Growing Up

Growing Up (a poem)

Today, I'm turning twenty-three;
Adulthood has crept up on me.
It's like when you wake up and - whoa -
The world's beneath a foot of snow!
It sits there, heavy, quiet, new,
And you're like, "now what do I do?"
It came from nowhere, so it seems.

Then more flakes fall, like little dreams
That form the white expanse of snow,
A fresh new look of where you'll go,
And deep within, the kid you still are
Looks past the buried, snowed-in car
And hollers:
"Do you wanna
build a
SNOWMAN?!"

Morning Glory

Today I will finish reading a book that has been one of the best reads ever: 33 Days to Morning Glory by Fr. Michael E. Gaitley. In 33 short daily readings I have learned so much and am ready today for an amazing thing called Marian consecration, in which I entrust myself to Jesus through Mary.

On the Cross at Calvary, Jesus said to his beloved disciple John, "behold your Mother," and to Mary He said, "behold your son," and from that day forward John took Mary into his home (John 19:27). What I never really knew or thought of before was how Jesus wasn't talking to just John, but using John to represent every single one of us in all of humanity. Behold, she is our mother, and we too should take her into our homes (/hearts) from this day forward. By consecrating myself to Jesus through Mary, I am allowing Mary, Jesus' mother, whom He has given to all of us as our mother as well, to bring me closer to her Son. It's a very special bond between me and my heavenly mama.

Fr. Gaitley's book takes the reader through the Marian teachings of four great saints: St. Louis de Montfort, St. Maximilian Kolbe, Blessed Mother Teresa, and Blessed Pope John Paul II. Whether or not you expect yourself to be ready to make a consecration at the end of the book, I would highly recommend reading this simple and engaging book about the Blessed Mother's relationship to us, her children on earth. She loves us deeply and wants to be closer to us, like a real mom, and ultimately wants us to be intimate with her Son Jesus, our Lord and Saviour.

Forever alone?

I know, I know. Another "faith" blog post, on a blog that is also supposed to be a place to share my creative writing! But I have been meaning for a long time to post an update on my blog about my commitment to being single. I blogged about it last March because I believed that my reasons for committing to being single could be helpful to other young women. Once again, I would like to share about this more personal thing with my readers, because I think that sharing the things we learn can benefit others too. 

My six months ended on August 31, but by then I had already decided I was going to extend it until Christmas, and maybe even for the full year (until March.) I extended it because I saw how good it was to be focused on loving God alone and not looking to change anything, and I thought that there was a lot more good that "focusing on being single" could still do for me if I continued it further. To be honest, I was not living up to my idea of "single-heartedness" half the time and I wanted to keep working on it.

But then I read an article that made me rethink a couple of things. 

In this world you will have troubles

Every time I get upset or overwhelmed at the problems in the world around me, God says the same thing to me - and, every time, I have forgotten it again. Sometimes it's easy to look at the world's problems and get discouraged at the fact that the world is so big, and I am so small. And only after an hour of ranting does the Holy Spirit swoop in with the same words of comfort that I hear every time.

Last night, one such hour of ranting happened, where one complaint leads to another and another and before I know it, I'm feeling helpless in a world that's heading in the wrong direction. It is the specific intention of the devil to discourage me from feeling like I can do anything to help anything - but it is the specific intention of the Lord to encourage me with the fact that, indeed, I cannot do anything on my own, but with Him, I can do anything.

Happy Monday and a little more of Espanola

Happy Monday! And isn't it a beautiful one!

This is a must-see skit that the Revive Espanola team and youth retreat volunteers put on during their awesome youth retreat. If you've seen the original skit on Youtube you'll see that their version is just as good - if not better! Good job Revive!!

And for your enjoyment I will share with you a short story I was requested to write of a funny incident that happened while I was in Espanola. You can read it on the Revive Espanola blog here. :)

Have a great week!!

Saints with jeans and tennis shoes

If there's one thing that can inspire us, it is teens who want to live for Christ.

To finish what I started before about my visit to Revive Espanola, it was in every way amazing. It was filled with perfect little moments of joy, and it was so much fun to feel like I was both visiting a friend's cottage and on mission again. The highlights after the faith study night (which I already blogged about) are the youth group, when we had an incredibly fun paint war in the school yard, the Summit (a night of Eucharistic Adoration with praise and worship), the Masses in the parish on Sunday, hiking with Angele, swimming/rope jumping with Mary and Angele in Agnew Lake, and just being with my dear friends on the Revive team.

There is something just so incredible about seeing God's kingdom being built on earth through young people. I am so blessed, inspired, and always blown away by these close friends of mine who God has blessed with powerful gifts for evangelization. As I was writing them a thank-you letter after I returned home, the words coming to mind that I felt God wanted me to affirm in them were such things as "leaders of an army" and "phalanx," which was a term Archbishop Prendergast used to describe uOttawa and Carleton's CCO student bodies, and I find it a very appropriate word. It was a huge joy to witness, as an outsider, the powerful movement towards Christ sweeping through the lovely little town of Espanola.

Impact Throwback

This is my third day in Espanola Ontario visiting the Revive Espanola mission, which is my friend Angele's initiative to bring a parish renewal mission like CCO's Impact mission to her hometown. So far everything has been awesome! Last night was the best so far - it was a complete throwback into Tuesday nights from Impact Halifax last summer.