Hooray for Friday! And centering my post! I don’t know why, but I find an odd amusement in being centered at the end of the week 😉
—One—
I have been feeling ridiculously girly lately. The truth is, that I don’t actually care. Actually, that’s not the real truth, the real truth is that I do care and that I love being girly. It is not as though I’ve changed my whole wardrobe over and am suddenly wearing all pink (I’m fairly sure that will never actually happen). It is in more subtle ways, like the way I’m prone to tear up at a good e-mail or phone conversation, or TV commercial, and I don’t really feel ashamed about it. So a tear may randomly fall, I’m a girl. If my tears (almost always happy ones) bother you that isn’t my issue, it is yours. God made me this way and when I see or experience beauty or joy I may shed a happy tear. I’m embracing the way He made me, and that is beautiful.
—Two—
This Year of Faith is going to be rad. I’ve committed to reading the entire Catechism throughout the Year of Faith. Actually, it only takes about seven paragraphs a day (click that link for a lovely little bookmark you can print to track your progress). As a youth minister it is all to easy to think that I’m deepening my faith because it is my job. Wrong. My job is eternal, my job is to deepen my faith so that I can be an effective youth minister. He’s tasked me with caring for the souls in my youth group and I can’t give what I don’t have. Deepening my faith, drawing closer to His heart, is an everyday task that I can’t grow lazy with or everything else falls apart.
—Three—
As much as I was stressing out about it, I have a great sense of peace about the book. The proposal is gone and there is nothing I can do but pray. I could sit here and freak out about it, re-read the proposal a thousand more times, or I could just let God take control and guide it from here on out. Which do you think He wants from me?
That is your gentle reminder to keep praying for it! God willing, I’ll know one way or the other by the end of the year, and wouldn’t that be a sweet Christmas present?!
—Four—
In exactly one week I won’t be in Colorado. I am SO excited. In a really nerdy way I’ll be bouncing around Seattle and being a total tourist, seeing things like the Space Needle and enjoying the heck out of a nice weekend away. Oh, and there may be another reason for this seemingly spontaneous, previously unplanned trip to Washington state, but for now that remains my little secret 😉 Also, I’m pumped to cross another state off of my list. I’ve never actually left the good ole US-of-A, but I’ve been (at last count) to about 30 states, and hopefully by the end of the year I’ll get to cross two more off the list, one of them being Washington state! Hooray for “random” travel and getting to see awesome people and new places. I have a great passion for traveling and seeing things where ever I can see them. I can hardly tell you how much He speaks to me when I travel. He blesses me with His creation and the ability and appetite to drink in His goodness.
—Four-Point-One—
Never fear, blog posts (as usual) will likely be written in advance and scheduled to post, so even though I’ll be bouncing around the Pacific Northwest, you’ll get to read something crazy and hopefully insightful from yours truly.
—Five—
I know I’ve said this before, but I really never imagined the blog taking off like it has. This week I’ve begun to realize and have heard just how far-reaching the blog is. I never, ever imagined myself as a writer. And yet here I sit, the author of my own blog, my own book, and I write for two other sites (and I’ve recently taken on a leadership role at The Papist). In the last week alone, the blog reached eighteen countries outside of the United States. It blows my mind how much He uses me, my words and this blog to reach His children. (Oh, and the Facebook page for the blog made it up above 100 likes this week – totally awesome!)
In a somewhat related vein, the post I wrote for Ignitum Today about Angela Faddis, called, “Suffering and True Love” actually made its way to Chris Faddis, Angela’s husband. He liked it so much that he posted in on the “Support Angela Faddis” Facebook page saying, “Another wonderful blog I found about Angela. So blessed that God used this time for such good. As hard as every day is, this helps me know it was most certainly for a purpose.” It may sound like I’m tooting my own horn a bit here, but I’m really just taken aback by the fact that God uses even me for His glory. I had no idea when I started this blog the good that could come from it, and I hope that God continues to use me to further His kingdom. May we all be His hands and feet.
—Six—
I really, really don’t like to get all political on here. In fact, I think I’ve really only done it once before because its just not where my heart and my passion lie. My passion is in writing about things that move me and draw me closer to His heart. But, for the love of all that is good and holy in the world, if you are registered to vote, VOTE. You’ll never see me comment on a specific side or party on here, but you’ll know that I’m unabashedly Catholic, and I trust you understand exactly why I’m urging you to vote. Seriously.
Along that line of thought, I really thought the Leila over in the Little Catholic Bubble did a great job in this blog explaining why it isn’t a sin to vote for Romney.
—Seven—
Given that it is the Year of Faith, number seven of the Quick Takes will either be about a verse in Scripture or a passage from the Catechism. Like I said above, I’ve committed to reading the whole thing during the Year of Faith. I’ve read it before, but man have I forgotten how much goodness there is in it. This week’s passage is paragraph number 29, which states, “But this “intimate and vital bond of man to God” can be forgotten, overlooked, or even explicitly rejected by man. Such attitudes can have different causes: revolt against evil in the world; religious ignorance or indifference; the cares and riches of this world; the scandal of bad example on the part of believers; currents of thought hostile to religion; finally, that attitude of sinful man which makes him hide from God out of fear and flee his call.” (Emphasis mine.) I read that bolded line and it could have basically jumped off the page and slapped me in the face. The intimate and vital bond of man to God can be rejected, overlooked, or even forgotten because of the bad example I, as a believer, may be leaving in my wake. This is different from sin, I believe. I am human and I sin. A lot. Ask my confessor…oh wait, you can’t really do that (thank goodness)!
But the fact of the matter is by not living out what I say, by being a fair-weather friend, by gossiping, by lying, by being lazy, I could actually be the cause of someone rejecting the bond and the love of God. That, in and of itself, has more weight than words can say. Chew on that for the week!
Thanks to Jen for hosting!
Until next time 😉
