Another Monday Flashing Before My Eyes...

I'm amazed at the fact that I had such a busy day that it felt like it was over in a blink of an eye! And all at the same time, I'm drained like a noodle-strainer.
...
Why do we knowingly do harmful things to ourselves? I'm at the beginning stages of a cough-cold and I'm have the symptoms of lack-of-sleep-idis...
But do you think I am actually following through with my plan to go straight to bed after night prayer?
Do you think I will shut my window tonight so as to block the cool breeze flowing through the crack?
Do you think I would stop doing useless things on the computer-simultaneously ruining my eyes and losing sleep time?
Wouldn't it be smart to AVOID all these things that are likely to make me more sick?

Or here's another situation: I'm in the awkward position of possibly having to tutor a socially-awkward older ex-friend. I tried to help him out last year by explaining to him in a frankly-confrontational way the reasons he was awkward. I tried to suggest things like hanging out with more guys opposed to girls, etc...I thought everything had turned out all right to find out, during the last week of school, that he didn't listen to a word I said. I told him to stop texting me (he was living vicariously through text messages, and I hate deep conversations through texts!).The last thing he texted me: "Ok, Liz, I'm deleting everyone's numbers. I hope your happy."
Honestly, I was, because I did as much as I could.
Long story short, all tutees are required to set up the first meeting, so it's in his (and the Good Lord's) hands...
I'm kinda stressing out.

So, of course, ever since I found out, God has been trying to send me little messages of hope/peace. Such as this clever quote a friend posted on facebook:

And at Mass (which was immediately following the announcement of being a tutor to my ex-friend), Fr.VocationsDirector gave a beautiful homily about St. Therese and the beauty of depending on God with a child-like dependence-the beauty of giving the Lord our burdens so we are free to love Him more...of course to look the Corpus after hearing those words...couldn't have been more perfect!

God is poking my heart with a little stick...silently reminding me that I need Him more than anything.





MORE. THAN. ANYTHING.



I always forget that I can't do it alone...

Lord, take this time to allow me to depend on You, and You alone.





Happy Vigil of the Feast of St. Therese of Lisieux!

It's too Late to Apologize...

I think it would be silly to promise that all of my posts will be named after a song...but it's so tempting to say it!
Anyway, it's too late to apologize...for many reasons.
a) It's been, what, two weeks since my last post? Almost three?
b) It's literally 1:20 a.m. Unfortunately, I went to bed at 3:00 a.m. Friday AND Saturday night, so my body is rebelling against my mind, saying: "No! You really aren't tired, I promise! This will be a piece of cake!!"
...Really? It's a SUNDAY NIGHT. I need sleep.
I've been really trying to get a system down for posting. I'm thinking of forcing me to make a daily post like a friend does/did (shh! She doesn't know I follow her blog sometimes!). I guess her blog used to be an every day thing, called Lux Mundi, where she would talk about her light of the day. Now she changed even the title to Almost Daily.
So it's probably not as easy as I'm assuming it to be.
But still. I think this could be good for me.
...
Jesus meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine...

Because...Life is Beautiful!

Ok, so I was trying to think of a title for this continuum and The Afters sang to me "Life is beautiful!" I just bought the song on iTunes, along with a few others that I loved from The October Baby soundtrack. After Compline, a few of us watched the movie...what a beautiful witness to LIFE! Basically, if you haven't seen it...please do!
Anyway, there were a few additional noteworthy aspects of my second/third weeks of good ol' school. For example, I had my first ever night class this past Monday. I was expecting a dreadful experience (because I also had my first ever 2-hour Biology Lab in the afternoon)...it turned out to be all right! Dr. MG was very hospitable when he asked if we would like him to make some coffee :) Plus, the course is about the Second Vatican Council, so I'm pretty much interested in anything we're learning about.
Thursday consisted of my change of major/minor and an amazing talk by the vocation director of the diocese...
In the morning, I met with the Education advisor and filled out the paper work to drop my Catholic Studies Major to a Minor and add Early Childhood Education to my Elementary Education Major. Alas, I am currently a double-major in Elementary Ed and Early Childhood Ed with a minor in Catholic Studies.
I was going to summarize Fr. Vocation Director's amazing talk...but then I remembered how great I am at butchering the words of the wise. You'll just have to take my word for it!
Last night, we had a "Barefoot and Blue Jeans Moonlight [swing]Dance" on the lawn on campus. I had a great time due to the fact that I danced with a guy who makes my heart pitter-patter. And if it weren't so late, I'd so go into details. For another time, I suppose ;)
On that happy note, I leave you with these tidbits of updates from my first few weeks. I promise you can expect a more thoughtful post within this next week.
Farewell!

A Little bit of Weeks TWO&THREE

My Dear Friends,
As you can imagine, the first weeks of school have been, at times, overwhelming. And I will have to spare you the elaborate details due to lack of recollection.
Every day I'm learning (some days more than others...) And here is a little bit I've learned about Spiritual Direction:
I came to Fr. Bernard with the predicament of a life-time. Basically, I asked him to spiritually direct me on the subject of spiritual direction. After some thought and prayer, I was beginning to wonder if I depending too much on spiritual direction. Whenever I would be in a spiritual rut, my first thought was: "I need to talk to Father about that!" I thought this was a problem because it's like having problems with a coworker and talking to somebody else about it instead of going directly to the source...I have the desire to talk to a spiritual director about something and forget about talking to the Lord.
At first, Father didn't really know what to say. As we discussed it further, he explained spiritual direction perfectly: When we have small challenges, we know what our director would say, and we are to "just do it." It's when we are in need of something deeper that we come to seek direction. Of course, I can never do Father Bernard justice...but his practical words gave me peace in knowing that, when the time comes, I do know what to do. :)
This past Sunday, the 8th, was one of the best days I've had at the University of Real World. My best friend and I threw a "holy Birthday party" for Mother Mary, since it was the Feast of Her Birth. We decorated my dorm room and made a shrine for Our Lady...because the shrine was my favorite:

You see, Z has a special love for Mother Theresa, and I am in love with Fulton Sheen (an amazing post awaiting arrival...). We both love Mary and took this opportunity to celebrate our favorite saints.It was a beautiful day and some girls on my hall even joined us in singing "Happy Birthday" and eating cupcakes. Simply amazing.

I'll end here, but I'm hoping to catch up again this weekend...I have yet to share about my first night class, Fr. VocationDirector's powerful talk, my major/minor changes, my emotional roller-coaster, Fr. Mike Schmitz's podcasts and an informational about my main man, Fulton Sheen. I hope that list isn't too ambitious...

A Little Bit of Syria

It's a beautiful Saturday morning here in North Dakota. I woke up early and was able to witness the most beautiful rainfall come and go.

In the midst of it all, I can't help but thinking about Syria and how much they need Our Lord. Yesterday, Monsignor (our principal) gave a beautiful homily about the reason for fasting. "We fast because it is a symbol for our deep hunger for the Lord." He told us to fast and pray for Syria because they are in such need of Our Lord, the Lord of Peace. Of course, I can't duplicate the power of his words...but I absolutely love his contemplative preaching style: He told my peers and I that Jesus is so intimately a part of humanity. He quoted the beautiful poem, No Man is an Island and taught us that we are all "involved in mankind" and every death is the death of a part of me. 

I never was much interested in political involvement, so to make up for what I lack, I am begging the Lord to be present with the Syrian people. I asked myself (and the Lord, I suppose...sometimes, when we're talking to ourselves, we're really talking to Him) what my life would be like if I had been born in Syria...

I am praying and fasting for Syria today, as the Holy Father has asked. Praying and fasting for peace.

-Coming Soon: I made it through week two!!

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. - Jm 29:11 RSV

I felt God smiling down on me tonight when I went into the Chapel to pray Compline.* I thought I was doomed to be alone all day today. The reason behind this was that my best friend Z went camping with two others and left me to fend for myself. Anyway, I had an great night! I had dinner with a group of girls and then watched Les Mis (for the first time! Only, I was sitting next to the fan and couldn't understand a thing throughout the whole movie...) with a group of people, most from my hall. And after that, another great girl invited me to watch Sound of Music (also my first time!! Loved it!). So when I went into the Chapel, all I could do was smile and thank the Lord. He knew exactly what He was doing, and I pray that He will remind me of this moment when I lose trust in His Plan for me. I needed to be alone this afternoon to get a little grip on myself...and it was good Me Time, which we all need every once and a while.

On that note, adios!

*A link for those who are not familiar with the Liturgy of the Hours ;)

Week ONE

I made it through the first week of school. It wasn't a full week, but it sure felt like it!

The noteworthy?

Our daily Mass attendance is growing fast! My favorite is hearing so many voices sing praise to God during the Sanctus...definitely a beautiful experience! Personally, I believe that many people come to Mass because it's at a possible/practical time: 4:30 pm. My friend disagrees with me (she doesn't like the time at all) but if you think about it, the majority of my peers don't have class at 4:30...so, naturally...

Thursday night, St. Monica Hall had a hall meeting. We talked about the 4 pillars of our floor: Prayer, Study, Community, and Service. Our hall Rector (in the middle of Resident Director and Resident Assistant) covered close to everything that we would need to know about living on this floor. She addressed the question everyone had: "Is this a discernment floor?" She stated that, although we are women of discernment (and always should be), this is not a floor for discernment directed towards Religious Life. She advised us to pray for each other, to help each other grow, and to be there to support each other. Overall, I was very happy with how the meeting turned out. On the flip side, I discovered my lack of zeal to embrace the life of community. This is really hard for me to accept because last semester, I was so pro-community that it was ridiculous! I understand now, in hindsight, that I had high expectations of myself, the floor, and the university. So maybe this is my "punishment"...which I can say with a smile because I know all too well of God's sense of humor! Anyway, to elaborate on my social laziness: After our hall meeting, a few girls gathered and talked among themselves and I went straight to my room to do homework. Today, a beautiful Sunday, I have spent the majority of the day with myself. I'm naturally socially-awkward and shy, so I'm guessing the whole process, like everything else in life, will just take time.

It really bites to be impatient. This reminds me how much I want to start my night class! This first week of school started on Tuesday, which means I didn't have to start classes with my 6-9:30 pm night class. I am thankful for that, because I probably would have suffered death by overwhelm. But week number two will also start on Tuesday, thanks to Labor Day (…I mean…Yay! Labor Day!!...), so I have to miss out on my Catholic Studies course, Documents of Vatican II yet again. I hereby present: Opportune moment to grow in patience # 2. I missed out on that due to the fact that I felt the need to express my disappointment to multiple people this week.

Oh, the little things.

I’m trying to rack my brain for anything else that might be noteworthy from this week, but I am very distracted by the beautiful gift of my surroundings:

\Sometimes I think that the view here at University of Real World is the only thing keeping me from running off to University of Dream World...and then I remember that UDW would cost more than I could make in my lifetime...Oh, yeah, and that URW is part of The Plan and to run off would be detrimental to my life.

Anyway, what this whole week boils down to is: Every part of me is going through some kind of transition. I’m keeping a firm grasp on Christ’s Hand.

Oh, Lord, here we go! Lead the way…