St. Maria Goretti Moment.

As I mentioned in my quick little post I was on vacation last week. While gone, my confirmation saint's, Maria, feast day happened. I was having such a great time while on my vacation and site seeing in St. Augustine that I totally forgot it was her feast day... until I was walking through the gift shop for the Our Lade de la Leche pilgrimage site. As I was walking around I stumbled upon this little display and as I looked at it I realized that it was her feast day. It was her way of saying "Hey there, Teresa, don't forget about me. It's my day today." It made my day!

For those of you who have never heard of St. Maria Goretti, let me tell you a little bit about her....

Early life

Goretti was born Maria Teresa Goretti on October 16, 1890 in Corinaldo, to Luigi Goretti and Assunta Carlini. She was the third out of six children.

Before the age of seven, her family had become so poor that they were forced to give up their farm, move, and work for other farmers. They ended up sharing a house with another family which included Giovanni Serenelli and his son Alessandro. Soon, Maria's father Luigi became very sick with malaria, and died when Maria was just nine years old.

Maria's martyrdom

On July 5, 1902, finding eleven-year old Maria alone sewing, Alessandro Serenelli came in and threatened her with death if she did not do as he said; he was intending to rape her. She would not submit, however, protesting that what he wanted to do was a mortal sin and warning Alessandro that he would go to Hell. She desperately fought to stop Alessandro from abusing her. She kept screaming, "No! It is a sin! God does not want it!" Alessandro at first choked Maria, but when she insisted she would rather die than submit to him, he stabbed her eleven times. The injured Maria tried to reach for the door, but Alessandro stopped her by stabbing her three more times before running away.

Maria's little sister Teresa awoke with the noise and started crying, and when Serenelli's father and Maria's mother came to check on the little girl, they found the bleeding Maria and took her to the nearest hospital in Nettuno. She underwent surgery without anesthesia, but her injuries were beyond the doctors' help. Halfway throughout the surgery, Maria woke up. She insisted that it stay that way. The pharmacist of the hospital in which she died said to her, "Maria, think of me in Paradise." She looked to the old man: "Well, who knows, which of us is going to be there first?" "You, Maria," he replied. "Then I will gladly think of you," said Maria. The following day, twenty hours after the attack, having expressed forgiveness for her murderer and stating that she wanted to have him in Heaven with her, Maria died of her injuries, while looking at a very beautiful picture of the Blessed Mother.

Serenelli's imprisonment and repentance

Alessandro Serenelli was captured shortly after Maria's death. Originally, he was going to be sentenced to life, but since he was a minor at that time the sentence was commuted to 30 years in prison. He remained unrepentant and uncommunicative from the world for three years, until a local bishop, Monsignor Giovanni Blandini visited him in jail. Serenelli wrote a thank you note to the Bishop asking for his prayers and telling him about a dream, "in which Maria Goretti gave him lilies, which burned immediately in his hands."

After his release, Alessandro Serenelli visited Maria's still-living mother, Assunta, and begged her forgiveness. She forgave him, saying that if Maria had forgiven him on her deathbed then she couldn't do less, and they attended Mass together the next day, receiving Holy Communion side by side. Alessandro reportedly prayed every day to Maria Goretti and referred to her as "my little saint." He attended her canonization in 1950.

Serenelli later became a lay brother living in a monastery and working as its receptionist and gardener until dying peacefully in 1970.

Maria's Cannonization

On June 24, 1950, Pius XII canonized Goretti as a saint, the "Saint Agnes" of the 20th century." Owing to the huge crowd present, the ceremonies associated with the canonization were held outside of Saint Peter's Basilica. Pius XII spoke, not as before in Latin, but in Italian. "We order and declare, that the blessed Maria Goretti can be venerated as a Saint and We introduce her into the Canon of Saints". Some 500,000 people, among them a majority of youth, had come from around the world. Pius asked them: "Young people, pleasure of the eyes of Jesus, are you determined to resist any attack on your chastity with the help of grace of God?" A resounding "yes" was the answer.

Life Is Good, My Friends. Yes, Life Is Good.

Today has been a bitter-sweet day for me. It was bitter because today was the last confirmation class with my small group. It is crazy that two years have already gone by since the first class when we all started our journey. I must say I felt like a proud mamma hen today as my whole group, without me even prompting them, were excited to share with me about the saint they chose and why they chose that specific saint. It made me happy to know that they really did their own research and did not just choose a saint because their name sounded cool. I have become pretty close with these kids and am proud of how they grew in these past two years and I cannot wait to be able to watch them as they are confirmed next week-end. St. Michael the Arch Angel, St. Sebastian, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Catherine of Sienna, and St. Francis of Assisi please pray for these kids and watch over them as they journey through the rest of their life! :)

It was a sweet day as today is Mother's Day and who could have asked for better weather than what we had in my hometown? It was gorgeous and even more appreciated as in the majority of the past few weeks all we have seen are thunderstorms and rain. My whole family gathered together for a wonderful Mother's Day meal of grilled-out steak, baked potatoes, salad, and stuffed eggs. I must say it was all delicious, but I could not finish my plate. I felt so stuffed. My stomach really must have shrunk over the past few months because before I would have been able to eat it all. I was also blessed to see two of my three god-children today, which was a pleasant surprise.

Part of me is very surprised at how fast my week-end has flown by, but the other part is actually very excited to know that in six days it will be my birthday. I am even more excited about it this year as I will be spending part of my birthday at a Jason Aldean concert with two of my friends. I happen to be a HUGE Jason Aldean fan and own all of his albums except his newest one (which is the next cd I will be adding to my collection of music) and so to know I will be seeing him on my birthday is so cool. Along with that, the night before my birthday I will be going out with friends to celebrate, so I won't be getting much rest next week-end either. Go figure!

Beatification of John Paul II. :)

What a happy Sunday it is today! Today is even more special as Pope John Paul II was officially beatified early this morning, which brings him one step closer to sainthood. :)

For those of you who do not know the steps that are taken before a person is considered a saint then let me clue you in on them.

The process must begin five years after the candidate's death. (Pope John Paul II waived this requirement in Mother Teresa's case and Pope Benedict XVI waived this in Pope John Paul II's case as well.)

Local bishops investigate the life of the candidate and the findings are sent to the Vatican.

After approval by a panel of theologians and cardinals, the pope proclaims the candidate is "venerable," meaning a role model of Roman Catholic virtues.

The next step is beatification if it is determined by the church that the candidate is responsible for a miracle after his or her death.

Finally, for the designation of saint, the church must certify proof of a second miracle. Once they approve of the miracle then the Pope must declare the person a saint by canonizing them.

Holy Saturday - Waiting

The Real Meaning Behind Palm Sunday

"You Called And You Shouted! Broke Through My Deafness. Now I'm Breathing In And Breathing Out. I'm Alive Again!"

I feel like I must explain my long absence from my blog. I have been completely busy with long meetings and work and so many other things that have kept me pretty occupied and left me without any blogging time. I have been lucky to get any sleep with the crazyiness of my life.

You see one of the parishes in my home town was blessed with the opportunity to bring Matt Maher in concert here. I was even more blessed to be asked to be part of the team that was in charge if putting everything together. I knew about this concert since October, but it has been talked about for much longer. As soon as my friend asked me if I would be interested in taking part with a Matt Maher concert I quickly said I would without any hesitation. I have been a fan of his music now for a few years and to see him in concert for free and in the front row was a huge deal to me. It definitely was earned though. Our team put in a lot of hours of planning... My main task was to help with making sure Chic-fil-a would do a Spirit Day for St. Paul's to help raise money for the concert along with making sure that they would be able to be able to sell their food outside of the church before the concert started. Along with that I spent hours helping to sell tickets, first
after Masses at St. Paul's then I spent
hours at my own parish helping sell tickets after two of the Masses... It was frustrating and boring at times, but well worth it in the end.

This past week was a whirlwind of activity as it was the week of the concert. We had meetings both Monday night and Tuesday night that went pretty late as we were going through everything to make sure the whole evening would go smoothly and on time. I took off of work Wednesday, the day of the concert, early to help get everything set-up and last minute details worked-out. It was tiring and I did not get to sit-down hardly that night, except for during the concert when Matt asked everyone to take a seat.

We were an excited bunch as the clock ticked closer and closer to the time that the doors would be opened. We were mentally preparing ourselves for the six hundred people who were going to walk in and kind of take-over the building. We had people come in as far as Cincinnati, Ohio to see this concert. It was crazy to think that everything we had worked for was about to happen.

We were also blessed with this concert because Matt had Audrey Assad open for him. I had never heard of this person before this concert, so I was not sure how I felt about her. Audrey is a convert to Catholicism and I quickly became a fan of hers as soon as I heard her voice. She truly has a voice of an angel, and the lyrics to her songs are so beautiful. I was also blessed to have the chance to talk with her. My friend and I kind of snuck into the meet-and-greet group as both of our tasks were pretty much finished at that point and so we figured, why not? She was down-to-earth and really did not mind answering our stream of never-ending questions about life on the road for an artist. The way our conversation went felt like I was talking to a good friend and I was not quite ready to say good-bye.

That is a night I know I will remember for a long time. It was a blessing to know that I played a role to bring two amazing artists to my hometown.

So after the concert, Thursday night was taken up by Latin Mass at another parish near Bloomington which was beautiful. Last night was my parish's fish-fry fundraiser and so I did not get home till somewhat late, and once I did get home I was beat. So if anyone has been wondering where I have been I hope this post has answered that question for you.

I Am One Lucky Girl. :)

Dear Friends,

Try each day to follow Christ's word. Listen to Him as a true friend with whom you can share your path in life. With Him at your side, you will find courage and hope to face difficulties and problems, and even to overcome disappointments and set-backs.
You are constantly being offered easier choices, but you yourselves know that these are ultimately deceptive and cannot bring you serenity and joy.
Only the Word of God can show us the authentic way, and only the faith we have received is the light which shines on our path.
Gratefully accept this spiritual gift which you have received from your families; strive to respond responsibly to God's call and to grow in your faith. Do not believe those who tell you that you don't need others to build up your life! Find support in the faith of those who are dear to you, in the faith of the Church, and thank the Lord that you have received it and have made it your own!

Pope Benedict XVI

Tonight I was given this quote from a dear friend in a little note. He was telling me thank-you for being one of those who help builds up his life. It was a sweet little thing that touched me dearly. I try to let those I love and care about how much I love and care about them and how much they mean to me. I thank God everyday for the AMAZING people he has placed in my life. I really don't know where I would be without these great family members and friends to lean on for support. They are truly the best gifts He has given me.

"To Err Is Human, Forgive Is Divine"

Last night at holy hour I was asked to be the speaker. The topic was all about forgiveness. I was very excited for this talk and all was going well with it until I woke-up yesterday morning. I woke-up sicker than I have all week. I did not have a fever so I managed to make myself still go into work. As the day progressed, however, I began to feel worse and worse and eventually ended up with a 100.5 degree fever. I took advil and was very tempted to skip holy hour. It would not have even been a mental debate had I not promised to speak. I decided to take advil in hopes that the fever would go down and I could give the talk. Luckily, it did go down, and I did still give my talk. I had planned it for about ten to fifteen minutes. but fighting a really bad cough I shortened it quite a bit, but still managed to keep the important parts in my very short talk. I will share my outline with you all here....

I. Introduce myself and my talk.

"To err is human, to forgive is divine"

-Alexander Pope-

II. How we are all called to forgiveness

A. God does not call us to do anything He would not do Himself

1. confession

2. how some of Jesus' last few words before His death were "Forgive them Father, they

know not what they do."

II. Some common misconceptions about forgiveness

A. How some people believe that when we forgive someone we are condoning the action that

they did

1. We can only forgive what we believe is wrong

2. We are not condoning what happened. We are only choosing to move on from it.

B. Some people believe that we have to be asked for forgiveness in order to forgive

1. Again not true because, sadly, not everyone will be looking for forgiveness

2. Forgiveness is internal

3. We do not even have to tell the person we are forgiving that we forgive them.

III. Why forgive?

A. Forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves

B. Forgiveness challenges us to believe that the final outcome of a situation does not have to

be our hurt.

C. Every meaningful relationship must have forgiveness involved

D. When we forgive we tend to gain more confidence and are happier when living in the

present moment.

E. Physically people who are better with working on forgiveness tend to have lower blood

pressure and lower stress-levels.

F. When we forgive we tend be less likely to have problems with substance abuse and

depression.

IV. What happens when we do not choose to forgive?

A. We allow to continue being prisoners of the situation.

B. We are not really in control of the situation, the situation ends up controlling us.

C. We bring our anxieties and bitterness into our future relationships

D. We can not fully enjoy the present when we are holding a grudge about something that

happened to us in our past.

E. People fall into depression more easily

F. Most importantly we put up a barrier between our relationship with God.

V. Forgiveness is a journey...

A. It is not always an easy process. It may take days, weeks, months, or even years

depending on the degree of hurt that a situation has caused us.

B. To help us through this journey we must rely on God and our faith. We cannot do it alone.

VI. We all make mistakes

A. We are all human and no one is perfect

B. Compassion is a key ingredient to forgiveness. We must show compassion to one another.

C. Forgiveness is supposed to be a humbling experience. We are not supposed to believe we

are better than the other people involved because we are forgiving them. It is not

supposed to be like that at all.

VII. Share the story of St. Maria Goretti

VIII. Conclusion

End with

"We do not really know how to forgive until we know what it is to be forgiven.
Therefore we should be glad that we can be forgiven by others. It is our
forgiveness of one another that makes the love of Jesus manifest in our lives,
for in forgiving one another we act towards one another as He has acted towards us."

-Thomas Merton-

"Circle me, Lord..."

Circle me, Lord.
Keep protection near
And danger afar.

Circle me, Lord
Keep hope within.
Keep doubt without.

Circle me, Lord.
Keep light near
And darkness afar.

Circle me, Lord.
Keep peace within.
Keep evil out.

Amen.

The above prayer was shared today during the homily of our pastor's last week-end here. It was a very moving homily and I must admit I did tear up a bit from it. Father Bill brought a whole lot to our parish and he became very important to my family. The most touching part of the Mass with him was how I could see he was crying a little bit while waiting for the gifts to come down the aisle. It was easy to see that as much as he meant to us the parish did mean a whole lot to him as well. What he taught us will be remembered as we welcome our new priest. Change is not easy, but with the right attitude it can be the beginning of a good thing. My family still intends to visit Father often and will be kept close at heart. :)

Good-byes And Surprises

All is quiet in my house except for the sound of the heater. I cannot seem to fall asleep and I know the reason is because at this moment there is somewhere else I would love to be at, but I know why I can't be there tonight or the rest of the week-end. That place happens to be in Indianapolis where a large gathering of undergrads are attending Kairos 21 retreat. It is a huge sacrifice for me to give up a retreat week-end. Knowing the majority of my friends are at the retreat enjoying great talks and eachother's company tonight is making not being there even harder. At this moment I am sure most of them are still awake enjoying their free-time playing games, singing songs, talking, and becoming very sleep deprived while having a whole lot of fun. As much as I wish I were there in person I understand now why God did not call me to go to this retreat as much as it is hard for me to not be there.

This week-end happens to be the last week-end for our parish priest to be here. He has only been with us for a short period of time considering how long the average amount of time is for a priest to stay with a parish. It was a surprise to hear about when he told us he only had a month left to stay with us. He also has said how much he really does not want to leave, but the only reason he is going is because the Bishop has told him to. He is being obedient to his adviser. Father has become very important to my family while we have been going through some difficult times. He has been one of the easiest priests for me to go to confession to. His homilies at Mass have always been easy for me to take something away from. He has done so many positive things at our parish. Knowing he is leaving and not really wanting to is making this good-bye even harder. If I had gone on the retreat I would have missed-out on his last Mass here, and that would have made me very sad. More sad than not attending the retreat, which is saying something pretty big considering how much I love retreats.

Another reason why I am ok with not being able to be on this retreat is the fact that my family is throwing my father a surprise birthday party on Sunday. The only reason why I am even ok with writing this on my blog is the fact that my father does not get on the computer... except to check his e-mail. When he sits and types out his e-mails he only uses two fingers because he has never really understood the need for typing classes. His work made him take a typing class which he attended, but even the teacher ended up passing him only because he went from one finger to two. Thinking about that kind of makes me laugh. I love my dad dearly. He turned sixty while I was away for my March for Life trip so we did not have a big celebration with him. In fact when I got home that day no one was here to greet me. My parents were out on a dinner date for his birthday. I was cool with that. In fact I kind of enjoyed having a bit of "alone" time to reflect on the trip. Anyway, so my mom is expecting fifty to sixty people coming to his party. My little brother will be the dj. There will be tons and tons of Mexican food since that is my dad's favorite kind of food. There are lots of letters that have come in for my dad from those who will not be able to be here for it in person. Along with his birthday this is also supposed to celebrate the fact that my dad has stayed sober for 22 years from alcohol which is something my family is very proud of him for. I could go on and on about all the many ways my dad has helped others around my town with different needs, but that would take a long time to write. The fact that so many care enough about him to let him know how much he means to them speaks volumes about the kind of man my dad is. I feel very blessed that God gave me the parents he did. I would not trade them for the world! Had I gone on the retreat I would miss-out on this grand occasion and that would really really make me sad.

The picture has Father Bill in the middle and my dad on his right. It was taken at one of the parish pic-nics that Father Bill pushed for.

Since I was not able to be with my friends I have sent them each a little note which they should receive sometimes tomorrow and I have been keeping them in my prayers. I cannot wait to hear how their experience was this past week-end when they return. :)

Being Short Is Better

If I could change one thing about myself (not that I think about this all the time or anything) I would add a few inches to me height. Being 5'21/2" in. is not that small, but it is enough to be somewhat frustrating. I am not going to lie, I did not complain about my lack of height while standing around my tall friends when we were waiting for the March to start last week... That came in very handy for me as they all blocked the wind from my sister and I, so we were pretty warm. There are times that being short is not fun. Trying to see something when in a large crowd of people, or when at a movie theater a tall person almost always sits in front of me and blocks my view of the screen so I have to move in an uncomfortable position to see the movie. Those are just a few examples, and I could write more, but I do not really want to.


The reason why I am even talking about height is the other night I opened up a Mother Teresa book and this is what it said:

"In the Gospels, Zaccaeus was a little man who wanted to see Jesus. He tried in many ways, but he could not see Him until he accepted that he was small. That acceptance let him to the next step, the acceptance of the humiliation that he had to climb a tree so that he could see Jesus, an so let everyone know that he was very small. We need the same kind of humility for us."
-Mother Teresa-

After reading that I guess I do not mind being short....

A Local Youth Group From My Home Town On News About March...

St. John's youth group being interviewed about the March for Life. The young girl who speaks happens to have been part of my homeschool group during my senior year of high school. I am so proud of this. :)

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!

"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. :) :) :)

"Thirsting For God"

One of the perks for being a teacher is that every year the families are very generous when it comes to giving presents to us teachers. Among the many gift cards I received I was a given one to Barnes and Nobles. I used it to buy a couple of books, one of which happens to be "Thirsting For God" by Mother Teresa. It is a year book filled with prayers, meditations, and anecdotes by none other than Mother Teresa. I thought I would share today's entry on here with all of you...:)

December 30
(The following quotations is taken from the last letter Mother Teresa wrote on the day of her death)

Let our gratitude be our strong resolution to quench the thirst of Jesus by lives of real charity. Love for Jesus in prayer, love for Jesus in you brothers and sisters, love for Jesus in the poorest of the poor. Nothing else."

Everyone Has A Role To Play In Life....

Today is the feast of St. Andrew. I have always liked this apostle. He did not really like being in the spot light too much, unlike his older brother, St. Peter. St. Andrew did have some pretty big roles he played in the Gospels. He introduced Peter to Jesus. He also was the one who found the boy with the fish when Jesus fed the hungry crowd. I like St. Andrew because he is a lot like me. He did not need to be the main leader, the one who received all the attention. He was there to help, but did not want to be in charge. I feel the same way. I do not mind hopping on board with things such as retreat leadership teams, teaching confirmation, Bible studies, and even with my own job when I am part of the group. If someone were to ask me to actually be in charge of putting the leadership teams together or be the director of my daycare, I would refuse. I am sure I could do it, but all the pressure that comes with that role adds to much stress to my already hectic life. Each role is equally important in life, and St. Andrew helps remind me that sometimes it can be those who stay in the back ground that deserve some recognition just as the main spokesperson does.

Moral Choice Making

Today has been a very busy day for me. Confirmation class was today. The topic was "Moral Choice Making." The speaker was incredible, as usual. I have heard him speak a number of times now, and still it does not get old. He talked about how people seem to think of morals and ethics as the same thing, but they really are not the same thing at all. In his talk he left the kids with three things to try and do from now on.

1. Always form and listen to your good conscience.
2. Choose wonderful teachers/mentors
3. Keep good friends

In my small group today we mostly focused on the first of the three things. To always form and listen to your good conscience. This always so tricky for me, and apparently for the rest of my small group. We have no problem realizing what is morally right, but listening to our conscience and following what it is telling us to do is another story. I mentioned Matthew Kelley and how whenever he speaks he always says, "What will help make you become the better version of yourself?" I said that maybe if we think of our choices in life more as what will really make us better than it might be easier to follow our conscience more than just wanting to have "fun." Not everything that is "fun" is really going to help us become better people.

I really enjoy my small group. We have had a lot of great discussions in the short time we have together. They have surprised me so much in the way they are growing deeper in their faith. I have learned a lot from them, and hopefully I have been a positive enough role model for them as well.

Striving For Sainthood Through Little Ways

The other night I was hanging out with my friends and we began discussing how we are all called to be saints. We then bounced around different ideas on how we can work on making Catholics have a positive rap here in my liberal college town. So, here is the list we came up with...

Remember to smile. Everyone enjoys seeing a happy friendly face.
Listen patiently when someone needs to talk... after listening, instead of forcing advice on a person offer to pray together about what the other person needed to talk about. Bring problems to God.
No matter where we go to eat remember to always pray... and when we make the sign of the cross before and after make sure it is not a quick gesture, but a proud one.
Volunteer helping out at the local community kitchen or homeless shelter
whenever we meet someone to always think in our heads "you are worthy of being loved." By thinking this hopefully it will help us remember the other person is also loved by God.
Invite a friend to Mass
Always strive to learn more about our faith so that when people do come to us with a question we can be prepared. At the same time there is no way we can know everything there is to our faith. Part of being Catholic is knowing that we don't know everything, but we want to learn as well. It is a lifelong learning process.
Try not to gossip. this is a hard one, but the more we avoid talking about people behind their backs the more people will begin to respect us.
Dress modestly, but in a confident manner.
Be polite and courteous.
Be proud to do things like the Eucharistic Procession...
Enjoy wearing catholic t-shirts, or retreat t-shirts.
When in a group of friends who want to do things that are anti-catholic try to suggest to them in a friendly manner something else to do. If they don't want to go along with you, that's fine. Just politely say you are not interested in that and excuse yourself from their plans.
Remember to be a role model for those who you never know are looking up to you. Do not do something that you would regret seeing a younger person, or peer do.

These are just a few of the points we thought up. I wish I could tell you I remember them all, but I don't. We talked about a LOT of different ways.

"Speak Now!"

"Speak now or forever hold your peace,' the words said by preachers at the end of wedding ceremonies all over the world, right before the vows. It's a last chance for protest, a moment that makes everyone's heart race, and a moment I've always been strangely fascinated by. So many fantasize about bursting into a church, saying what they'd kept inside for years like in the movies. In real life, it rarely ever happens.
Real life is a funny thing, you know. In real life, saying the right thing at the right moment is beyond crucial. So crucial in fact, that most of us start to hesitate for fear of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. But lately what I've begun to fear more than that is letting the moment pass without saying anything.
I think most of us fear reaching the end of our life, and looking back regretting the moments we didn't speak up. When we didn't say 'I love you.' When we should've said 'I'm sorry.' When we didn't stand up for ourselves or someone who needed help.
Words can break someone into a million pieces, but they can also put them back together. I hope you use your words for good, because the only words you'll regret more than the ones left unsaid are the ones you use to intentionally hurt someone.
What you say might be too much for some people. Maybe it will come out all wrong and you'll stutter and you'll walk away embarassed, wincing as you play it all back in you head. But I think the words you stop yourself from saying are the ones that will haunt you the longest.
So say it to them. Or say it to yourself in the mirror. Say it in a letter you'll never send or in a book millions might read someday. I think you deserve to look back on your life without a chorus of resounding voices saying 'I could've, but it's loo late now.'
There is a time for silence. There is a time waiting your turn. But if you know how you feel, and you so clearly know what you need to say, you'll know it.
I don't think you should wait. I think you should speak now."

~Taylor Swift~

This past weekend I was very happy to finally buy the new Taylor Swift cd. I must say I am pleased with the new music she has put out. I still am impressed with how easily she can write such great songs. The above quote is from the booklet inside the cd. Those who own her cd cannot miss the first two pages this was written on. There is a lot of truth that comes through that long quote... Enjoy!

Fighting To Keep Childhood Innocence

This past week it seems as though the majority of the conversations I have held with my friends have all at one point or another focused mainly on sex. What I mean by that is we have discussed how sad it is that the kids nowadays are becoming sexually mature at an early age. Just this evening one of my friends was telling me how an eleven year old she knew of in her hometown had become pregnant. Eleven years old. It completely shocked me. Thinking back to age eleven I was just beginning to kind of notice boys. Sex completely grossed me out. Most of my friends have all agreed with this being how it was for them as well. It seems to me that children are growing up way earlier than they need to.

I became even more curious about how serious this may be down the road for the future of these kids. Apparently in one public middle school they handed out a sex survey which was very detailed. You are welcome to read more about that if you click here. I am very saddened to hear that such a detailed sex survey is being handed to seventh graders. I am not a parent, but I am pretty sure if I was a parent of a child at that school I would be furious. There is a study that has been going on with this age group which you can read about by looking here. Obviously there is a huge factor in this study which I do not agree with, and that is pushing more condoms into Middle schools. I do not think that will fix this issue... In fact that just tells them that having sex that young is ok.

Here are some more facts I have found:

Nearly half (46%) of all 15–19-year-olds in the United States have had sex at least once.

By age 15, only 13% of never-married teens have ever had sex. However, by the time they reach age 19, seven in 10 never-married teens have engaged in sexual intercourse.

Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia explicitly allow all minors to consent to contraceptive services without a parent's involvement (as of January 2010). Two states (Texas and Utah) require parental consent for contraceptive services in state-funded family planning programs

Of the 18.9 million new cases of STIs each year, 9.1 million (48%) occur among 15–24-year-olds.

Although 15–24-year-olds represent only one-quarter of the sexually active population, they account for nearly half of all new STIs each year

Each year, almost 750,000 women aged 15–19 become pregnant.

Ten percent of all U.S. births are to teens

1 out of 5 people will have an std withing the next few years.

These are only a few statistics and if I had more time tonight to really look for more I would. This is enough for me to read and know something is not working right when it comes to our kids.

Sometimes I wish I was born in a different century when everyone cared strongly about their reputations and how other people viewed them. Sex was supposed to be for marriage, as it should be today. All I can keep doing is working on being the best role model I can for the kids I am around. I want to be held accountable because I do know I have quite a few people who do look up to me. With lots of prayer and focus on my goal I am pretty sure I will not go wrong. I know, that is much easier said than done.