us, and my mom started in. 18 years ago when my mom was a senior in high school she gave birth to a beautiful healthy baby girl.

And that was the last time they had seen each other.  

You see my mom gave my sister up for adoption. Not because she didn’t love her or didn’t want to be with her, in fact her choice for adoption grew out of her love for her new daughter, because she knew that my sister could have a better life. This was a sacrifice that my mom would have to live with for the rest of her life.

But the story gets better I promise!

We were sitting on the couch that day not because of that news, but because of the news that my long lost sister had just turned 18 and when you’re an adopted child when you turn 18 you regain the rights to find your birth parents. (And 12 years later looking back I can’t help but to see God’s hand in all of this) When my sister was a little girl the mother that had adopted her had passed away and she was left without a mother. So when she turned 18 she decided she wanted to find her birth parents; which is when my mom got the call from her adopted dad, also the reason that we were sitting on the couch that very day. My sister wanted to meet my mom and in turn meet us. 

And that sacrificial love of my mother 29 years ago has turned into one of the biggest blessings in my life. I’m now blessed with the beautiful sister that I always wanted and in turn the two most amazing nieces. And I’m certain that the sacrificial love that my mom showed has affected the way that I love my sister and nieces today.

But a sacrificial love isn’t the only type of love out there. Actually there are said to be four different kinds of love. While in the English language we are restricted to one word for love: love. Like I love my family, and I love my friends, I love flip flops, I love God, I love all of you, I love scrambled eggs, and I love the color green; but I don't love you all like I love scrambled eggs. 

Which leads us back to Greek. You've already learned Koinonia which is Greek for Community and Metanoia which is Greek for "change of heart" and I'm about to throw four more words at you, because in Greek there are four different words to describe this love: Storge, Philia, Eros, and Agape.

Storge is affection – This is often the type of love we find in our families; a fondness and automatic acception of others through being familiar with them, close to them, around them a lot. This type of love comes most naturally to us because we often don’t need to be convinced of its existence.  In Storge we can turn a blind eye to characteristics such as addiction, lying, and abuse that wouldn’t be deemed worthy of love in many other relationships.  It’s like the old saying “blood is thicker than water”.

Take Bambi for instance! I don’t know how much you remember about the beloved Disney movie but it showcases almost all of these loves in a pretty relatable way.

The love that the mother and father show for Bambi would be Storge. Especially in the scene from the meadow where Bambi’s mother warns him about the dangers of the unprotected meadow and the father rushes them towards the woods to protect them when the hunter comes.

So then there’s Philia, kindly referred to as ‘friendship love’. Now this kind of love you’ve probably experienced since you’re very first friendship when you were a little kid. Often this type of love is based on a common interest or activity. This love delights in just being in the presence of each other, a warm feeling that comes and goes with intensity; which is why our friends when we were five are not always the same people we’d count as friends when we’re 20.

The love that Bambi shares for Thumper and Flower is Philia. They come together as young animals of the forest and when spring comes they resolve to stand firm in their wants not to be “twitterpated”, or ‘in love’ like the other animals. When Thumper and Flower both find loves of their own this Philia is weakened because the friends no longer have that common goal.

Now Eros is a romantic love. This is the “in love” type of love, not to be mistaken for lust. Eros is a longing for an emotional connection with another soul. It’s also the only kind of love that God says is to be in strictly a male and female relationship.

Because of the fading Philia or ‘friendship love’ with Thumper and Flower, Bambi ‘happens’ to run into Faline and the Bambi that was so disgusted by the idea of being “twitterpated” quickly changes his mind about Eros when he falls ‘in love’ with Faline towards the end of the movie.

Now the last love... and the greatest of all of the loves... the virtuous love... is Agape. Agape love is one of the three theological virtues and the one that Christ tells us is the greatest. Another name for it is Charity.

Agape is God’s kind of love.

It is unconditional, it seeks the welfare and betterment of others regardless of how the giver feels and it brings forth caring regardless of circumstances. 

Like Green Eggs and Ham! Agape loves in the dark, in a park, in the rain, on a train, in a box, with a fox, in a house, and with a mouse!

It is a love that is freely given by the Lover and it expects nothing in return. It’s the kind of love that lets us trust completely in God because we know that His will is what is best for us even when we can’t see it ourselves.

...So now is the point in this talk where I’m supposed to give you this one perfect example of a time where I remember experiencing God’s Agape Love. And while I was writing this, I racked my brain to try and find it, but it wasn’t there! 

The reason I couldn’t think of one specific example of Agape Love, is because the perfect example of Agape Love is your life. It’s not a friend having your back when you’re in trouble, or your family there to help raise you, or sharing an emotional moment in a relationship. Agape love isn’t a once every now and again type of love, Agape Love is always there, never fading; Agape love is the gift, from the Lord, of your life.

Agape Love helps us see the silver linings in even the most difficult circumstances in our lives because Agape is also what I talked about earlier, a sacrificial love. Christ showed us the greatest expression of love when he became man to carry the weight of our sins and be the ultimate sacrifice, but he never actually said the words “I love you”. But we can see Christ’s love through his actions because for the most part, love is non-verbal.

So what do we do to show others that we love them as Christ commands us to? We may invite them over to spend an afternoon together and chat, or take a road trip with them, hug them when we see them and hold their hands, we might tell them that their talented and beautiful, help with the dishes and take out the trash when they’re overwhelmed, or make sure we have a gift waiting for them every birthday and holiday, or just because it’s Tuesday and they deserve it.

The ways in which we choose to show our love to others is referred to as our Love Language, it’s also how we like to receive love. There are five different Love Languages and much to Paul’s disapproval Food is not one of them.  

They are: 
Quality Time 
Physical Touch
Words of Affirmation
Acts of Service
Gifts

Now you may be asking what Love Languages have to do with God, and in my opinion it’s a lot. God calls us to love our neighbors, but how are we supposed to do this effectively if we don’t know how they receive love? We’re all individual and unique and the same goes for the way that we love. We all give and receive all 5 love languages, but some much stronger than others. Take me for example, I feel two love languages very strongly; quality time and physical touch. But I don’t perceive Gifts as an act of love at all.

Before we came on this retreat I asked the other resources to take the love language test so that I could use one of them as an example for how we are so different in our love languages. Unfortunately it kind of backfired on me, because believe it or not, every. single. resource. on retreat this weekend has a top love language of Quality Time.

Which I think speaks so beautifully to this weekend and to our community. We have this weekend to spend time together and grow in love for each other. 

It’s our job as children of God to use our knowledge and extend our love to others in what we say, what we do and how we act. It’s like the old saying “Actions speak louder than words.” He’s calling us to live a life of love and it’s our job to respond to that invitation with love.

So don’t just be a dictionary definition of love, don’t just have relationships but in all you do, your whole life:

experience the eternal exchange of love that is God.

Praying for AJ

Earlier today I got the news that the health of a great guy/friend/classmate from the St.Lawrence Center has taken a turn for the worse. AJ has been suffering from health conditions for the past year has just been diagnosed with a rare blood disease that the doctors say appears to be untreatable. It is estimated that he will only have a few precious days to live.

The St.Lawrence Center community has coordinated a prayer chain at 5pm everyday for AJ. We will be praying both a chaplet of divine mercy and a rosary. At this point, our prayers are most valuable so if you have a moment to offer up a prayer for him we would all be so thankful.

I am awfully proud to be a part of St.Lawrence and I have definitely let it be known on this blog. But I have never been filled with such joy to be a part of this group as I was today when reading the reactions pour in with prayers and intentions for him.

I'd like to share some of them here with you now.

• I had no idea. I'm in Costa Rica but am headed to the neighborhood church right now. Please please PLEASE let me know if there's anything else I can do…praying for aJ and his family and friends.
• Im in new orleans for the next week. im so sorry to hear this news but i will definitely keep the prayer chain going.
• I am in Texas but will try and get up there by Wednesday and will be more than willing to take people over there (to visit him)
• Be assured of my prayers on my drive back to Lawrence tomorrow as well as the rest of the week.
• This is obviously a very difficult time for everyone, but already it has been a truly beautiful witness of the power of Christian community. From one day of being present at the hospital, I can attest that AJ, his family, and his loved ones have received many blessings in the form of our presence and prayers, and I have great faith many more blessings will shine through this time of uncertainty as we unite for this more than worthy cause. Thank you all for your prayers and support, and continue to entrust AJ's well-being to the will of God. We can take consolation in knowing that he his much closer to heaven than we and that we may soon have a powerful saint to intercede on our behalf as we make our own way to our eternal destiny...
• St. Lawrence has truly shown through today! I've been able to see AJ as well today and in the midst of some of the greatest trials and sufferings I've ever experienced, there has been much fruit! Keep praying! See you in the Eucharist or on the battlefield (the kind that we fight on our knees) with AJ until he makes it home!
• Sending prayers!
• It is beautiful to see the unity and love of the St. Lawrence Center and friends coming together. Please know there are lots of prayers for AJ coming from Texas. The Aggie Catholic Center will also be lifting up the St. Lawrence community in prayer as well.
• My prayers are with you all! I'm afraid I probably won't be able to make it up, but please pass my blessings and prayers on to AJ and his family. I cannot imagine how difficult this must be for everyone.
• Definitely keeping AJ's Family in my prayer!!! Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pray for us!
• AJ and all of the family: you are in my deepest prayers. We all love you so much.
• storming the gates of heaven for AJ!!!..
• stay strong! my prayers are with you!

The St.Lawrence Center is doing great things and it is evident in the community that it has established. Check out this article from the NCR about the St.Lawrence Center and the community that it is providing for us.

Koinonia is greek for community and that's exactly what we are; a community, a family. And that's exactly what AJ is a part of, our community of love for each other and for Christ Jesus.

Our Lady of Lourdes, patron of bodily illness, Pray for us!

Be Not Afraid

As many of you may have already known this past Sunday was the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Because with Him there are no coincidences, with the help of the Holy Spirit I had a pretty good conversation with God concerning my vocation after mass.

It was these words from Fr. Mitchel’s homily that got me praying:

It is often said that the moment after receiving the Eucharist is the best moment for discerning one's vocation. For it is at this moment that we are most inclined to hear Jesus' voice not with fear - not as do this because I told you so, or do that, or else - but with trust. We fear Jesus' voice when our pride tells us that Jesus cannot know us as well as we know ourselves, when our selfishness tells us that it would be foolish to turn any decisions over to him. We trust Jesus' voice when we realize he only desires to free us to be what we have always wanted to be, and to live a life of love that is measured by the beauty of his glorious cross. May Jesus then, fully present in the Eucharist, be the gate by which we come and go through life, and arrive at the true discernment of the vocation he has given to us, and to no one else.

I've probably reread that paragraph 24 times in the past 24 hours. It's beautiful. But there was a part that I heard during the homily that resonated with me:  

“ not with fear…”. 

Vocational discernment is a big deal at St.Lawrence and sometimes it seems like everyone under the sun is very actively discerning and getting answers. In fact four of my guy friends will be off to the seminary in the fall and some of my girl friends are confident knowing they are called to marriage. I on the other hand have no idea, no inclination, no compass teetering to one side or the other.

Let's face the facts; sometimes vocational discernment is intimidating. 

I'm a big fan of the dictionary references to drive a point home so here goes this one:


in-tim-i-date

[in-tim-i-deyt]
–verb (used with object)
1. to make timid; fill with fear.
2. to overawe or cow, as through the force of personality or by superior display of wealth, talent, etc.
3. to force into or deter from some action by inducing fear 

I'm scared of my discernment. But I'm not scared in the way some people are scared. I'm not terrified of the possibility of the Lord calling me to consecrate my life to Christ and be a religious . I'm not terrified that He may be calling me to the devoted single life. I'm not terrified that God could be calling me to a holy marriage. No that is not it at all. I am terrified of time.

I like to say that I want to know what my vocation is. Oh how simple it would be if He would just spit it out already, let's move on with the show. I pray for Him to reveal to me exactly what it is that He’d like for me. A swift kick in the right direction ought to do me some good. But the more I think about it the more I realize that I’m lying; to myself and to God.

I'm not ready to know my vocation right now! If I know what my vocation is then I’ll be obligated to live it out. I just got to college two years ago! What if my vocation calls me away? I'm proud beyond proud of my friends going to the seminary next year. The day I found out about one of them I was literally beaming. My boss even asked me if there was something different about me that day and then mentioned that it was because she hadn't seen me stop smiling since I walked in the door. But part of me is glad it's them and not me. Because they're leaving, moving on because God has asked them too. They're answering the call. Even if this becoming a priest isn't what God will end up calling them to in the end they're not too intimidated to answer.

If God reaches out to me in prayer tomorrow and tells me ever so obviously that I’m called to be a religious sister than I will have to take the first step in that journey. If he calls out to me and tells me that marriage is the way to go than I'll have to force myself to the vulnerability of being in a relationship. And these are what I fear. The future is a scary scary thing. Hearing the call for me, is a scary thing. Because if God calls than I'll have to pick up.

And what if I don't hear Him right? What if I make the wrong decision and choose the wrong vocation? What if I don't pick up in time and the opportunity passes? What if? What if?

While I was mulling over all of these things after receiving Christ's body in the Eucharist I heard the song Be Not Afraid in my head. Hearing God speak is an amazing feeling, one that I never truly had before St.Lawrence because I'd never taken the time to listen.

As I knelt in the pew after Mass I knew what I was supposed to do. I picked up the book of hymns, turned the page to Be Not Afraid and read the lyrics and Christ comforted me.

Are we certain that this songwriter didn't have vocational discernment in mind when he wrote this?

You shall cross the barren desert, but you shall not die of thirst.
You shall wander far in safety though you do not know the way.
You shall speak your words in foreign lands and all will understand.
You shall see the face of God and live.

Be not afraid.
I go before you always.
Come follow me, and
I will give you rest.

If you pass through raging waters in the sea, you shall not drown.
If you walk amid the burning flames, you shall not be harmed.
If you stand before the pow'r of hell and death is at your side,
Know that I am with you through it all.

And I thought about how even now when it seems like my discernment process is barren and unproductive there is a plan already set in motion and I will not die waiting for it. That I can find comfort following in the safety of God's will even though I don't know where He's leading me. That no matter where He sends me and which vocational direction He pushes me towards there is a difference that only I can make in it. That no matter what, as long as I am following God's will, I will see Him in that life.

It's like that sentence was meant for me that day. Be not afraid. Listen to Jesus "not with fear..." but with trust. He won't lead me down a path that He hasn't first been down Himself. I can find comfort and rest knowing that I can trust Him with my life, with my future.

And when times in my vocation are tougher than I ever imagined they could be and things don't seem like they're gonna hold together I'll get out alive. When there are people around me trying to persuade my choice in vocation out of their own selfishness listening to Christ will keep me on the right path.

He is there, through the whole process. When it feels like God will never reveal your vocation to you He is there, working on you. 

Be not afraid.

Mmmmm you can find me in St. Louie

So I have this friend. 
His name is Drew. 
He has been bugging/harrassing me for months to be put in my blog.
He even sent me a flyer demanding he be put in it! 
Since you probably can't read the fine print let me recap it for you.

"© Drew 2011 Any reproduction without the express consent of Drew or his child company Drew majestic or his non-profit organization AAAHK- Americans Against the Allowance of Home, Kansas is strictly prohibited. Violator will be forced to spend 1 week in Home, Kansas. Sucks."

I may be forced to spend a week in Home, Kansas for sharing this but since I live there it shouldn't be too bad.

I've repeatedly told him that he couldn't be in the blog unless something happened that was blog-worthy and he happened to be involved. He's even been boycotting my blog until he gets in it! Well my friends/family/fellow bloggers, today is that day.

Kirsten, Brigid, Garett, Drew, Sarah, Me, Charlie, Kaitlynn, Lucas, Moe

10 of us from St.Lawrence recently took a little trip to St.Louis to hit up a Cardinals game. I love baseball and I've never been to a Cards game so I just couldn't resist the opportunity, especially the day after we won two intramural softball championships. We piled into the astrovan, 6 girls and 4 guys and hit the road. Our bag of peanuts and $2 tickets kept 5 of us very entertained and dry while it rained. The Cards ended up losing but I'm not actually a Cardinals fan so I wasn't too heartbroken.

Luker, Gare, Moe, Kait, Me, Sarah, Charlie, Drew, Brigid

The most memorable part of the trip happened on our way back to Lawrence. At this point it's important for you to know that of the four guys on the trip Charlie and Lucas are in relationships and Drew and Garett are both entering the seminary. Of the six girls on the trip; Maureen, Kirsten, Brigid, Sarah, Kaitlyn and myself are single. We made for a pretty unique group.

Anyways...there's a priest at St.Lawrence who has the gift of being able to tell some people their vocations. He actually just told one of the girls on the trip that she was called to marriage. Unfortunately this priest doesn't have the gift of matchmaking!

Drew, Gare, Me, Sarah, Kirst, Moe, Luker

Somehow it got brought up that none of us would be very comfortable with Drew, the #futuresem that he is, getting the matchmaking gift. He then proceeded to attempt to use his matchmaking gift on all of the girls. Some girls got matched with multiple guys, so I guess they can have their choice? One girl got the Dominicans while another one received God as her answer.

Fortunately Unfortunately for me I didn't get matched! Not once, not even with a religious community or with God. Drew just couldn't put his finger on that perfect match. What does this mean? Single for life? Young death? I'm not completely sure at this moment. I guess we'll see, but I don't think his gift is that finely tuned yet. 

It really got interesting when Drew became frustrated by not being able to match me and asked me to describe my dream man. Here's the spark notes version:

1. He has shoulders like Thomas Robinson.
2. Christian, preferably Catholic
3. Likes and is knowledgeable about sports
4. Is more outgoing that I am
5. A little bantering never hurt anyone either

Then we started going around the van and all of the girls had a few different things on their 'lists'. Some lists had about 20 things. (hey! we have high standards!) Some wanted runners, others blue eyes. Over 6ft tall was in high demand as well. But overwhelmingly the consensus was:

1. Chivalrous
2. Has a relationship with God
3. Gets along with the family

I'll be patiently looking forward to seeing who everyone does end up with. God has a beautiful life planned out for each of us. It will be interesting to see who ends up being a priest, a Dominican, marrying someone exactly like the person on their list and marrying someone who is the exact opposite of their list.

I'm still holding out for those shoulders though!

We’re just having fun
We don’t care who sees
So what we go out
That’s how its supposed to be
Living young and wild and free

Where my Pitches at?

University of Kansas Intramural Champs!

Co-ed Slowpitch Softball

(and Womens Slowpitch Softball)





Lucas, Charlie, Drew, Garett, Cory, Ben
Brigid, Shannon, Dani, Kaitlyn, Me, Melissa, Kirsten



 I'm really lucky to have met such great friends in college. Blessed actually. A lot of people don't get to have the kind of experiences I get to have simply because of the people in their lives. In my case it's the people from the St.Lawrence Community, especially our softball team.

Where my Pitches at? team huddle

We had a whole weekend full of fellowship and fun, giving thanks to God for allowing us to use the talents He gave us for His greater glory. To hit a knee after every game thanking Him and to be a witness to the other teams is a gift.

Our fan base! Even Sr.Elena came out to support us, 
we had some extra holiness on our side!

 What was even more powerful was the St.Lawrence Catholic Campus Center community that came out and supported us. We had a slew of friends/fans there starting cheers for us and just genuinely excited. One girl on the other team even told her teammates before the game that they were going to lose because we have God on our side! So funny!

Check out our fan tunnel after we won the championship!

Future roomies Megan, Dani, Me and Leslie 
plus future neighbor photobomber Curtis.

Future roomies plus Korbi and future seminarian photobomber Garett.

The backs of the shirts are pretty cool!

Ahhhhh....what a great weekend!

The Sun Will Come Out _______

Ahh the sun came out yesterday! Wooohooo! 

Considering it's the end of April and March was supposed to leave like a lamb, it has been outlandishly dreary as of late. Both of my teachers let us out of class early, just enough time for me to bask in the sunny glory for 45 minutes before heading inside to work for 3 hours. I found a hill on campus with a couple friends from St.Lawrence, laid back, closed my eyes and absorbed as much sun as I could. It was fabulous. My only job during that time was to soak up as much sun as possible and to thank it so much for being out! I felt instantly happier just being in the sun's presence.

I carried the warmth I received from the sun into work for me that day. I even received a "it looks like you got some sun" comment, that was nice.

Then I thought about when I had gone to Eucharistic Adoration the night before.  Much like I can just be in the sun and praise it for being out, in Adoration I can just be with Christ the Son and adore Him for He is the Lord and Savior of all. I can sit in Christ's presence and close my eyes because the Son is so bright and while I think of Christ my soul is warmed from the inside. My job for that hour is to soak up as much of the Son as I can and to thank Him for letting me spend time with Him. And I feel instantly happier when I am in the Son's presence. 

I can carry the warmth that I received from the Son into the rest of my day. And if I can live out my vocational call to holiness than I just might receive a "it looks like you got some Son" comment, and that would be nice.

AfterDark

On a Wednesday night about a month a group of friends from St.Lawrence and I went to an event that KU had called AfterDark, that was sponsored by the different Christian groups and churches affiliated with campus.  

It was nice to be out and involved with other Christian denominations from campus remembering everything that our religions hold in common. But as AfterDark went on and and different events popped up throughout the night I realized just how lucky I am to be Catholic. 

At one point in the night after a giant cross had been built we were invited to write down on a note card our sins that we'd like to leave behind and throw it on the stage so that it could be nailed to the cross. By nailing those sins to the cross we were 'forgiven' and Christ's blood washed them away. 

And I couldn't help but think, that 3 hours before when I had gone to the sacrament of reconciliation, my sins had been truly forgiven and taken away. I was overjoyed, as my soul felt truly new as I had left those sins in the confessional.

Be a Witness in All things

So we lost, 9-15. 
Second co-ed intramural softball game of the season. 
Life doesn't get much better than playing softball with my favorite people from St.Lawrence.
Our record is now 1-1. 
We were tied at 9 going in to the last inning and the other team turned up the heat. 
So the game ended. 
Our 10+ fans (that's about 10+ more than the other team had) clapped and cheered because that's what you do, even if you lose. 
We gathered our stuff out of the dugout, circled up and took a knee. 
Talked about the goods (the girls were hitting the crud out of the ball) 
The not so goods (base running/shaky defense).
Then we called over our 'Super-Athletic Chaplain' and gave a little glory to God and reverence to Our Blessed Mother. 
And it just felt right.

Our Lady of Victory, Pray for us! 

The Greatest Voice God Uses May Be Your Own

I promised her a shout out, but I'm almost certain she wasn't expecting an entire post about her: Hi Lillie!


I saw my friend Lillie the other day! Yeah, that story isn't so great. 


Lillie was my neighbor in our all girls dorm my freshman year. We both hated that dorm and neither of us were particularly fond of our roommates although hers was light years better than mine was. (What is it with me and roommates?) Lillie was the best neighbor I've ever had. There was no point in locking our doors when we were home because every 5-10 minutes or so one of us would be visiting the other. Lillie was supportive of my being involved in St.Lawrence and although she wasn't Catholic or particularly religious she never once thought less of me because of it. Now I don't know this for sure but I'd like to think that she respected me more for it. I'd go to daily mass occasionally and leave her for hours and hours on end Sunday evenings to go to Mass, Sunday supper and classes. 


So back to my story...I saw Lillie the other day at a KU baseball game on Friday night. I was there with a big group of friends from St.Lawrence and I thought I saw her on the other side of the bleachers. I creeped on her for awhile until I realized I was being creeped on right back. That pretty well describes our relationship. 


I don't get to see Lillie a lot anymore, we're both busy doing our own things, which is great. But thank GOD for social networking. Lillie and I have the ability to 'creep' on each other all the time thanks to Facebook and Twitter.


God uses all of us in unique ways in every different facet of life. If we're lucky enough, He let's us see how He's using us. 


Lillie made her way over to chat after the baseball game and we caught up a little and then she mentioned that she'd been reading my blog, this very one you're reading right now. I guess I don't truly know how serious she meant this when she said it but the words are still ringing in my ears. She re-mentioned that she's not Catholic or very religious and then added:

 'but it makes me believe in Jesus'

And then it hits you like a ton of bricks. This blog isn't mine, it's His. It's His way of using me.

Koinonia Family

This was my third one and I can't believe for one second I forgot about the transforming grace that comes from it. 

Koinonia, meaning 'community' in Greek. It's amazing how a community can grow over a weekend, and how beautiful it is to see it happen. Going in to the weekend retreatant's have no idea what they're getting themselves into. They have no idea that by the end of Sunday they will have a new family, a family that accepts them as they are, that knows their joys and will share in their sorrows. This family has seen them cry, loved them, shared meals with them, made sacrifices for them, stumped them in a game called Psychology, made them laugh, and prayed with, for and over them. A family that is centered in Christ. This family does not disappear after the weekend never to be seen again; Koinonia is a way of life.

I'm filled with joy to welcome SLK 13 to the Koinonia family! How beautiful it was to see them give their time over to Christ and allow Him to work in them. How amazing it is to know that He has done the same in me just by breaking from the mountain of homework/projects and very little sleep I had the week before and allowing myself to be with our Lord.

Koinonia can change lives, and it has definitely changed mine.

Without my Koinonia family I wouldn't have my best friends, my prayer partners, my future roommates and neighbors, people to sit with at Mass, my coworkers, my camping group, my teammates and the reason I love it here at KU. Who knows where I'd be without all of them. And I mean that, ALL of them. Each one of them has been a true blessing and helped shape my life in a way that they may never know. (hmm...idea for a new blog series?)  

Day 13: A picture of your favorite band/artist.

Ooooooo this is a toughy! I'll do it in categories:

My favorite local band: The Louisiana Street Band 

Click on the link above to listen to their music and I PROMISE you that you won't be disappointed. They just won a national competition and got to record in L.A. so you know they've gotta be good. I know about The Louisiana Street Band because my friend JohnMarc from St.Lawrence is the lead singer in it and he's amazing. So what are you waiting for? Go check 'em out!


My favorite band from when I was younger: Destiny's Child!

Oh man I was addicted. I owned all of their CD's listened to their Christmas music and if you happened to find me dancing around my room their music was probably playing. I STILL know all of the words to practically every song!

My favorite band now: GLEE!

Ok so they're not really a band, but I'm addicted to their music. I can't ever pick one genre and stick to it, I like it all which is why Glee is so perfect, they cover everything, and they do so amazingly! So of course I'm an owner of all of the volumes!

Union and Communion

Sometimes you've just got to take a step back from blogging and live.

I guess you could say thats what I've been doing the past few days. So often I get too caught up in my life to actually live. In what I have to do next and what I'm doing after that and when I'm gonna study for what and who I have a meeting with where and what time and make sure I don't forget!

I get so stuck planning my life that I forget to live it! I forget to take time to be in community and spend time with others. That is after all what the Lord made us for right? To be in union and communion with Him and others!

So this week I've found myself getting out of class early enough twice already to go to Mass and Confession. To be in union and communion with Him.

I've also taken the time to be with friends, watching the KU game, playing Yahtzee, doing hw, swapping life stories and watching you-tube videos. To be in union and communion with others. 

None of this would be possible without Him.

I can never be reminded of that enough.

He'll put it in your Heart

God never sends anyone to Africa without first putting Africa in his heart.

This is a sentence that plays over and over again in my head during my day.

God never sends anyone to Africa without first putting Africa in his heart.

What in the world is that supposed to mean?

Surprisingly it has nothing to do with Africa at all.

A really good friend of mine was reading What Does GOD Want? for spiritual direction and recommended to our spiritual director that I read it next. I don't know why exactly she thought of me other than she knows I like to read, but I'm really glad she did. In the midst of school and finals and projects and tests I was done with that book in a matter of days.

The whole book is about discerning what God wants you to do with your life and making sure that your decisions are in line with what He wants and not what you want.

There's a story in the book where a speaker was talking about his own struggles to give his life fully to God. He'd always been afraid to surrender completely to God's will because he feared that the Lord would send him to Africa --- and that terrified him. He had no desire to be a missionary in Africa (or anywhere else) so he withheld that part of himself.

Finally the speaker said he made a full commitment to the Lord despite his fears. And God didn't send him to Africa. He learned something --- God never sends anyone to Africa without first putitng Africa in his heart.

Sometimes I still find it amazing the ways in which God chooses to speak to me. Through song, through SD, through Mass, Through ONE single sentence in a book that just happened to fall in to my lap. This one sentence has changed so much. It's rid me of a lot of fear. But also given me a challenge; to be open to what God has put in my heart.

I know the Lord has a fantastic plan for my life, and I shouldn't be afraid that He will send me anywhere that I'm not ready for, I just remember:

God never sends anyone to Africa without first putting Africa in his heart.

Day 5: A picture of your favorite memory

You do know that it's impossible to have ONE favorite memory right?

 

I wouldn't go as far as saying that this is my favorite memory but it's just one of those that was the icing on the cake you know?

This is a picture of my friend Korbi and I. I met Korbi in January 2010 on the bus to March 4 Life where we learned that we actually had 2 art classes together! My first memory with her was getting her killed in the game Mafia haha! We became instant friends, two peas in a pod, it was almost freaky. Within a month or two our classmates were asking us if we went to high school together, honestly we barely knew each other!

This particular picture above is of the day that we tested our final design project. We made a kite, and not only did we make a kite but we made a Korbassi! (It's looked like a caterpillar!) It was the most beautiful majestic kite ever known to man(haha maybe not but we were really proud of it)! Our teacher told us that we'd get extra credit if we dressed up for our project so we dawned our bright colors and butterfly wings and hit the field!

A picture of Korbassi!

It's been a little over a year since I met Korbs and I wish I could say that our relationship was as good as it used to be. At the end of my freshman year we couldn't fathom the thought of leaving each other for a whole summer. How would we survive? Something happened over the summer, I'm not sure what, and I'm not saying it's good or bad, but our friendship isn't the same.
I love this girl, last year she was my best friend. I'd love that back. She has such a beautiful soul, an infectious smile and a way of making everyone in the room with her love God that much more. I've been making our friendship a part of my prayers, having faith that God has a plan for us more beautiful that I've ever imagined.

Just for fun I've decided to add another picture of us!