"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop." ~ Blessed Mother Teresa
It’s Good Friday, which means these are being posted on Thursday because ain’t nobody got time foh the internet on Good Friday. In light of the current liturgical time, here are 7 faith-related thoughts or pictures that seemed appropriate.
And one of my favorite Easter & JPII quotes:
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Hello Again! It’s been a while since I’ve written a 7QT. Time to get back on the bandwagon! Life has been busy lately with warmer weather (bring on the sunshine!) and classes (that are going much better than last semester). It’s hard to believe I’m about a month away from being half way done with college.
Lest you think it’s always a walk in the park – this morning (Thursday) I woke up at 8:05. And I have a class at 8 (that I really shouldn’t skip). That was a first! I had woken up early when my roommate was getting ready, but then I didn’t get up yet because I didn’t have to yet. Right. I moved very fast, stuffed my things in my backpack, and so commenced the walk of shame to class. I am never, ever letting that happen again.
This semester has been hard, but it feels like I’ve come so far this year. I’ve learned so much about myself through challenging classes, working with Ravens Respect Life, and generally learning how to deal with people. And that is meant in the nicest way possible. It’s been a pleasure getting to know some awesome people. And others? It’s pushed me to put others before myself and see the good in people even when that’s hard to do. It’s taught me how to handle conflict better too, and how to be a more gracious choleric person. It’s all been an awesome opportunity in learning to assume the best of other people.
Link love – what I’ve been reading/doing lately:
How you can push back against Mozilla/Firefox’s gay marriage thuggery by Jimmy Akin
Scientific 7 minute work-out timer (super cool!) – let the sweating begin!
What is “cool”? by Kate Bryan
Student’s April Fools prank on professor (with a sort of pro-life twist)
Natural Beauty vs. The Media by my fellow Raven Joslyn
Be Born in Me – latest song on repeat prompted by the recent feast of the Annunciation
And of course a Catholic meme to finish it off:
Guess what? We just had elections for RRL, and I’ve been elected as President again. There are many things I plan on doing differently personally, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to serve in BC’s pro-life ministry with a great team. It’s so neat to see God putting together amazing opportunities!
Speaking of opportunities, there are 3 weeks left in my fundraising campaign! Would you consider supporting me and spreading the word? Just click on the picture to the left to view it. Thank you!
Cute video 🙂
On the menu:
Recently I made something resembling these. And by resembling I mean: the ingredients are roughly the same but I didn’t really measure so it turned out weird. I ran out of peanut butter so it wasn’t wet enough so it’s more like coated granola. But hey. It works well in yogurt. Another plus? It used some of my leftover milled flax from my hippie fail! Flax definitely reminds me of of the taste of walnuts. It’s getting closer to the end of the year so we’re getting creative with using things like a giant container of Walmart oatmeal up 🙂
Also to be eaten: Amish friendship bread! Without realizing it I started it 10 days before Palm Sunday so we’ll enjoy it then. It’s the first time I’ve ever tried it by making my own starter, so we’ll see how that goes.
And to finish off these quick takes, here is the video that was going around as an April Fools Day joke titled something like “The Reason Behind Pope Benedict’s Resignation”
Of course it has nothing to do with Pope Benedict (hence being passed around on April 1st). And I have to admit something along those lines has definitely happened in my suite on multiple occasions. It’s getting closer to summer and we’re getting excited!
Have a lovely weekend! For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
Happy World Down Syndrome Day!
You can read my post about it here, and here is my article about my brother Robert that I wrote last year.
Life is pretty awesome right now. I got back from my spring break mission trip last weekend and this week we’ve had lovely weather. My second christian moral life exam went fabulously. My laundry is done (now I just have to fold it . . .). I’ve been trying hard to stay on top of things and have cut back my computer usage rather a lot. It’s been glorious 🙂 Yoga started this week (it’s a quarter class, not semester) which has been fun. My balance is not the best, but it’s been neat to discover that I’m much stronger than I have been in the past. Time will tell how my opinion on yoga will pan out, but for now it feels like less intense pilates.
I never get tired of this video. Well, the song, not the video. The video is pretty weird.
This meditation based on Mother Teresa’s writing is super beautiful: “When you give Me your sins, you give Me the joy of being your Savior” Read it!
I’m back on the hippie bandwagon with the baking soda/apple cider vinegar shampoo/conditioner thing (total cost of probably a year’s supply? $1.52), homemade bodywash, and my detergent. I’m planning to try a weird sounding hair gel alternative soon. Any suggestions for what to try next? I’ve seen things for toothpaste and deodorant, but those seem a little more . . . interesting 😉
Want to be really nice? A family friend is helping me raise money to cover lost funds from taking an unpaid pro-life internship this summer! Go here to support me and share the link with your friends. Your support is much appreciated, and I’ll be updating you with stories here all throughout the summer!
Aaaaand now a random awesome video . . .
Have a lovely week! For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
Tomorrow morning I’m heading out to work with the Missionaries of Charity in St. Louis! As our contact sister told me, they live very simply. They don’t have internet. They start their days at 5am with prayer and have set times for serving the poor during each day. I’m really looking forward to disconnecting from the world a little (*ahem* LOT) because I’m just tired right now. Tired of not sleeping and tired of being busy. Tired of too many things going on. I’ve gotten better at mastering that, prioritizing, and focusing on what’s important, but still. It’ll be so nice to focus on doing good work without the distractions of daily life.
Which brings me to an interesting point. I’ve realized in recent months that I am very much an introvert in that I value my time alone reading, writing, adoration, whatever it is. It makes life so much more peaceful. People often think being an introvert means you’re shy, but that’s not necessarily true. It focuses on how you’re recharged. I know that I am recharged by being alone and praying, reading, and writing. Or small groups talking with people. That’s awesome too. It’s true that I was painfully shy as a child. But I’ve worked very hard to overcome that, and I’m fairly certain most people at school would not guess that about me. Being an introvert just means I appreciate the time I have to myself. Of course, there is such a thing as too much time alone, so it’ll be nice to be on this mission trip with some lovely ladies for company!
It’s really bothering me how many times I’ve used “I” in this post. How do I not write like that?!?!
Guess what? I actually did one of my Lent/March goals already! All my Facebook friends are sorted into lists and it’s made so much of a difference. I sorted them into my family, non-family that I want to see updates from, college classmates I don’t particularly care to see every update from, and the “Why am I friends with you?” list. I felt kind of bad categorizing people, but now I just open it up and see a few updates from the most important lists, check those, and BAM. Done. If you’re spending too much time on there, I would recommend trying this out!
Want to be a super awesome person? Help me spread the word about my fundraising campaign to replace lost funds from taking an unpaid pro-life internship this summer! Read more here. If you were to spread the word while I’m away without internet, and I were to come back to an amazing response, that would be quite lovely. Just sayin’ . . . .
Did you hear the beautiful news about Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s possible impending canonization?!?!?! It’s pretty amazing that we have YouTube videos of a potential saint.
I can’t think of what else to write here, and it’s time to hit the sack, so have a lovely weekend! See you on the other side of a mission trip 🙂
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
The weather here is delightfully bipolar. I almost could have whipped out my shorts when it was 60 degrees a couple days ago. Then yesterday it snowed, hailed, and was sunny! Variety is the spice of life around here 🙂
I’m happy to report that I am past several tests, and glad that they are over! Christian Moral Life was first with a study guide that ended up being 15 pages. I spent a lot of time studying for that with classmates which felt weird because I’ve honestly not done that before. But it paid off. My grade on that was the best I’ve done on any test here so far. Then came statistics which I knew was going to go okay. And it turned out well! Then came accounting and microeconomics back to back which was terrifying considering the amount of studying I should have put in. *sigh* I always feel like I should study more.
Anyway, I had a (figurative) mini panic attack the night before accounting because I had minimal guidance on what was on the test. But I got more info from my professor and breathed a sigh of relief . . . when it was over. I was very happy with that score too (which was better than both accounting tests last semester). I did much better on my micro test than my macro tests last semester which was a big relief. It’s still hard, and I’m going to have to push myself in that class. But I know that from the start and feel better prepared to tackle it.
All of that to say, it feels good to do well. For too long I’ve looked back regretting not applying myself fully, but now? I know I studied hard and it shows. It’s an awesome feeling to earn a good grade by working hard.
Have you seen this story going around today? The pictures are pretty amazing. I just love seeing stories of people helping people.
It’s almost spring break!! I’m leading a mission trip to work with the Missionaries of Charity in St. Louis. Mother Teresa has always intrigued me and I’m looking forward to this. You’ll just have to wait till I get back to hear more since I don’t expect to be on my computer 🙂
Some links to check out:
Brady Surovik: killed without being a person – my latest for Live Action
Only modern pro-life women’s centers can beat Planned Parenthood – excellent article by Abby Johnson (and definitely what I want to do!!)
Shock for woman expecting identical triplets – cute story 🙂
Gay hate crime stories are sometimes made up – enlightening, and quite interesting
The power of forgiveness – beautiful
Olympic athlete sidelined by contraceptive repercussions – scary
What the media won’t report about Pope Francis – Pope Francis rocks
Priests praying for Ukraine victims – a chilling story, but the priests are wonderful to see
What Catholic girls are like in the chapel – Haha
I really want to start couponing. But I don’t know how to. It’s just really neat. Anyone have ideas on how you start small?
This weekend I’m looking forward to not having much to do. Of course, that’s besides sidewalk counseling, 3 different meetings, mass, and homework. Maybe I’ll have time to finally finish a couple books! Oh, and write more. Life has been lovely with the sunshine lately 🙂 How about you?
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
A Drop in the Ocean 