Tonight I attended the Jon McLaughlin concert. You may not have heard of him, but he is one of my favorite musical artists. His voice and the lyrics to his songs were amazing, as expected, but the part I enjoyed most was watching him play the piano, and looking a bit ridiculous while doing it. He didn’t just sit on the stool, but he was jumping up and down, kicking his leg out, and looking almost as if he needed to use the restroom. I found this amazing because, as ridiculous as he looked, he didn’t care at all. He was so completely lost in the song – lost in doing something that he loved.

I want to be lost.

There is a quote that says “A woman’s heart should be so lost in God that a man needs to seek Him in order to find her.” The more I thought about that, the more I realized that the first half of that, the “a woman’s heart should be so lost in God,” is exactly what I want. I want to be so lost in God that I don’t think twice about doing ridiculous things just to show how much I love him. Right now I occasionally catch a glimpse of this “lost” feeling – the feeling that I just can’t sing loud enough in church to express my thoughts… or the feeling that an hour of adoration is just WAY too short. I love those times, but I want them to go from “glimpses” to being a “constant.”

I like the second part of the quote, too, and would love for that to happen someday, but I feel that the opposite is just as important. I would love to be so lost in God that those who know me will come to know God better through me. I want his immense love for others to be seen through me, through my actions, through my words. I want others to see how happy I am being “lost,” and strive to also become lost in God.

The easy part is knowing what I want… the tricky part is getting there. I don’t think there is a map on how to be “lost in God,” but the glimpses that I have had give me hope that I must be doing something right. Maybe next time I post I will have found the answers, but until then, I am looking for suggestions. Let me know what it is that causes you to be “lost in God.”

Comments(1)

I was questioned about something yesterday. So I thought I’d get online and explain it to everyone. Well everyone who I might stand next to at mass… (sorry if I forget some people.

When I was little, my favorite part of mass was the Our Father. I got to hold hands with the people next to me, and for some reason, that was super cool for me. It wasn’t so cool when I sat next to my sister. We were both kinda particular in the way we had to hold hands. Both of us wanted our hands to be on the bottom. One of us would have to give in. It sucked when I had to be that one. (:

As I grew older, I still liked having both hands on the bottom. But I was ok if that didn’t happen. This was until someone (I think Chris) talked about when he says the Our Father, he has one hand on bottom, and one hand on top. One hand for receiving, and one hand for giving. I liked this. A lot. So much, that I took it. (: Now my problem comes when my hands aren’t the first ones out there. Sometimes I have to give in and not be in that giving/receiving position. Either that or appear to be really demanding.

Point of story: #1 If I seem really demanding during the Our Father, I’m sorry. #2 To tell you the awesomeness of my newer way of looking at the Our Father. #3 Feel free to steal the idea and use it yourself. It’s not mine anyway, so I don’t care if you steal it. #4 This explanation to this person gave me a little insight to my faith life, let me describe…

My faith life when I was little was, well, alost non-existant. I went to church every Sunday, and whenever they had school masses. But that was about it. So in a sense, I was constantly taking. Taking from God. But not giving Him any praise, or attention even. Then lifeteen kinda changed my life. Life life, and faith life. I began to realize that I need to also give. Give prayers, give of myself to others, give attention. I could also take, but not my view changed to that of recieving. By this I mean, God decides what we get. What kind of day we have, what obstacles we encounter, what gifts we’ll recieve that day, gifts we receive. Taking would be when I plan out my life and tell God. I’ll take this obstacle, but I don’t want that one even though you want to give it to me. I want this gift, and this is how I see my day going. I’m still very much guilty of that, but not as guilty as before I encountered lifeteen.

Comments(0)

So today at work a repair man came in to work on one of the T.V’s. He was a pretty cool guy but I noticed something in his tool box that I just had to ask him about… Along with all of his other tools he had a bible and a picture of his family.

This was odd to me. I have met lots of people with tool boxes but never have I met one with a picture of his family…. let alone a bible. So I just had to ask him… Why?

His answer was simple. “They are the best tools of all.” Well, that was a great answer… It really was but I need more of an answer then that. He went on to tell me the reasoning for both of the items.

First, his family photos were for when he was stressed. He told me that due to his job he has to work weird hours, and sometimes it gets stressful when you have to fix people’s things. He told me that when he goes to someone’s house he always gets the feeling that he HAS to fix that household’s problem and sometimes he just can’t take it. That’s when he looks at his family.

Then I asked about the bible…..

His answer made me laugh. “Well that’s for when the family photo just doesn’t cut it.”

This made me think. What do we do when we get stressed? I know for me I just let it all gather inside of me, then I just snap at some later point. I know for a friend they go running. I have never thought of looking at something that just makes me happy. I think I am going to try finding something that makes me smile. I guess it doesn’t have to be a photo. Maybe its a text message from someone special or a song……

But I am also so caught up in the fact that he had a bible. My family has a ton of tool boxes. I think its somewhere between 10 to 15 filled with “tools” but now I wonder if we have any “tool boxes.” Sure we have a place for wrenches, a screw driver, and hammers, but I have no idea where a bible is in my house. I know… that is kinda sad but it’s true. I think it’s in a cabinet somewhere…. 

I think I am going to make my family a “Faith Tool Box.” A box with things that will help us all with our faith, and just helping us be a family. But this is where I need some help. I know easy things for this tool box is a bible, rosary, and maybe a family photo where were all looking like a happy family… 

But what else should I add?

Any suggestions?

Do you have a Faith Tool Box for your house?

Comments(1)

Before every Mass, Carrie or one of the lectors reminds us to turn off our cell phones. But just down Highway 70, at Morning Star Church in O’Fallon, the congregation is being encouraged, not only to leave their cell phones on, but to pick them up during the service and use them.

During the sermon, attendees are encouraged to text their questions to the church’s cell phone. From there, some of the questions are fed to the reverend’s laptop, where he can answer them during the sermon! Gone is the embarrassment of asking a “stupid” question, or of incriminating oneself in front of the entire congregation….any question you want can be asked and possibly answered.

What do you guys think of this?
What are the pros and cons of such an idea?
Could you see St. Cletus (or any other Catholic church) doing this?

Story

Comments(2)

This blog is going to be an interactive one. You have to do work. Okay not really work persay, but yeah. Go get a piece of paper and something to write with.  You’re going to have two columns. Have one side say “What I think of God” and the other “What God thinks of Me”. Now write down what you think of God and what God thinks of you in the columns.  Take some time if you want, think about it, pray about it whatever you need to do.

My bible study leader had us do this in bible study last week and it was a real eye opener for me. We talked about it and about our images of Father and what comes to mind when we think of father. I ended up taking it to adoration and it really got me thinking. This whole excercise really helped me to put things into perspective. So many times I forget that God is my father and he wants me to come to him as his child. I forget what it means to be his daughter, to act in a way that the daughter of a king would act. God is the king above all kings, and he wants to be in a deep, intimate relationship with YOU. He wants you to come to him, to know him, to love him, and to for you to be open to him loving you. He wants your heart. He wants to be there for you, to comfort you, to be your everything. God wants you to be open to his love that he is just waiting to pour out into your life. He wants you to know that you are child and that nothing you can ever do can make him love you less. Even when you don’t act like his son or daughter. He’s going to love you just the same.

Are you acting like a child of God? Do your actions reflect those of a son or daughter of a king?

Comments(0)