Snakes in Cakes

Well I'm on Long Island. 

It's a super quick trip.  

My mom likes to say I just stop by for a visit twice a year. And yea that's kinda true. 

I was determined to make this time different, to not just let these 10 days fly by. 

Here in lies me saying YES to things before really thinking about what I'm committed to. 

My mom called me a few weeks before I was to arrive home and asked if I would lead a Children"s Liturgy of the Word Sunday. I immediately said YES, and almost instantly regretted it. But I knew my parish back home has done so much for me. There are cute old ladies offering mass up for me daily, spending their time praying for us, and sending their hard earned dollars to me so I can go out and serve the world. The least I could do was give back to the parish in this very small way. 

Let's back up. What is Children's Liturgy of the Word? It's that moment of the mass when all the kids of the parish go down to the Parish Hall and the Gospel is brought to them on their level. And by kids I mean Kindergartner through 6th grade. In one place. With me, as their "teacher" for the day.

As the priest is praying over us the JOY on his face was contagious. Then he says these words "may God grant you wisdom as he as entrusted you with these souls".... Holy Hannah. That's a lot of responsibility. It's my job to bring JESUS to the least of these. As terror rushes through my body, I smile, and walk across the church with a gaggle of little ones. 

A rowdy crew was what the Lord blessed me with that Sunday. So I played into it. I had them clapping during the Alleluia, and asking them pretty interesting questions. 

What are you afraid of? Spiders? The Dark?

Nope! 

This is the answer I got from my little first grade friend "SNAKES IN CAKES".

Oh? I'm sorry what was that? 

SNAKES IN CAKES. 

Okey little man, thanks for sharing. I'll pray for you. 

A bit later we were talking about the Nativity scene and I asked:

"What kind of animals are in your nativity scenes"

Camels

Donkeys

DINOSAURS! yelled a pint sized Peanut in the front row.

Oh? Interesting. 

As our time together was winding down together I asked the kids if they would pray with me. So we said some general prayer intentions and I then opened the floor for them to pray aloud. My "snakes in cakes" dude blew me away. 

He bowed his head and began in a quiet roar..."Hi Jesus, keep my dad safe, and my mom safe, and my big sister who is sitting next to me, and watch over my family" and on and on he went. He kept his eyes closed and his hands folded as he whispered his final thoughts with an Amen. 

I stood there shocked. 

Here I was, entrusted with these souls for a few minutes, expected to change their lives and yet the innocence of that First Grader shook my world. 

He may be afraid of something that I didn't know existed, but he prayed to a powerful God who knows he exists. A God who has counted each of the hairs on my head, and claims me as his own DAILY. A God who hears the cries of our hearts, and in time, answers each of our prayers. A God who takes away our biggest fears of failure, rejection, and lack of self-confidence. Gently guiding us to him and asks us to leave it all at his feet. 

Today, that little first grade friend reminds me to PRAY BIG, know that God hears the littlest of whispers of our heart and that we are SO LOVED.

Praying for you! 

"Seven" Week 1

Advent.

A season in the church I took for granted

As a small child I looked forward to eating the chocolates out of the calendar.

As a high schooler I was excited to finish the quarter but HATED that they sent home report cards just before the start of your winter break.

As a college kid I counted down the assignments that were due and got one day closer to the end of the exhaustion of the Fall Semester.

As a missionary everything changed.

Last year, one of my missionary sisters suggested we fast from something during advent. So I did. Half heartedly. I gave up my pillow. Which wasn't to bad because I had a sweet foam mattress pad that worked pretty much like having a pillow.

This year though I knew it needed to be different. My prayer was getting more intense. The intentions people were asking me to pray for was getting more difficult. The Mission in Atlanta was beginning to grow. I figured a fast to match my prayer would be a great place to begin the sacrifice to rid myself of the junk that was consuming my heart. I really wanted to clean my heart and prepare for Jesus to enter it more fully during the Christmas season.

"Do you wish your prayer to fly toward God? Make for it two wings: fasting and almsgiving." Saint Augustine

My prayer turned into a conversation with a dear friend.
Which led me to start reading a book called "Seven".
Which then lead me to radical realization. "My life is full of way to many things, and only I can do something about that".

The book starts out with a woman who decides she wants to eat only 7 things for an entire month. So I prayed about it and figured I could do that too. Being gluten and dairy free I have a pretty interesting diet to begin with so I said why not. I started off being really crazy. I said I'm going to eat rice and beans for 24 days! Yes that sounded perfect.

But it wasn't. I wasn't feeling well because I wasn't getting the things by body needed. I needed to be able to function, serve my community and be on mission.

So I've expanded my list a bit

Rice (no salt or butter, just straight up rice)
Rice Cakes (unsalted)
Black Beans
Peanut Butter
Almond Milk
Coffee
Coffee Creamer

I know, I know, the last two items may not seem like a sacrifice. But they are! I'm committed to drinking only one cup a day. I'm pretty sure my community likes me a bit better when I have a cup of coffee in the morning.

So there it is.

Pray for me!

It's a Love Story...baby just say YES

Disclaimer: The blog has nothing to do with Taylor Swift. I just happen to find some lines of her songs rather catchy, and if only she was singing about Jesus instead of boys her life would be much cooler.


I've begun diving into the Catechism of the Catholic Church a bit more. With the Consecration has come many questions, and what better place to look for answers than the Catechism?! The cool thing about the Catechism is how its compiled of Encyclicals, doctrine, holy people's reflections and sacred scripture.

It's INCREDIBLE.

I have my undergrad in religion, and I'm now finally making sense of all of this. These readings are becoming a more personal relationship with Jesus and less about just writing papers.

These Holy documents are blowing my mind each and everyday. My missionary brother and I were talking about the way these documents are written truly as a love story. Each of these holy people are just trying to convey Gods UNCONDITIONAL love for us.

Sometimes I get lost in all the heavy theological jargon but that's ok. I trust that God is loving me through that and giving me exactly what my wee little heart is supposed to understand.

"Those who believe in Christ know the Spirit because he dwells in them" CCCC 687

Hashtag: The Struggle is Real

Our life is a battle. 

We battle sin and temptation all day, everyday. 

Don't believe me?  Here is a glimpse into the first few hours of my day. 

6:30am- Alarm goes off.

           Do I hit snooze? 

6:35 am- Rapid shower. Probably with freezing cold water.

            Do I complain about the water? The soap in my eyes? Do I dare complain about stepping out of the freezing shower onto a cold tile floor? 

6:45am- Pick out something to wear.

          Do I pick out something that's both modest and cute? Do I complain about Atlanta and it's bipolar weather? Do I regret the decision I made to wear flip flops the minute I open the door? 

7:00am- Leave the house to head to mass. 

         Do I keep the commitment I've made to my missionary family by leaving on time? 

7:01am-7:29am- Car ride to mass

        Do I complain about the inevitable traffic? Do I glorify God in my speech/actions/choice of music?

That's just the first hour my eyes have been open! Imagine the rest of my day. As I struggle to pray, glorify God in my daily tasks, conversations and interactions with others. 

BUT if we put God first, and keep him the center of our day then he will fight the battle for us. Our hard days won't seem as hard because our God who loves will WIN the war raging in our hearts.

I've also learned recently a simple lesson from my best friend to CHOOSE JOY. In those moments where I want to complain about the cold shower, or the traffic, or the line at the gas station, or the cold coffee I put in my cup which I thought was just made. ALL of those moments are a blessing. Some are easier to see than others, but I promise if you ask God will show you. 

"God will arise for battle; the enemy will be scattered" Psalm 68:2

Words can't describe the Love

Her name is Chris.

She's a refugee.

She's captured my heart.

She's helped me to see God's faithfulness.

I've been blessed with the opportunity to serve Corpus Christi in Stone Mountain, Georgia. I leave my apartment at 3:30pm to make sure I get there by 5:30pm. I battle traffic for what seems like forever.

And in that battle, it's the moment I realize IT'S NOT ABOUT ME.

So I gather my pride, pray a Hail Mary and find some JOY. Next thing you know Woody and I are jamming out to some Matt Maher, or any of the Love Good Music CD's (lovegoodmusic.com...support them) that we find laying around in our car.

I step out of the car and entire a dark gym.

There's round tables set up and 8 chairs at every table.

Welcome to Life Night.

I'm overwhelmed and don't really know what to expect.

Almost two months have gone by and I'm a bit more comfortable at the parish now. I know that there are almost 70 teens that come every week who are yearning to know Jesus in a deep way, but are scared. I know their names, almost all of them. I know they are broken. I'm beginning to learn their stories and where they come from.

I have been praying for Core Members. Basically BEGING Jesus to send us some adults to help all of these teens fall in love with Jesus.

Enter Chris.

She's a small woman in stature from the Philippines.
Her English is great, and her heart is HUGE.

I got to hear a bit of her story and it blew my mind.

She lived in Pakistan with her husband and two children. Her husband began receiving death threats in early 2012 because he was living out his CATHOLIC faith. So him and his family packed their house, sold most of what they owned, in two weeks and  fled to the Philippines. Because Chris was born there  they had no problem getting in to the country but they knew they had to find a more permeant place for their children to live.

Enter her husband sister. They haven't talked in 12 years. But she heard they were in trouble. She is established here in America and wanted to help her brother.

Chris and her family moved to America on October 15. The four of them live in a bedroom of Chris's sister-in-law.

She became a Core Member on October 23. When I asked her just a few days ago what made her want to be here she said "I have no job. Not a lot of money. Enough food to eat, and a God who loves me very much. Jesus, he brought me here to America and now I must serve him and his people"

If that doesn't make you want to go out and serve, I don't know what will.

Safety Third

"Oh, Atlanta?....is it safe?"

"Really? Your spending a week Haiti, be careful"

"Mexico? And your DRIVING, be careful"

I'm not a very dangerous kid. I haven't fallen out of any trees, broken any bones or even got a single stitch. The most physically dangerous thing I've ever done was playing High School Women's Rugby. My position was hooker, and most likely to break her nose. I never even came close!

Let's face the reality; you could slip on a banana peel and die. Or trip over your own two feet into on coming traffic and get hit by a taxi. So being a missionary, with teenagers, in America seemed pretty safe.

BOY WAS I WRONG!

Everyday I put my life on the line to defend my faith. I have to admit that I am weak, let me guard down and let Jesus take over my heart. Now people THAT is dangerous yet so comforting. Remember the song Oceans? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8mZpGj29qw) Well the line "my soul will rest in your embrace" gives me great hope when I feel scared or nervous about the mission the LORD has me on. If I'm pursing the LORD with passion and zeal for souls then, I am safe and nothing can harm me....except maybe a banana peel.

"The safest place for us to be at any point in our lives is passionately pursing God and the purpose to which he has called us"-Bill Johnson in "Strengthen Yourself in the Lord"

PS- Read that book. It will radically change your life!

Prayer is not asking, it's a longing of the soul.

As a Life Teen Missionary we have a daily rhythm  of prayer.

7:30am Daily Mass
8:30am Holy Hour
9:30am Liturgy of the Hours

Liturgy of the Hours has been the hardest part of our morning prayer routine for me to enjoy. Liturgy of the Hours is the second highest form of prayer in our church. The first being the Eucharist! It is a four week cycle of Psalms, Antiphons and Canticles prayed by religious, consecrated and lay people throughout the word. Tradition tells us that someone, somewhere is praying these prayers every moment of every day. You can pray these prayers at seven different times of the day. As a Life Teen missionary we are committed to praying Morning Prayer and Night Prayer.

As I grew more and more in love with the Lord over the past year and a half I also have grown in discipline in my prayer life. With that discipline comes a deeper desire to really dive into Liturgy of the Hours and so instead of just reading the words actually PRAYING the words.

My favorite Week and Day to pray is Wednesday Week 4 Morning prayer. The antiphons are my favorite words to pray, and they really build on each other. This day seems to always come just when I need to be reminded of these simple words.

The first antiphon says "My heart is ready, o God, my heart is ready". For me I take this a true surrender to God's plan for me for that day. I don't always know what the day holds for me but if my heart is open then I can whole heartedly say YES to each of the way's the Lord calls me to love. The second antiphon says "The Lord has robed me with grace and salvation". This is the how for the me. If my heart is ready then I will go out and do what the Lord has asked me with HIS grace. The third antiphon says "I will praise my God all the days of my life". Because the Lord is so good, and because I have committed my heart to his plan and because he gives me the grace to do what he commands I MUST praise the Lord, and I WANT to praise the Lord.

Today I challenge you to dive deeper into your prayer. To actually pray the words you are speaking and don't let them just fall off of your tongue. Speak them from your heart and feel them resonate in your entire being. Put those words into action.

Fearless but not Perfect

This blog should have been posted back in June when I wrote up. But it never happened.

So here it is, the unedited version straight from my journal.


"Why be afraid that you cannot carry this cross without weakness? On the road to Calvary Jesus fell three times"- Saint Therese's to her sister Celine.

Be fearless but not perfect. Leave the perfect part to our heavenly father. During this year as a missionary I've tried to live fearlessly. Often, if not daily, I fail. My own insecurities get in the way. My own weakness gets in the way and my pride tries to cove up those weaknesses. But even Jesus is weak, and even he wept.

Reading that quote from Saint Therese gives me a glimmer of hope that I can keep going. No matter how many times I fall weak and have to pick up my cross, Jesus will help. The road to salvation isn't easy or pretty. In fact, it's often times an uphill battle with some blood, sweat and tears. But it's totally worth every minute of the climb.

God Wins

Summer camp 2013 is done. Boy was it one for the record books! I’ve been involved with summer camp since 2010. I’ve served as a summer staffer and in the kitchen at Covecrest. I was camp photographer at Camp Tepeyac, and this year I was Prayer Coordinator and Summer Staff Mentor at Camp Hiawassee. Each year provided me with new ways to serve the teens and pushed me to lean harder on the Lord.

I knew from the first day of summer camp in 2010 that I wanted my parents to experience what the Lord was doing in the lives of the teens. So when I got home, I started sharing the stories, singing the songs, and showing them videos and pictures. That continued for the next three summers. Every so often I would drop a hint, “Hey, maybe you can come visit one week. Arizona is really pretty.” And finally after asking and asking, asking Jesus to stir in their hearts a desire to say YES, my parents came to Camp Hiawassee during the last week of camp this summer!

Holy cow did the Spirit move! My parents were laughing, playing around, helping on high ropes, eating ice cream, and more with the teens and missionaries at camp that week. The big glory moment, though, was after my parents went to Mass: my dad said it was the best Mass he’d been to in a long time! PRAISE THE LORD!

My parents coming and experiencing summer camp was one of the many ways the Lord was faithful this summer. I can go on and on about the ways the Lord moved in my life this summer, and each moment He showed me His faithfulness was such a blessing. The moment the desire was placed on my heart for my parents to experience summer camp, I had to PRAY BIG and EXPECT MIRACLES. As I head out to Atlanta in just a few weeks, I continue to PRAY BIG and EXPECT MIRACLES realizing at each moment that GOD WINS

Summer Camp Wrap Up!

It's been weeks since I left Camp Hiawassee and I think I've finally gotten the last bit of camp stench off my clothes. My hair doesn't smell like mud, bacon or sweat anymore...THANK YOU JESUS!

This little gem right here is the perfect photo to explain the blessed CHAOS of summer camp. While teens are being covered in mud, doused with water they are draped in the GRACES and the LOVE of the Lord. 

My missionary brothers, Woody and Chris, praise the Lord for their love and support this summer.

Every session we welcome the teens in. It reminds them that they are important and that they matter. 

Just a Tuesday Night Dance party! 

Every morning and every night we gather and pray as a community. 

Here's a snip of an opening skit we did for the youth during the last week of camp. I'm playing the role of a protective Mama and my daughter hasn't eaten very much that day. Take a look at what happens next!

Oceans

There's this super popular song in the Catholic world called "Oceans" by Hillsong. On a recent day of silence I found myself singing along to the tune that is perpetually stuck in my head...oh the irony. As I prayed through the words I realized they were perfect for the situation I'm currently in.

I move to Atlanta GA in less than a month. We don't know where we are living. What car we will have to drive or what parish we will be working with.

But the line that gets me goes "Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders let me walk a upon the waters wherever you would call me". Throughout the summer I can recall may moment where we sang this one that I was standing, hands raised truly praying these words.

Now The Lord is calling me out into these deep waters. Where I don't really know what's going to happen next. But here I go, just like Peter, out into the deep waters. Keeping my eyes fixed on The Lord.

Listen
Pray
Enjoy

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dy9nwe9_xzw

You are Enough

I challenged a group of 35 Middle school girls to look themselves in the mirror everyday for the next year and say I AM ENOUGH.

Who is willing to rise up and take that challenge?

Oh you know just hanging out at SUMMER CAMP!

We are three days into the first week of session two! Gosh the summer is really FLYING by. We have sent our  first session Summer Staff back home to be missionaries in their home's and at their schools. Here's a few pictures of the last week of camp!

The beautiful women I got to journey with during Session 1

I got to give the talk during a Women's Session and here we are praying over the men of our community. 

I'm working in the main room, and suddenly I have some duck friends join me! 

One of my many roles is talking about our Haiti 365 Board! 

This is just a typical Thursday night at summer camp. 

It rains...A LOT! 

Thirty minutes before breakfast started we realized we didn't have enough eggs. We bought 25 dozen eggs! 

Session Two Summer Staff watching Fireworks! 

Best.Camp. Ever. Part 3

Well I've clearly failed at this "weekly" update thing! But so many exciting things are happening at camp and I'm in a CANT STOP, WONT STOP mode right now.

A few glory stories and a few pictures...COMING AT YOU!

Week 1 of camp there was a little girl named Lily that stole my heart on the very first night. I was eating dinner with her, her sister and some friends. She sat right next to me (practically in my lap) and started eating food off my plate. I was a little taken back at first, but she was going into 6th grade and super cute so I figured I would share. She started telling me joke, and the five of us continued to eat every meal together for the rest of the week. The really glory comes on Thursday of that week during high ropes. I was blessed to be up in the air with the girls and Lily was especially nervous. There were a lot of tears...A LOT! But she climbed up the cargo net and over to the first element and then she froze. So I walked towards her and helped her the entire way till the tight rope walk portion of high ropes course. There she was crying so much she couldn't even see. It was heart breaking. I knew she was scared, but I knew she could do it. She wanted to get down, so we had to rescue retrieve her down. The night at dinner we talked a bit about why she was so scared, and all she kept saying was "you saved my life". It was so cute, and I knew all I had done was held her hand when she was scared, and let her eat off my plate. But even deeper than that Lily taught me how to love.

Week 2 was a bit of a hectic week. I brought one teen to the hospital because he dislocated his knee. Through the chaos I was able to relay the message to the summer missionaries to gather all the teens and pray a rosary. As we were traveling the 30 minutes to the hospital (his mother being very happy I'm a New York driver) his knee suddenly popped back into place. Miraculously when we got to the hospital it was all fixed, and he just has to wear a brace for a week. POWER OF PRAYER!

We are half way through Week 3 and Jesus is rocking it. We had a 7th grader tell the entire room he was going to be a priest, and an 8th grade girl asked to be baptized and welcomed into the Catholic Church as her only Christmas present this year. My favorite quote of the week so far as been from Father Michael, this is in reference to the Sacrament of Reconciliation he said "When a priest is wearing purple you know it's butt kicking time. Jesus is just going to come in and KICK that sin in the face"

GOD IS SO ALIVE!
Our church is ALIVE
And the middle schoolers of our faith are ALIVE!

Just a few hours before the first campers arrive putting the final touches to our set.

That "tree" is made out of garbage cans, and cardboard boxes..WE WORK WITH WHAT WE HAVE! 

Ropes Crew! 

This is Konan, he's our pet bear. Don't worry though, black bears don't eat meat! 

HAPPY CAMP!

Best. Camp. Ever. Part 2

It's been just a few days that the summer missionaries have been here and God is moving! The first night we had a praise and worship session on the steps of our house shortly after we sent them all to bed. But clearly God had bigger plans.

Here's the past week in a picture preview!

A generous donor has pledge to provide bread for the summer missionaries for the entire summer! 

Woody and I were just waiting for the summer missionaries to arrive on a  rainy Sunday afternoon .

Hey they made it! Those are not gang signs, but really the Hiawassee symbol! 

Full-Time Missionaries are so excited that everyone arrived at home! 

A beautiful clear night praising the  Lord. 

Putting up the environment! 

Best. Environment Team. Ever....FOR HIS GLORY 

We get walkie talkies!! 

Best. Camp. Ever

 I have just a few months left in this year of my mission. I have moved to Hiawassee Georgia to put on a summer camp for middle school teens. During camp my roll will be prayer coordinator as well as summer staff mentor. 

I beg for your prayers during this time. I ask you to pray for our middle school teens, youth ministers, summer missionaries, priests, hosts and musicians.

Beginning on Sunday May 19^th and ending on August 5^th I will be fasting from all drinks that isn't water. I ask that you consider joining me in this fast for the souls that will be affected during summer camp. I will also be praying a Hail Mary and a prayer to Saint Michael daily for the protection of all of those coming to camp. I ask you to please join me in that as well.

Preparing talks. Sketching out sets. All in a days work 

Checking out the stars! Our camp site is really awesome!

Here we will house 30 missionaries for the next 12 weeks! 

My first role at camp will be the prayer coordinator. I'm excited to begin interceding for campers, and to work along side of priests, and other holy men and women during the summer.

Struggling to Accept

I just purchased Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska and HOLY COW!

Gosh her life is really really REALLY cool. I've only been flipping through a bit of her diary these past few days in prayer but she just has these one liners that hit a place in my heart where God is working right now.

In this section she is explaining how she has know since she was SEVEN that she was being called to the religious life...EXCUSE ME...SEVEN?! I don't even think I knew how to tie my shoes at seven, and this beautiful woman of God hears the voice of the Lord telling her to be a saint. She describes her call as "an invitation to a more perfect life"(DoSF7). Saint Faustina clearly heard the voice of God, and I pray to be that obedient. Anyway, continuing on her journey she is faced with her parents rejecting the idea of her entering into the convent, and she decided to pretend like she didn't hear God's voice calling her. God spoke to her and said "How long shall I put up with you and how long will you keep putting me off"(DoSF9). At that moment she went to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament and God continued to speak to her heart telling her what convent to go to, and that he would provide for her.

After all this time of praying and discerning she finally entered the convent. As she went through her time at the convent there were many things/people that were bothering her and she wanted to get up and run. But again Jesus came to her and said "It is to this place that I called you and nowhere else; and I have prepared many graces for you" (DoSF19). She knew at that moment she must stay.

This beginning journey of Saint Faustina is very much like the phase of life I'm currently going through. I knew in the depths of my heart three summers ago that I was being called to be a Life Teen Missionary. I kept pushing it away in my prayer and God kept asking me that same question. "How long shall I put up with you and how long will you keep putting me off". I was scared, I didn't want to let go of the great control I had over my life, I thought I was doing quite well. I was comfortable.

Then when I finally broke out of my comfort zone is when Jesus started pushing me. When Jesus placed that missionary call to "a more perfect" life on my heart. But as he placed that call I also had my own plans and ideas of what this year of missions was going to look like. Now that I have found out my placement for next year I feel like God is speaking directly to me when he says "It is to this place that I called you and nowhere else; and I have prepared many graces for you" I'm struggling to accept that because Jesus loves me that I will be serving in Atlanta. I'm struggling to accept that there is nowhere else but there that I am called to serve next year.

I ask you to pray for my heart to accept this great and amazing plan that God has for my life. Give me the courage, humility and obedience to realize that he knows better, and this plan is greater.

No Place Like Home

I miss home.

I miss sleeping in my room on Long Island. I haven't been there since January and I won't return until half way through August.

I miss hearing my sisters crazy music blasting from her room.

I miss the air compressor going on and off in my dad's garage at the wee hours of the morning.

I miss my moms cooking.


But all of these things are a sacrifice I'm willing to miss to serve the Lord who laid his life down for the salvation of my soul.

As my time living in the physical place of Covecrest quickly comes to an end and I prepare my heart to serve at Camp Hiawassee during the summer, and then live and serve in Atlanta, God is moving a lot of things around in my heart.

I'm struggling to feel a constant presence of home, and struggling to feel confident in what God is doing. With  the idea of being a nomad has entered my prayer. I haven't really moved around a lot, but I do call a lot of different places home. I went to school in Florida for four years, and I call that place home. I served summers at Covecrest, and Tepeyac claiming those places as home for weeks. I have friends and family who have welcomed me into their lives and opened up their homes to me. See the struggle?

BUT there is a freedom in the realization that came through prayer and reading through Pope Francis's first Audience. My home is truly in the Lord. My home is where Jesus is. My home is in the Mass, and the Eucharist, and the love of Christ.

"Jesus has no home because his home is in the people, his mission is open to all the doors to God, to be the presence of  God's love"- Pope Francis

Take these words of our Pope and rest in them. Take them to prayer and allow God to penetrate your heart and find rest in HIM.

Excuse me what...it's April?

Yesterday we celebrated my sisters 18th birthday. Which could only mean one thing ITS ALREADY APRIL!

Holy cow Batman, my time here is FLYING.


March Madness doesn't even begin to explain the amazing, beautiful gift that March was. March was hard, challenging, exciting, COLD(most days even FREEZING), packed with prayer and joy.

I'll give you a bit of a picture preview of the March Madness!

The Life Teen Men's Retreat was a HUGE blessing. It was a weekend of complete service. I was blessed with working long hours in the kitchen with other missionaries gals, praying and interceding for the 80+ men that were on retreat.

We were on CLOSE Pope watch here at Covecrest! Each of the missionaries randomly selected a bishop to pray for during the entire Conclave. All the guys (and a few of the girls!) participated in the First Ever No-Shave Conclave! It was an itchy few days, but praise the Lord of the gift of Pope Francis. When we found out who the Pope was all the missionaries were RUNNING around camp. SCREAMING and JUMPING for JOY!

Of course we had plenty of retreats on the weekend. This is a group of Saint Michael girls that I got to journey with throughout the entire weekend. It was a true blessing to be a part of their conversations, prayer and community.

This Easter I was blessed with going to Florida for a week. I spent time with Mission Partners, sorority sisters, and friends. God showed up in big ways. He gave me the courage to spread his love with each of the people I came in contact with

It wouldn't be a complete trip to Saint Leo without a little bit of work. I got do the voice over of my portion of the virtual tour!

Thank you for being on this journey with me. YOU are a blessing to me.

Drop Everything Now!

What does it mean to say YES? This has been the question that has been encompassing my every thought. I’ve been writing the word YES on my hand everyday for the past few weeks. When I don’t want to wake up in the morning, or love someone in my community the way they deserve to be loved then I glance down at my hand and remember. But, am I really going to take all that comes with a YES? I’m finding out slowly what my YES to Life TeenMissions means.

For me it means:
Loving when I’m tired,
Taking out the trash and getting that nights’ dinner juiced down my legs,
Lighting bonfires,
Writing talks,
Leading small groups,
Getting up early,
Doing what God wants me to do and NOT what I want to do,
Saying YES to letting God love me totally and completely,
Unclogging toilets,
Living in a house with 8 other women,
Cold showers some mornings…

So, maybe God isn’t calling you to be a Life Teen Missionary, or maybe he is, but he’s calling you to do something. Maybe he’s calling you to go to college. Or start a new job, in a new place, with new friends. Either way God has a plan by saying YES, dropping everything and knowing God will be victorious.

When I said YES I didn’t know every detail that was going to happen this year but God did. His plan is better than any expectation I could have placed on the year.

Just say YES and God will take care of the rest.

February Update

I know, I know it's March! But here is a bit about what's been going on in February. 

Just like January, February flew by. My dad and sister came up the very first weekend and went to work on the Art Barn. During summer camp, the Art Barn is the main location for all arts and crafts, as well as a musicians corner. Teens who don't want to run around during free time have the opportunity to hang out in there glorifying God in their art. It is beautiful to watch my family join into this mission with me. 

One huge highlight of February was a group of 50 teens from Long Island came to serve with us at camp! They were sophomores and Senior leaders from Holy Trinity High School in Hicksville. It was a week full of blessings. They were incredibly loving, and willing to serve. One of my favorite moments was the morning it snowed. The teens just jumped in and started serving, outside in the FREEZING cold. We had the opportunity to go on home visits and it brought tears to my eyes to see the ways the teens were listening closely to these elderly people, and the ways they spoke about their lives. One teen asked to close us in prayer when we were leaving a house. The way he prayed was so genuine and heartfelt. One of the projects I was on in the afternoon was paving the patio by the Art Barn. It was very tedious work, and required a lot of detail. The girls I was working with brought such joy to a rather mundane task. We sang a range of songs from Backstreet Boys to Taylor Swift. They brought a spirit that rekindled my joy in service. I am so thankful that they were able to be here. Here is a picture showing the pure JOY the Holy Trinity teens brought us after three hard days of laying bricks! 

The rest of February was filled with hours on the phone interviewing college students to be summer missionaries. This summer God has placed me in Hiawassee Georgia with five other full time missionaries to lead a middle school summer camp. The interview process was so interesting to be on the other side of the phone. The Holy Spirit has been moving and by this afternoon all of our teams will be formed, and summer camp preparations will be in full swing. 

As summer camp begins to rapidly approach us, and we have more and more groups coming during the week I beg for your prayers for myself and the other missionaries. My prayer this morning is based on this verse from Psalm 51"With a spirit of fervor sustain me". This weekend will be a big push through for me as well. I am on home team this weekend (local outreach and preparing meals), then Saint Leo University is coming Sunday-Friday for a week of work, then Men's Retreat. There are many opportunities to serve, and tons of opportunity to fully rely on God to give me the strength to continue loving. 

Happy Sunday

Today I had to opportunity to go to mass with a group that is visiting here with us today and here is the song they sang during communion. It just hit my hear and made me really think about the mass, and the sacrifice I was participating in.



Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are

I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours

Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love and watch me rise again
Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me

Who Am I- Casting Crowns

Life Teen Harlem Shake

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07-S70Sy8BY

40 On the Floor

Lent is just a few days away, or maybe by the time you read this blog it's already begun. Nonetheless maybe the temptation of the thing your fasting from is really eating at you. Suddenly you see chocolate popping up every where you go! 

This year for Lent I decided to give up my bed. I am so attached to that incredibly comfy piece of plastic, that it's mildly ridiculous. I struggle every morning to remove the warm blankets, and peal out of bed to start my day. 

Then one morning I received an email from one of the Life Teen Missionaries in Haiti about a young girl we met during our trip to Haiti. Taina was visiting the base when the missionaries were making beds for some of the guests they would be having. The young girl, about 10, asked the missionaries for a small mat (not even an inch thick) to take home to sleep on. When asked if she had a mattress she said no, that she just lays a sheet out and sleeps on top of it. 

I couldn't even finish reading the rest of the email. My heart broke. 

There I was sitting on my iPhone, in a warm dining room, eating a hot meal, after complaining I had to get out of my comfy bed, when this young girl didn't even have a mattress between her and the floor. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

When I went home that day, it made me sick to even look at my bed. I decided that night I would be sleeping on the floor from that night till at least through Lent. 

I challenge you, YES you, to think about kids like Taina when you complain you have to get out of your comfy bed to start your day in the morning. Maybe this Lent your can join myself and some of the other missionaries by sleeping on the floor. Don't even think about grabbing your pillow. Just you, the floor, and a blanket. #40onthefloor

January Update!

Just under a week until the beginning of Lent (check out this Life Teen blog of weird things to do for the 40 Days of Lent http://lifeteen.com/weird-lent-ideas-that-will-make-you-holier/) I wanted to give you a quick update on the month of January. 

Most of January was a whirl wind of events. We arrived back the first week of January and began with 8 days of silence. Well most of my community spent 8 days in silence. I was silent for about 4 days. During those 4 days I had a terrible stomach bug, I'll spare you the details, but you get the picture. It was to distracting to my prayer and I wasn't able to sit in silence for long periods of time without being sick. I was in the doctor one day and brought to the hospital another day. Praise the Lord I am feeling much better. The victorious that God claimed in my heart during those quick four days of silence are still being prayed through, but he is revealing to me daily the ways he is continuing to love me. 

We had the blessing to drive seven hours to Florida to go on retreat with the entire Life Teen staff. Staff member from Arizona, Saint Louis and Atlanta, missionaries from Houston, Atlanta,Haiti and us here at Covecrest spent three days in the sun (praise the Lord) evaluating the ways we would be Fearless during this year of Faith. It was a time of prayer, fellowship, and complete joy. 

The last week of January we went to the March for Life. We were given opportunities to serve as the set up/prayer team for Life Teens first Encounter for Life. The entire event was beautiful. Teens were given the opportunity to go to reconciliation, adoration, and praise and worship. They encounter Christ through a witness talk, and interacting with parishes from all over the country. The day of the march we were able to go to Mass with 17,000 on fire Catholic! As we were sent to the march the missionaries went out singing Praise and Worship songs, and just inviting others to pray and walk with us. We also got to put on a Life Night for one of the local parishes in Maryland. The best part of the trip was the amazing host family the women missionaries got to stay with. They were a witness to us in their marriage and the way they raised all of their children. They have a beautiful love story that was written only by Christ. 

February has been off to a great start. My Dad and sister came to visit us and it was incredible! There was snow and we got to help build the Art Barn. I found out my roles for this summer. I will be living in Hiawassee Georgia. The first session in camp I will be the Prayer Coordinator  and the second session I will be the Summer Staff Mentor. Both roles are really going to slow me down, and demand that I serve people over projects. I'm quite excited for that to happen, and to be obedient to what God is calling me to do. 

Thank you so much for the ways you are praying and donating to this mission! 

Praying for you

March for Life!

What have we been up too?

MARCHING FOR LIFE...of course! 

My not so SILENT, silent retreat

Welp, I'm out of silence.

A few days earlier than everyone else.

I got pretty sick.
Doctors office...check
Hospital....check
Pulled out of silence after four days because I couldn't go 20 minutes without running to puke..check (sorry about the detail)


BUT: GOD MOVED!

I'm not sure exactly how to explain it, but I do know that God was so present with me during my time of suffering was so evident.

We have been traveling a whole bunch and will continue to be traveling one more time this month. We will be  heading to Washington DC for the March for Life. Let me know if you are going to be there.


Praying for you.

Silent Retreat

After a world wind of a Winter break I'm headed back to Georgia tomorrow at 6:30am. This break has been filled with:

5 missionaries visiting my house

Some just to sleep...

A trip to NYC to see the Radio City Christmas Show 

Tons of family time. 

Ringing in the New Year with my missionary brothers, and some new friends

On January 3rd I will begin an eight day silent retreat that will end on January 11th. I wont have access to facebook, email, twitter, texting or phone calls, but praise the Lord. I'm excited to dive into what Jesus has to say to my heart during this time. But I'm also a bit nervous. I beg you to pray for an openness in my heart and an attentive spirit to the ways God is going to be speaking to me. 

Haiti Days 5-9

Obviously I haven't kept my promise of writing blogs everyday. But I'm just going to wrap up the last bits of Haiti.

As reluctant as I was to going to a hospital in Haiti it was a beautiful experience. American hospitals make me really nervous. I just don't like them, and often times they are sad. I was expecting horrible conditions, and a lot of heartbreak as we were heading to the hospital. One of my mission sisters leaned over, grabbed my hand, and said "Don't worry. I'm nervous too". I guess I can't really hide my emotions as well as I thought I could. The rest of the way I sat in silence praying for God to give me the courage to be a witness of his love. The first room we went into was the pediatrics. These kids were just laying in there with their mothers at their bed side. A young baby who had a high fever for a few days, and a young girl, maybe 12, with typhoid. As Father Louis prayed over and with each of the kids I couldn't even begin to speak for fear that the only thing that would come out would be tears. The young girl prayed the "Hail Mary" in Creole with us, and I nearly lost it. She didn't have anything else. There was no TV to occupy her. Her room was decorated with cute characters like a pediatric wing of an American hospital. She had her mother, the bed she was laying in and Jesus. It was a beautiful moment to be a part of. Witnessing the young girl and her mother pray together brought tears to my eyes. So often I take for granted having all these material things to make me "comfortable". That was the moment in the trip I realized I didn't need a lot of "things", I just needed Jesus, family, and an unshakable faith.

XLT is a huge night of adoration, with a talk and some praise and worship. The full time missionaries had been planning their first XLT to happen during our time in Haiti. The week prior they began visiting schools inviting teens to come join us for a procession, followed by the XLT event. We couldn't post it on facebook, mass text the teens, or make a youtube video. The missionaries had to go out and personally invite hundreds of teens. The afternoon had arrived and little by little teens started arriving at the base. The rain also came with them. As they gathered we prayed a rosary for the rain to go away (at least I think that's what the priest was saying in creole) and by the end of the rosary the rain had stopped. We began our procession only two hours later than planned (that's pretty good for "Haitian time") and boy did we praise the Lord. Our cantor had a band in it, and we had hundreds of teens singing, dancing, yelling, and praising the Lord. As we traveled through the streets to the church we invited more teens to come, and they dropped what they were doing and followed. Two hours later through the mud and rain we all knelt before our Lord and adored him.

Bring them Jesus 

What would a Life Teen event be without a good dance party?!

"Our God is mighty to save"

Thank you Lord for stopping the rain. 

I had been hearing a lot about the orphanage "Moving with the Spirit" during summer camp, and from other Life Teen Missionaries so I was super excited to finally get to visit. The orphanage was beautiful, and the kids were so loving. During this day in the trip I realized that in order to love someone I don't have to "say or do"  the right thing. I just need to be a witness. Taking the time to stoop to the kids level, and play a game with them, or stumble through some horrible creole, really lights up their day. The beautiful little girl in the picture below climbed into my lap after a few hours of being really shy. I knew one creole song and so I sang that song with her over and over again. It wasn't until I stopped singing that I realized this small little voice singing with me. It was the simply action of sitting on the floor with this little girl, rocking her back and forth and singing with her that helped me to realize my actions do make a difference.

Our final day in Haiti we were given a few hours of quiet time to begin to process what God was doing in our hearts. We also got to pray over the country of Haiti as an entire community. Some of the sisters and brothers joined us. I challenge you, the next time your in the car to pray over the town your driving in. To ask God to be in the center of the lives of each person that comes through that town.