This is me

Im an optimist. When it comes to my friends i am the one always full of hope. Im always looking on the bright side. Some say im not realistic. Some say I'm too naive. Some say im too trusting. and maybe I am. I trust everyone untill you give me a reason not to. I believe in everyone. I believe that everyone has a little bit of good in them. Thats how we were made. We weren't made to hate to deceive. I believe in the good. I put my trust in that.

So maybe im not the most realistic person according to todays society. Maybe I am "setting myself up to get hurt". But so what. I dont want to go around doubting and questioning everyone I come in contact with. I dont want to live in the shadow of all the wrong in the world. I dont want to walk around second guessing everything. And for what? so I could be "safe"? So maybe I do get let down sometimes... maybe my hopes do fly too high for my reach sometimes. but then I live with it and move on. At least for that time I was hopeful. At least I had something to hope for. To live for. I dont know any other way.

So yes. You are right. I do trust too easily. Hope too much. Love too quick. Call it naive if you want. But thats me. Thats how I roll. I have faith in people.... and maybe its not always the safest route to take... maybe I do get hurt sometimes.... but like I said... I believe in the good.

inspired.

As a cradle catholic i have been to a million masses and received Communion since I was old enough to in 2nd grade. That is 12 years of receiving the Body of Christ..... 144 months..... 576 weeks.... well you get the point. A lot! so I have made my way up to the front of the church a bunch of times to hear the Priest say," The Body of Christ" . But Last year I got the chance to be on the other side of that. I am now the one saying, " The Body of Christ". Having all of those people walking up to me ready to receive the Lord, is incredible. They each have their own life and their own problems and they are coming to lay it all down before the Lord. Its pretty inspiring to witness.

Tonight there was an old man with the biggest blue eyes who looked right at me with so much hope as I held up the Lord before him. There was not a doubt in his mind of what he was receiving. He smiled at me and said Amen. But even I know he wasn't looking at me. He was looking was looking at Him. I have never seen anyone who was longing of the Eucharist as much as this man was. I was taken back. This is how we all need to be. We all need to long for the Lord as much as this man does. Imagine how our world would be .....

Its people like this that get me through the day :-) They are the ones that give me the strength to block the rest of the world out and just focus on the wonders of life.

Giving it all up

I'm done.

I'm done planning and plotting. I'm done predicting and guessing. I'm done mapping out my life and making a timeline for myself. I'm done with it all because quite frankly it really hasn't gotten me very far. When i entered 9th grade my mom and I sat down and planning out the classes i would take for the next 4 years. I was stressed and she was stressed because i was stressed and so to unstress we planned. I laugh now looking back at that paper where we wrote the lists and orders of classes. Nothing, and i mean nothing, went according to plan and everything turned out ok. At the first sight of stress or confusion why do we make lists or open calenders? I mean honestly, how often do things play out they way they should? I cant think of how many times I have been disappointed by events that i was looking forward to for weeks. And on the flip side, some of my best memories are the spontaneous ones... the unplanned ones. So why do we do it? Why do we try to map out the next 5 minutes, weeks, years? Its comforting. its comforting to know that we are headed in a direction. But im done with all that. Obviously easier said than done but recently the way things have been falling together have been completely different from what i expected. Whenever I think I have something figured out God throws me a curve ball. Its crazy and it used to make me so anxious. The thought of not knowing would put me on edge... I dont know what it is but recently I have been perfectly content with going where ever life takes me. So like i said, I'm done planning... and plotting.. and mapping out everything. I may not have any idea where i will end up in 5 years or who I will be. I dont know where I will be living or where I will be working. I have no idea who I will marry and how many kids I will have. But i do know this: Things will work out how they are supposed to... with out without me planning them. So i have no idea what tomorrow, next semester, of the next 5 years will bring... nervous- oh yes. But more than anything I'm excited :-)

Be content with what you have, for God has said, "Never

will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So say with
confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid."

-Hebrews 13:5,6

living the simple life

Simplicity. There is something to be said about it.

These past few days I feel like a little kid again. Normally that coming of of any college students mouth is a bad thing... however i mean it in the best way possible. I have been 100 percent content with just hanging out with my mom... going for walks and running errands. Sitting at the kitchen table and talking with my sisters... turning off my phone and reading a book for hours.... laying in bed in the morning staring out the window with my puppy... and just constantly finding myself thanking God.

I have a huge "to do" list I need to get done before school starts but I dont have any motivation to do it. Instead I want to soak up these last few not only stress free but simple days. I have gotten a glimpse into my childhood back when i didnt have a care in the world. Everything was perfect and simple. No major problems... no anxieties... and no stresses... and if any of those did come along....I would just ask mom to fix them.

So I want to thank God for letting peek back into my carefree life and reminding me how it feels. It refocused me... making me realize that life doesn't always have to be as complicated as i make it.

So in a week when classes begin... the crazyness called life will also pick up. And when that happens ill just think back to times like these when everything is so simple.

love

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails....And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:1-8a and 13

There is so much to be said about this bible verse. It is my all time favorite. I feel like it sums up life pretty darn well... nice job Jesus!