First Youth Group Meeting

We had our first youth group meeting last night and it went really well. We are starting completely from scratch. Father took us to the basement where we had Totus Tuus and I almost hyperventilated when I saw what had happened. The youth group room had be split into two rooms, the couches were gone, and there were tables in their places. I honestly thought, "No way is this going to work." Luckily, Father said that there was another option and took us to the basement of the church. It was damp and dirty, with boxes and Christmas trees all over, but it had potential. Father is giving us leave to do whatever we want with it. Thomas and I decided to let the kids have a major role in making it "their own" room.
The meeting itself went well. We got a little confused at one point with our notes but fell back in quite well. The icebreaker went REALLY well. We had certain characteristic written on a paper and they had to go around and find people with those characteristics. It was fun and we learned who was still afraid of the dark, who wore contacts, who was lactose intolerant (turned out no one was), etc.
Anyways, pray for the youth group. They are an amazing group of teenagers and I am really excited to work with them.

Youth Ministry

Thomas, a friend of mine, just asked me to be his co-youth minister. I am very excited about this. It's going to take a lot of work but I really feel God is calling me to do this. The first is this Sunday. It's crazy!
There's so much that I would simply love to do but I got to see how everything starts working out. I taught there during Totus Tuus. I just hope that God will use me. High school is a time where teenagers are making decision that they may regret for the rest of their lives. It's a lot of responsibility. Please pray for me and if you have any ideas let me know!

Happy St John Vianney Day!

So it's been a while since I've posted. I just finished Totus Tuus and am now on vacation visiting my brother. There's a lot of stuff to tell about Totus Tuus. Mostly, I am glad I got the experience. I had a wonderful team, Kelsey, Thomas, and Quentin. I had to sleep in the same bed with Kesley quite a few times so we had many midnight conversations. Quentin were always traveling to a neighboring parish to talk at Mass together so I got to know him pretty well. Thomas and I will be going to the same school come fall so we have a year to get to know each other. We're planning on doing morning prayer together and I hope we actually follow through. Sometimes you plan something but never actually do it. I hope we do.
Deacon Andrew said something before we left for the rest of the summer, "Satan is pissed about what you have been doing all summer and he will be attacking you like crazy so keep up with your prayers. If you abandon your prayers you are opening yourself up." I have been keeping up on my prayers so far. Morning, Evening, and Night prayer as well as the rosary. I pray for strength and I asked you all to pray for me as well.
I will give more of an update soon (I hope). Have a wonderful summer.
Happy St. John Vianney day (my patron saint)!

Be a Nun

I'm the middle girl in the front row until we change and then I am the second from the left.

Let's get down to business: to defeat Satan
Did they send us sinners when we asked for nuns?

For we BC girls are of this world, but you can bet
before we're through

Ladies, God'll make a nun out of you

Obedient as St. Joseph, and poor on Earth
Once you find your convent, life'll have new worth
We're a habitless, loud, pathetic lot
And we haven't got a clue

Somehow God'll make a nun out of you

I've never had to kneel this long
Say goodbye to those who knew me
Boy I was the biggest fool for cutting Mass
God's got me scared to death
Cuz He can see right through me
Boy I really with that I knew how to pray.

Be a Nun... You must be chaste as the Virgin Mary
Be a Nun... With all the force of the Holy Spirit
Be a Nun... With all the love of a selfless martyr
Mysterious as the Blessed Trinity

The vans are racing forward
God is on our side
Learn about our order
For the path's not wide
You were not created for this world
So unpack, move in, you're here

Look how God made a nun out of me/you!

[: Be a Nun... You must be chaste as the Virgin Mary



Be a Nun... With all the force of the Holy Spirit



Be a Nun... With all the love of a selfless martyr



Mysterious as the Blessed Trinity. :]

Nun Run Part I

As many of you know I participated in the BC Nun Run over spring break. I am going to break it up into segments of the different orders we visited, Little Sisters of the Poor, The Pink Sisters, and School Sisters of Christ the King.

Little Sisters of the Poor

We arrived at the Sisters' convent on Friday where we unpacked and then got a "good nights rest." The Little Sisters' apostolate is caring for the poor elderly. What surprised me the most is that when I walked into the facility it did not smell like a nursing home. Usually I gag when I walk into a nursing home because of the smell, but not here. I later asked a sister why that was and she said that it was often the case in many nursing homes that the residents will sit in their own waste for sometime before someone helps them. This was not the case here.
I also noticed how happy the residents were. I did not meet one unhappy resident. They were all so glad to see us. When I work at the nursing home in Atchison many of the residents are very bitter but this was not the case at the Little Sisters of the Poor. The sisters veiw each resident as Jesus and thus treat them with love and respect.
The sisters had us up by 7 o'clock the first day helping the residents get out of bed. Many of the girls had to dress and/or put on makeup. I was asked to talk to the residents while they waited for their medicine. The saddest part was when a women said that she had a brother but she hadn't talked to him in a while so she didn't know if he was dead of alive.
We played uno attack with the residents and they really enjoyed that. Even the lady who did not understand what was going on was tickled when the machine shot cards at her.
I sat with Rose for a while and she end up giving me a scarf because she likes to crochet but has no one to give the things she makes too. It was a very pretty navy blue scarf.
On Sunday we invited the residents to go to Mass and Natalie, Gina, and I were the chior for the day. It was a lot of fun. After we said goodbye to the residents we headed to Lincoln, Nebraska.

Sick....

I was sick yesterday (and still am a little icky today). I threw up 7 times and then once that was done my legs hurt pretty bad. I missed out on the mission trip I was going to go on, Mr. Benedictine, and a sleep over. Oh well. I got to watch St. Anthony and two other movies while I had my head submerged in a bucket! :)