Chris' prayer: Kutless' "Let You In"

Do I offer my love freely? Or does it come with strings attached?

I would like to believe that I do offer love freely, but if I'm being truly honest, I don't offer it freely to everyone. Some people are very easy to love, and those people are the ones that I find myself loving without limits or conditions or excuses. There are other people, though, that I find harder to love, and the love I show them either comes with conditions, or isn't nearly the same love that I offer freely to others.

My God, however, offers the same love to me that he offers to everyone else, no matter how easy or hard I am to love. It is a love without conditions, without end, without limits. It is a perfect and purifying love. And it is one that I need to do a better job of sharing with those I find most difficult.


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Megan's prayer: Kutless' "Let You In"

For me, realizing and accepting God's love can sometimes be a challenge. I don't feel worthy, or I don't understand why he choose me.

In my mind, I'm still fighting to understand

Maybe it sometimes doesn't seem real to me, or I don't think that I should be the one he choose, but what I think ends up not mattering. The fact of the matter is that he did choose me to love. As scary and powerful and awesome that is, it is just something I'm going to have to get used to.

Marie's Prayer: Kutless' "Let You In"

In my mind, I'm still fighting to understand

Okay, so I may not Have told you all this, but earlier in The year there was a point Where I thought I might Have cancer. Even now, months later, my mind is still fighting To understand that I'm okay. I have this fear that One day I'll get a call and have cancer. I know This is crazy, but it keeps happening. I keep feeling Like something big and Life changing is about to happen. I can't understand that I'm actually Fine. And it's scary, no joke. I'm scared that There's something wrong with me. But there's not. So I pray every night that God gives me the understanding I need.

Erinnicole's Prayer: Kutless' "Let You In"

I tried to place it all upon my back again
But this crushing weight was well beneath the skin
Panicking for the light, an inner struggle I fight
But then I realized that You could be the only way

This stanza is me in a nutshell. I am constantly trying to take things upon myself. It is truly exhausting and the weight truly does crush me sometimes trying to take so many things on. It is everything physical, like pushing myself too hard to be too involved, and things that are emotional, like trying to please everyone. I am constantly fighting to understand. And I have realized that God is the only way to accomplish anything. Because in God, all things are possible. But the next line of the stanza, the one that doesn't exist here, is that I may have realized it, but I haven't accepted it. I have the big problem with giving over my power. My prayer is to be able to 'finish the stanza' in my life and not just realize that I can trust God, but actually do it.

Catie's prayer: Kutless' "Let You In"

for my sins Your abused

I have never thought about my sins that way before. I know Christ died to save us from our sins, but just something about the way this is said really hits me. If we were to think of abusing Christ each time before we made the choice of sin, we would sin a whole lot less. With that thought on our mind how could we not?

My heart it screams, to open up and let You in

This is why once one starts going deeper into their faith, they cannot just stop going deeper if their faith means something to them. This is because once one has Christ, the longing for him just continues to grow. Our hearts yearn for that love, that intimacy with God for there is nothing on earth that is more beautiful.

Erinnicole's Prayer: La Rue's "Waiting Room"

Losing my mind

This feeling is one I am all too acquainted with. I actually have taken to saying it regularly over the past few weeks. It seems like nothing in my life is staying consistent. People can't decide if they want to be friends, work schedules and theatre schedules change, people expect a lot from me, or they expect nothing at all. And the inconsistency is driving me nuts. So this song fits so perfectly into my life (unlike so much else right now, ironically haha). I do have to start remembering that this isn't it. It gets so much better than this. Even during the times when things are working, there is still the unimaginably better on the other side of this world. The place where God is waiting for me and here I am waiting for Him. But one day the waiting will be over...and I trust in God know that all this waiting will be worth it. Amen.

Megan's prayer: LaRue's "Waiting Room"

I wish God would send me daily emails. Just a quick “Hey Megan, It’s God. Don’t forget I love you. Have a good day at school.” That would be the most fantastic thing to find in the morning when I’m barely awake, stumbling to my computer to check to see if I have any new emails. I would save every email, label it “GOD,” and go back through each of them during the times that I’m not feeling loved, during the times I need a quick reminder.

Day after day…
…I have to remind myself
That you’re there and I belong to you

I don’t really understand why I have to be reminded so often. Looking at my life, it is evident that I am God’s and that He loves me. It is obvious that I have been blessed, but sometimes I lose focus of this. I need that gentle reminder, either from myself or a friend, that I truly am loved by God. It helps me to regain focus on what is important in my life. It helps to reprioritize the things that I do. It helps me to live a happy life, to live my life for God.

Chris' prayer: LaRue's "Waiting Room"

Again, today, I'm presented with an image that doesn't appear too appealing upon first glance: a waiting room. The first place my mind goes when thinking of a waiting room is to the doctor's office. Sitting there, feeling terrible, waiting for my name to be called, so that I can go and sit and wait in an even smaller room.

However, God reminds me through Philip and Natalie LaRue's voices that He is even in these spaces. He reminds me of something I'm always looking to hear whether I'm at the doctor's office, sitting at home, or anywhere else:

Everything will be alright
And everything will be OK …
He loves me

iTunes | Lyrics

Marie's Prayer: LaRue's "Waiting Room"

Oh, everything will be alright
And everything will be OK

I try to believe With all my heart that one day Everything will be ok. Because If you don't believe that things Have the possibility of Looking up, then you are not Going to enjoy anything. And for that matter, If you don't believe God can make everything Ok, then you really have No hope in anything, which is truly sad. So I look on the bright side. Or at least I try to because, everything will work out Like it's supposed to.

Catie's prayer: LaRue's "Waiting Room"

And I don't understand how
We could be so blind not to see
The love that stands in front of
In front of you and me

Lately when I pray, I try to remind myself how much God loves me. As I've grown deeper in my faith it has become easier and easier for me to believe in the great love God has for me. But there are times when I fail to see it, fail to be Christ's love to others. How can we expect others to believe in God's great love for them if we aren't willing to be the one's to show it to them.

Chris' prayer: Falling Up's "Divinity"

And wait, wait for peace

I love this line. I love it because it seems to me like it is a contradiction. Usually, we spend our lives, or at least I spend my life, waiting for something to happen. I was at the Blues game the other night, and I could feel the momentum shift in the Blues' favor. They were working hard, battling for every puck, getting some good chances. I was on the edge of my seat, the anticipation rising within me. Something was going to happen. I could feel it.

And then, it did. A Blue picked up a rebound, waited just a moment for a clear shot, and then buried it in the open net. The crowd went crazy. I jumped out of my seat and celebrated the event unfolding before me. I turned and high-fived my friends beside and behind me. Everyone screamed.

In this line, though, it feels like God is calling me to wait for the exact opposite. No explosion. No celebration. No screaming and yelling and high-fiving. Just wait. And when the waiting is over, rest. Be at peace. It sure doesn't seem nearly as exciting, but perhaps it is just what I need- some peace in my life.


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Megan's prayer: Falling Up's "Divinity"

As I sat in adoration tonight, I couldn't focus. My mind wandered, thinking about 15 million different things all at the same time. Thinking about the homework waiting for me tonight, wondering if I was prepared for the Core team meeting, trying to figure out why I was having such a hard time focusing, etc. It was so frustrating because Holy Hour is my time during the week that I have to slow down, catch my breath, and talk to God, but tonight I wasn't able to find that peace, that time to just rest in the presence of God.

My heart, it hurts
'Cause it never catches its breath

One restless Holy Hour wouldn't seem like a big deal, but I feel like this restlessness has become a pattern in my Holy Hours, and in my life. Even during the times where I stop "doing," my mind still races, focusing on so many other things. I wake up during the night, with my mind making to-do lists for the next day.

I wish I could stop this, just for a while, and regroup. Have a chance to just "be" with Jesus, and not thinking about anything else. My heart needs this time to heal, to gain strength again. I long for this stillness, this peacefulness.

Erinnicole's Prayer: Falling Up's "Divinity"

This time it means something
Dreams will fall, love will spill

This seems to be something that I am constantly telling myself. "This time it will mean something". When it comes to relationships with people, this tends to be my mantra. I find that in my own journey to find myself, I sometimes lose others. Sometimes it is a good thing in the end, and sometimes it is not. But regardless of what I can see in the big after picture, at the time it hurts a lot. So I tell myself in new relationships "This time it will mean something." I was thinking about the Eucharist last night and about this problem I have with having myself be loved by me and my peers at the same time. I was trying to think of one consistent friend that I've had throughout high school. And I could only come up with one. Jesus. He could see me through all of the changes I made in myself, trying desperately to figure out who I am. He knew the whole time that I am just supposed to be Erinnicole and listen to Him. Unlike my other friends, I truly know that this time it means something. Present tense. Dreams of the perfect relationship will undoubtedly fail me, but Jesus' love will never cease spilling over onto me.

Marie's Prayer: Falling Up's "Divinity"

And take, take your time
But move so fast

This really strikes Me. How many People will tell you To take your time When all they Really want is For you to do/be there now? I do it. I'd be lying If I said I didn't. That seems To be how people Are. They're all about That instant gratification. The Want for something to be done As fast as possible. But what people Don't understand is that sometimes things Take time. And maybe you ask God for something and The next day you don't get it. That doesn't mean God Didn't hear you, it may just mean that He's working on it. So let people take Time to accomplish things.

Catie's prayer: Falling Up's "Divinity"

My heart it hurts
Cause it never catches it's breath

I feel like this a lot. Not so much that my heart hurts, but more that it never has time to catch it's breath. I am constantly going throughout my day without much time to reflect on it. Many times I find myself telling people that I don't have time to live my life. And the sad part is is that it is true. I don't have time to enjoy what I'm doing because I'm too busy trying to do everything, get everything done.

And this is real

I forget that the only real thing I have is God, I forget that everything else will eventually be gone. God however is constant, not going anywhere, not going to leave me. If I took more time to slow down throughout my day and remember that, maybe my heart could finally catch it's breath.

Chris' prayer: Matt Maher's "Everything You've Done"

For Christmas, I painted my sister a picture. She knew that she would be getting a painting from me; it was what she had asked for, and she had purchased the supplies for me, but she left everything else up to me. I got to decide the color scheme, the subject, the title, everything. The result is what you see above.

I was a little worried about what Michelle would think of it, but when she opened it, I could see on her face that she really liked it. It was very visually pleasing to her eyes. But when I told her what it meant, when I told her the story behind it, how the painting signified home, and how each of the blocks of color represented a different room in our childhood home, and how our home will always be in our hearts, I could see that she loved it. It was very visually pleasing to her heart.

Today's song reminds me that that is what I have to look forward to. Seeing and hearing the story behind all the wonderful gifts that God has given me, realizing for the first time the extent to which He loves me via all of the tiniest details that he has placed into my life, the details that I was sure to miss, but still made my life what it is. Today, I naively celebrate all the things I can see that He has done for me. Someday, I will truly celebrate [His] love … and everything [He's] done.


iTunes

Megan's prayer: Matt Maher's "Everything You've Done"

Most weeks I have the joy of attending two masses at some point during the week. I always make it to the noon mass at Cletus, where there is singing and dancing, and I am surrounded by teens, and the mass is full of energy. I also normally have the chance to attend a weekday mass in the chapel on campus. These Thursday afternoon masses are much more reverent, without any music, without much energy. Different, but still wonderful.

Today's song spoke to me about the joy that I feel during the Sunday masses at Cletus. I love getting the song sheet before mass starts and having a chance to see what songs we will be singing. I enjoy the songs the slow songs, the songs with feeling, the songs sang during times of reflection. Even more than that, I like the songs that give me the feeling that no matter what, I couldn't sing it loud enough. Songs that fill the whole church. The songs that I love the most are the songs that encourage dancing. Although that may sound hypocritical because I don't typically dance, I enjoy them more for the chance to see others dance, to see others express their faith in such a pure form of joy. The songs that are even able to get teenage boys to dance. While some may find this irreverent, all I can think during these times is "Jesus, we dance for you."

Marie's Prayer: Matt Maher's "Everything You've Done"

Celebrate everything you're doing

I don't celebrate myself enough. I realized this yesterday as I celebrated the successful start of my collaborative vlog. Actually, I don't think I've ever actually celebrated anything I've ever done. And that's kind of sad when you think about it. I've celebrated things others have done, but never me. So I'm going to try and do that more often. Because if I can't celebrate me, what can I celebrate? I need to learn to appreciate me because God made me in His image and I should celebrate that. Yay God!

Erinnicole's Prayer: Matt Maher's "Everything You've Done"

We dance for you!

this song made me want to dance...i haven't stopped "bopping" along since I clicked play! That is how i think life should be; it is just a great thing so why not dance?! sometimes we hit hard times, yes...but we still wake up in the morning. and that's reason enough for me to dance. i have little to no rhythm but that doesn't really take away from my love of dance. i wish that instead of blogging my love for God today, I could dance it! The words aren't coming so easily today but if you all could see me dancing, it would look something like this :

~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~*~~* ~^^^^^ *~*~~**~*~* ~* ~* ~*~ *~ *~ *~ *~ *~*~ LA LA LA LA ~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~**~ ^^^
with the "^"s indicating jumps

because when I get into my faith with my whole body, it's an overwhelming, passion-filled mess.

this point of this whole mess of emotion, is that I think we should use the love and joy that God fills us with to express our gratitude in the most vibrant way that we can which, today, happens to be dancing for me!

Dance for the Lord!

Catie's prayer: Matt Maher's "Everything You've Done"

Celebrate in joyful hope
Celebrate your love
Celebrate what you are doing,
And everything you've done

I met someone a few weeks ago who I really look up to. She is always so joyful, always has a positive attitude, always has a smile on her face and always ready to greet everyone she meets with a warm welcome. She is probably one of the nicest and most genuine people I have met thus far. The reason I look up to her so much is because she is able to celebrate, celebrate life, celebrate love, celebrate God in everything that she does. I want to be like that. I want that joy that God gives us to celebrate the good and the bad, the triumphs and the trials. It's easy to celebrate when things are going well, if one can celebrate and triumph in the midst of hardship though, that is the true test of character.