The Urgent and The Important

Time management. That's what I talked about this week in mentorship with one of the women I get the chance to walk with this year. She is involved in so many things, it's a miracle she has any time to breathe in her schedule. So we talked about making sure she gave time to FOCUS, but at the same time making me aware that she had other commitments. Basically, we are meant to live in moderation. Go figure. As I headed home and thought of all the things I have to and want to do, I was reminded to live my life in moderation. I had a slight mental breakdown recently as I had made a list at least 587 pages long of things that needed to get done in the hour I had between meeting with students and my team. I called my mentor in a panic, needing talked down from the proverbial ledge. (Side note, she is amazing!) She calmly asked about my list, all the things I had to do, and walked me through urgency and importance and ordering my time. Now I've heard this countless time from my mother, but it's different in a moment of sheer panic and stress. I'm sure my mom could point to a book by a brilliant life strategist about this all important life skill, but for now, I will share this website that has a very simple and easy explanation if you are looking for details. It was a very helpful call out to organize my time better and to live in moderation. As much as I would love to, I can't spend all my time in prayer, nor can I spend all my time talking to my friend across the street.

In a day in the life update, this past week we gave a scholarship to our conference in January to a guy at Seton Hall, Rashon, who was less than thrilled at being chosen. Please pray for him! We have these two great religious men who work with campus ministry:

Br. Andrew James (aka Br. AJ) - he plays the guitar and harmonica and never forgets anyone's name.

Fr. Gabriel Mary - he has such reverence on the altar and such a joyful spirit.

They are a part of the community of St. John and they are two incredibly holy men. Seton Hall is so blessed to have them. They do a program once a month called Philosophy Brew. It's a chance for people of all faiths and backgrounds to come and discuss some topic from a philosophical point of view. I didn't realize how much I missed learning and intellectual discussion until I was able to go to this evening of intellectual exchange. It was so incredible! Also, a freshman I met is going to teach me how to knit! We were laughing at ourselves in the check out line in Walmart with our knitting needles and yarn. How strange to see two young women knitting, but there we were. Yesterday I went with a student leader to NYC to go to the Met. It was incredible...and large. Very large. We had deep fried Oreos and waffles covered in Nutella. Overall, it was an amazing trip with an amazing woman.

Also, I watch Dr. Who. And the fall finale is coming up. And one of my favorite characters is leaving the show. I'm pretty convinced she's going to die or some other tragic, emotional departure. So I'm rereading the Hunger Games to feel better - wait, that has a sad ending too. Good. All that to say that I took time for myself this week, praise God.

The Big City and Tye Dye

This weekend has been a flurry of events! On Friday we had our team trip into the city. It was so much fun! We got to walk through Times Square and explored the three levels of the M&M store. I'm not sure how, but I resisted the temptation to buy any M&Ms. It's truly a miracle. We had the opportunity to pray in three separate churches. First, we spent a few minutes in St. Francis of Assisi church right outside Penn Station. Then we spent went to Mass and said our holy hour in St. Patrick's Cathedral. Finally we got to see Padre Pio's glove at the San Gennaro Church in Little Italy. After praying through there, we wandered through the San Gennaro festival in Little Italy. There were so many people and vendors and cannolis! We also celebrated Caitlyn's 21st cheeseburger at Five Guys for lunch. Up until last September, my teammate thought she didn't like cheese. After trying bacon cheese fries, she realized she was mistaken and started keeping count of how many cheeseburgers she consumed in her lifetime. I have been privileged enough to have been there for numbers 19, 20, AND 21.

As a slight digression, a small explination is due. The links above all send you to pictures of the churches. You may be wondering why I didn't just put the pictures in the blog. Well, in the saga of my computer woes that have spanned years, my 2 year old laptop decided the motherboard didn't want to work. So I am writing this from my iPad, which is such a blessing. However I can't save pictures from the Internet into my iPad, therefore can't put them in the blog. But I can still link. The computer problem should be fixed soon, and pictures will once again find their way onto this page.

Then on Saturday, we had a women's night at our apartment. We made 2 things of brownies, a bag of cookies, and tons of popcorn. About 12 women came over. We Tye dyed and played an icebreaker type game involving paper and charades, ending with a movie. It was so awesome to just sit back and see people getting along with people they never would have even met if the missionaries weren't here. It is so beautiful the way God works. I was content to just sit back and see all the women laughing over tyedye and popcorn. I am truly blessed.

Finally, last night we had all of the student leaders over to our apartment for fellowship and rejuvenation in the mission of FOCUS on campus. Those nights are called Upper Room nights. The title comes from the beginning of Acts when the disciples all gathered together for strength and prayer after Jesus ascended to Heaven. The point is to be strengthened by each others' trials and successes. We have such an amazing group of student leaders! I am so inspired by them and excited to be able to share in their journey this year!

With all that excitement, my introverted side is asking, where did my weekend go? Welcome to Monday in the life of a missionary. :)

We need Him to love us

I have led a very blessed life. I have two parents who are dedicated to each other, their marriage, and getting our family to Heaven. I have a sister who has forgiven me countless times and loves me enough to call me out when I am being less than I can be. I have found a handful of wonderful friends who put up with my antics and encourage me in everything I do. Sure, I have had struggles, who hasn't? But they have definitely been small ones. So it is amazing to me the people the Lord brings to my life.

Even when I was in high school and college, many of my friends dealt with struggles that I couldn't have imagined. And now that my job is basically to connect with as many women as possible at Seton Hall, I learn every day of a different pain that those around me have to live with. From things like pressure to please family members, a crush on an unattainable boy, or stress from over-extending themselves to healing from suicide attempts, eating disorders, or recovering from abuse, I have heard stories that blew my mind. I have even been privileged enough to accompany some of these women on parts of their journey to find healing.

When my friends share that broken piece of themselves with me, my heart aches for them. They are such amazing women that I don't ever want them to hurt that way, and if that can't happen, I want to fix it. I want to make a step-by-step plan of how, in one short year, they will be healed of this stress, of this hurt. However, during a conversation with my mentor, she reminded me of something that we all know, but as women it's sometimes hard to practice. You see, as women, we tend to want to fix things. We see orphans and we want to build an orphanage or adopt all the babies (that was for you, Jessica). When other women trust us with their struggles, when we can see their cracks and little broken parts, all we want is to soothe that pain. We want to help them heal them, therefore mistakenly placing their burden on ourselves. As much as I want to, I cannot heal. I cannot fix their problems or soothe even my best friends' wounds. Rather, I am here to lead them to the Great Physician. I can show them the suffering that our Savior endured so that we could be healed. That doesn't happen through a detailed program of healing, though. The best - the only - way I can help them is to live the love that God gives to me. St. Thérèse, while meditating on the Body of Christ, discovered through the Heart of Christ her vocation to love.

I understood that it was Love alone that made the Church's members act, that if Love ever became extinct, apostles would not preach the Gospel and martyrs would not shed their blood. I understood that love comprised all vocations, that love was everything, that it embraced all times and places...in a word, that it was eternal!

I can't  fix anyone's problems. Only God can. But I can love. The title comes from a song by one of my favorite Christian bands called BarlowGirl. It just reminds me that we all are broken and that the only thing that can heal us is the love of Our Father.

Matthew 28:19-20

So the school year has officially begun :) I am so excited to be here in New Jersey! I have definitely fallen in love with Seton Hall. Even though the campus is so small, there are a few places on campus that are so quiet and still, I can escape to work for a while.

Team life is a challenge, but a wonderful one that I wouldn't trade for the world. I love Terry and Caitlyn. I shared with my whole team a story of myself and my calendaring tendencies. In case you all didn't know this, I love to schedule things! I always own at least 3 planners and when I get stressed, I make another one from computer paper. We were all able to laugh at this, but even sharing this small thing has helped my team understand me. And I am definitely being challenged to take initiative and go with the flow regarding chores. My family would always schedule chores, but Terry and Caitlyn are more go with the flow. Therefore if I don't jump on certain chores, someone else ends up doing them and I feel like I am not pulling my weight. It has been an interesting transition, but I know God put me with my team to help me grow in sanctity.

I have officially asked three returning student leaders to be my mentees...and they all said YES! :) I know, I know, there was a very small chance that they wouldn't, but it was still exciting. 

The one in the middle is my mentee and she mentors the other two! 

The two women on the right are my mentees and the third from the left is mentored by the woman on the far left. On the right is a SHU alumni and a former student leader.

 I am so excited about working with these women! I am planning get to know you trips with each of them. Pottery and the Met are on the agenda so far. They are going to be so amazing this year! I am so blessed to get to walk with them. Please keep them and their mentees in your prayers. I will also be taking over two Bible studies with upper classmen in them. One for juniors with about 7 women and another with 3 seniors. This week is the monumental task of trying to coordinate schedules with all of them. But I trust that God will provide the time.

Other than these three and the other student leaders, I have made good friends with two juniors, a sophomore, and two freshmen. I know God has amazing plans for the two juniors and I. He has already opened doors and broken down barriers allowing us to grow so close in such a short period of time. Of the two freshmen, one is excited to join a Bible study while the other is pretty against it. Keep both of them in your prayers during this time of transition.

A girl who I would not have expected told me today that she was definitely planning on going to SEEK2013. I was literally through the roof. As many of you know, the FOCUS National conference plays a big role in my personal testimony. Five days surrounded by 7000 of your closest friends all continuing their relationship with Jesus Christ - no wonder students walk away changed.