Shakin' Things Up

Christmas is a time to reflect on how God has shaken up your life in order to get you to move. Mary’s life was shaken up when she accepted to be the human bearer of Christ in our world, when she accepted she didn’t have much of an idea of what she was getting into but knew it was what needed to be done. When she was carrying Christ in her womb, Mary did not demand that everyone wait on her because she was carrying the Son of God but rather she was moved to go out and serve her cousin Elizabeth.

Whatever You’re Doing by Sanctus Real

It's time for healing time to move on
It's time to fix what's been broken too long
Time to make right what has been wrong
It's time to find my way to where I belong
There's a wave that's crashing over me
And all I can do is surrender

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
but I'm giving in to something Heavenly

Time for a milestone
Time to begin again
Reevaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow Your will
Or just climbing aimlessly over these hills
So show me what it is You want from me
I give everything I surrender...
To...

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
but I'm giving in to something Heavenly
Time to face up
Clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out
That I've wanted to say for so many years
Time to release all my held back tears

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life something Heavenly

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but now I can see
This is something bigger than me
Larger than life something Heavenly
Something Heavenly

It's time to face up
Clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out

Mary fully surrendered to God, allowing Him to shake up every fiber of her being. And because of Mary’s ultimate surrender of her life to God, she was able to move in extraordinary ways to accomplish great things. I love how Sanctus Real puts it “there’s a wave crashing over me, and all I can do is surrender”. That is how God is, this huge wave of love and mercy and all we are able to do is surrender to it and let the wave move us as it pleases, knowing not where we may end up but that wherever we land and whatever happens it is for the best. So, what is God doing to shake you up and how is He asking you to move in your own life?

Ramblings of a College Student

As the semester is drawing to a close, I have been trying to dedicate time to reflecting on it, how it went, how I’ve grown, and ways I still need to grow and develop and so on.

This semester was very busy for me, which lead to times of spiritual, physical, mental and emotional exhaustion. However, it was because of this busyness that I was forced to evaluate my priorities in life, something I had been putting off for awhile now. I had to decide whether it was more important for me to go to Pasta and Prayer or study for my test the following day, or should I have a good, much needed talk with a friend instead of catching up on sleep I’ve been missing. Decisions like these are difficult to make, because both options are good and appealing. One is not necessarily better than the other, but most likely one leads to fulfilling God’s will and the other to fulfilling my own. It was definitely challenging at times to discern which path was God’s will and which was my own, but I persevered through the wrong decisions and enjoyed the correct ones, and all in all it was a really good semester.

Upon further reflection, I started to develop a list of things that I’ve learned or will take away from this semester and that list is what I am going to share with you all today. This list is by no means complete; as there are probably many things I have learned or will take with me from the semester that I could not call to mind while writing this.

• You are never alone, no matter how distant you may feel from God or everyone in your life

• Saying you believe/will do something is completely different than actually believing/doing it.

• Love is not always easy and full of good feelings, but if it is real it must hurt maybe not right now but eventually it will

• Admitting that you have failed, need help, don’t have all the answers is actually a sign of strength and not of weakness

• It is important to find out and stick to what is right and good for me, for what may be right for someone else could be totally wrong for me.

• It is more important to be who God made me to be than to be what people what or expect me to be, no matter how difficult or challenging it may be to find out who that is and then to live out my life as that person.

• To be happy with my life as it is and not wish that it was different, for each person, struggle, and situation that is involved in my life was placed there by God with a purpose.

• Our Mother Mary can teach us all so much, if only we strive to get to know her better and let her reveal herself to us.

All in all, it was a wonderful semester full of ups and downs, and crazy turns. I got to experience many new “firsts”, develop relationships with people I barely knew, and take on various leadership positions. Though I enjoyed this time spent at the Rock, I am sure glad that break is upon us now.