Breaky Break

The week before Spring Break we had dinner for our Bible Study. 

Followed by a game of UNO, complete with house rules, which resulted in a game that lasted almost two hours. 

During Spring Break I was blessed to be able to do a variety of activities. Our parish secretary had my roommate Helen, our friend Katie, and me out for dinner one night. 

I went home with Helen and got to spend some time visiting with her family and friends. It was a great opportunity to spend some time out in the country and read books to little kids. 

I had a haircut and ran to Savannah.

And then I went to North Carolina to visit Granny. This is what NC looks like.

North Carolina looks like the mountains and seeing the town below. North Carolina looks like woodpeckers and bluebirds. North Carolina looks like reading and watching Jeopardy. 

North Carolina means time with family.

North Carolina means I get to hear stories of when I was born. And even though I've heard them so much, I still like hearing them again. 

Even though I only lived in North Carolina for three weeks after I was born, I think I still have a piece of my heart there. And visiting the house that I was brought to when leaving the hospital as a newborn still feels like coming home. 

Granny and me, right before I left. 

Uncle John and me, right before I hit the road back to Georgia. 

Thank you for your yes.

Yesterday was the Feast of the Annunciation.

Here were some of my thoughts:

For the last 33 days, I have been preparing to give myself more fully to Jesus.

Today we remember and celebrate that scene so beautifully shown in Luke's Gospel. An angel appears to a young woman, she is presented with a choice. She says yes, and the Infinite One steps into time, as the Holy Spirit overshadows Mary and she conceives.

Yes.

Mary didn't have to say yes, but she did. And everything, eternity, changed.

Mary's yes didn't just affect her. It didn't just affect Jesus. It affected (and still does) me. And you.

Mary knew when the angel appeared to her that he was asking something difficult of her. She knew it would be challenging, but she was courageous and gave God everything.

I am amazed by what the Lord has done in my life though my yes.

And I am amazed by what the Lord has done in my life through others' yes.

My life would be different if my friend Pam didn't say yes to Jesus and become a missionary.
My life would be different if the inspiring people who support me through prayer and financial support in the mission didn't say yes.
My life would be different if my teammates didn't say yes to Jesus to serve Him in the mission at Georgia Southern.
My life would be different if my roommates didn't say yes to Jesus in following Him to Statesboro.
My life would be different if my students didn't say yes to serving Jesus.
My life would be different in the women in my Bible Study didn't say yes to learning more.

I am in awe. My life is so different because people said yes. If they didn't, I wouldn't know that the Christian life is possible, or even though it is difficult, it is relevant and fulfilling. I wouldn't know of God's great love for me and willingness to provide for me in incredible ways. I wouldn't know how to talk to new people on campus, I wouldn't know how to be joyful, I wouldn't value my characteristics that make me a "gem". I wouldn't know the joy of living in community, I wouldn't be inspired to grow in virtue in the small things, I wouldn't be so encouraged to follow Jesus anywhere. I wouldn't be humbled by these women's love to follow Jesus and share Him with those who desperately need Him. I wouldn't be so excited to see how the Holy Spirit is working in lives.

This year my team has many goofy phrases we use all the time.

One of them is "thank you for coming" (usually used for mandatory fundatory meetings and fun lunch dates). Another is "thank you for your yes". Which is used in a #jokingnotjoking fashion. My life would be so different if these people didn't say yes. But not only my life, everyone's lives would be different. Our yes to Jesus has huge repercussions, and we will probably never know them all in this life.

But meditating on my yes, on others' yes, has shown me that I am so incredibly blessed. I am so thankful.

I hope that, like Mary, I can continue saying yes to Jesus.

Crafternoons and Such.

This weekend the weather finally got back to normal. It's in the sixties/seventies.

Last week we saw the thirties again. It was awful, but I know I'm wimpy compared to everyone in the North and in the Midwest.

On Friday we had a priest come visit our campus! He can breakdance and beatbox, so naturally students think he is awesome. Friday night we had a get-together at the guys' house and Fr. Jewel performed some songs for us and then preached on God's mercy and the power of Confession.

It was a great night of fellowship.

Justin and Fr. Jewel are pretty much besties (my words, not theirs)

Saturday we got lunch with Fr. Jewel before he left.

Edgar's great Panera experience:

I spent my Sunday doing crafts.
Like making magnets.

I don't know why, but all of a sudden our fridge drove me crazy because all of the magnets were from people who don't live in our house. I think I just wanted it to feel more like home.

I also finished this goofy string art.

 (which I learned from this blog: http://delightfuldeets.com/2013/07/diy-string-art-deer-head/)

And I worked on my t-shirt rug... It's slow-going.

Hoping to enjoy the weather with students this week. Spending time on campus and in my eno!

Late Photos...

This is what my life looked like two weeks ago...

the end.

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

A couple weeks ago there was a big storm and we lost power... Last week as I was walking to campus I saw this. Yikes! There were lots of trees down all over, which meant power was out all over.

Last week was awesome. The weather was finally what I was hoping it'd be. It feels like late spring! It even got up to 80 one day last week. Last night I slept with my window open, and as I woke to the sounds of trucks working. I was like, "Wow, it feels like spring!" I can't believe it's still February and feeling this great. Thank you, Jesus for Georgia.

Since the weather was awesome, I spent a lot of time on campus hanging out this week. One day we saw a guy set up a slackline... and we were intrigued. We tried it...

Jess jumped on it first. She's very adventurous.

Amanda gave it her best.

Brittany was the best out of all of us.

I could barely get a leg on it, much less stand up!

On Saturday I went to Dance Marathon, a fundraiser for Children's Miracle Network, and I got to hang out with these ladies. 

And, to top it all off, the sunsets here are beautiful.

St. Cyril and St. Methodius

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's also the feast day of St. Cyril and St. Methodius. They were Greeks who went to Czechoslovkia. They were missionaries, priests, and what's even cooler? They were brothers. They truly became "all things to all people" by learning the Slovak language.

This week has been a weird one. Southern had two "snow" days. There was no snow, but we did lose power (rain turns into ice on the pine trees, turns into pine trees falling).

---------

I've been working on this post since Friday (it's now Monday).

Where did the week and weekend go?

It went to working on our newsletters in the dining hall on Valentine's Day. I rocked out to Carly Simon and addressed envelopes for two hours (and ate dining hall food). It was great.

Friday morning we woke up to extra decorations outside. And some presents including a notes about how a parishioner was praying that we would experience God's love in a deeper way this Valentine's Day.

Friday night my group of friends had dinner at our house. We have some good cooks in our midst, so dinner in is always great. And our table looked beautiful.

Saturday I had lunch with a student and then my roommate, Jess, had friends come in town! Her 8 awesome friends came for someone's birthday. We went to Savannah for mass, dinner, and ice cream. (They stayed for dancing, but I came home with Helen and the guys). It was great!

I had plenty of photos, but my internet is being wonky, so I'll upload them later.

Melancholic Monday

It's Monday. 

Sometimes on Mondays while I'm trying to get into the groove of the week, I have that same feeling I get when I'm a hard time getting out of bed. I'm thinking, "I don't want to talk. I don't want anyone to talk to me."

So I spent my morning (after Holy Hour) drinking tea and listening to "Indie Singers/Songwriters" on Pandora while addressing envelopes. Hence, Melancholic Monday.

And my roommate (Helen) sent me funny snapchats to make me laugh.

Over the weekend I made some fun paper stars. And hung them in my room and in the kitchen. I think homemade crafty stuff makes the apartment feel more like home. 

See those sweet Gone With the Wind figurines on my dresser? My sweet staff mentor (we're actually friends, not just mentor/mentee) got me those because I was reading Gone With the Wind last semester. 

I'm actually reading it again. Because it's just so awesome. 

This morning I walked out the door to go to Holy Hour and saw this:

We have some amazing parishioners (members of our local church community (parish)) who make me feel like Georgia is my home. Before this was a Valentine's Day themed scene, it was a scarecrow with pumpkins (again, a surprise one morning). 

The best way to deal with Melancholic Monday?

A list of things I'm thankful for.

1. I'm thankful for the opportunity to pray in front of Jesus in the Eucharist (more in a later post)
2. I'm thankful to pray with my friends, teammates, and roommates 5 days a week
3. I'm thankful for funny snapchats
4. I'm thankful for my fun roommates who constantly inspire me
5. I'm thankful for surprise decorations.