Megan's prayer: Out of Eden's "River"

When the mountains fall, when the stars collide
I know you'll be there, standing by my side

This past year, I've tried really hard to be independent. I live by myself, cook for myself, and I am responsible for paying the bills on time. It's something I didn't know if I would be able to do it all by myself, but I took a chance.

Although it has been going well for the most part, sometimes I do come to a road block. I wish I could figure everything out on my own, but there are times when I have to swallow my pride, and ask for help from others.

And every time this happens, without any question, my parents are there for me. Ready to help me. No questions asked. They will do everything possible to help me through the hard times, whether it is something physical they can give, like a helping hand with rent, or just my mom's offer to drive down to my apartment just to be with me when I have a bad night. They love me so much.

As great as their love is for me, I know God's love is even more. He will always be there, standing by my side. This is amazing.

Catie's prayer: Out of Eden's "River"

I know You'll be there
And You will still be lovin' me

I don't have too much to say about this except for the fact that I need to remember this. There has been nothing else in my life that has comforted me more than knowing that God is there for me, loving me no matter what. If only I could keep that constantly on my mind and heart.

Megan's prayer: Jars of Clay's "Liquid"

He didn't die for nothing

When I think about how Jesus died for my sins, I don't think I fully grasp just how awesome that love is.

Would I really give my life to save someone elses? Would I give my life to stand up for my faith?

I like to think that I could answer "yes" to these questions, but would that change if I actually found myself in that situation?

Chris' prayer: Jars of Clay's "Liquid"

He didn't die for nothing.

This is the line that will always stick out to me. Always. I've seen Jars of Clay perform in concert probably 8-10 times and this is the song I look forward to. It isn't my favorite song from them, but that doesn't even matter. I want to hear this one. And I want to hear it for this line. The whole song builds and builds and builds until finally it can no longer be contained. And what comes out is this line sung, no...screamed...by the entire audience.

And what a great reminder it is with Easter Sunday right around the corner.


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Catie's prayer: Jars of Clay's "Liquid"

He didn't die for nothing

So many times I forget this. I forget that he died for me, you, everyone. It's one thing to to give of your life, but to actually die the most horrific death ever out of LOVE. Love is something that can be so difficult, but when it works the way is it suppose to, to be completely self-giving, to truly will the good of another, there is nothing more beautiful

Megan's prayer: Jars of Clay's "Flood"

Many times when I feel overwhelmed, the only way I can find to express that is by crying. Sometimes this is an okay thing. When I have this overwhelming sense of joy or happiness in my life, it happens. When I watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition and I see just how much people care for one another, it happens. When I feel an overwhelming sense of love from someone, it happens.

It also happens when I'm overwhelmed with school work, with stress, with frustration. Those are not the most enjoyable times. It's during these times that I need to remember to turn to God, to ask him to "calm the storms that drench my eyes, dry the streams still flowing."

Chris' prayer: Jars of Clay's "Flood"

I remember hearing this song on the radio when it was first released. It was actually even before I had really taken ownership of my faith and invested into my spiritual life. Nonetheless, the feeling I had then is one that I continue to have today: I find myself amazed whenever something spiritual or religious, whether it be a song like this one, a book, or a television show "crosses over" and becomes mainstream. It catches me off guard to find the secular world catching on to something religious.

It probably shouldn't surprise me. I think I recall hearing that something like 90% of Americans believe in God, and something like 80% identify themselves as Christian. It seems like the secular world is so far removed from that statistic, though...that God is part of our lives on Sundays for an hour, then perhaps a minute before meals, and then contained in privacy for the rest of the week. It is refreshing, and yes, amazing, when we as a culture allow Him to escape that box and make an impact on our secular world.


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Catie's prayer: Jars of Clay's "Flood"

Lift me up - keep me from drowning again

There have been many times in my life when I felt like I was drowning. Not literally but in the sense that I was in way over my head. Earlier this week I felt like this. I just had so many little things that had built up and I felt entirely overwhelmed. But God lifted me up. After a while I realized I didn't have much control over what happened in some of the situations so worrying about them was pointless and whatever God wanted to be done was going to be done. It's hardest when we don't have control to want control more than ever. But we were never in control of the situation to begin with so why not give control to God?

Chris' prayer: Jars of Clay's "Boy on a String"

The marionette has your number

There are many times in my life where I feel like a boy on a string.

Sometimes, even though I know I shouldn't, even though I don't want to, I still choose a sinful path. It is like there is no other path. Whether that sin be lying to a family member, killing a friend through the use of words or actions, or lusting after some picture in a movie or on the internet, I sometimes feel like I'm outside my own body, watching it sin, watching myself be lead astray even though I know better.

There are other times where I find myself doing good despite not choosing to. The most prominent example here is when I'm able to step outside my comfort zone with my youth ministry program, either in welcoming a teen, making a fool out of myself for some skit, or leading in something I don't particularly find myself good at. Even though I may not always want to, I still find myself doing these things.

Even though it may not always feel like it, in a way I'm the one in control of the strings. I choose who gets to pull them. Is God pulling my strings today? Or is the devil? Who have you trusted to pull yours?

Megan's prayer: Jars of Clay's "Boy on a String"

You can't feel anything
You're a boy on a string

I'm having a hard time trying to figure out if this is a good or a bad thing.

On one hand, if God is the puppeteer, guiding my every action, maybe I don't feel anything because God makes all the decisions, and doesn't take me anywhere where I would feel hurt.

But what about love? If I can't feel anything, then I obviously can't feel love. If I'm just a "boy on a string," I'm not being able to make my own decisions. I wouldn't feel joy or happiness. I would basically be lifeless.

Maybe it is good to feel, even if those feelings are of hurt or pain. At least then we are able to tell we are alive. And if we can feel hurt, then surely we will be able to feel love. And that, I think, is the greatest feeling of all.

Catie's prayer: Jars of Clay's "Boy on a String"

And youre just wasting time

I feel like I've been doing this a lot lately. Not so much wasting time in not getting things done, more like what am I doing with the time that I've been given. I feel like if every moment, every minute, every second is a gift from God, then I'm not spending the time I've been given very wisely. I need to make every moment that God has given me count, and not take any of them for granted. I'm not sure how to do go about that quite yet, but I'll get there in time.

Megan's prayer: Jars of Clay's "I Need You"

Strangely out of place

I think it's rather obvious just how much I enjoy noon mass at Cletus. I've written numerous blogs about it. But this past weekend was different.

Normally, I ride to mass with Chris, get there super early and have time to spend talking to the teens and other Core members before mass, listen to Carrie practice a few songs, yell "Hi Bob" while he does announcements, sing at the top of my lungs to all the songs I know (and even a few I don't), watch the teens dance, and then spend 20 minutes afterwards trying to figure out where to go to lunch.

This past weekend didn't quite go like that. It took me an hour to get to Cletus, and by the time I arrived, mass was just starting. I missed spending time with the teens before mass, and yelling "Hi Bob". I missed sitting next to Chris, who sings so loud that I know I can sing from the top of my lungs without anyone really noticing. I missed getting two hugs from Matt, one for me and one for my brother.

It's amazing how I could be in the exact place as I had been the week before, yet some how feel so strangely out of place.

Lord, help me to see and experience your love at all times. Especially those times when I most feel out of place.

Chris' prayer: Jars of Clay's "I Need You"

Only had a second to spare
But all the time in the world
To know you're there

I cannot believe that in less than two weeks, it will be Easter Sunday. Lent has completely flown by and has left all of my grandiose plans for preparing myself scattered and broken. I am left with but a second to spare to prepare myself for this Easter season. Fortunately, I still have what seems like all the time in the world to know that Jesus is there for me. With me.



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Catie's prayer: Jars of Clay's "I Need You"

I need you, I need you, I need you
You're all I'm living for

This I think pretty much sums up where I'm at right now. I'm realizing lately how much I just need to depend on God because lately all I'm wanting to do is his will. That's all I want to do. But that is so much easier said than done. There's such a large gap between what I know I should do and what I actually do. I'm trying to make that gap smaller, but I'm just not quite there yet. I need Him in order to do that.

Chris' prayer: Matt Maher's "Just Like You"

I wanna go where You lead me to

What a great line. Although, if I had written it, and done so completely honestly, it would have been more like "I wanna know where You want to lead me to. And then I'll decide if I wanna go there." Because, as much as I love great suspense movies, theme park rides, and new adventures, I always really just want to know what is up ahead. It's hard to do anything without knowing what to expect, but it's even harder trying to live the personal aspects of my life that way. I really do want to go where God leads me...I would just like to know where that might be first. So I can let everyone know where I'll be, or something.


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Megan's prayer: Matt Maher's "Just Like You"

About a month or two ago, I was at noon mass, but having a hard time concentrating. I was surrounded by only teens, and the little chitchat was starting to get to me.

It wasn't until the final song that I felt God's presence. It was Matt Maher's "Just Like You" and the teens around me forced me to dance. I got "deeper, and deeper, and deeper" right there in the pews. Although I'm not normally a fan of being forced to dance, it really helped me to see "I'm dancing in Your holy presence."

Catie's prayer: Matt Maher's "Just Like You"

With reckless abandon to Your truth

Reckless abandon. At first hearing this, reckless abandon might not sound like the best idea in the world. Nobody ever thinks of abandoning something as good and being reckless isn't something most people would pride themselves on. However, when we give in to reckless abandon to the truth, that is when our faith really starts to go deeper, to really make a difference in our lives. When we abandon our will to follow God's will, that's when the changes happen, that's when we get to see more of a glimpse of what God wants for our lives as opposed to just what we want for our lives. And if we follow God's will, there is nothing on earth that could make us happier.

Chris' prayer: Matt Maher's "Welcome to Life"

When I first started prayanewsong, I was doing my prayers in the middle of the day while at work. I enjoyed stopping everything, relaxing, and praying in the middle of my day. Unfortunately, the work around me doesn't stop and so between being interrupted and distracted by what is going on around me, my prayers lacked the depth that I found they had when I would have to pray at night.

So, I decided to pray before I went to bed. Unfortunately, I still haven't gotten into the groove of having to pray before sleeping, so I'd be on my way to sleep when I'd get a text message from my lovely girlfriend reminding me to fulfill my daily obligation. Which leads me to the lyric that stuck out most to me:

So please, if you don't mind, let me remind you

I need more people like Megan in my life, people who are there to remind me to talk to God everyday, to call me out when my actions aren't consistent with my title as "Christian," and to encourage me to love more often and with more depth. I can be a forgetful person who often looks right through my own mistakes and would rather be selfish when it comes to loving others. I need those constant reminders in my life pointing the direction to the Cross upon which my Savior hung.


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Megan's prayer: Matt Maher's "Welcome to Life"

Today.

In between yesterday and tomorrow.

As wonderful as yesterday might have been, and as much as I can't wait for tomorrow, neither of those things are quite as important as today. The present is what is important. I need to realize that, and not wish away the days.

I hope that I get it right

Catie's prayer: Matt Maher's "Welcome to Life"

Let go of the future so unclear

God has slowly been teaching me how to do this lately. My plans for this summer are unclear with where I am going to be and at the beginning of the week I was freaking out about it. I have people on my back about what I'm going to decide, but I can't quite make a decision yet because other people aren't getting back to me. Yesterday, I finally just let it go. It's hard though. I've never wanted to do God's will so much before in my entire life. And I'm afraid. I'm afraid that I'll make the wrong decision, afraid that I'm just doing what I want over what God wants and that terrifies me more than it ever has before because God's plan is greater than anything else and to not do what he wants of me would break my heart. But sometimes all you can do is let go and let God.