Just Some Prayer Requests.

Hello readers. I just wanted to say I will be away this week-end helping chaperone a Confirmation II retreat. My own small group will be attending and I am very excited to watch them open up even more this week-end. Please keep us all in your prayers. :)

Also one of the girls in my small group will not be able to attend the retreat this week-end because she is having surgery done on her shoulders. This girl is a cancer survivor. The reason she had to have surgery is because the chemo ended up messing with her body so bad that only surgery can help it. She will also have to have hip surgery done later on this year as well. Please keep her in your prayers. She may be cancer free, but she still has a long road to recovery to go through. Her attitude throughout all of this has really inspired me. I have learned a lot from her and probably more than I ever helped her learn in the past few years. She is amazing!

"And The Winner Is...."

Tonight I have been sitting in front of the television skipping through the channels and trying to see if one of my favorite shows happens to be on, Bones, Reba, or House maybe. I flip through and find myself quickly sucked into none other than the People's Choice Awards. As I sat there watching I could not help but realize how I was so tuned into this show. Even after I got up to mess around on the computer they were about to show the winner of some category (I don't even know which one it was, but I do know that the girl star from the Twilight movies won it. :( ) and I stopped my dad from changing the channel just because I wanted to hear who the winner is.

I will admit that a good portion of my Christmas break was spent catching up on past seasons of the television show Glee and watching the first season of The Big Bang Theory. It is interesting to me how we all can get so involved in television programs. It is crazy how with some shows how the audience can really emotionally connect to the plots that go on during episodes, or connect with a certain character. We can watch the show for an hour and then when that show is over we are left wishing there was more to watch.

Media really does have a hold on society. We can numb ourselves to the sex or drug scenes on our favorite shows thinking how they will only last a minute so why worry about it when really all those few minutes can mess with our minds. Somewhere along the line we get so used to seeing things like sex or drugs on tv to the point where we no longer see how doing those things are wrong anymore. In it's own way it makes the things that really are not best for us seem amazing and magical and a necessity. That is why it is so important to keep close to the faith by going to daily Mass and receiving communion regularly. Media may have a "hold" over society, but as long as we remember what is real truth and ask ourselves if what we are watching really will be helpful for us spiritually than it's "hold" will not be as strong.

"Legacy"

While I was playing Euchre online today I also happened to have pandora on when this song was played. I have never heard it before and was about to press skip when the lyrics caught my eye. My favorite lyrics from this song happen to come from the bridge. "And will the world see Christ when they look at my life? Oh, will the world see?" I hope that when I die people did see Christ

Legacy
by: Sanctus Real

What will they say when I'm gone,
In words that are written in stone?
Under my name, what will they claim about me?

Oh, I want to leave a legacy to be remembered.
More than just a memory that fades away
Because we only, we only get one life

Free me, my hands are tied
I'm so tired of wasting time
These endless inventions
Steal my attention from real life
And when its done, when its over

Oh, I want to leave a legacy to be remembered
More than just a memory that fades away
Because we only, we only get one life


And will the world see Christ
When they look at my life?
Oh, will the world see?

Mmm, come on, give me, give me, give me real life
And no more, no more, no more wasting time
Because we only, we only get one life (Just one Life)

Oh, I want to leave a legacy to be remembered
More than just a memory that fades away
Because we only, (Get one shot, at this one life) We only (One moment in time)
Because we only, we only get one life

"JP II We Love You!"

This video is about a miracle that has been approved for the beatification of John Paul II. This makes me happy. :) :) :)

Some More Favorite Quotes Of Mine

Here are some of my favorite quotes that have inspired me with how I can work on becoming a better person... Enjoy!

"In everything you do, put God first, and He will direct you and crown your effort with success."
~Proverbs 3:6~

"The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands."
~Robert M. Persig~

"Life's most persistent questions is... what are you doing for others?"
~Martin Luther King Jr.~

"Listening can be a greater service than speaking."
~Dietrich Bonhoffer~

"If what you did yesterday seems big, you haven't done anything today"
~Lord Holtz~

"Without mistakes there would be no forgiving, and if there was no forgiving, there would be no love."
~Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta~

"If you don't like the way the world is; you change it, just do it one step at a time."
~Miriam Wright Edleman~

"If God can work through me, He can work through anyone."
~St. Francis de Sales~

"You never know what happiness a simple act of kindness will bring about."
~Bree Able~

"Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God, do you learn."
~C.S. Lewis~

"One kind word can warm three winter months."
~Japanese Proverb~

"Little deeds of kindness, little words of love, help to make the world a better place."
~Julia Carney~

"Make yourself a blessing to someone. Your kind smile or pat on the back just might pull someone back from the edge."
~Carmelia Elliot~

"I cannot and will not cut my conscience to this year's fashion."
~Lillian Hellman~

St. Elmo

Apparently there is a popular game (although game is not really the right word for it) going around. This year if you wish to do this you can click onto this link to find out who your saint for the year will be. You are supposed to pray about which saint will come up before you click the button, and then the one that is given to you is supposed to become special to you throughout the year. It will also give you a link so you can learn more about that specific saint. Tonight before I clicked the button I prayed that the saint who would come up would be someone I could really identify with and sure enough the saint that came up was St. Erasmus, or better known as St. Elmo. He is the patron saint against abdominal pains; against appendicitis; against birth pains; against childhood intestinal disease; against colic; against danger at sea; against intestinal disorders; against seasickness; against stomach diseases; against storms; childbirth; navigators; ordnance workers; sailors; women in labor. I found this kind of interesting because when I was little I would get really cranky whenever I got hungry. I remember one day I told my mom I was hungry and I must have said it a lot because she looked at me with a frustrated expression and said if I told her I was hungry one more time she would not give me lunch. So five minutes later I told her I had hunger pains.... After I read the first thing this saint was a patron saint for, abdominal pains, it made me flash back to that moment. I have also suffered from really painful abdominal cramps, and still do occasionally. I do not think I will be giving birth anytime within this year, but I do want to become a mother so now I know exactly who to pray to when that time comes.

Here is a little bit more about St. Elmo...
Feast day: June 2
Erasmus was also known as Elmo. He was the bishop of Formiae, Campagna, Italy, and suffered martyrdom during Diocletian's persecution of the Christians. He once fled to Mount Lebanon during the persecution and lived a life of solitude there for some time, being fed by a raven. After the emperor discovered his whereabouts, he was tortured and thrown in prison. Legend claims that an angel released him and he departed for Illyricum, eventually suffered a martyr's death and was one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. Legend records that when a blue light appears at mastheads before and after a storm, the seamen took it as a sign of Erasmus's protection. This was known as "St. Elmo's fire". The blue electrical discharges under certain atmospheric conditions have also been seen on the masks or riggings of ships. Erasmus is also invoked against stomach cramps and colic. This came about because at one time he had hot iron hooks stuck into his intestines by persecutors under Emperor Diocletian. These wounds he miraculously endured. His Feast day is June 2nd.

"Prayer For A Blessing On The New Year"

O sacred and adorable Trinity, hear our prayers on behalf of our holy Father the Pope, our Bishops, our clergy, and for all that are in authority over us. Bless, we beseech Thee, during the coming year, the whole Catholic Church; convert heretics and unbelievers; soften the hearts of sinners so that they may return to Thy friendship; give prosperity to our country and peace among the nations of the world; pour down Thy blessings upon our friends, relatives, and acquaintances, and upon our enemies, if we have any; assist the poor and the sick; have pity on the souls of those whom this year has taken from us; and do Thou be merciful to those who during the coming year will be summoned before Thy judgment seat. May all our actions be preceded by Thy inspirations and carried on by Thy assistance, so that all our prayers and works, having been begun in Thee, may likewise be ended through Thee. Amen.