Prayers

After living in a world that seems to always be filled with violence and unexplainable hateful acts, it's important to remember that there is good in the world. 

That people are inherently, good. 

From people that smile at you on the sidewalk to people that run into an explosion to rescue others. People are good. 

I believe in God and that everything happens for his reasons. It's not our job to try to understand those reasons but to do our best to help others in any way we can. 

As we are, yet again, surrounded by the media coverage of an unexplainable act,

remember to treat others with the love and respect that we all deserve. 

I pray that God will help all of those who were affected by the Boston Marathon tragedy and give them peace in the coming days, weeks, months and years. Help them to know and remember that there is still good in the world. 

Another prayer I found that I thought was fitting... 

Be with me, Lord

O Lord, I am torn up with grief. I know you are there, but I cannot see past my sorrow and tears. Be with me, Lord... guide me through these dark days and bring your light to my life, so that I may see your goodness, even in my mourning.Maureen Pratt

Surgery Update

Feeling very blessed that Sara's surgery went well and as expected. I got to go to the hospital yesterday and see her right after she got out of surgery and I'm amazed at how great she was doing! Talking and joking around like her normal self which was so good to see. Thankfully, there was no partial paralysis or anything of that nature which can always happen when they operate on the brain (so, I'm told). We are all praying now for a speedy recovery so she can start up the chemo or radiation or whatever is needed to get rid of the rest of the tumor. They weren't able to remove the whole thing with surgery because of the way it was fusing to her brain.

Thanks for the prayers!

In Sickness and In Health

I've found it a little hard to think about or actually write blog posts this week because so many things seem trivial compared to what is going on in the lives of those close to me right now. So, in a moment of clarity, I decided that I should write about what is going on in life with those close to me. Duh. 

First up, my sister-in-law Sara found out just last week that she has a brain tumor. Scary stuff. She's not even 30 and is a mother to my 3yr old nephew, Ryder. The tumor was discovered when she had some terrible chest pains and drove herself to the hospital. They did some tests and couldn't find anything but decided to do an MRI (I think??) because she has been having bad headaches and problems with her vision. That's when they discovered the tumor towards the front part of her brain. 

Needless to say, my husbands our family has been a little shaken up this past week. Prayers have been constant as we all pray that the tumor will be safely removed and life will return to "normal". At this point in time, we don't know if it's cancerous or even much more than that it's a tumor and it needs to be removed.  Sara and her mom will be going to meet with the doctors again tomorrow to discuss the surgery that is planned for Monday. 

My husband has been a little researcher every night after work as he looks for information on brain tumors. With all his searching it seems that Sara's symptons are pointing to a more positive prognosis than a negative one which helps to make us all feel a little better. He has been so great at being optimistic which is so important during a time like this. We all hope that he is right when it's all said and done. 

I can't even believe how strong Sara has been this past week. I know I would be an emotional disaster if I was in her shoes but she doesn't let it get her down. She laughs and jokes with everyone like she always has. Instead of worrying about herself she is busy worrying about everyone else and making sure that she doesn't inconvenience anyone. I seriously admire her strength and continue to pray that she keeps that strength. 

Hoping to post some good news soon on this!

Next up is my Grandma Pyle. The Grandma that says, "It Freezes Beautifully" to just about everything and has always been someone I completely look up to. She is who I hope to be when I "grow up"(along with my mom) and who has always been a great moral compass for me. I can't count the times I've asked myself, "What would Grandma think/do?" She has never met a stranger and most people in town refer to her as Grandma Pyle even if they're not related. 

Grandma has always been not only young at heart but way younger physically than most people her age. She is now in her early 80's but up until recently has acted as if she was 50 or younger. Honestly, most people have to keep a slight jog to keep pace with her as she heads down to chase the geese out of her garden. 

Well, since about Thanksgiving time or so she hasn't been feeling very great. She had a couple vertebrae in her back that were cracked causing her lots of back pain. The doctors fixed the vertebrae though and she is still having terrible back pain as well as stomach pains that so far the doctors can't seem to figure out. It's scary and sad to see someone who is usually so full of energy sit around all day and hardly move because of the pain. She has been in so much pain she hasn't been going to daily Mass as she has her whole life and has even missed a lot of Sunday Masses these last couple months. This is how we know it's pretty bad. Grandma doesn't miss Mass. Ever. 

We're all hoping and praying that the doctors figure it out ASAP because we need Grandma to be back to her normal self. I know she wants to feel better soon too. Especially, with gardening season right around the corner. Hopefully she will get in to see a specialist soon and get the problem, whatever it is, fixed. 

If you have any prayers you want to send my family's way I know they would very much appreciate them! 

Good Friday

HABEMUS PAPA! We have a POPE!

Wow, what an exciting day to be a Catholic!

The cardinals have elected Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the new Pope of the Catholic Church. He has chosen the name Pope Francis I.

I was on my lunch hour at my parents house when I got a text from popealarm.com telling me that there was white smoke and a new Pope had been elected. My mom and I anxiously watched the news until Pope Francis I came out onto the balcony in St. Peter's Square to give the Papal Blessing.

It was a pretty amazing moment to watch even if it was on tv. Eight years ago when Pope Benedict was elected my mom happened to be in Rome, on vacation, and she said it was the experience of a lifetime. I'm hoping someday I may get that opportunity as well.

Overall, not a bad way to spend a lunch hour (and a half, oops) I will tell you that!

All images pulled form Bing Images.

Top 10 Tuesday: Lenten Sacrifice

Since Lent has started I decided to come up with a Top 10 list of things to give up/do for lent in case you hadn't started yet.

1. Give up some type of social media - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest - Even better if you replace these activities with #4:)
2. Stop using the lords name in vain and/or stop using cuss words. 
3. Give up your favorite dessert/snack or treat.
4. Read books, blogs, magazines and newspapers that focus on faith and strengthen your relationship with God. 
5. Go to weekly stations of the cross at your local church if available. 
6. Give up listening to the radio in your car. Replace the silence with religious music or audio books, talk with those riding with you, or spend time talking to God.
7. Focus more on others instead of self by doing daily or weekly random acts of kindness for people. Do these things anonymously if possible.
8. Give up watching TV or even just your favorite TV shows. 
9. Give to the poor in any way you can. Food, clothing or even time. 
10. Spend time daily talking to Jesus. Thank him. Ask him for guidance in something you might be struggling with. Be sure to listen as well.

I wish I could say that I'm doing everything on this list but I am trying to do a couple different things. I have given up pop (aka:soda for those of you that don't know what pop is;) which is super hard for me. I love to have a nice cold caffeinated Pepsi or Dr. Pepper right after lunch in the afternoons to keep me awake. I also love it with popcorn, pizza, Mexican food, at the movies.....you get the idea. Luckily, I love water and Ice Tea as well so I should hopefully survive these 40 days and nights just fine. 

I'm also working on reading several different books that the head LifeNight teacher loaned me over a year ago (yikes). My goal is to return all three after Lent is over. 

Several of the other ideas on the list I'm trying to be more active in but I don't want to try to over commit and then fail. I guess we will just have to wait and see how I do. My goal is to have a deeper understanding of my faith and closer relationship with God. Wish me luck!

Have you decided to give up/do something for lent? What is it?

Why do I believe in God?

(This turned out a little longer than I intended so if you just want to read my reasons skip down to "Here goes...")

I help teach the high school youth group at my church on Wednesday nights. We call it LifeNight. 

Recently, the Youth Group Leader, had a high school science speaker come talk to the students about how our faith can co-exist with evolution. Basically, we can believe in God AND that we, as a species, have evolved over time. These are two different truths in our church and it's okay to believe both because they go hand in hand.

Honestly, this can be a little complicated to wrap your head around both ideas and I know if I even try to explain it I will most likely butcher the facts so I will just move on with my main point of this post. (Maybe in the future I will write another post on this and get some feed back from someone who has a little more authority on the subject than myself.)

This idea of God and Evolution is not the main reason for the post but it's intent is to give you a little background on the evening and how it led into this next question asked of the speaker...

"Why do you believe in God?" 

I was honestly taken a little aback that one of the students would ask our speaker this question considering he had basically just told us that he does believe in God and science and how the two work together. 

Then I realized that the student didn't merely ask, "Do you?" but "WHY do you believe in God?"

This seems like a question that should be so easy to answer but in reality can be very complicated. Our speaker gave a fantastic answer for his reasons Why but even after listening to his answer I kept pondering the question in my own mind. 

"Why do I believe in God?"

Sure I believe in God because that is what I was taught from the moment I was born. I was raised by a family who is Catholic and as a Catholic that's what we do, WE believe in God. 

The prayer, The Apostles Creed, basically spells out our beliefs as Catholics and the first sentence says, "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth." 

While it's great to grow up Catholic I definitely think that we need to understand why "We" actually believe what we believe. 

I've put together a short list of reasons why I personally believe in God. While the list may be short, these were all significant moments in my life that strengthened my faith.

Here goes...

I believe in God because my parents tried for over 10 years to have a child (me). At a certain point they opened their hearts to God and decided that maybe he was leading him into having a child another way. On the day my mom received a letter from the Catholic adoption agency telling her they would be able to apply for adoption she tells how she felt filled with the Holy Spirit and at that moment she knew that she was pregnant. A quick test and 9 months later I was born. 

I believe in God because when I was 5 years old I woke up to the sound of an ambulance on the highway. Never before had I said a prayer for the person to whom an ambulance was traveling too, but at that moment I did. Several minutes later my Dad came upstairs to find me awake and tell me that my cousin and best friend, Maria, who was also 5, had just been hit by a car. The ambulance was coming to take her to the hospital. Thankfully she only had a broken collar bone and has since recovered:)

I believe in God because when I was 8 years old my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and survived. She had a mammogram only 1 month before finding a dime sized lump in her breast during a self exam. God gave her the strength to fight cancer and to win!

I believe in God because I met my husband at the age of 14 years old and my life was changed for the better. He is truly my best friend and the most respectful man I have ever met. He is the kind of husband that you would want for your children. It is truly the power of God that made everything align so that I even had the opportunity to meet my husband. One small change in our lives and we may have never met. For this, I am eternally grateful and will share more about some other time. 

I believe in God because when my brother, Joe, was 18 years old he jumped from a car filming a "stunt" and was in a coma with a Traumatic Brain Injury. It was such a serious injury that my parents and I had to meet with people about donating his organs if he, most likely, didn't make it. Later that day I was in the ICU standing next to my brother who had not moved since being brought into the hospital. A priest, who was a great family friend, came in to say a blessing over Joe. In the middle of his prayer I watched Joe move his hand! I believe that God was in that room with us and that He was not yet ready to take Joe into his loving arms in Heaven. God has great plans for Joe here on earth that I will tell you about later. From that moment of prayer and blessing in his ICU hospital room Joe has continued to improve. 

These are only a handful of some of the reasons why I believe in God, the Father Almighty. 

I am a true believer that everything happens for a reason. For God's reasons to be more specific. I no longer try to understand God's plan for me because I know that someday it will be revealed when he is ready. 

At this point in life I am just thankful and content to be in awe of God's power and Grace. 

So, Why do YOU believe in God?

Here's the Apostles Creed in case your interested:)

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
Amen.