Go With His Flow

This past weekend, a friend of my family’s passed away suddenly. She was on a mission trip in Lourdes, France, serving with a youth group from our area to help disabled children. My mother called me early Sunday morning while she was on her way to the Divine Mercy Shrine in Massachusetts. She told me that Addys had passed away that morning in France from a massive heart attack. All I felt was shock and a great sadness. She had come into our lives by way of one of my mom’s closest friends, for Addys was a close friend of hers as well. I did not come to know her very well. I only knew that she worked with disabled children and that she had a sweet and calm personality. She has been on my mind this entire week, reminding me that tomorrow is never guaranteed. I ask that you please pray for her soul, as well as for the consolation and conversion of all those lives she touched, most especially her family and friends.

Although I did not know her well, she has made an impact on my life, perhaps more in death than in life. Her death has reminded me how precious life is, how ever-changing and unpredictable as well. These past few months of my life have been a testimony to that. In the span of a couple of short months, I went from being uncertain about my future, resulting in a state of waiting on the Lord, to being thrust full force into the plans the Lord had for me. By His grace, I was accepted into my dream school, NYU, and am now on my way to becoming a nurse. Also by His grace, I entered into a relationship with a wonderful guy whom I have known for five years and whom I know has not been placed in my life by coincidence. (Please pray for us as well—that we may surrender to His will, whatever that may mean.) In the span of these couple of months, my life has fallen into place and the Lord has given me the grace to trust only in Him. Addys’ death made me realize what a miracle each new day is. I am so undeserving of this life, of the graces and opportunities the Lord has bestowed upon me and yet, I have somehow found favor with Him. Each day I awake with the realization that I am one step closer to Heaven, one step closer to my vocation in life and I praise Him for this privilege. I pray that today you take a moment to reflect on the path that God has been leading you down. Perhaps you have been following Him, perhaps not. One thing is certain: you will not find true happiness until you surrender to His will and go with His flow. It truly is all you could ever hope for.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Apology #2

Once again, I apologize for my sparse involvement in the blogging world these past few months. I promise that I will get a post in this week! I have much to share and hopefully I won’t be too swamped with collegiate work to do so. Please keep me in your prayers and I will do the same. God bless you!

Change

Hello all! Once again, I apologize for my sparse involvement in the blogging community as of late. I assure you, it is unintentionally done. My life has just gotten so much more hectic! So, because I don’t have much time, I will be posting something I wrote over a year ago on an old blog I had. It’s just some food for thought. Enjoy and please comment if you’d like! God bless you!

November 9, 2010

I will keep it short and sweet tonight…
I feel the need for change. I have always been the type of person who gets bored when something is kept the same way for too long. This has been evident in the fact that I rearrange my room a few times a year, simply because I needed a change. Tonight, however, I feel the need for a change in me. A change in the way I conduct myself, in the way I behave, in my manner of thinking. I need to change it all so that it aligns perfectly with Christ. As I analyze my life, I realize that it is far from alignment with Christ. On the contrary, most of my life (whether I realized it before or not) does not reflect Jesus. This needs to change. Many times we look for this change in clothes, hair, makeup, significant others, etc. We change our minds constantly because we don’t know what we want. We don’t know what we need. Jesus does. That is why once our wills are aligned with Christ’s will, our need for constant change will diminish. The only need for change that will be left is the constant need of conversion. In fact, it has been said that conversion is an every day thing. It changes each day, progresses and regresses, according to each person and their thoughts/actions. I ask you today to take a look at yourself and see what kind of change you need. Perhaps you need more honesty, less vanity, more purity, less materialism, more forgiveness, less fight, more love, less hate…think about it. We all need something, some kind of change. Let Jesus be the change you make in your life today. Replace all those things you don’t want or need, and replace them with Him and His love. You won’t regret it. This is the one necessary change that you will never want to change again. Trust in Him, invest in Him. Just as a stockholder invests in the shares of a company, invest your heart in Him and you will see how He multiplies your fortunes. You will be rich in everything that is important: life, love, happiness, peace, joy, understanding, forgiveness. Invest in Him. He is the best choice you will ever make in your life.

God bless you!

Video Gone Viral!

Hey guys! Soooo, I’m sure many of you have come across a certain video on YouTube about Jesus hating religion. I just wanted to share with you all a response that was written by another fellow Catholic blogger. Very interesting!

http://marysaggies.blogspot.com/2012/01/does-jesus-hate-religion-should-you.html

Apology

Hello all! I apologize for the complete neglect I have shown in the past month or so. Life has been sooo hectic. A lot has happened and, while I’m still trying to take it all in, I promise I will begin to write about it very soon. Until then, please keep me in your prayers and I will do the same!

God bless!

Certainty

These past few months have been a torment; they’ve been spent anxiously waiting for a response from my dream school to my application for admittance to their nursing program. Let’s just say that when I’m waiting for something, I get obsessed. A few minutes ago I was thinking about this long awaited letter and the two possible responses I will get. I began to feel anxious (which I know does not come from the Lord) and to think about how uncertain my future is at this point. The next couple of months, maybe years, of my life are hanging upon the thread of this school’s decision (or maybe I’m just being dramatic). I have asked the Lord time and time again to let His will be done, no matter what that means, yet I continue to try to grab a hold of my future, to try to steer it my way. You see, I’m one of those people who like to have a plan. In my mind, I have this great plan for my life and yet, I know it falls short of the plans the Lord has for me. As I sat there meditating on how my future seems to be so uncertain from my point of view, I heard a little voice in my heart say, “That’s not true. Your future is certain, you just can’t see it.” In that moment I felt the Lord assure me that my life is in His hands and that His plans are great. From where I’m standing, from my point of view, I can’t see what I am meant to do, what life I’m meant to lead. But He does. He has a different point of view, a much broader one, and I know He sees it perfectly clear. He knows which way He wants to lead me, but it’s up to me to follow. So Lord, on this day, I want to follow. I pray that You lead me through my life and allow me to enjoy and savor every moment You have planned for me since the beginning of time. I want to get to know You within the confines of my life. Help me to trust You, Lord. Help me to let You be the Captain of my boat, steering it through the ever-changing tides of my life.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

Consolation

*Sigh* Whoever says walking down the path of Lord is easy has obviously never walked His path. These days it’s a struggle to put one foot in front of the other, to keep going, to keep my sight on Him. At times I feel like my cross has lightened, at others I feel like the weight of the world has been added to that cross. It’s not easy. But I have no doubt in my mind and heart that the Lord is with me. You see, although I may despair at times, although I may want to give up because I know that I am too weak, the Lord gives me a little consolation. It comes in many shapes and sizes.

Yesterday’s consolation was truly beautiful to me. Simple, but beautiful. Yesterday my ministry and I had to provide the music for a mass for children with special needs at our parish. It’s only once a month, and it’s a very simple mass, but boy, was it hard for me to put the effort. I found myself struggling to want to sing with all my heart. Instead, I mostly sang with my mind, if you know what I mean. I had been grumpy even while we were going over the songs for the mass. It wasn’t until the responsorial psalm that the Holy Spirit began to soften my heart. You see, yesterday’s psalm just happened to be my favorite psalm of all time (psalm 63). It speaks to me and portrays my yearning for the Lord in just the right way. As we sang it, I could feel my heart soften and my soul cry out to the Lord through my voice. And as I sang, I felt the Lord consoling me, filling me with peace. The culmination of this peace occurred when I received Him in the Eucharist. At that moment, I knew that it would be alright. It’s these little moments with the Lord that get me through my day. My brothers and sisters, I encourage you to hope in the Lord, wait on His promises. He is faithful. As hard as it may be to believe, He truly is.