AHHHHH!!!!! I can hardly believe that I'll be starting college in less than 48 hours!!! That is so crazy. I feel as though a new chapter in my life is starting, and in many ways that is very true. But like in any book, things will carry over into this next chapter. My family and home (I will be commuting to school from where I've lived my whole life), my personality, and most importantly, my faith.
Nowadays it's super hard to be confidently Catholic, especially in the late teen/early adult years when we're still trying to find ourselves. I would argue that school settings are some of the hardest places to enact and live out our faith because of "science" and "free thinking" that is all too often encouraged incorrectly. I'm kind of scared to be heading off to college because I don't know exactly what it will be like, who I will be meeting, and what sorts of challenges I will be facing. I know two things for certain though (and these will be true for every single Catholic college student):
1. My faith will be tested immensely. I know this as surely as I know my name. Satan prowls around campuses and wants to see us fall. I will have my work cut out for me not only in my classwork, but also being an example of faith to my classmates and professors. College is notorious for introducing faith-filled people to all sorts of worldly ways of thinking, especially in the theistic context. Catholics have a really hard time of it. We're the outsiders. Most people won't agree with us, and we might get persecuted for it. It won't be easy, but I'm not worried because of the other thing I'm certain of.
2. God is on my side. I know this MORE surely than I know my name. When God and faith are involved, He will always be on our side as long as our goal is to serve Him and follow Him in everything we do. That includes college and everything that goes with it. The straight and narrow path has never been easy, but it will always be worth every step.
So this post is basically encouraging you to stay confident in your faith even when the circumstances don't want to allow it. It will be impossible to do it on our own, but God will be with you every step of the way! Draw your strength from Him, put on your spiritual armor, and have a great year in school!
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Radical Love
Okay y'all (yes, I will say ''y'all'', I'm from Iowa), the women from Confidently Catholic had the amazing opportunity to see Catholic Christian singer/songwriter Matt Maher in concert this weekend! We had a blast and also got struck by God through the words Matt sang and spoke to us, and we want to share that with you!
What struck me most during the concert was the idea of us as Catholics being called to a radical love. I had heard that sentiment many times and it interested me, but nothing ever really stuck. When Matt Maher talked about it, though, I saw it totally differently. See, radical love isn't just the kind of love that sends people out to be foreign missionaries, it's the love that we are called to share with our friends and family here at home. Radical love is what brought Jesus down to Earth and radical love is what led Jesus to lay down His life for us on the cross. Now I'm not saying to go crucify yourself to show your love for the people in your life, in fact I'm gonna go ahead and take it upon myself to tell you not to. The reason the love we're called to is radical is that our world and culture we live in doesn't consider pure, holy love to be of any value and to even be looked at as strange, thereby deeming it radical whenever someone lives that love out in their life. In other words, real love isn't looked at as love by the world, so it's weird, or radical, by the world's standards.
Matt Maher said, "We're called to a radical love...people want that." And they do! No matter how much the world wants to defy this type of love, it desperately wants it. No person on Earth is made for a superficial love. All of our hearts desire more. Radical love is what our hearts want and ultimately, it's the only sort of love that will make us truly happy. God's love for us is totally radical. Being filled with His love allows us to reciprocate it to others and leads us to do extraordinary things!
If God is for us, then who can be against us? If we are filled with His love, nothing can stand in our way!
As Catholics, our very nature is to defy how the secular culture says we should live. It says love is selfish and requires looking toward yourself and what's best for you. Radical Christlike love is selfless, giving, and always wants the best for the other person. The world's version of love leaves us empty, whereas God's radical love leaves us full, OVERFLOWING, actually. A radical love like that is meant to be shared.
What struck me most during the concert was the idea of us as Catholics being called to a radical love. I had heard that sentiment many times and it interested me, but nothing ever really stuck. When Matt Maher talked about it, though, I saw it totally differently. See, radical love isn't just the kind of love that sends people out to be foreign missionaries, it's the love that we are called to share with our friends and family here at home. Radical love is what brought Jesus down to Earth and radical love is what led Jesus to lay down His life for us on the cross. Now I'm not saying to go crucify yourself to show your love for the people in your life, in fact I'm gonna go ahead and take it upon myself to tell you not to. The reason the love we're called to is radical is that our world and culture we live in doesn't consider pure, holy love to be of any value and to even be looked at as strange, thereby deeming it radical whenever someone lives that love out in their life. In other words, real love isn't looked at as love by the world, so it's weird, or radical, by the world's standards.
Matt Maher said, "We're called to a radical love...people want that." And they do! No matter how much the world wants to defy this type of love, it desperately wants it. No person on Earth is made for a superficial love. All of our hearts desire more. Radical love is what our hearts want and ultimately, it's the only sort of love that will make us truly happy. God's love for us is totally radical. Being filled with His love allows us to reciprocate it to others and leads us to do extraordinary things!
If God is for us, then who can be against us? If we are filled with His love, nothing can stand in our way!
As Catholics, our very nature is to defy how the secular culture says we should live. It says love is selfish and requires looking toward yourself and what's best for you. Radical Christlike love is selfless, giving, and always wants the best for the other person. The world's version of love leaves us empty, whereas God's radical love leaves us full, OVERFLOWING, actually. A radical love like that is meant to be shared.
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Give it to God
Soooooo when I started brainstorming about what to write for this post I was in the middle of a pretty rotten day and my post was essentially going to be a pity party for me. I was super tired, got up late, felt like nothing was quite right all day and finally tonight I was at a gathering of friends where I was not feeling accepted at all. It was sort of the last straw, and I was like, "God, what's the deal here? Why are these people not liking me when I've tried so hard for so long to be accepted by them?" It was rough. On my way home, I realized something that in the back of my mind I knew was the problem.
I didn't give God my life through prayer today.
Recently, I created a solid prayer life and my world has drastically changed since then. Whenever I don't pray, my whole day is off and I feel like everybody is against me. That's what the deal was today. I hadn't really prayed hard core the last couple days, just meal prayers and bedtime prayer. Today was the culmination of a lack of prayer, a lack of aligning myself with Our Lord.
I'm a total country girl. I feel God the most when I'm on the farm and am one with nature. Tonight there is a meteor shower so I went out on our grain bin and just sat looking up at the sky. At the HUGE sky speckled with billions of stars, watching them shoot across the sky (just like in movies, no joke). And I prayed. I knew I would when I went out there and it was the most natural thing in the world. I spent a while venting to God, letting Him see my heart and my pain, and also praising Him for all He has done in my life and what He has made, like the earth and the stars. I almost felt silly talking to the God of the Universe about my life problems when He made the stars I saw and the sky they rest in.
But here's the thing: God wants to know what's going on in my life and He wants to help me through it. He wants to do the same for you, too! Your problems are different than mine because we're unique, but God knows exactly how to handle all of them. He knows where our lives are headed, and His plans for our lives are so incredible! Looking up and seeing the stars in their perfect places is an incredible witness to God's power and creativity. If He can do that with balls of burning gas, HOW MUCH MORE He can do with US and our future!!! He only asks that we let Him in so He can get to work. I'm so excited to see where He leads me through my life. The only thing you and I have to do is let God handle it all and follow Him wherever He leads!
I didn't give God my life through prayer today.
Recently, I created a solid prayer life and my world has drastically changed since then. Whenever I don't pray, my whole day is off and I feel like everybody is against me. That's what the deal was today. I hadn't really prayed hard core the last couple days, just meal prayers and bedtime prayer. Today was the culmination of a lack of prayer, a lack of aligning myself with Our Lord.
I'm a total country girl. I feel God the most when I'm on the farm and am one with nature. Tonight there is a meteor shower so I went out on our grain bin and just sat looking up at the sky. At the HUGE sky speckled with billions of stars, watching them shoot across the sky (just like in movies, no joke). And I prayed. I knew I would when I went out there and it was the most natural thing in the world. I spent a while venting to God, letting Him see my heart and my pain, and also praising Him for all He has done in my life and what He has made, like the earth and the stars. I almost felt silly talking to the God of the Universe about my life problems when He made the stars I saw and the sky they rest in.
But here's the thing: God wants to know what's going on in my life and He wants to help me through it. He wants to do the same for you, too! Your problems are different than mine because we're unique, but God knows exactly how to handle all of them. He knows where our lives are headed, and His plans for our lives are so incredible! Looking up and seeing the stars in their perfect places is an incredible witness to God's power and creativity. If He can do that with balls of burning gas, HOW MUCH MORE He can do with US and our future!!! He only asks that we let Him in so He can get to work. I'm so excited to see where He leads me through my life. The only thing you and I have to do is let God handle it all and follow Him wherever He leads!
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