Summer in Texas

I cannot wait to escape from the Texas heat when I take my trip up to Wisconsin. Down here it's almost 100 degrees, but up north it will be in the 80s the whole week I'll be there. So excited! Down here you have to simply deal with the heat; you learn how to touch your hot steering wheel and what clothes not to wear. You just put up with it because it's the only thing you can do, unless you want to live your entire summer indoors. Tonight, despite the heat, a small group of friends and I went to "Stars under the Stars," they play a movie on a jumbo-tron in one of the parking lots downtown. It was a lot of fun - you bring your own chair or blanket (but who really wants to sit on the hot asphalt?) and they have some concessions there. Tonight they showed "Blindside." I saw the movie once with Jeremy and it was still good the second time and still made me tear up at different points of the movie. And again, I still didn't understand the reference to Lawerence whoever... I guess something about protecting the quarterback's blind side? Anyone know?

A Real Job!

On Tuesday I accepted the position of Youth and Young Adult Ministries Coordinator at the parish where I have been apprenticing for the past two years. 24 people applied, 5 people were interviewed, and one person was chosen. I feel very blessed and I am very grateful for this opportunity to serve this parish in a greater way. It will be difficult because it will be like starting from scratch. I just hope that I can be seen as my own person and not as the past youth minister. I also hope that I can work effectively at putting my vision and goals into place at the parish.

I officially begin July 1 and I'm thinking of giving this blog a new twist... I think I might focus it on church work and parish ministry - the day to day stuff that happens at the office, random things people say, my struggles and joys of being a youth minister. We'll see how that goes.

Right now I have a ton on my plate. On Sunday I'll be flying home to Wisconsin to spend a week there hanging out with my family and packing up things from my original home. I'll be attending two weddings and hanging out with Echo people at one of them (yay!), and then road tripping down with Jeremy to officially move myself from the Dairy State to the Lonestar State. I have an apartment all lined up, which I am super excited about. It has everything I want in an apartment and it's at a great location. On top of all that moving and starting a new job, I also have to continue to study for my comprehensive exam. Who am I kidding... I have to start studying! I hope a month will be enough time to go over the material... Prayers for that please!

Fireproof

It's amazing how things work in media production and how people can stretch things out. Don't get me wrong, I love the concept of the movie/book Fireproof and The Love Dare, but at times it seems like people are in it for profit. I'm not exactly sure what came first, if it was The Love Dare or the movie Fireproof (let's say the movie). It was a decent movie - the acting wasn't award-winning, but the storyline was. In the movie The Love Dare was introduced and that is what kept a broken marriage from dissolving completely. Viewers were then intrigued and wanted to know more about The Love Dare, so [they] wrote some more books. There is The Love Dare, similar to the journal in the movie, in two forms: hardcover or a leather journal (again, like the movie). There is also The Love Dare for couples, a year-long devotional. There are several more resources on how to "fireproof your marriage." So there is a movie, several books on The Love Dare, small group study guides, and then someone wrote the book Fireproof, which is how I first came in contact with it.

It seems strange that a book was written after a movie, but someone decided they wanted to expand the story. I enjoyed reading the book more than watching the movie; it allowed time for the characters and plot to develop and I was more emotionally involved. I was actually mad at the husband in the beginning because I thought he was such a jerk! He redeems himself by using The Love Dare and the book had me crying at the end. It's a great book about faith as well. Caleb (the husband) asks his dad "how can I love someone who constantly rejects me over and over again?" while his dad is standing by a life-size cross. This is a story about love, not only the love between a husband and wife, but the love that God gives us freely and graciously and He never gives up hope.

Quickies

Things taking up space in my mind:

Just read Fireproof and it's awesome, I'm looking forward to watching the movie (hopefully this weekend).

This is my last day in the office as an apprentice... I really need to hurry up and pack.

I really hope I get the job... I don't know why I wouldn't, but it isn't official just yet.

I'm looking forward to girls night tonight - our last meal together (potentially) until Angie takes off and it's just Paola and I in the house.

There is a lot to read for studying for comps.

I wish I had more time to read other things!

I'm looking forward to moving all my stuff down to Texas in one month and being able to scrapbook again.

I haven't been writing poetry lately and I'm not ok with that.

I think I'm going to listen to some Francesca Battistelli, I really enjoy her stuff.

Allergies

Ugh, do I really want to live in Texas!? (Yes, yes I do). But these allergies are killing me. At least, that's what I'm assuming this is. It's all in my nose and yesterday I had never been so plugged up and congested in my life! Around 8:30pm I couldn't take it anymore and made a trip to CVS to stock up on Claretin, Afrin, and Kleenex. It's hard to want to do anything and I've definitely been tired. Hopefully I'll be up for a little elliptical workout later on today. This stuffed up nose even makes prayer difficult; last night I decided I was not going to go to Adoration because I knew I'd be miserable trying to breathe and having my nose constantly dripping. Plus it's hard to concentrate with my head stuffed up. I hope to get in a meditation on ch 2 (and 3?) of Hebrews later tonight.

Oh Texas, why do you have to give everyone allergies, even when we've never had them before?

< Two Weeks

I have less than two weeks as an apprentice in the Echo program. My last day at the parish is May 27th and a few days after that one of my roommates will be moving out, which means the end of our community. These two years have come and gone very quickly and in the midst of it all there have been many ups and downs. I have been challenged and strengthened, experienced loneliness and the blessings of friendship, worked hard on projects and slacked off at my desk. I have stared out the same window for two years, watching the tree change with the seasons and the sky darken and brighten with the sun. I would love to capture and bottle up my experience in Echo, but no bottle is big enough! I have struggled with faith, I have lived the faith, and through it all I love the faith. Only myself and the others in Echo 5 will ever know the full effect of our experience, for it can't be explained. The lived experience of our close-knit community will always be treasured in my heart.

Speaking of it being the end... I still have study guides to work on! :)

The Practice of the Presence of God

I'll admit that my prayer life hasn't been the absolute best these past couple months. I've had some great prayer experiences here and there and I truly appreciate my time in Adoration every Sunday night, but the day to day prayer... well... it's more quick prayers then taking the time to simply sit and be in God's presence. When I met with my spiritual director earlier this week he suggested that I practice simply being in the presence of God, wherever I am. It's difficult to do but I have found myself reminding myself about God's presence here and now. Brother Lawrence wrote a book titled "The Practice of the Presence of God" and you can find it online, for free, here. I don't know if it is the full book, but it's about 20 pages when you print it out. I haven't read it yet but hopefully tonight I'll get to some of it. Sometimes one of the most difficult times to recognize God's presence is when we are supposed to see Christ in others, even if and when they are annoying. How easy it is to forget that Christ dwells in each and every one of us.

Fear, Trust, Love

With the end of my time as an apprentice approaching rapdily there have been many things on my mind, specifically regarding the future... my future. It's scary to look ahead, even to the next 6 months - especially when I do not have a job lined up. Of course, many people in my program do not have jobs lined up just yet, but I only have one in mind, and that is to stay at the parish I am at (and do youth ministry). Sometimes I feel frustrated at the process and other times I feel excited and at peace.

This morning while I was driving to work I heard the song "How He Loves Us" by the David Crowder Band. I've heard the song before and I love it. It reminds me to sometimes just be still and let God's love and mercy move me the way it will. To simply be in God's presence, remembering how much He does love me. Here's a video with lyrics to the song (although they're not 100% accurate, but pretty darn close).

"We're not meeting next week?"

This question was posed last night by one or two of the students in the High School religious ed class. I was slightly shocked! Last night was our last class and some of the students expressed interest in wanting to come back next week! Instead of coming back to an empty room I suggested that they come hang out at our youth gathering on Sunday nights. They had no interest in coming during the year when I talked about it, but maybe things are different now. Sometimes they really do need that personal invite and how quickly I forget that. Don't we all need that personal invite? It's how things get started!

In high school my best friend went to a "Steubenville Conference" during the summer and the next school year she told me about it. I saw her excitement in it and it sounded like fun. Although, like most people, I thought she said "Stupidville" at first. I ended up going to four Steubenville North Conferences and I chaperoned one later in college.

When I transfered to a new college during my freshman year, a girl I was friends with in high school invited me to daily mass, and ever since that it became a pattern for me: mass with friends and then lunch after. It was that feeling of love and support that I felt in the beginning that led me to be a leader for many campus ministry activities in my college years. And it was a friend who told me about the ECHO Faith Formation program through the University of Notre Dame.

It's amazing to think about the impact that people have on us and the impact and influence that we can have on others. Who are you impacting today? Who is being influenced by your daily actions?

Prayer

A high school religious ed class was asked to write down their answers to four questions on prayer and these are the answers that they came up with. Sometimes it's amazing to see what they come up with and to realize they have been listening in class all along!

Prayer is...

when you speak to God/a way to talk to God
important! And it's awesome to pray and God is always there to listen to us!
helpful!
amazing.
a way to communicate with God
when you want to make something good for someone else.

Prayer is important because...

we can ask for God's forgiveness
it helps us communicate with God
you can ask for help
it makes us closer to God
it makes you feel better
it can express our feelings
it's a way to talk to God whenever you need help
it gets a lot off my mind and makes me feel better and takes stress off my back and talking to God is great!

God communicates with us through...

our hearts

everything

other people
church
our prayers
dreams
life
our minds
the Bible
everything that happens in our life

We respond to God's communication with us by...

praying to him and listening to him
helping others
talking to others
believing
communicating with God
giving money to the church