You are a blessing

My Beautiful Best Friend, Maria in Haiti

You are a blessing to the world. You were put on this earth for a very special reason. Even if you don't feel like it. I was having a talk with my spiritual director last year and I told her that some days I just felt completely useless and that there were so many people in the world, I didn't understand why God would create me if I wasn't special and that I really didn't think I had a purpose. She explained to me that I was very wrong. She explained that God loves every single one of us so incredibly much, and that every single one of us has a big purpose. she then drew a picture of many different stick figures. She said that our purpose in life could be to become the president of the United States, or even help others achieve their purpose, and that we are all connected in a really special way. Maybe you were created so one day you would make someone smile, and then that person would go on to ending world hunger. That really inspired me and struck me as a surprise.

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Day 22 of Lent

• Live for others Jar- I pulled out the name of a girl from my old high school, Claire. I offered up a rosary for her and a mass too.
• Good Deed-"Send a letter to someone who isn't expecting it" I sent a letter to My friend Taylor. I promised I would write her often but I haven't been able to because I have been too busy. I hope it will make her smile.
• Positive experience of the day- I woke up today and I am healthy and have a home and food to eat.
• 3 things I am grateful for-
• 1. Nice Weather   2. Cocoa Puffs  3. The Rosary
• Prayer requests- for all of those who feel hopeless, for the lonely.

Also, remember I told you guys I had called my friend Madison when I took her name out of the jar? Well, she never called me back, but I got this text today! Even if this whole resolution made one person smile, it is all worth it.

Mom

Happy Feast of the Annunciation! Did you know that it is celebrated on March 25th because it is exactly 9 months before December 25th? I didn't know that. Anyway, We just finished reading Paradiso in Literature class and I thought the prayer from St. Bernard to Mary was amazing so I wanted to post it on here. I'm going to start praying it because it is one of the most beautiful things I have ever read. Dante was such a good poet, he rocks at praising Mary. He states that she is the source of so much hope, love, and faith. The following is from the Allen Mandelbaum translation:

"Virgin mother, daughter of your Son, more humble and sublime than any creature, fixed goal decreed from all eternity, you are the one who gave to human nature so much nobility that its creator did not disdain His being made its creature. That love whose warmth allowed this flower to bloom within the everlasting peace--was love rekindled in your womb; for us above, you are the noonday torch of charity, and there below on earth, among the mortals, you are a living spring of hope. Lady, you are so high, you can so intercede, that he who would have grace but does not seek your aid, may long to fly but has no wings. Your loving kindness only answers the one who asks, but it is often ready to answer freely long before the asking. In you compassion is, in you is pity, in you is generosity, in you is every goodness found in every creature. [I plead] with you, through grace, to grant [me] so much virtue that [I] may live [my] vision higher still--may lift it toward the ultimate salvation" (Alighieri 31. 1-25).

I'm not going to lie, but a tear definitely came out while reading that in class, but I just fell in love with that book. If you ever have the chance to read The Divine Comedy, I really recommend it. Especially in Paradise, the language is go beautiful and full of christian theology.

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Day 21 of Lent

• "Live for others jar" I got Haley, a girl in my communications class. It was really strange because she never misses class but she missed class today. I am going to write her a message and put it in her mailbox along with some candy. I couldn't place it in her mailbox today because it was one of the busiest days of my life! I went to class, then delivered newspapers, later I went to a student government meeting and after that I went to adoration and then a Marian dinner and then to women's ministry group. It was good though.
• Positive experience of the day- I got a letter saying that I got accepted into my college's Rome program which means I get to study abroad for a semester! Also, we had to give speeches in my Communications class today and names were picked out randomly, and I didn't get picked, so that means I have to go next class, but that gives me more time to study. Yay.
• Good Deed of the day- Hold the door open for someone. Well that one was extremely easy. Everyone at this school holds the door open for everyone, so that one was not a big deal at all.
• 3 Things I am grateful for:

1. Acceptance Letters
2. My new awakening friends
3. Sleep

• Prayer intentions- for a family that lost their two little daughters in a car crash, for haley, for everyone I promised to pray for, and for more vocations to the religious life.

Awakening

I am so sorry I have not posted anything for the past few days, but I went on a retreat, and they took away all of our phones and electronic devices. It was actually a really good rest from all the technology and just had time to focus on God. The retreat was so much fun and it brought many graces to me!

The program is called Awakening, and many college campuses have it around the United States. Basically, there are a lot of things I cannot talk about because it would ruin the amazing retreat for people who have not attended yet because it is so full of amazing surprises. I usually hate surprises, but the surprises that were encountered in this retreat were phenomenal! There are definitely things that I can talk about though. For example, they divide the whole retreat into families. You have a mom, a dad, and gophers, who basically go for anything you ask them for help with. There were different talks and activities, skits, adoration, praise and worship, and confession. At first, I was a little annoyed that we could only spend time with our 'families' and didn't really get to know anyone else in the retreat but in the end it ended up being really great because I ended up becoming really close to a lot of the members of the group.

Highlights from the retreat include-

• My friend Catherine told me that every time you go to a retreat, you receive a certain grace from God, and that you should specifically ask him for one. Well, at the beginning of the retreat we had adoration and I prayed and asked Jesus for the grace to trust him. A few minutes later, I went to confession. After telling the priest my sins, he thought for a long time and asked me: "What should your penance be? I can't think of the right thing!" I just looked at him, and he was in silence for about 30 seconds. Then, he told me: ok, go back out there in front of the blessed sacrament and pray to Jesus, and tell him that you trust him. I WAS IN SHOCK. I told him what had happened a few minutes earlier and he told me: "Well, God loves filling you with his grace. It's a grace!" I was overwhelmed and so happy, I couldn't believe what had happened.
• On Saturday night, we had affirmation time, where everyone in the 'family' told each other what was great abut one another, and I was really surprised about what people noticed in me that I would never notice otherwise. It definitely boosted my confidence as well.
• My right kidney started hurting Friday night and I was really scared that I would have another kidney stone during the retreat. I prayed so hard to Jesus and ask him to please not let it happen, but that I trusted him. I was in pain for the whole retreat and that made me upset because I could have had a much better time that what I did, but the pain didn't increase so that was amazing. Also, my 'mom' in the group kept asking me if I was alright, and she was very sweet and supportive. Even thought I thought we wouldn't get along at first, it ended up being great.

So overall, I learned that we are all part of the mystical body of Christ, and that you never know how many people out there are praying for you! We should all also pray for others every day because it can have a significant effect in their lives. 

If you are a college student, I really encourage you to go on this amazing retreat! You won't regret it! Also, a really cool thing is that once you attend, you can help at any other Awakening retreat in the nation! Pretty great, huh?

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Day 20 of Lent

Wow, Lent is halfway over. I need to step up my game! I am confident the rest of lent will be extremely fruitful though.

• Live for Others Jar- I got my cousin, Ricardo. How weird is that? Out of a 1100 people, I pulled out someone in my own family. He is actually my favorite cousin because he is so sweet and caring. He always remembers about my family and makes sure to keep in touch with us. Today, I could not go to mass because I had a newspaper meeting, but I prayed a rosary for him, and messaged him on facebook telling him how much he means to me.
• 'Good Deed A Day'- Tell someone how much they mean to you. There is a senior in my communications class that is really good at giving speeches. She is so pretty and extremely sweet. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote her a note and told her that she was really good at giving speeches and that she was also very pretty and nice. She found my number somehow and texted me saying that it meant a lot to her. Today, I stopped her and told her that she was amazing and a role-model to me and I think she really appreciated it.
• Positive experience of the day- today we had 4th day, where we meet up after the retreat and look at pictures and share all the positive experiences that happened. It was really fun. I also had a newspaper meeting and Mary, the Business office manager was really nice to me and helped me with a speech that I have to give tomorrow.
• 3 Things I am grateful for:

1. Retreats
2. Water
3. Warm temperature

• Prayer intentions-  for my Child Development teacher, whose grandson just miscarried, for the lunch lady who I promised that I would pray for her because her mother is really sick, for my grandmother, that I have the ability to give a good speech tomorrow, for my cousin, and for all the members of crusader awakening6 and 7. 

What is the purpose of life?

 At the beginning of every philosophy class, out professor ask us a question to answer for ourselves and then share with the class if we would like to. Today, he asked the most difficult question. "What is the purpose of life?" I have asked myself this questions several times during my relatively short life, and my answer depends on how I'm feeling that day. Some days, I feel like there really is no purpose, like everyone just wakes up and goes to work, tries to make money, survive, and that's the end of it. Some other days though, I feel like the purpose of our lives is to become the best-version-of ourselves to help others achieve happiness and ultimately go to heaven. Suffering is necessary to become the best-version of yourself.

A lot of people in the class answered that the purpose of life is to be happy. I totally disagree with that. I believe that being happy is our greatest desire, and we will only fully achieve that when we are in Paradise, but I don't think God just created us to be happy. God created us because He is great. It is because He is good that we are, that we exist. He did not create us out of necessity; He did not need us. He did not create us out of justice; he owed us nothing. It is to his sheer love that we owe our existence. Therefore, I believe that our purpose is to love with all of our soul and help others reach happiness so that someday too we can be in Paradise. Can you Only Imagine what heaven will be like? It's going to be the most beautiful sight in the world. 

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Day 13 of Lent

• Finally finished the 'Live for Others Jar'. It took me about 2 hours to finish writing down names and cut them up.  I feel so proud of it though! Today, I picked out Madison. She went to my high school and she was class president and probably one of the most popular girls in school, or so I thought. I had a conversation with her senor year and she said that she had really lost all her friends and didn't know what to do with herself. I told her that we should be friends and hang out, but we never really did because, well, she's a lot "cooler" than me and we have different personalities, but I kept being kind to her. Today, I offered up mass for her and practiced the good deed of the day on her.

So many names to write out!

What the finished jar looks like

• Good Deed of the Day- "Call Someone on the phone to let them know you have been thinking about them". So I was a little nervous about this one because Madison and I weren't close friends so it would be a little bit strange just calling her, but I had courage and dialed the phone. She didn't answer, but I left a message saying: {Hi! I thought of you today and was just calling to say hey and was just wondering how everything was going for you in college and to tell you that I miss you and hope you are having a great day.} I'm pretty sure she heard the message, but she didn't text or call back. I just hope it meant something to her and it at least made her smile. 
• Positive Experience- I lost my geometry notebook and I was looking for it the whole day and was really worried because it has all the notes I need for the year in it. I prayed to St. Anthony, called my brother to look for it at home, and looked everywhere in the room. Later, I had a weird 'vision' (aka remembering where you left something) so I went to look for it there, and there it was. It was such a good feeling of relief!
• 3 Things I am grateful for-

1. My Philosophy professor, he is amazing!
2. St. Anthony
3. Colored pens

• Prayer intentions- For a girl who asked for prayers on Facebook, for all the mothers considering abortion, and those who have no one to help them with everything. 

Discouraged

Today was hard. I felt really discouraged to keep on dong what I am doing for Lent. I just thought about it for a while and realized that it won't really make a difference. Later in the day I went to mass and realized that I should keep going because it's lent, and Jesus didn't give up on us on the way to the cross, so there is no way I'm giving up on him because of stupid reasons.

The reason why I was upset about it today is because my good friend back from  high school was in town but she told me she couldn't hang out with me this week because she was really busy and I totally understood. My other friend just had surgery and told me that she didn't really feel up to hanging out because it hurt. I totally understood. I went to her house for less than 3 minutes to leave her some treats and tell her to get well soon. Everything was fine, but today, I log on to twitter and find out that those two friends hung out yesterday and watched movies and went out and I just felt extremely stupid about everything. The only reason why it hurts so much is because people always do that to me. I don't know what it is about me, but it happens very often. I get over it eventually, but then it happens again. It was just hard today because there I was, dedicating my day to someone for lent and I was really loving humanity and thinking everyone is beautiful but at the same time realizing that no one cares.

That's when I went back to the 'Real Friends' blog post and my own thoughts and word reassured me. Real friends are hard to find. And we should love everyone we encounter with all of our hearts, even if they don't love us in return. So, I am not giving up, I may be discouraged, but I am not quitting. I went to mass and the lyrics to the following song really spoke to me:

This reminded me of why I'm running to the cross. 

I think the following days will be better. Spring Break is over, and I will be returning to campus, and there are a lot more opportunities to perform good deeds there and I can go to daily mass and adoration and I am going on a Retreat next weekend. I am so excited about it.

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Day 12 of Lent

• Live for others Jar- I refused to take a name out of the Jar and I feel really bad about it now. I won't do that again. I will live tomorrow fully for the person that gets picked.
• Good Deed- none (terrible I know).
• Positive experience- My friend Megan spent the night at my house because campus wasn't open yet, so I got to watch a couple of movies with her and just hang around my house and talk to her, ad that as really nice. My mom, my sister, and my brother also returned from their trip, and my brother was so excited to see me, and gave me a lot of hugs, and that made me smile.
• 3 things I am grateful for:

1. My brother
2. Snow-cones
3. Teen Mass

• Prayer intentions-  for my new roommate's mom who is having surgery tomorrow, for myself so I can continue my lenten promises and continue getting closer to Jesus, and for all of those who live in countries that are not free. 

Whatever You Are, Be a Good One.

I once had a teacher who said that she was sad and unhappy with her career choice because if she would have chosen to become a doctor instead of being an economics teacher, she would be saving lives daily. I told her that there are a lot of amazing doctors out there but we really needed an amazing teacher like her. The truth is that she actually made an impact on a lot of her students' lives because she was extremely kind and caring and was always encouraging others. 

It doesn't matter if you are a doctor, a teacher, a mother, a daughter, an uncle, a pizza-delivery man, a salesperson, or a janitor. Whatever you are, be a good one. Whether your vocation is to get married or enter the religious life or be single, you should strive to be the best person you can be every day. If you are a student, your vocation at the moment is to be a good student. If you struggle with studying or doing assignments, it's a good idea to offer them up to Christ. Tell him: "Since you died for me, I'm going to rock these next 20 pages of Aristotle!" You can offer each page you do as a prayer. You can offer Him every hamburger you cook or every hole that you dig as a prayer. You can do that with whatever you are doing such as your job, driving, cooking, doing laundry, or whatever you think is unpleasant or a hassle to do. 

I work at a hamburger restaurant on the weekends, and the main cook is such an incredible person because He tries to be the best hamburger cook he can be in the world. He comes to work with a smile  and puts all his energy into what he is doing. He has accepted the fact that this is the job that God wants him to do, so he wants to do it to the best of his abilities. I think we should all strive to be like him. Imagine waking up each day and doing whatever it is we have to do with joy and purpose. We could change the way everyone does things and slowly change the world!

We are all God's children, so we should strive to be good ones. Our main goal in life should be to get to heaven, and nothing else. Getting to heaven is more important than any test, any job offer, any trip, or opportunity. If anything we do contradicts what we believe in, we should put aside, for that takes away our goodness.

That teacher that I had was better than any Doctor that I have ever met, and it is such a shame that she never realized that. That is why I believe we should fill up everyone around us with words of affirmation. You have no idea how much a little pick-me-up can mean to someone. It can help them figure out that they are doing alright, that they should keep on going and that whatever they are doing  is a light to the world.

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Day 11 of Lent

• Live for others Jar- Daniela. I had speech class with her sophomore year of high school. She was really sweet and a good friend. She moved to Houston, Puerto Rico, and is now ding her last year of high school in California. I messaged her on facebook to ask how she was doing and she was glad to hear from me and told me that these past two years have actually been extremely hard for her because she feel like she doesn't fit in with anyone and she just doesn't have many friends. I was really glad I got her name because I got to pray for her and do everything for her today. She will be moving to Mexico next year, so I wish her luck on all her endeavors.
• 'Good Deed a Day'- I visited my friend who just had surgery at her house and brought her a little stuffed angel and a card.
• Positive experience of the day- I worked for 12 hours at the restaurant and I met some pretty cool people. A guy asked if he could sit next to me while I was on break. I said sure! He talked about how he wanted to become a Christian rapper because he wanted to be  positive influence on the youth of today. He asked me if I was religious, and when I said I was Catholic, he asked me if I could explain to him our beliefs on the Eucharist and on 'worshiping' Mary and the Saints. I explained to him that we believed that the bread literally becomes the body of Jesus and so does the wine, and also explained how we don't worship Mary or the saints, but how we venerate them and look up to them for guidance in our lives. He said.. "Oh that's nice to know. I don't believe that, but I get your point of view." It was really nice to be able to have a civil conversation like that. He was a really nice guy. 
• 3 things I am grateful for-

          1. Kind people

          2. The business is doing better.

          3. Good Books.

• Prayer intentions- My friend Daniela, those who are unhappy, those who have lost a loved one recently.

Real Friends

Real friends are the hardest thing to find. In our lives, we meet an incredible amount of people, but will probably only encounter one or two real friends in our whole lifetime. True friendship takes hard work. You have to be willing to love another person with your whole heart, overlooking their imperfections, be willing to do anything for them, show them your love by acts of service. It's not easy. 

If you hosted an amazing and huge party, which of your friends do you think would like to go to it? Probably all of them. What about if you were having a not-so-fun party? Less friends would attend. Now, what about if you were having a really hard time with something, how many of them would be willing to talk to you on the phone and comfort you? You could probably count them on one hand. What if you were really sick and throwing up all over, which one of your friends would be willing to sit next to you, hold your hand, and pray with you until the pain goes away? Any of them? I know I have one friend that would be willing to do that. She would be willing to do that out of love for all humans and for her immesurable love for Christ. I learned so much from that friend. I learned that you have to think of your friend before you all the time in order for it to be a true friendship.

We shoud try to be 'real friends' with everyone we encounter. Mother Teresa said: "Love until it hurts. Then, love some more."  We should give our all to everyone. Imagine how the world would change!  I learned what true friendship is by someone showing me that you have to put others first 100% of the time, listen to them, be their comfort, and always love them. Jesus is your true friend. He always thinks of you before he thinks of himself. He gave his WHOLE life for you. But are you a true friend to Him? Would you be willing to give up your whole life for him? Hmmm.

Long-distance relationships are hard to keep.  I was talking to my friend today, and she told me that she never imagined that she would drift away from some of her best friends in highschool now that she is in college. She thought that they would be best friends forever even if they lived so far away. I asked if she ever took the time to call her friend on te phone or text them constantly. She said no, that being away is hard because you don't go through the same experiences so there is a lot less to talk about constantly, and that's what made them drift apart. Of course. And that is what makes us drift apart from Jesus. Whenever we don't talk to him constantly (prayer), our relationship weakens. We should talk to him constantly, about everything that happens.  My other friend, Gabby once told me that we should treat Jesus as if he was actually our best friend. To tell him jokes, to tell him what makes us sad, what we are excited about, what our plans are, what we are worried about, EVERYTHING! She used to take laffy taffys into adoration and read Jesus knock-knock jokes. At first, I thought it was a little strange, but after a while, I really envied her relationship with Him. I wanted that! So I started telling Him jokes too... And I'm pretty sure He did laugh because I'm 100% sure God has a sense of humor.

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Day 10 of Lent

-It was really hard not to eat meat today because it was friday. I was working at the burger place the whole day and all I wanted to do was eat a burger. It was so hard to eat a veggie burger, but the sacrifice was totally worth it!

-Positive experience- My dad took me to the movies, and we watched two. We saw Orange County and Labor Day, they were both really good. I loved spending time with him because I never do that often, but I love him so much. 

- What I am grateful for- 

1.My Dad

2. Cath

3.Movies

- Prayer intentions: for all the lonely people in the world, for the people in prison, everyone who has lost hope, everyone with cancer, a safe trip back for my mom, my sister, and my brother.

How to Be Happier

Every human on this earth is on the search for happiness. Everyone's greatest desire is to be happy. But how do we get there? A lot of people think money or fulfilling your pleasures brings the most happiness, but in reality they don't. Look at celebrities, they seem to have everything: beauty, money, cars, fans, unlimited trips, but they lack happiness. They end up getting hooked on drugs and alcohol, and many of them commit suicide. Why aren't they happy? Don't they have everything? No. They actually have nothing. They have nothing because they do not have Christ. 

People who have the least things are often the happiest, most generous, and most compassionate. They learn to give not because they have much, but they know exactly what it feels like to have nothing. But the truth is, that they have everything if they have Christ. He is all we need. My family and I go on mission trips to Mexico every year. One of the things we do is to go door-to-door and bring the gospel to extremely poor towns. Now, Imagine walking into a house made out of milk cartons with no electricity or running water, and 10 people living in it. You would imagine that the people there would be really unhappy with life, but actually they are the happiest people you could ever meet. They offer you all they have and greet you with a radiant smile. Why are they so happy? In having nothing, they find strength and hope n the Lord and are filled with his grace and love, and that makes them shine with joy. 

Last year, Pope Francis tweeted,

Then, he said,

A couple months later, he added,

This year, he tweeted,

Finally,

To be completely honest with you, I was a little offended when I read the first tweet which said that
a Christian should never be bored or sad. What about all those people who have gone through tragic things or those who are in a lot of pain? Are they not allowed to be sad? Jesus came to the earth not to take away our suffering, but to teach us how to bear suffering, for he knew there was no life without suffering. Then, when Pope Francis tweeted the last tweet, I finally got it. He did not mean that nobody is allowed to be sad. He meant that Christ brings so much joy into our lives, and that we should share that experience with everyone we come in contact with. We should not keep quiet about our 'secret' source of hope and happiness!

So, Christ brings the most happiness and joy into our lives, but of course, there are many other things that influence our happiness. I am really interested in psychology, especially positive psychology, and I came across a positive psychologist's TED talk, which I found amazing. His name is Shawn Achor.  He has published several books, some including The Happiness Advantage, and Before Happiness.  He explains that there are actually some ways to re-wire your brain to allow it to be more positive and to block negativity, therefore, seeing everything in a new light, and allowing you to be happier overall. He came up with the "5 Steps to a Happier Life" which I found really awesome and interesting, so I decided to make it one of my Lent resolutions! It has actually been a really cool experience and I have only been doing it for about a week. I really encourage you to look at some of Sean Achor's research and videos on youtube because it is so interesting. I want to share his steps with you!

5 Steps to a Happier Life

1. Write down 3 things you are grateful for each day.

  -You will realize that there are so many things to be grateful for, and remember to thank God for them.

2. Journal for 2 minutes a day describing one positive experience you had over the past 24 hours.

 - Remembering that positive experience will double your positive experiences because the brain is often confused about whether it is recalling a positive event or actually experiencing it.

3. Exercise for at least 10 minutes a day

 - Everyone knows exercise is good for you, even if you don't ant to do it. It brings so many good effects to your health.  Exercising creates a pattern in your brain leaving a  belief that your behavior matters, leading to better decisions like healthy eating, productivity, and positivity. 

4. Meditate/Pray for at least 2 minutes a day

-  Meditating creates a positive effect in the brain because it trains your brain to do a single thing at one time. 

- Prayer is the best and fastest communication device! Daily prayer gives us an opportunity to share all aspects of our lives with God and chance to express our gratitude for the things He provides. It also provides the platform for confessing our sins and asking for help in overcoming that sin. Lastly, daily prayer is an act of worship and obedience.

5. Participate in Random acts of kindness! Think of others before yourself.

-Random Acts of kindness create a ripple effect that leave everyone in the world happier, and you feel happier for making someone else happier. Random acts of kindness are the best. 

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Day 8 of Lent

• Live for others Jar- I actually did not pull out a name today because I spent about two hours writing more names and placing them inside the jar, and I thought it would not be fair to pull out a name when all of them weren't in there. I will be posting a picture of the jar tomorrow, because it looks awesome!
• 'Good deed a Day' - Smile. So this one seems really easy, but it actually wasn't. I don't know what my problem is. Even when I am really happy, my face doesn't really show it. So today, something happened, and I wasn't really happy with the situation, but instead of putting on a sad face, I smiled. It felt awesome and it actually made me stop being upset. It was a stupid reason to be upset about anyways. 
• Positive experience of the day- I got to see my friend Brittany. She is a really good friend and I miss her a lot. She texted me because she needed someone to talk to, and I was really glad to see her, even though she was clearly upset. I wish I could have done more to help her, but I had no idea how to comfort her. I was really happy to see her though, and I will hopefully get to see her again tomorrow.
• 3 Things I am Grateful for

1. My friend Brittany
2. Ice Cream
3. My Ipad

• Prayer intentions-  For flight 777 and the passenger's families, for my friend Brittany, for all of those who are lonely, and those who are fighting an illness. 

God Places People In Our Lives For a Reason

Sometimes, we feel like the world has defeated us. That's when we go to Jesus and ask him to help us through. He can't really come down and give us a hug, but he sends people our way to fill us with comfort and fill us with his grace.

So many times, I have asked God to help me feel his presence, and he usually responds by sending someone else to carry out his message. One time, I was at a retreat having adoration, and I asked Him to let me feel him, because I needed him in that moment.  Seconds later, I felt a hand on my back praying over me. I was overcome with joy. I imagined Jesus placing his hand over me and telling me: "I am here!"

A couple months ago I prayed to God to please send me someone who would understand. At the end of the conference, I approached a girl to tell her that she had read really well during church. She said her name was Ashley, we talked for about 5 minutes, and I learned that she was actually not my age, but had already graduated from college, and at the end of our short conversation, she said: "If you ever want to talk or just need a friend, we should go get coffee or something!" BOOM. God answered my prayers. Well, I didn't know he had until now. 

Today, I had a fantastic day because I spent my afternoon with Ashley. I had added her on facebook and looked at her posts but didn't really talk to her or anything. Two weeks ago I started feeling  like I really needed to talk to someone, and I immediately thought of her. I messaged her on facebook and asked her if she was still willing to meet up. She said of course, and invited me to go to mass with her and then to have coffee. I went to mass and it was beautiful. Later, we went to get frozen yougurt and we just had a really good conversation. She is a complete gift from God and she told me exactly what I needed to hear at this moment. God sent her to me at the exact moment that I needed to hear it, and I am in awe of how amazing He is. I love you Jesus! Thank you for spending an afternoon with me! Ashley gave me a book because she said I would really like it. I am really looking forward to reading it, and I will report back about it. It's called "I believe in Love" - A personal retreat based on the teaching of St. Therese of Liseux (Who actually happens to be my all-time favorite saint! How cool is that?)

Now... Let's talk about Day 7 of Lent

- I pulled out a name from the jar and I got a girl that I did a mission trip with a couple years ago. I know she was struggling with some things, so I'm really happy I got her today. I messaged her on facebook and asked what she was doing and also offered up mass today for her. 

- Good deed a day- I visited someone who was lonely (My Grandmother). I spent some time with her and she was extremely happy to spend some time with me. I always wish I could spend more time with her, but it's hard because she is sick. I will go back tomorrow.

Three Things I am Grateful for today-

1. Ashley

2. Frozen Yougurt

3 Beautiful churches

This Is Just The Beggining

I recently heard that lent is the time to 'get on track spiritually' and well, I am pretty behind,
and have so much to catch up on.

As I was thinking of something to give up this lent, all I could think of was giving up food, because that's what I struggle with the most. Then I realized that giving up food was more like a diet plan, and it would only benefit me and no one else.  So I started to think of other things I could do this lent that would improve my relationship with Christ, benefit others, and myself.

So this is what I came up with... Lenten Promise 2014 (12 steps to becoming a better person.)

1. Do morning and night prayers
  -Do an examination of conscience every night and listen to a praise and worship song and reflect on it.
2. Go to daily mass (My campus offers it several times a day!)
  -If it is absolutely not possible to go to mass, pray the rosary.
3. Do a "good deed a day" journal.
 -I recently purchased a journal that has 365 good deeds to accomplish, so I will be doing those every day, and reflecting about it at the end of the day.
4. Drink more water
 - I never drink water even after having kidney stones 3 times. I have to get better at this NOW.
5. Downsize my portion size at lunch and diner to stay a little bit hungry after each meal.
6. No candy or dessert.
7. Say: "I just want you to be happy" in my mind to every every person I see or talk to.
8. Smile more
 - This on is especially hard for me. I just can't do it, it doesn't feel natural to me, but everyone points it out. I am going to try really hard!
9. Do the: how to be happier checklist by Shawn Achor (I will be posting this in full later, It is amazing!)
10. 'Live for others Jar'
 - I am SO excited about this one! I came up the idea to live for others and sacrifice everything I do in the day for them. I went through my whole facebook friend list (1,500 people), my phone contacts, and just everyone I have ever met in my life, I wrote their names down on a piece of paper, cut them up,  and put them in a jar. Every day, I will:
  A. Pick a name out of the jar with my eyes closed
  B. Sacrifice everything I do that day for God and for that person.
  C. Pray for them.
  D. Message them on facebook/text/call with words of encouragement or something to make them smile.
  E. If the person I pick out happens to live on campus or close to me, I will anonymously do a good thing for them. 
  F. If I have ever had a conflict with that person, I should love them, forgive the, and pray for them even harder.
  G. I will then post about my experience with that person on this blog every day of lent.
11. Post all my experiences and reflections on this blog
12. LOVE MORE

I am so excited to start on this journey and see where this project takes me.