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