After the Storm...

There has to be periods of calm and stress-free weekends after stressed out weeks, right!? And here it is, a weekend I am looking forward to; a weekend I will spend sleeping, laughing, cooking, and hanging out with friends!

Tomorrow night I am hosting a game night for some friends; I mostly want to play my new game Telestrations. I will also be cooking and baking up a storm tomorrow afternoon and I can't wait to eat what I make! Here's my menu for the game night; most recipes I found on Pinterest and have linked the recipe:

Lasagna Spinach Rolls
Pizza Dip
Garlic Bread
Veggies and Dip
Mini Apple Pies (from my recipe, baked in muffin tins)
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip
Funfetti Bake Batter Dip
(with cookies and crackers for dipping)

Ever since I signed up for Pinterest, I have definitely been wanting to cook more and more; I have found some great recipes on there!

Challenges and Stress

When I wanted to be a youth minister my senior year of high school, I simply thought of how awesome it would be to share my faith with teens and (hopefully) bring them closer to God, just like my youth minister in high school did. I loved attending the Steubenville Youth Conferences and I had a great time every week of youth group.

When I had a seminar class on youth ministry in college and had a one semester internship, I was not made aware of major stresses that can come with the job. I did get to experience some of the behind-the-scenes work during my internship, but the seminar focused on theories and some best practices. I learned a few practical things, but it would have been nice to learn more.

When I started as full-time youth minister, I tried to continue what the last youth minister had going on. It wasn't until the big summer events and conferences when I started to get majorly stressed out. Sometimes people in charge forget that us newbies don't know exactly what we're doing in our first year(s)! I survived the summer, though, and actually had a lot of fun with the youth at the conferences and lock-ins.

Then came my second year, which didn't start off so well. There was conflict and tension and I had no idea why (turns out it was from a lack of communication and lack of asking the right people questions). Who would have thought that there could be conflict, tension, and drama while working for a church!? Especially when I'm one of the least dramatic people out there. It came, it went, it came back. The circle of life when you work with real people, I suppose.

My second year has also been a lot more demanding. People expect more. I learned how to turn down some things in life and have fewer meetings. Having free nights is one of the most amazing things in the world. I think every year, playing the balance game will change. Work, free/personal time, relationships, spiritual life, eating healthy, working out, errands, the list goes on! I have been very overwhelmed in the past 4-5 months and sometimes I don't even know what my purpose/goals are of being a youth minister. I feel like I don't know what I'm doing because it's not quite what I expected.

But I keep on. It has to be difficult before it can be easy. I have to learn from mistakes before I can teach others what I know. I have to grow in my ministry and be the youth minister I want to be, not the youth minister others want me to be. Yes, I have a job to do, but I also have my own strengths and weaknesses. Starting from (almost) scratch and building up your own youth ministry is a very challenging task, but I know it can be done. I also know I need to stop having a negative attitude about work! It needs to be positive, so that positivity will flow into all I do with my ministry. Lord help us all!

Change for a Dollar

This is beautiful.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I love December. I love the "Christmas season" - although, let's get this straight. It's Advent and Christmas starts on December 25th and goes until the Wise Men come in January. But to the rest of the world, it's the Christmas season right now. As a youth minister, it's my job to explain to others (especially the youth) what Advent really is and to tell them to focus on Advent and preparing themselves for the real meaning of Christmas. I don't think this means doing away with all the holiday festivities though.

Some people get so upset about how commercialized Christmas has become and how everyone has Christmas decorations up already. Calm down people. I happen to like it, and I'm going to attempt to explain why!

While it is annoying that stores begin putting out Christmas stuff right after Halloween and all throughout November, once it's the Friday after Thanksgiving, I say go all out! Turn up that Christmas music, get those lights out on the house, deck the halls and trim the tree. Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus. God came into our world, incarnate, 2,000 years ago, it is certainly a time to celebrate! Even though he wasn't actually born on December 25th, today we consider it his birthday. And what do we do for birthdays? We decorate, we buy gifts, we go all out for the ones we love. Whose to say God doesn't love all the decorations we put up!? Some even put manger scenes up in the yards (go you!). This time of year is also about the "Spirit of Christmas." My mom is huge on that. And the Church, herself, offers so many wonderful opportunities to celebrate this "spirit," such as St. Nicholas day, the Immaculate Conception, 4 weeks of Advent, our Lady of Guadalupe, and many more. It is definitely a stressful time, but it's also a joyful time. It's a month to really cherish time with family and friends and the many traditions you have or are creating. It's a month to remind you of childhood excitement and wonder and awe. It's a month to admire the beauty of what is around us (lights, decorations, love). It really is the most wonderful time of the year.

What Happened to Downtime?

Today I came across an article that discusses our lack of downtime, sacred space, and deep thinking. Or as the author puts it: What happened to downtime? The extinction of deep thinking & sacred space. Maybe this is why my brain thinks about work when I'm at home, sleeping, and in the shower. I don't have a lot of processing time at work because I'm always connected and distracted with my computer. I guess this means I need to make the time myself, I need to shut down my e-mail and web browser for 15 min and work up to an hour. Baby steps.

Thursday Quotes

Last night at Adoration I began reading the newest book by Fr. Larry Richards, "Surrender!" I've seen him speak at conferences several times and he's always been inspiring, so when I heard he was coming out with a new book, I jumped at the opportunity to purchase it. I'm not even through the first chapter yet, but several quotes jumped out at me last night and I thought I'd share them:

When we fall, God is still pleased with us for wanting to do His will (p14) 

Holiness is who we are - not what we do (p15)
We are holy...because God dwells in us, not because we are good people 

Sanctity or holiness is a by-product of love. It is not an end in itself (p19) 

You can be holy and still be real (p20)

When I put the book down and began chatting with God, one of the first prayers that came to my mind was to ask for holiness for R and I. And then I was like, whoa, wait, Fr. Larry just said that we're already holy! So I changed the prayer to ask that we grow in our holiness. :)

I'm excited to finish this book. Fr. Larry presents the journey of faith as something very real and he gives tangible examples of how to grow in holiness (at least at the talks I've been to this has been the case). If you'd like to learn a bit more about Fr. Larry and his foundation, A Reason For Our Hope, check out their website:
http://www.thereasonforourhope.org/

Things to Check Out

Alright, two things that have caught my eye that others have posted. The first is an article off of CNN how men are "in trouble." Basically, no one is teaching boys/guys/men how to be true men. Well, that's my opinion, anyway.

The second is a video of a college band performing Party Rock Anthem. And they actually shuffle! Enjoy.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/04/opinion/bennett-men-in-trouble/index.html

Blessings and Coffee

Happy National Coffee Day! And happy Feast of the Archangels!

This past month has flown by and I cannot believe that October will be here on Saturday! I've got a few speculations as to why this month seemed to disappear, and it wasn't because I've been terribly busy with meetings galore during the week. We moved all high school formation sessions to Sunday night, which has freed up Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights for me. That has been a major blessing!

At work, I've also been blessed with an amazing supervisor. I know that I have his full support and it's also nice to have some actual guidance in my job. He's kick-started the process of putting together a three-year plan for youth ministry. So blessed to be able to work with him.

On the mornings I stop at Starbucks I'm blessed with a sweet smile from the baristas, as well as delicious coffee. It's a nice way to start the work day.

This past month I have celebrated many things with many friends, such as birthdays, baby showers, our parish young adult ministry, running a 5K, our youth softball team winning 2nd place. Those days and moments were filled with much joy and laughter, as we blessed each other with fellowship and smiles, and as we were all blessed in the gift of friendship.

As we approach the month of October, I get more excited to celebrate all the beautiful feast days our Catholic Church gives us! We are so blessed to be a part of a church that is steeped in traditions and the holy examples of the saints who went before us. Two of my favorites: Therese of Lisieux (Oct 1) and Teresa of Avila (Oct 15). Their stories of love and faith are so inspiring, what blessings!

And perhaps the biggest blessing this month has been the start of a new relationship. Last month I was not expecting to meet anyone; funny how God works sometimes. :) Just being with him melts my stress away. And somehow this relationship is helping me in my relationship with God. Blessing after blessing after blessing. :)

Sanctifying the Day

I love starting the day with morning prayer from Liturgy of the Hours. It used to be such a great habit in college, but I also had friends I prayed with, so we kept each other accountable. And I'll never forget the way-too-early morning prayer during Echo summers, trying to hit the high notes of "Morning has Broken" at 7am. Now I'm trying to get back into the habit. What better way to pray than to use the Universal prayer of the Church!? And turns out that it's much easier to pray in the morning than before bed... those prayers are usually a quick sentence or two thanking God for the day. But with morning prayer, I know I'm sanctifying the whole day and giving it all to God.

I've used morning and night prayer with my youth group; once after a lock-in and once during a youth group session. It seemed to go over fairly well. I think I'll use night prayer a few more times this year for our Sunday evening gatherings.  Someone's gotta teach those kids how to pray. :-P

Harry Potter and No Greater Love

I went to see the final Harry Potter movie last night and it was fantastic. It's been a few years since I read the last  book in the series, so I forgot about some of the story elements and how it really is all about love (what Dumbledore stresses to Harry so many times). In the Chronicles of Narnia it's a given that Azlan is a Christ-like figure. In Harry Potter, it doesn't come out until the final book/movies, but his character is also Christ-like!

Throughout the series people died for Harry Potter, and he is known as "The boy who lived." Or perhaps we could even say the chosen or anointed one? The only person he truly fought was Lord Voldemort, or the Evil one. At the end of the book/movie, when Draco and company are about to die in a raging fire, Harry insists on saving them. He knew how to love his enemies. And in the end, with fear pumping through his body, he went to face Lord Voldemort and death. He accepted death, not knowing it wasn't the final death for him.

In his brief time "between worlds" he had a conversation with Dumbledore, and a quite from that really struck me. "Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love." Harry knew love. Throughout the series he was constantly reminded about the love his parents had for him. He was also loved dearly by friends. His love was greater than his circle of safety and comfort though. It extended to those he might not of cared for at first. Ultimately, Harry defeated death and Lord Voldemort with that great love.

Last night as all of this, and more, was going through my mind, my heart hurt for the world. There is a such a lack of love, and yet a deep and unquenchable desire to be loved. All we want, as humans, is to be loved and know that someone cares about us. People seek attention, just look at Facebook! And I know I'm guilty of wanting some social media love as well. We can learn a lot from Harry Potter. Although he is a fictional character and a mere teenager, he lived his life with passion and a purpose. He had courage like none other and he let his love shine through.

This Henri Nouwen quote sums up a lot of the correlations I barely made:

Jesus is given to the world.  He was chosen, blessed, and broken to be given.  Jesus' life and death were a life and death for others.  The Beloved Son of God, chosen from all eternity, was broken on the cross so that this one life could multiply and become food for people of all places and all times.

As God's beloved children we have to believe that our little lives, when lived as God's chosen and blessed children, are broken to be given to others.  We too have to become bread for the world.  When we live our brokenness under the blessing, our lives will continue to bear fruit from generation to generation.  That is the story of the saints - they died, but they continue to be alive in the hearts of those who live after them - and it can be our story too.