ForeverLOVEd

6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 1 Corinthians 3:6 Exhaustion, a weekend together, and a common love of laughter probably had my friends and I giggling out loud at the clever statement of one of our friends! Five of us were squished into a car, that holds five, making the journey home from San Diego. The discussion in the car had covered an array of topics before it landed on the question, who would drive us to our activity later that afternoon. A fair exchange of driving is something we always try to maintain and we had two volunteers to drive right away. But when I told my friend she had to decide, her answer had each of us rolling. She replied by saying, "It doesn't matter to me, I mean it's not like I'm being called to drive, but Im fine either way." We all thought it was so funny, because each of us has had in some form or another, received some sort of call from God. My friends answer was funny and clever, but we all knew th...

"We can do no great things; only small things with great love." -Blessed Teresa of Calcutta The events of this past week, for me, could be described as a whirlwind. In a matter of four days, I celebrated the birth of a new baby, remembered the loss of another, and watched in horror the news coverage of the senseless deaths of average people who had planned to spend their night watching a movie but ended up instead in the middle of a rage filled massacre. Each of these events, private or public, brought with them emotions, thoughts, and a sense of the value of a life. Have you ever thought about what it takes for a human being to be born? I mean all these little details have to line up just right for it to happen. And once a baby is born, the organs have function just so for the baby to sustain life. So easily, one organ can fail and life no longer exists. God orchestrated perfectly this process and all these little things that make life possible. And beyond that He orche...

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 59 And He said to another, “ Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” 60 But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go andproclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” 61 Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.”62 But Jesus said to him, “ No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:57-62 What does it take to lead a life truly surrendered to Christ?! I think it's easy for us in many ways to picture only the pretty things about living a life of faith when we first start out our journeys with Christ. Maybe rock bottom is what had us surrendering our everything to God in the first p...

'Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch.’ Luke 5:4 Into the deep. I spent my weekend on a retreat in the mountains trying to answer the question, what going out into the deep really means for me?! What, in my life, is calling me to leave the shore and in turn what is holding me onto that same shore refusing to let me tread out into the deep?! Such a big question! So many potential answers. And for each of us "the deep" is so personal. We fight the shore everyday. Little things hold us back from truly experiencing God's love and seeking the adventure He has for us! Yet God is longing for each of us to reach out back into the water, brave the deep once more, and experience His infinite love and amazing plans for us. It's quite obvious that God was working in my heart over these three days in the wilderness as He sent holy men and women to share with us and to challenge us to go further into the deep. The nature that surrounded us begged f...

"Real love is demanding. I would fail in my mission if I did not tell you so. Love demands a personal commitment to the will of God." Pope John Paul II It's not too often that you find a life lesson in a mindless task! This past week I got so caught up in a simple project, that I couldn't help but see a message from God in it. Ill confess, right now, that without the use of my IPhone, I feel incomplete. I use it for everything and to an extreme I'm dependent on it! Well, it came time for me to replace the protective screen on this little mini version of my life. And so, for about an hour and a half on a Tuesday night I worked to complete this task. Mind you, I'm a perfectionist who easily looses patience so for me this task was beyond frustrating. Beads of sweat coming down my face, lint collecting on my screen, curse words flying out of my mouth, I tried again and again to make the screen look perfect as I reapplied it over and over. And I found myself re...