Blessings from 2013

Yesterday it occurred to me that I didn't take any time to reflect on 2013 as it came to a close and the new year began. So I took some time then and there to make a list of the big blessings of the past year and the things that it taught me. Here's what I came up with:

1) Studying abroad - Being able to live in a foreign country for three and a half months and to travel all across Europe pushed me outside of my comfort zone many times. I learned more deeply of my own independence and uniqueness. I learned to trust that the Lord would provide for my needs and I learned to be more vulnerable with other people. Wonder became a constant attitude towards life. Friends were easy to make. Gelato and pizza were the staples in my diet for fourteen days.

2) A summer of service - I spent the summer of 2013 serving families at a Catholic camp. During this time I learned my own leadership abilities. Apparently I am great at directing people and delegating tasks; it became second nature to me by the end of the summer. Stillness possessed my soul during the first weeks of the summer and I came to understand what it is like to be detached from the craziness around me. When my physical, emotional, and spiritual strength shriveled up, I would beg the Holy Spirit to fill me with His strength and He always would. I experienced in a fresh way the weight of intercessory prayer: that God uses our words to heal and listens to our pleading on behalf of others. When I was together with the rest of the staff, I came to understand the power that each person's presence is. If someone was missing, the group dynamics shifted. I learned to maturely confront problems that I had with other people. Finally, I began to learn what it means to reach outside of myself to love others.

3) Household - This past semester was my first full semester in household. Growing in Christian friendship with my sisters taught me to be vulnerable with them. We cannot love and support each other if we do not share ourselves. Communication is key. I learned to share my faith with those around me, by speaking of what the Lord is doing in my heart. Several times over the course of the semester I found myself offering my bed to a household sister who really needed to take a nap and couldn't go back to her room at that particular time for whatever reason, and I learned again to sacrifice myself. Through conversations with my little and personal prayer, the Lord continued to deepen my identity as His Beloved.

4) Christmas with my family - It has been superb to be back with my family over Christmas break. My love for soup, baking, and reading resurged. I developed a love for playing guitar and watching high school basketball. Every single day I get to hug my family and tell them I love them. Even driving places with them is entertaining; our van seems like a clown car because we are all so tall!

5) Friendship - Probably the biggest blessings that came to me during 2013 were friendships with some pretty incredible people. Some were new friendships and some were older ones that have endured. These friendships have taught me that all relationship ought to be rooted in Christ and in Christian charity in order to be truly fruitful. They have challenged me to love other people selflessly, to see people as precious children of God who have the potential to be saints. Thanks be to God for my Alumni Corps Staff, all of my beautiful household sisters, Elyse, Allison, Grace, Yaya, Rachel, Dani, Becca P., Becca C. and Bry. I love you all. 

52 Blog Posts...and Other Things

This year I have (once again) made the resolution to post on this, my blog, once a week.  And I think that there is a much higher chance that I will actually follow through with it this year, because I am beginning to enjoy blogging, even if no one ever comments on what I write (hint, hint).  It also gives me motivation to continue to improve my writing.  In other words, by December 31^st I plan to have written at least 52 blog posts.

I have changed the look of my blog (again).  Not really sure if I like the way it looks yet, but I think I will keep it around for a little while and see if I get used to it.  Originally I wanted to have a background with a travel theme, but all of the travel themed backgrounds I could find were a little too cheesy.

Right now I am working on applying for a summer job at a Catholic camp.  The application is challenging me to take a deeper look at why I am Catholic and at who I am as a person.  This application is much different than the one I submitted a few months ago for an RA position at my school and is challenging in a different way.  But the jobs have similar goals: to help every person I encounter become the best person they can be – a saint.  What makes me qualified to help people do that?  Nothing – except that I am also trying to become a saint. 

Surprisingly, this week really has not been too crazy.  But that being said, it has been stressful.  More stressful than I realized, until I picked up my new glasses today and thought they were the wrong ones…after I got home.  So I went back to the eye doctor to double check.  It turned out that they were the right ones, but the pair that I originally tried on was a different shade because the color lot of the plastic was different.  The ladies at the eye doctor were kind enough to switch out the lenses since I liked the coloring of the model frames better.  That’s what I get for ordering variegated glasses frames!  The whole ordeal made me realize that I’m more stressed about this going abroad thing than I thought. 

Finally, I will be saying "auf wiedersehen" to you all until after I get settled into the Kartause.  I won’t be posting again until I am in Austria!  Pray that all of us studying abroad this semester have safe travels.

Instant Saint: Just Add (Holy) Water

Sometimes (especially right now) I don’t want to work at things.  If it isn’t going to be quick or easy, then I won’t do it.  Which is why I have not cleaned out my sewing machine and oiled it so that I could sew a present for a friend, and why I have not sat down to read a long book.  I want instant results with as little effort as possible.

In some ways this is definitely a result of the culture I live in.  We get everything we want whenever we want.  That’s why we have microwave popcorn, fast food, instant hot cocoa, text messaging, sports updates on our smart phones, and yes, even Facebook.  All these things give us the desired results with very little effort on our part.

And so, if you are like me, you might become lazy and impatient.  You might start expecting instant results in your relationship with God when you have given Him very little of your time and life.  You might get lazy and thing that just because you are nicer to that one person now, you are a perfect human being.

But that isn’t true.  As St. Josemaría Escrivá said, “Sanctification is the work of a lifetime.”  There is no such thing as instant sainthood.  We can’t wake up one day and automatically be holy.  It takes hard work, discipline, and a continual openness to the grace of God in order to live a life of virtue and to become the saints that He wants us to be, the fullest version of ourselves. God is always calling us to go deeper and to discover more and more about Him (and ourselves).  But it isn’t easy.  We must be patient and we must work hard.  

That's why the New Year always encourages me.  Just like confession, it gives me a chance to start over and to renew my commitment to become a virtuous and holy woman.  So here’s to continuing to work hard towards sainthood in 2013!

St. Josemaría, pray for us!