Advent/Christmas Reflections

God has given me a lot to think about this Advent. If there's one lesson that I'm in the process of
learning, it's patience. I'm not a patient person, and the past year has been a test of my patience, will, and obedience. Out of those three, the only thing I don't have a problem with is the will, but only my will. Luckily, we have a built in season to reflect on what patience, will, and obedience really mean. The best example? Mary.

Question/Answer

Why do Catholics pray the rosary/ pray to Mary?

Stillness

There's something about a sunset over the water that just makes me want to be still.

never alone...

I’m never sure why this always amazes me, but I am constantly amazed at how God works in my life. What’s great is that I don’t have to look for the lighting strikes and thunder claps to know God is in my life. God is great because God works in more subtle ways. God works through the people that I interact with and most times it is in the off handed comments where I feel God the most. I love having real life conversations because that is where God is: in real life. Real life is messy. We are not perfect. We don’t always feel great about ourselves or life. Ignore me if I’m wrong, but we rarely feel like we truly belong. I can honestly say that I don’t wake up every day thinking: I’m never alone!

How can we spread happiness?

This was a question posed to me by one of the high school students in the parish youth ministry program. I have to admit, I had some trouble finding an answer, but that's why I like to ask around and see what other people say. Katy said, "Recognizing that you're happy thanks to the joy that only comes from God and being willing to spread that joy by being his light." This was the inspiration for the following response:

The inspiration for this blog....

Photo credit: kevin dooley / Foter.com / CC BY

I believe in the sun even when it is not shining.

And I believe in love even when there’s no one there.

And I believe in God even when he is silent.

I believe through any trial, there is always a way.

But sometimes in this suffering and hopeless despair,

My heart cries for shelter to know someone’s there. 

But a voice rises within me saying, ‘hold on my child,’

I’ll give you strength, I’ll give you hope, just stay a little while.

I believe in the sun even when it is not shining.

And I believe in love even when there’s no one there.

And I believe in God even when he is silent.

I believe through any trial, there is always a way.

May there some day be sunshine.

May there some day be happiness.

May there some day be love.

May there some day be peace. 

- Based on fragments of Jewish text found on a cellar wall in Cologne, Germany during World War II. It is believed to have been scrawled by a child hiding from the Nazis.

Does God test us?

Original image URL: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aftab/4224575176/
Title: Hope

God does not test us in the sense that he wants to see whether we pass or fail, whether our faith is strong or not. Do we encounter tests in our faith throughout our lives? Oh, absolutely. However, these tests are tests that life gives us, not God, and they allow us to experience the strength of our faith.

A Theme for Music, a Theme for Life

Yup... Those are my brothers.

I am blessed to have two brothers who know me very well, and each gave me iTunes gift cards for Christmas (Jonny also gave me Rickle’s Pickles, but I think they deserve a post all to themselves). I was a little slow redeeming those cards, but after I started purchasing my music, I realized that there is definitely a theme to the songs I purchased. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it is more than just a theme that runs through my music, but it’s a theme that runs through my life: HOPE.

Resolutions 2013

New year, new resolutions. I don't know if I am alone in this, but whenever I make resolutions, they usually last one, two, maybe three months and then they fall to the wayside. Life gets in the way, or maybe it's just hard to keep them. This year my resolution is to find Happiness in the little things and not get so stressed out. This seems vague and challenging, but to quote Barney Stinson: CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!