Live As You Believe

             "If you do not live as you believe, you will begin to believe as you live." -Fulton Sheen

I just got a goodbye card/letter from a friend who has put up with the absolute worst of my attitudes and actions over the past year. Especially the last couple of months, believing as I live has been an all too common occurrence. I convinced myself that I wasn't good enough to live out this faith like those I saw living out theirs. I gave in to a despair so real that I failed to remember there is a greater plan for me involving hope. I let the light fade away and was content with sitting in the dark. I was believing as I was living.

Well friends.....that doesn't go over well with God.

I believe very strongly in bringing others to Christ through actions-so strongly that sometimes I forget words are necessary, too. When 99.9% of the people I was surrounded with on a daily basis (especially this summer with all of my family home) claim to have a Catholic faith but live out something completely different, I started to believe the way that they are living. Faith is something not spoken of unless it's in a fight or a rude joke, so it must not really be worth the fight,right? Wrong. It's worth every fight we will ever have to endure. It was worth every drop of blood of God's only Son....it sure as heck is worth everything we've got. 

To bring others to Christ, we've got to give everything. That doesn't mean standing on a street corner preaching about God's unending love, and that doesn't mean living a life of faith without ever speaking a word. It means giving everything we are for what we believe. It means living out our faith through actions, and being comfortable enough in that faith to speak about it to others when necessary.

May you continually strive to live as you believe, and give your all for something greater. Peace!

Unworldly

True Love is unending, unfailing, unpredictable, unselfish, uncommon, unstoppable, unceasing. 

Yep,God's Love is pretty much un-everything of this world.........AWESOME. Think of the things that hold you back, bring you down, make you feel worthless. Think about why this world is so hard to live in joyfully sometimes; He is the opposite. 

Worthless? Your worth is in Christ. 

Lonely? He's waiting in the tabernacle. 

Tired? He's carrying all except a sliver of your cross.

Unsure? Find comfort in the sure arms of the Lord.

There is only one way to find true joy in this world, and that is in Christ, who's love is unworldly. Embrace it, rejoice in it. Receive it, share it.

Relentless

Relentless; that which does not become less severe

There is a world waiting to tear us down, chew us up, and spit us out. There is a world who will tell you that you are the only thing that matters, that faith is too hard, that real hope is overrated. There is a world trying to rob us of everything we have been, are, and ever will be.

There is a God who gave everything he was, is, and ever will be. There is a God who is worth every second of our time, every ounce of our energy, every part of our being. There is a God who sent his own son into this world to suffer for everyone in it. There is a Love that is unfailing.

Stop giving up, stop giving in, stop pursuing what this world sees important.

Relentlessly pursue Christ.

Best Coaster Ever

Hello wonderful people! God never ever ever ceases to amaze me. EVER.

It's been a....crazy....couple of weeks to say the very least. I've been busy, although not as insanely busy as the beginning of the summer. What has been crazy is watching God work in those around me, and in my own life. No major events have happened, no life-changing moments; it truly is the everyday blessings that make life worth living. 

What's really been amazing me lately is how much can happen (physically, spiritually, emotionally, everything-ally) in a single day if-and this is a BIG if-we allow God to take control. Think about it with me. When you get up in the morning, do you know every single person you'll come in contact with that day? 

Do you know what conversations you'll engage in, what prayers you will say, or the exact amount of free time you'll have? Well, I don't either...but that awesome God who wrote your life story does.

I once heard that life is like a roller coaster. Oh boy, isn't that the truth-whether we want it to be or not. Each day could be an exciting rush of fulfillment and surprise, or a disappoint at a failed attempt to control our own ride. 

Let God take over your life daily....the guy knows what he's doing. He just might surprise you with the best coaster you've ever ridden.

Summer Blessings

This summer has been an absolute blessing.

I've had time to read multiple books...from an actual library. I now have the chance to go walking or jogging at times of the day other than before 6 a.m., and to (usually) sleep in until at least 7. It's my time of year to manage the greenhouse,time to start getting fair projects ready,and I only have a little over a month left before I move up to Manhattan. I still manage to be out of town long enough or be busy enough to avoid boredom, and I'm still "the renter who doesn't pay rent" to my dad. Basically.....God is good. Oh come on, that paragraph made you happy-you know you're a big nerd, too.

Along with all the things I've gotten to do (or not do) this summer, my favorite one has been listening. I've gotten to actually spend time with those around me by choice, and not just because we were in the same class or involved with the same activities. We spend time together because we enjoy being around each other; it's as simple as that. This past year, my schedule was so packed that it overshadowed the people in my life. I wasn't ever present when I was at one thing, but was just focused on making it through so I could get to the next commitment in one piece.

Listening is something I've always loved doing, and something that I think we all need to do a little more of. A lot of the people I've been able to spend time with this summer are going through some pretty crazy stuff. Just listening to them tell stories, rant, or ask for advice has been a learning experience for me-sometimes even more than it is for them. I admire those people who are confident and honest enough to open up and let others in when they need to. I look up to so many in my life who have shown undying strength this past year, when things seemed to be literally falling apart around them. I ask myself what I would have done, and I really don't like the honest answer. Hmmm......maybe that's why I didn't have to climb that mountain. That God guy knows what he's doing.

May you continually strive to grow in truth and love. Here are a couple of sentences that pretty much sum up my summer up to this point.

You are living a story written just for you, and no one else. 

Let God surprise you with the amount he can write in a single day.

Angry Fighting

I am not an angry person. I like to listen more than talk, stay in the background whenever possible, and usually try to avoid conflict at all costs. My life is insanely, ridiculously (and sometimes annoyingly) painless compared to those around me. But I am ANGRY.

I'm sick of lies. I'm sick of watching those around me suffer, and of feeling like I can't do anything to help them. I'm angry at the devil for playing his hand so cunningly, and at being trapped by my "freedoms." I'm angry at myself for believing every lie I see, hear, or somehow manage to maneuver into my own brain. Now I know it probably seems like I'm an absolutely crazy lady ranting on and on about how horrible her life is. Take it as you like; I prefer to think of it as an absolutely crazy lady beginning to fight for something bigger. In my opinion, anger is a useful tool when aimed at the right target.

As I drove home earlier today I was thinking about all the spiritual and physical battles being fought, and I thought of something: Don't we prepare before we send troops off to war? Do we not make sure that the men and women leaving everything to fight for our cause have some sort of training? Preparation is useful for just about everything. Want to write a great paper? Prepare by researching. To win a court case, lawyers have to make sure they have a solid argument. How do you win an Olympic gold medal? Endlessly train. How do we triumph over evil in this world? We prepare. 

We've been blessed with the sacraments and opportunities to receive God's grace. Christ fills the tabernacles of this world 24 hours a day, waiting for us to begin training. We've got to spend time with him before our battles begin, learning who we are and who we've been created to be. Preparation is key.

The ruler of this world is out there, picking his fights. He wants you to believe his lies, and to be honest, sometimes those lies seem pretty dang convincing. The one who created this world died for a greater one, and he dies every second of every day in an attempt to show us truth. 

The Evil One says we are made for less; Christ shows we are made for more. Which ruler do you want to fight for?

Tunnel Vision

Alright.....time to buckle down and get to this blog! My brain has been going all week and I wanted to share, but haven't even taken the time to breathe like I should, much less write. Whew! Okay. Hello :) I hope your life has been rockin' awesome! Bear with me for a moment while I reach a new level of nerdiness; I'm going to compare faith to marching band. Yes,that just happened. Call me a nerd, but you and I both know that nerds rule the world.

Whether you've ever been a member, stood along the street and watched, or just seen one on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, we all know what a marching band looks like. What most people don't realize is how hard it is to make that block of people look like something other than a blob, or sound better than an annoying preschooler with their recorder. Accomplishing this requires something that my band director has constantly pointed out over the past 7 years It requires tunnel vision. You must carry your instrument exactly the same way as your neighbor, playing exactly the same volume when your horn comes up. You must stand and mark time behind the fire truck (who is trying to crowd please and dodge small children at the same time), making sure that you are putting your heel down at exactly the same time as the other 75 people around you. You must do all of this while remaining perfectly in line both front-to-back and side-to-side. Finally, you need to ignore the grandma who runs in the middle of the band to kiss her grandson, and the cute little five year old running beside you-at least until the 3 mile parade route is over. You must be focused only on the task at hand, ignoring everything else in this world. Sounds kind of nuts, eh? Kind of like life tends to be.

Being a successful Christian requires the ultimate tunnel vision.

If we are going to live this life for something bigger than ourselves, and if we are going to get somewhere better than here, we have to focus. Christ is the light at the end of the tunnel, the only way we should ever be traveling. We are surrounded by great examples of faith in the saints and angels, who are willing to walk with us. The rest of the tunnel is obviously dark, so why on earth would we wander off on our own? Those distractions that pop up in every day life (you know, the ones that take our eyes off the prize), well, they aren't worth it. What we gain in running away from Love is emptiness. What we gain in running away from

light is darkness. It's not worth it. Zone out the thoughts that tell you that you aren't good enough. Don't listen to the people who bring you down. Don't over-complicate your tunnel (much easier said than done, I know). Christ loves you. If you love him, run to him.

May you blur out the edges of your tunnel, focusing only on Love in everything you do.