Comps!!!!

My comprehensive exams are coming up in about a week. I need to pass them in order to graduate from my theology program. I am excited to take them, but I am having trouble getting motivated to prepare for them. I was planning on spending my spring break preparing, studying and focusing solely on comps. But plans change and I had to come to Michigan and then go to Chicago and then to Milwaukee. Needless to say, studying has not been coming easily. However, those trips were totally worth it.

I got to go to Chicago to talk to the program director at Loyola Chicago and I had an interview at Marquette University, both for counseling programs. On the bright side, I was able to spend some terrific quality time with my mom and I was able to experience Chicago, which is one of my favorite cities, and I was able to visit somewhere new: Milwaukee.

View from the hotel rooftop in Chicago... not too shabby.

View from the rooftop of the hotel in Milwaukee: Hello Lake Michigan!

Epic Failure

Well, this has been an epic failure on my part to update this blog on a regular basis. The problem? School. School has been kicking my behind all semester! Seriously, it's crazy. But one thing I have realized this semester amongst all the craziness is that I need to take time to be with God. It's amazing how I can go from stressed out to completely calm in a matter of minutes when I spend time in prayer.

I am one who forgets to take time for God, but I was blessed to be able to see one of my favorite people of all time in Philadelphia several weeks ago. Danielle Rose is her name and she is a music missionary and probably the one person who is not related to me that has influenced my spiritual life the most. She is an amazing singer, but more importantly she is an example of a person who has answered the Lord's call. Check out her music it will change your life.

This is me and Danielle. Once again she is awesome. Check out her website: www.daniellerose.com or check out her music on iTunes.

I have been practicing silent prayer, which my friend introduced me to. This is a new way of praying for me, yet I have found that it is incredibly fruitful if you work at it. I sometimes find it hard to concentrate on just being in the presence of God and listening to the Spirit with my heart. I mean let's be honest, I can't find time to blog, I have tons of homework to do, I'm not even sure my mind knows how to go any other speed than warp speed lately, so I need something to focus me in my prayer. I alternate between two of Danielle's songs the first is called "In the Silence of the Heart." I simply meditate on the lyric In the silence of the heart You speak. I love this line and it's kind of appropriate for silent prayer in that beat you over the head kind of way.

My second lyric that I use is a reminder that prayer fosters a relationship. It is another Danielle lyric from a song called "Pursue Me:" Pursue me Lord, I'll let You lead. This line is so great because it reminds me that this is not me reaching out to God in prayer, but rather it is a meeting because he is reaching out to me, just waiting for me to respond. This blows my mind. The All-Mighty God, the Creator of the world, the God who loves me so much he sent his son (whom we are all anxiously awaiting in the this Advent season) that he would be waiting to meet me, a sinner, is crazy. Yet as the lyric expresses he pursues us. He loves us. In prayer, in our meeting him, we let him lead. We live our lives for him. Transformation takes place. This is a beautiful thing. We must let it happen, we have to take the time to meet God in prayer.

I'm going to leave you with the full lyrics to "Pursue Me" because they are so great, but also so you might use them in your prayers, in your meeting with God. Be Well.

Pursue Me

Was that you, Lord, calling to me?
A voiceless word within me speaks
And you declare what you desire
To have my heart with you forever

I'm so afraid to die, O God,
To lose my life, to choose the cross
But when I fall in love with you
Then I will rise to life anew

Pursue me, Lord
Pursue me, Lord
Pursue me, Lord
I'll let you lead

Then you stretched your loving arms
Across the world into my heart
Why do I run from the love
You love to give the love I seek

I did not choose you have chosen me
To go bear fruit abundantly
I did not choose you have chosen me, O God
In your mercy
All copyrights belong to Danielle Rose

Wow it's been a while....

It's definitely been a while since I've been on here, but that is probably because I have been going through some major changes in the last year and a half. For starters, I graduated from Aquinas College with my BA in Theology. Then I jumped right into graduate school at Villanova.

The funny thing is... I thought my life was figured out when I graduated AQ. I was going to go on get my MA, then PhD and become a professor. Funny how things change. This past year at VU has been enlightening: meeting new people, taking different courses, and really discovering who I am and what I was made for. In short, this past year has been a year of ups, downs, and discernment through them all. I hope that the coming months I continue to to grow and reach a better understanding of my calling and who knows maybe by putting it, here, for me to read later, it will help me connect the dots and maybe help someone else too.

Happy 4th of July to everyone and let's all take a moment to be thankful for the freedom we have and all those who have sacrificed for us to have this freedom.

~k

Oh my.

Oh my is right! So, I'm studying theology and as part of theology I have to know the Bible right? Right. Well, I figured that those translations may be faulty, and I want to know the truth. I mean, man has translated the Bible from its original language, so I figure that as humans those translators may have made mistakes or may not have chosen the best word for the context.

So what is a student to do? Why not take Hebrew and Ancient Greek? This way if the translation is wrong it's my own fault. I think I bit off more than I can chew. I thought Greek was hard, but Hebrew is going to kick my tush. I just started looking at the alphabet and I'm pretty sure there are no vowels. I personally am kind of fond of vowels. I think they make words make sense. For example, the Old Testament name for Lord? Yahweh. In English translated from Hebrew: Yhwh. I tried to put the actual Hebrew in there and it didn't like it. Oh did I mention that Hebrew is read right to left?

I think my head is going to spin around. I'm not complaining, I think this is fascinating. However, I think I'm still in shock. Oh well, this is going to be fun.

God Bless.

I was inspired...

Life is great right? Let's see we have school, work, school, work, sleep, eat, school, and work. Wait. It seems like something is missing. Yes, something is missing and I was reminded of it today at church during the sermon. Today's Gospel reading was from Mark 8:27-35. Now you don't have to get your Bibles out unless you really want to, I think I can sum it up.

In this section Jesus poses the question "Who do they say that I am?" Well, there are lots of answers such as John ht Baptist, Elijah, and a prophet. I like next question that He asks: who do you say that I am? What a great question. Who is Jesus? Well, there are many texts throughout the Bible to know who Jesus is. God says, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him" (Mk 9:7, Mt 17:5). There are also many descriptions in the Old Testament, so we know exactly who Jesus is. He even tells us that He is the Son of Man and will suffer greatly and die, then in three days rise. Needless to say, we know who Jesus is.

The better question is what is our relationship with Him? We know who He is, but is He more than just someone whose life story we know? The excerpt from Mark goes on to explain exactly what type of relationship He is looking for with us, and it is not an easy relationship. However, it is one filled with love and hope. When Peter pulls Jesus aside and starts to rebuke Him about all the things He's been saying (suffer, die rise, etc). What does Jesus say? “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” What does He mean here? Well, it can be interpreted twofold. First, Peter was trying to lead. He was trying to put everything in his control. Does this sound familiar? I know that sometimes I catch myself listing off all the things I need from God, and I want to be in charge of everything. But this is not how God intended it. Jesus calls us to follow. He never said, "Get up, take your cross and go ahead. I'll follow you." No. He says, "“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.” Hmmm. That sounds like the complete opposite of what we want to do. Remember when I said that the relationship Jesus seeks with us isn't easy? This is why. We are to deny ourselves, which can be the hardest thing to do. How many times do we say "I" or "me" in a day? We must deny ourselves and take up our cross. It is heavy, but God never gives us more than we can chew. In fact, the hardest times we face, He knows we will rock it, but only if we allow Him to take us through it. We may not be able to lead in front of Jesus, but He is always willing to slow down to walk with us.

This is the type of relationship God is seeking with us: an intimate relationship full of love and hope. Yes, it will be hard, but hey if life was easy then we wouldn't be able to fully appreciate what it is that we are given, right? Just remember the next time you are feeling stress or feel like all you do is eat, work, school, and sleep: Jesus is right there next to you, walking through it with you. It's important to take a moment and say thank you, and tell Him some of your burdens. Just like Simon of Cyrene helped Jesus with His cross on the way to Calvary, Jesus will help up bear our cross. So, just remember to follow Jesus and ask Him to walk with you. It is a much better situation than admiring Him from afar.

God Bless.