NAS: Chastity is a Choice

February 3, 2014June 25, 2014 ~ Laura ~ 4 Comments

This week’s topic:

Chastity – A Choice
Living chastely (not just abstinence) is a choice. Have you ever had to defend your choice to live out chastity? If not, why do you choose chastity?

I’ve never had to defend my point of view on this matter probably because I don’t talk about it with too many people. The people I do talk about it with probably all hold similar views to mine. People who would question me probably don’t because how random is that to bring up if you’re not already talking about it?

Aaaanyway.

We are so bombarded with unchaste messages all day every day. Seriously. Just the other day when I went to see Gimme Shelter, pretty much every blessed preview had some risque scene (or two or ten) without clothes that involved some degree of non-committed men making out with sexy women. And to think within the last century people of the opposite gender weren’t even allowed to be pictured in movies in the same BED without at least one foot on the floor. Most of the time couples had separate beds. People, we’ve come so far. And not in the right direction.

It is my belief that some things should remain sacred. To a world who doesn’t understand this concept so well: it’s called a little mystery. I don’t want to see your body parts revealed by immodest clothing because I don’t need to see body parts to see you. You’re so much more than body parts. Your smile and personality tell me so much more.

Living a chaste life these days is probably really weird to some people. I mean, why? Everyone’s out there hooking up with people they don’t know, right? Well, wrong. Sure, some people are, but deep down I think most people (and I’m talking about mostly women because that’s what I am and understand) hunger for more.

I live a chaste life because the fleeting pleasures the world offers do not offer me happiness.

I live a chaste life because I know I am meant for more. And so are you!

Like our lovely emeritus Pope Benedict said:

“The world offers you comfort. But you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.”

Some people might ask “How do you do it?” and I’d reply with the Nike motto: Just do it. Make the choice to live counter culturally. Surround yourself with people who hold similar values and they will build you up, not threaten to break down your standards. Don’t read or look at inappropriate things. Halt any impure thoughts with a prayer for the grace to live a life filled with a desire for what is good and holy. Chill with the Ryan Gossling memes, already. And don’t make Pinterest boards of hot men. Just making them secret so we can’t see does NOT count.

When steamy scenes come on tv, turn away. Better yet, turn it off. Act chastely by not inviting inappropriate attention, not because your body is not beautiful, but because you are made up of much more than the eye beholds.

That’s the long-winded answer to why I live chastely. Call it a cross if you will, but by being free of the worries the world offers with her ideas of how I should live, I am more free to be the woman I am made to me. It’s for my own good, the good of the people I am closest with, and ultimately setting me up for a better future than if I were to bring tons of baggage and brokenness to future relationships.

What are your thoughts?

February Challenge Day 3: Something that scares me

February 2, 2014June 25, 2014 ~ Laura ~ 7 Comments

This prompt was harder than most things I write about. I sat here thinking to myself “what am I afraid of?” and of course things like bats and car crashes and dying come to mind. But really? Whatever is going to happen is going to happen. So am I really scared of those things? I don’t think that’s quite the right word.

Years ago when I was pretty young (some tweenish year), I remember a summer when I had a hard time going to sleep because I would lay there thinking about all these bad things that could happen. I would imagine burglaries and people dying and horrible situations. Seriously, I have quite an imagination! I freaked myself out. What would I do if this or that happened? Truth is I have no idea. Hopefully my house will never catch fire and I’ll never have to fight off a criminal. And no amount of worrying will help. Over time I simply forced myself to not dwell on things like that and pray that I can deal with whatever comes my way. Smoke detectors and self-defense classes don’t hurt either though 😉

The only thing I can think of that really does scare the bejezers out of me is evil/demonic things. I will absolutely never watch things like The Exorcism of Emily Rose or anything of that nature. I think that’s mostly because evil is very real. And I don’t want any part in it. Whenever I am faced with either thoughts of stuff like this or clips of trailers or something I always say a St. Michael the Archangel prayer because he is a beast at defeating evil.

And that is that. I’ve killed spiders with my barefoot (gross, right? I know.) and live life on the edge without fear of the future because I know God’s got my back and won’t get me into anything he can’t help me through.

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February Challenge Day 2: What Fires Me Up

February 1, 2014 ~ Laura ~ Leave a comment

Take a wild guess what I’m passionate about . . .

If you’ve read things on here before you probably guessed right. Congratulations! I am passionate about pro-life issues. And more recently I’ve begun to love writing about feminine things (like not dressing like a hoochie mama or modesty in general). A lot of the life issues I love to read, write, and talk about boil down to how we treat the human person. And here in America I think we treat people rather poorly sometimes. Give me a news story about the last thing Obama lied about, people giving feminism a bad name (recent Beyonce news, anyone?), or abortion rhetoric, and I will have lots to say. Sometimes too much 🙂

But I really love reading and talking about inspiring people too. I’m just not so good at writing about those things as often. Mother Teresa is pretty much a beast. And I enjoy inspirational things like Pinterest boards and videos and sometime encyclicals and stories. Lots of stories.

It all kind of boils down to becoming the best version of myself and helping other people do the same. When I see people overcome challenges and defeat the odds? That’s pretty amazing. When I see people make sacrifices out of love for other people? That’s inspiring too. I do what I do because I love people and find it a terrible misfortune that sometimes people are blind to the truth and beauty I see in life and my faith.

I want to encourage and inspire people to become better people because I know we are all meant for greatness. Too much of the time I think we’re content with our lives just getting by. But we were not meant to just get by. We are all here for a reason. And it’s our duty to exercise our talents and gifts to realize the potential we were made for. When people strive to become the best versions of them selves and serve the world – that’s what inspires me. My drive comes from my passion to share our potential for greatness with people because I think we’re made for so much more than we make ourselves out to be.

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February Goals!

February 1, 2014June 25, 2014 ~ Laura ~ 2 Comments

Last month I was a bit apprehensive about making goals because I was home for half the month and then got right back to school, went on the March right after starting classes and then whew! Here I am still getting into this semester’s groove. But it’s a new month which means it’s time to evaluate the last month and look ahead to this one. Join me in the link up at the end of this post so we can all work together at becoming the best versions of ourselves!

My January goal review:

1. Finish plans for RRL’s sidewalk counseling program (with my officers!)

Done. We’re having a training on the 6th and are planning to start going out regularly after that. Goodbye Saturday mornings! I’m very excited about this because the woman we’re bringing in to train us (from the local diocese) knows a couple who wants to bring out their mobile ultrasound unit when we’re there. OMG. Excited is an understatement, guys. I have no idea what kind of impact we’re going to have, but I’m praying we’re able to work together with God to touch people inside that clinic.

2. Write 3 articles for Live Action.

I wrote one. It didn’t meet my goal, but hey. I wrote one! And the last one was in October. I guess I needed a break to appreciate it a little more. It feels so great to be back at writing.

3. Perform 3 random acts of kindness.

This was a fail. I didn’t print these goals out and pretty much forgot about this one.

4. You know that 9-5 thing? Do it.

This one has been hard but awesome! The first few days my back got rather sore because of everything I stuffed into my backpack. And I had to come back several times those first couple days because I forgot major things (like paper to write on…duh). Sometimes I’m not out until exactly 5, but if I have homework to do I go to the library to do it. Forced constructiveness, folks! It’s hard when I have homework to do on my computer because it generally refuses to charge in the library. But other than that, this concept has made homework SO much better. I’ve only stayed up late one night getting it done 🙂

5. Finish one of my Mother Teresa books (and hang up the poster from Christmas for a daily reminder)

I looked at the books and really didn’t feel like finishing them right now because the ones I have are a collection of quotes. But I hung up the poster! This is a picture of my corner of my room, and you can see the LIFE poster of Mother Teresa’s quote up there right next to my babies saved from abortion calendar 🙂

6. Exercise 3 times a week once I’m back at school.

This one has gone quite well. I didn’t count every time we’ve worked out, but I’m feeling great and sore. For the first time I was able to do a half hour of the ultimate bootcamp video without dying. Yay!

7. Find and buy a zumba workout DVD.

Nope. still gotta do this. *sigh* I just don’t want to sit down and research it a ton. Anyone know of a good video here?

8. Finish the books I am Malala and A people of hope.

I’m pretty sure I have severe book adhd because I’m in the middle of four books. So I’m not done with these two. Both are good and they will be finished soon.

Now for my February goals:

1. Finish the blog everyday in February challenge.

2. Write at least 3 articles for Live Action.

Ultimately I’d like to write once a week for them, so I need to start working toward that.

3. Name one baby each week through 50 Million Names and do a different gesture for each one.

4. Keep up the exercise, 9-5 thing, and adoration (when it starts).

I’m going to give myself concrete fitness goals, so here’s what I’m beginning with: right now I can do about 9 push ups before I’m keeling over. By the end of the month I want to be able to do 15.

5. Make an effort to do random acts of kindness at least once a week.

6. Finish the 4 books I’m in the middle of!

7. Set aside an hour a week to get back to reaching out to people online about abortion.

8. Share at least 1 inspirational quote or video on Facebook every week.

Time to hear your goals! Link up below or comment if you don’t have a blog.

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February Challenge Day 1: My Story

February 1, 2014 ~ Laura ~ 1 Comment

Welcome to the Blog everyday in February challenge! Today the topic is my story/testimony.

When I first saw this topic, what came to mind was church testimonies where people get up and say something about something Jesus did in their lives and everyone is like

funny (19796) Animated Gif on Giphy — Praise the Lord

Buuuut I’ve never done that. And I’m not planning on breaking that record anytime soon 🙂 So instead of a Jesus testimony, here’s my story condensed.

Once upon a time I was a young tween and dreamed of being a Broadway star. I ~~stalked~~ closely followed the actors from High School Musical and memorized every song from Les Miserables (except Lovely Ladies!) on my walkman in bed at night. Sometimes I would fall asleep with the music still on and the walkman fallen down the side of the bunkbed. No wonder why that one broke so quickly . . . Swim team is what I’d do in the summer along with camps my sisters started and I took on until graduating high school. School years were filled with school work which I don’t remember with a particular hate or love. Some of the papers I wrote were seriously lame (Anne of Green Gables book report, anyone?). Advanced biology was really interesting, though I discovered memorization is not my thing. I ran a girls group for young girls in my homeschooling group where we did service projects and learned about saints.

And then boom bam. Pro-life stuff happened. I went to my first Walk for Life in 2011 and after quitting my job at Sears that summer got a job with Live Action in the fall. I found my cause and have been writing and talking about it ever since. Don’t ask me how that happened because I still don’t really know. It’s just the way it was all meant to me. And I couldn’t be happier.

I’m now working on my business management degree at Benedictine. It’s by far one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life, and the challenges I’ve faced have been big growing moments. I’m thankful for every one of them, even if I can only do that looking back in retrospect. Sometimes I still don’t react that way I should to situations but I’m really trying to be a better person and become the person I’m meant to be. It’s a work in progress 🙂