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Thursday, October 13, 2011

Fantastic Video

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Please, please take the time to watch this video. It is incredibly inspiring, and thought provoking and totally worth your while. Once you watch it spread it around, it is a great message.



Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Friday, September 30, 2011

WYD Trip Part 4- Madrid, Spain

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This is the last post in my World Youth Day post series. It's taken me long enough, but forgive me, I have been absurdly busy lately. Thank you Jesus for weekends! Anyhow, now for my WYD trip conclusion post... (drumroll please)

August 19th 2011
Madrid


This will be brief, I don't have much time. Today was blessed. Left Rome at 6:30, missed bus, took cab, flew to Madrid, arrived at Colegios Bosque. We went to way of the cross with the Pope! Ran into Steven from ECHO, that was crazy. We missed adoration, came home and had an awesome prayer. The Pope's address was sooo beautiful and inspiring! God blessed by him, it was Hollis' birthday.


-Alyse


So, that was basically a key word outline of my day, now to expound. We did leave from Rome at 6:30 and manage to miss our bus, non-refundable of course, and had to take cabs. It was funny to see how some of the people who hadn't ever ridden in cabs were excited about it, until the insane Italian cab drivers almost killed us all (not really but it felt like it). By the grace of God we made our flight to Madrid. We walked to the school that received us and got settled into the gym, the guys slept outside. Then we went out amongst the millions of people to the stations of the cross. Every station, the cross was carried by a group of people that the station related to, it was really beautiful. We were all blessed by the Pope after an amazingly inspiring address that I only wish I could remember. My beautiful friend Hollis received her first Papal blessing that day on her birthday, it was super cool. Then we went to the English speaking building for WYD, planned to go to adoration after going to supper, and then missed adoration. It was disappointing, but God really looked out for us. Also, crazy side note, Hollis and I ran into Steven who we had met at T.O.B camp this summer. Steven is from South Africa, was in Louisiana for a little while, and was at WYD with some of his South African buddies. It is truly a small world. That night we went back to the school and had a really blessed prayer time under the glorious blanket of stars and realized, "Guys we just saw the Pope!" it was a pretty epic day.

August 21st 2011
Flight Madrid to London


Yesterday was so blessed! We walked to the WYD field after leaving our school accommodations.  It was insane to see how many people were there! More than the eye could see in every direction, they estimated between 1.5 and 2 million people! It was such a blessing to see so many Catholics in one spot. We ate lunch, and then walked around. We me Mexicans, Italians, Americans, Canadians, and Irish people. I was able to go to confession in one of the chapel tents. The Pope arrived and it began to storm! Wind was blowing and it was raining. He had to pause in his address to let it pass. During the pause, the chapel/canopy tent thing collapsed, with the babies and moms of our group inside. Only by the grace of God were they not injured. We had to leave that night, because we would miss our flight today if we didn't. We did stay for the Pope's address, benediction, and adoration. It was so blessed to be a part of the multitude. As I prayed the Our Father and said "Thy kingdom come" I felt that WYD was a foreshadowing of heaven. We are His kingdom! We spent the night in the airport, went to mass there, and are now headed to London. Praise God for His faithfulness!
-Alyse


WYD was really such an amazing blessing. I really felt that I was in God's kingdom. I always hear how we are His church, but I have never had such a clear image before that. That crazy night, when there was an extreme storm and the Pope's hat flew off (pretty awesome) the tent collapsed. I say tent, but it was more of a temporary building, the same that I had gone to confession in earlier. About two hundred people had gathered inside to stay dry from the rain, including my aunts and cousins. When it started to sway the people left, including my aunts, they say that they saw a metal beam fall on the place they had been sitting only seconds after they walked out. God really protected them. My Uncle John Paul was afraid that his family had been killed, this experience was a really profound one for our whole group. It seemed sad at the time to miss mass, but we had to leave for the babies, since they had no shelter now. We left and the next day found out that mass didn't have communion or electricity anyway, no one there received Jesus or heard the Pope's homily. Even though it was sad, God was looking out for us. We were able to go to mass in the airport with a little priest that made me think of Saints. Then, we caught a flight to London where we enjoyed each other's company before a many-hour-long plane ride. It was a life changing two days.

August 23rd 2011
Home- Wrap Up


To sum up our trip, we arrived in London at Gatwick and went to Heathrow, where we stayed the night. That night we all shared the ways that we were touched on the trip, it was so blessed. It was so wonderful to see the unique ways that God impacted each of us. I realized just how blessed I was to be around such an amazing group of people. The next morning we flew to Houston and were greeted at the airport. I knew that the 27 people that stepped off of that plane were not the same as the people who stepped on 15 days before. God had impacted us so much, and we all were changed. Even if it wasn't something super noticeable, it was profound, lasting, and unique in each one of us. God's promise was fulfilled, "Where two or more are gathered in my name", we gathered and he came. I arrived home with Anika and we shared our experience with our family. Summing it up for them made me realize just how full and blessed it was. I can honestly say it was one of the most blessed seasons of my life. The knowledge, growth, truth, sacrifice, and divine love that I was able to partake in still amazes me. It was all so big that it was/is hard to grasp. I do know that God is good, he showed up, and we lived with and for Him. Praise God!
-Alyse


Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Sunday, September 25, 2011

WYD Trip- Part 3 Rome, Italy

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I have been so busy lately it has taken me a while to finish this post series, but I am still trying and this is my third shot at sharing about my wonderful, life changing experience at World Youth Day a little over a month ago. This post will cover my visit in Rome, la cita eterna (the eternal city)!

August 15th 2011
Rome
We've been traveling all day long. We had mass in Cordoba and said goodbye to our families. Everyone was crying, it was a total God moment. We took a bus to Madrid, said a rosary in the airport, and flew to Rome. Then we caught a bus, to a metro, to a bus, to walk to our "Peter Pan" hostel. God has really been with us in our travel.
-Alyse


Let me pause for a second to let you know that my dad is a professional tour guide that lives in Rome with Simona, my step mom, Livia, my little sister, and Bea my little step sister. (This post might be confusing without knowing that)


August 16th 2011
Rome
Today was a super blessed and full day. We saw so much of Rome! My dad gave us all a super full tour, it saved us thousands of dollars today alone. He has been so generous to us, it is such a blessing. We saw Piazza del Popolo, a really fancy street, the Trevi fountain, the church with Bernini's angels, the "Spanish" steps, the Sistine bridge, the Pantheon, the Piazza de Fiori, Piazza Navona, the Mamertine prison, the Roman Forum, and the big white building with the horse, also the square designed by Michelangelo, and the ruins that are a cat sanctuary. It was so awesome! Dad paid for the whole group to get gelato, I actually ate gelato twice today. We went shopping for free time. Today has been such a blessing! Praise God.
-Alyse


Just a commercial break, my dad who is a wonderfully generous person is also a wonderful tour guide. (No you couldn't go for free, unless you're his family) but if you are going to Rome it is worth looking into my dad's tour company to enlighten your visit. If you plan to go to Rome soon, check out www.walksofitaly.com . Thanks ;)

August 17th 2011
Rome
We had another full day today. We saw the Vatican museums, St. Peter's basilica, St. Peter's square, the Roman Forum, the Colosseum,  and maybe the oldest Catholic church in the world. Livia came with us today! It was such a blessing to see her. It was such a blessing to be where Christ's disciples lived and dies. I was so inspired. I also saw Pope John Paul the second's grave, that was so cool! God has been blessing us so much, it's crazy. Rome has so much rich church history.
-Alyse-


August 18th 2011
Rome
Today was such a blessing! We saw the basilica of St. Paul, Sta. Maria Magiore, Sn. Juan Lattero, St. Peter's, and we climbed the steps Christ climbed. It was really such a blessed day. St. Paul's was my favorite, it was so gorgeous! Mary's church was beautiful too, and I could feel her smiling down on us. I was able to climb the steps that Christ climbed on my knees, it was a wonderful opportunity for prayer. We, well five of us, were able to catch mass at St. Peter's. It was so wonderful! While we were there, I got so excited at the thought of seeing all of the Saints, who we venerate, in heaven! I am so excited at that coming soon. It was so nice to spend the day with Livia, she is so big now, and it was a blessing to see her. I will miss her so much. Being in Rome reminded me of the majesty of the universal church, and made me realize how small we are compared to God. Well it's late now, I'll write later.
-Alyse


Being in Rome was really such a blessing, that last day especially. At St. Paul's I was able to see the chains that held St. Paul while he was in Rome. It is amazing to see the links of our church and a tangible piece of history. We aren't composed of a recent group of people who had a neat idea to do something cool, our history is built on the blood of martyrs who died for the church and for love of Christ Jesus who they knew was God. There is so much history held in Rome. It seems like most buildings are older than the United States. Another cool thing about Rome was to see an image of Mary and Jesus on almost every corner, even if the city itself is not religious, it is built on religion and love of the church. Being in Rome made me appreciate my church and it's real history so much, that visit will be one I will always hold close in my heart.


Peace and love in Christ Jesus,
Alyse

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

World Youth Day Trip Part 2- Cordoba, Spain

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

 I am sorry it has taken me so long to post this next part, I have been so incredibly busy/blessed this past week or so. Anyhow, here is for the next part of my trip. After we left London we headed for Cordoba, Spain, a city where I lived back in 2008. This is my journal entry from my first day there.

  August 11th 2011 Cordoba
  So after a day of frantic running, endless mishaps, and "that was so close"s God got us through. We were greeted in Cordoba by the parish of Sta. Beatriz de Silva. Our host family, the Morales family, was so hospitable! They made Amelie and I feel right at home. We received Christ's body at mass and had a big supper afterwards. It was so much fun! Our family is the greatest. God is sooooo good! 
-Alyse

 That was my first night in the parish in Spain, one that I had never been to while I had lived in Cordoba. Our group was split up, I was with Amelie, and we stayed with separate families (no family was crazy enough to accept 27 of us (-: ). My next journal entry is two days later...

  August 13th 2011 Cordoba Yesterday, since I didn't write, we walked through Jewish Cordoba and had a tour of the Cathedral. We were allowed into the "Spanish Sistine Chapel" to pray and sing. The tour was such a blessing! We saw a place where a martyr carved a cross into the pillar with his finger nail. After, we came home, ate, swam, napped, and went to a get together that was a lot of fun. We stayed up till almost two talking with Luisa and Cristina. It was a great day. Today we saw an ancient hermitage at the top of a mountain. It was sooo, breathtakingly gorgeous! It was amazing to see the way those men lived. We celebrated mass and it was such a total blessing! I am going to swim again today, which will be so refreshing. 
-Alyse

 As you probably noticed I really enjoyed my family's pool... As mild as the weather was compared to most of the time (Cordoba is one of Spain's hottest cities) it was still nice to take a swim, especially in a non-air-conditioned country like those in Europe.

  August 14th 2011 Cordoba, Spain Today has been such a blessed day. Today we went to mass, with the other pilgrims in Cordoba, at the Cathedral. It was so cool to see us united by the mass, I think it was a beautiful foreshadowing of WYD. Afterwards we shopped, I got a fan and a bunch of candy. We came back home, ate lunch, showered, and napped. We went to adoration after and there was confession. God is so good! After that, we had another BIG community meal with sharing afterwards. Almost everybody was in tears as we shared how God blessed us. It's crazy to think this is my last night here. My "mom", Luisa, shared afterwards that she loved having us, and that our faith inspired her. It blessed me to see a change in Cristina, I felt her love of our faith in her attitude. I wish I could better express to my new family how much they have blessed me. Being with them made me less home sick. God really does have a universal church, family, and I felt it here. When I lived here it was a tough time for my family and now I was able to enjoy the city for what it is. I know how much God loves us, His church on Earth, and this experience confirmed it. Now I will write for last night, because it was SO cool and I didn't get a chance to write. We went to the church I used to attend, and gathered with the other pilgrims here. There were people from the U.S, Spain, France, Canada, Iraq, and even more. We had demonstrations from the different countries. Spain put on a play of the life of St. John the baptist, and then it was our turn. We showed them Cajun dancing, I danced, it was so much fun! Then we sang a song all together. As I sang I felt God's presence so strongly. There I was, in Spain, on stage in front of a whole bunch of youth, singing to my God, the God of the universe! It was so, so, so beautiful. We had an encore and sang "Rise Up" which was awesome. After, I was Sara and said hi. Then, Amelie and I, and our family, went out to eat and for ice cream. It was a blessed day. I could write for hours, but it's late now. 
-Alyse

 Spain really was so blessed, and the night where we sang on stage was an experience that I will never forget as long as I live. I still miss the family I met and made in Spain, and it shows me how much people can be united through Christ and love of Him. The next portion of my trip is coming up, hopefully soon, God bless!

 Peace and love in Christ, Alyse

Friday, August 26, 2011

WYD Trip Part 1- London

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

I gor back from my two week world youth day Madrid trip four days ago. Since I have been getting over jet-lag, and been getting ready for my new school, I haven't had the chance to post about it yet. The trip, which began in Houston with 27 people, including 2 infants, started off on the eight of this month. When I arrived at the airport and saw the group of people I thought, "This is such a random assortment of people, I wonder how Uncle John Paul found them all." I later realized that God was the one who put us together, and His plan for us was above and beyond all that I could possibly imagine.

Starting off I had no real idea of what to expect the next two weeks, I decided to keep it that way. I figured I didn't want to have expectations in case they were not fulfilled, although God would have rocked my world anyway. So, arriving at the airport was exciting. I could already tell this trip would be un-ordinary. And it was.

We arrived in London on the 9th of August at 6:30 in the morning. The plane ride had been uneventful, and I managed to squeeze some sleep in. Now I will share my journal entry from that day.

August 9th 2011
WYD trip- London

Today has been so blessed! We arrived in London safely and came to St. Patrick's where I stayed a few years back. We saw Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. We have had blessing upon blessing bestowed upon us all day. God is so good! I am so thankful that God sent me here. Before confession and mass I really heard God saying to me that I was chosen to be here. That it is His will! That knowledge is so comforting, and challenging. I am excited to see what God has in store!


To clarify, St. Patrick's is a church with a missionary evangelization program where my family and I stayed on the way back from living in Spain in 2008. At the church I ran into a woman who I had met those years back, it is funny to see that way that God runs people into each other again. The church had changed a lot, but we stayed in an older room up on the top floor. The girls all slept on the ground with the London air, coming straight from outside, surrounding us. It was so awesome to see the way that the people responded to the suffering that God blessed us with. Now for my next journal entry...

August 11th 2011
On bus in route to Cordoba, Spain

Yesterday, since I didn't write then, was such a blessing. We focused on seeing what there was to see in London, since it was our last day. We saw St. James park and palace, the marble arch, Buckingham palace, Westminster Abby, Parliament, Big Ben, the tower of London, tower bridge, and the Catholic cathedral. It was such a full day! We chose not to pay to enter Westminster Abby. It was insane to see how long the line was. It made me cry not to see anyone at the Catholic church. "How sad it must be for Christ," I thought, "for no one to see His house." "No," He said to me, "I am sad because they don't know." I cried again. If only the world knew that our savior, the One, lived in Catholic churches. That all what they were looking for sat in the tabernacle waiting eagerly for people to see. How beautiful is salvation! How beautiful is the truth! Christ is dying for people to know HIm, and most don't respond. Our day started with adoration, and ended with cleaning St. Patrick's, where we stayed. We slept till 3:00 a.m. to start off today, a crazy day of travels. It led me here , to this bus, waiting to arrive in Cordoba, but I'll write about that later.
-Alyse


Well that concludes the London portion of my travels, I will post the rest later!

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Sunday, August 7, 2011

WYD Madrid Trip

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I know I have posted about my world youth day trip in the past, well now it's the present! I will be leaving for London, Spain, and Italy tomorrow morning. I am just posting to ask you to pray for me and my entire group while I am gone. We will be on a two week trip, during this time we will stay in houses, hostels, churches and a mix of other accommodations. We are all packed in back packs and are taking this as a pilgrimage and mission trip. It will be great, exciting, fun and new, but mostly it is about CHRIST, who is the reason! I am already excited about posting about the trip when I return. I will pray for you all in Europe!

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

In This World, Not Of It

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

One thing that has constantly been pressing on my heart since Faith Camp, and forever really, is the title of this blog post. "Living in this world and not of it" is one of the hardest things on earth to accomplish, right next to martyrdom and plucking your eyes out for the gospel. The Bible verse that best describes this is, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2

It is almost like asking a sponge, completely submerged in water, to not get wet. It is IMPOSSIBLE... without God. Alyse will fail every single time if she tries, Alyse with God's help will not. Do not be conformed to this world! Do not sell into what the world tells you is good and acceptable and perfect! Only by following what God's will is, is when we find the goodness that he has for us. If you take one minute and watch television, or read a magazine, or listen to secular music, one minute and you will find that the world is full of lies. Every single day we are fed the lie that you need x,y, and z to be happy. You need clothes, cars, electronics, a snazzy house, and money to be find fulfillment. If only you get the right job that lets you "make a mark on society" and gives you a good, steady income, then you have found goodness in life. This is so contrary to what God says! God says, "Sell all that you have, give alms to the poor, and go and proclaim the gospel", that is what GOD says. The media says, "Buy this, do that, act like this, work here, serve yourself and you will be happy." And after a long day of listening to that being fed to you from every direction, you are supposed to not be conformed to this world? The answer is yes. It is so hard! How do we do it? Good news guys, scripture tells us how!

"But be transformed by the renewing of your mind". That's how! After being a sponge in a glass of water, that's not supposed to get wet, we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds. That way, we may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. "The one who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." Revelations 21:5. God makes us new, God renews us!

If it were up to me, and every day I had to try and renew myself I would fail. After a warm bath, comfort food, and calming music, I would be no better off than before. But if I turn to God and say, "I am tired, and weary, and sick of the lies that I am being fed. I need You to renew me." He will. He never thinks twice about it, He always says, "Yes. Done, you are new, I make all things new, because I love you!" To be transformed means "to make a thorough, or dramatic change in form, appearance, or character". If we let God make us new, and if we are transformed by that renewal, then we will find what is good and acceptable and perfect!

God has really been challenging me with this lately, and that is why I am sharing it with you. This is a discovery to me, and it shows me how much God has our backs. So much of how to live a Christian life is in scripture. I could search forever on how to live in this world and not of it, and could fail to find it, but if I flip to Romans in the Bible it is sitting right there in front of my face. This challenge is presented to us, but we aren't left with this huge and difficult thing to struggle aimlessly with forever. We are presented with the way to live it out! God is constantly showing us how to have the best life. Because, lets face it, if we live what this world has for us we end up no where. We end up in sin, and "the wages of sin is death" Romans 6:23. God is constantly stretching out His hand for us, all that we have to do is hold onto it with all that we have. All it takes is everything :) .

Peace and love in Christ,

Alyse

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Living It

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

What do you do when it's over? When the camp, or retreat, or pilgrimage is finished and you go back to the world that is so ridden with lies and sin? What's next? The answer is to live it out. To devote yourself entirely to the truth, the truth that God is good, and God is real, and God loves YOU and wants the best for you! That, my brothers and sisters, is the answer.

It is so hard though! I think of the passage where the Bible talks about the demon who leaves the room, comes back to find it clean, and gets seven more demons to come back with him. Satan doesn't want us to live for Christ! The world doesn't want us to live for Christ. You constantly hear about self service, ranking in society, who has the nicest car, clothes, phone or house. You find yourself falling back into mundanity, into the "flow" of it all. I say "you", I mean me, but I would guess that you have felt it too. When the Jesus high is over, what's next? When you don't feel God in your life, how do you react?

I have good news brothers and sisters, God is more than a feeling! He wants to fill your life in ways that you cannot possibly imagine or comprehend! GOD, the God, the only God, loves you so much and wants what is best for you! All that we have to do is to say "yes". That three letter word, that total life response changes it all. If you say yes to God, He will rock your world!

Imagine, only imagine, if Mary hadn't said yes. She was in the perfect position to say no. She was young, unmarried, simple, and I am sure that she didn't think that she would change the history of the world. "Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to Your will." BAM! The face of the Earth was changed forever! Her yes changed humanity! God wants the same thing for us, he wants our yes, he wants to use YOU to change the world! It's true. We were made to be like Christ, to imitate him, and we were made equal. There wasn't anything different about the way that Mother Teresa, or Pope John Paul the second were made. They were human beings, just like you and I, who said yes to God, and God used them. Never underestimate how God wants to work in your life!

I think about Spiderman, "With great power, comes great responsibility". God, who is power and might, is on our side. We are responsible to serve him, and to bring souls to heaven. WE are, His church, His people. We can wait around forever for the world to change, but waiting won't do it, only our yes can. If you say yes to God, the world will be changed. You who know the truth, have the responsibility to spread God and His word to the ends of the Earth. To your family, to your friends, to your neighbors, to your city, country, world. God has given us this world as a gift, it is our job to be good stewards.

I keep on opening the Bible to the parable of the steward who was away when the master of the home came back. He was punished for not being watchful. If God came now, and who's to say he won't, what do you have to show for it? Have you been living for Christ?

I don't want to pretend that I am there yet, that every time God asks me to do anything I say yes, but I do try. And, being a daughter of God and knowing the truth, it is my job to challenge you. Jesus isn't walking around with a beard and sandals anymore. He can't knock on your door and say, "Drop your nets and follow me". He is still saying it though. The whole church is calling you in service to Christ! We, the church, are His hands and feet! What will your answer be? Will you live for Him?

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Friday, July 15, 2011

Faith Camp 2011 More Than a Feeling

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I know I have been posting a lot lately about how excited I have been for Faith Camp 2011! I have a very special place in my heart for Faith Camp because I know that it is the BEST camp out there for junior high kids who want to know Christ. I am not saying this because I am biased, but because the Holy Spirit gives all he can, and Faith Camp receives all that it can. If God is giving all of himself and we are accepting him entirely NOTHING can be better than that! Faith Camp is God's ministry and when you are there you can see how much he LOVES it! God loves Faith Camp and so do I!

The week before Faith Camp is work week, work week is when all of the staff get together and get everything ready for Faith Camp. I am proud to say that I spent hours upon hours working on painting humongous murals that were used for one night, where God's children were drawn closer to Him, and then were torn down after. I spent a few days at work week, helping with all that I could, and prepping for Faith Camp. I had a day break where I came back home, and then I spent Sunday getting ready for Faith Camp. On monday the world began to be changed. Faith Camp 2011 had begun!

Our theme was "More Than a Feeling" and nothing could have been more appropriate! From the first day where kids got oatmeal and shaving cream shoved in their faces, God began planting His seed. Faith Camp has a theme each day. Monday is God's love, Tuesday is sin, Wednesday is Jesus Christ, Thursday is Christian life, and Friday is wrap up. I know that God is more than a feeling. When we are having "Jesus highs" it isn't God, it is our emotional response to God. God is ALWAYS good! Even if we don't FEEL Him, He is there loving us just as much as He always does. His love never falters, never fails, and never falls. God is good all of the time!

I was super blessed to be a cabin leader this year. I was also blessed to be co-cabin leader with one of my childhood friends who I hadn't seen in years. Shaylyn was such a huge blessing to me through her humility, service, love, gentleness, kindness and affirmation! God knew what He was doing giving her to me for that week to bring souls to Him. I had fourteen of the most amazing girls on Earth in my cabin. Go cabin 2! Each and every one of them was sheer joy to my heart! They were so respectful, mature, obedient, loving, giving and wonderful. I never knew that they would call me on to holiness so much! Being their leader and having to guide them was so humbling, there is nothing special about Alyse, only Christ is special. If I allow Him to live in me, then we've got the answer! Thank the good Lord that I wasn't telling them to be like Alyse, but I was telling them to be like Christ who is perfect! Thinking about my girls gives me so much joy in my heart, God blessed me so much through them!

Throughout the week God spoke to me through very unique ways. From acting in a skit that was thrown together in five minutes, to being in charge of all of the slides for the songs, God spoke to ME in a unique way! I felt so special to be able to serve Him with all that I was, and then with all that He gave me, which was SO much more! As I got home today and stood in the shower I realized just how much God was my strength. The joy of the Lord was my strength! Because without Him I would have been a crumpled, crumby, sad mess! Praise Him!

My Uncle is the head coordinator of the camp, and I am so blessed by him. He asked me to be a C.I.T next year, a Coordinator In Training. That means, that in two years I will be helping to coordinate Faith Camp, God willing. That also means that this year was my last and only year as a cabin leader and a team leader. Although it is not something that I "want" necessarily, God let me know that it is what He wants, that means it will be great! It makes this year all the more special, knowing that this was the only year remotely like this that I will have. I am telling you all, because I am afraid that I will want to back out, and I need to be held accountable. Pray that I am able to serve God how He wants me to be used.

Today when I got home and sat down to blog I prayed that God send me a bible verse that would touch my heart and I opened up to Sirach 39: 12-16 and I want to share it with you. It is:
Once more I will set forth my theme to shine like the moon in its fullness!
Listen, my faithful children: open up your petals, like roses planted near running waters;
Send up the sweet odor of incense, break forth in blossoms like the lily. Send up the sweet odor of your hymn of praise; bless the LORD for all he has done!
Proclaim the greatness of his name, loudly sing his praises, With music on the harp and all stringed instruments; sing out with joy as you proclaim:
The works of God are all of them good; in its own time every need is supplied.

The first part in particular struck out to me: "Once more I will set you forth to shine like the moon". I realize how much I have fallen short in the past, and how much I need to stay strong for His kingdom. Building His kingdom is all that matters in life, and I lose that perspective so often. To follow God and make a total life response to Him, that is our call. In the Christian life talk Sarah said, "Being Christian is NOT a life style choice, like being a vegetarian, it is a total life response to a person and that person is Jesus Christ." A total life response. A TOTAL life response! Jesus help us to have a TOTAL LIFE RESPONSE to you! Amen

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Monday, July 4, 2011

Theology of the Body camp

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

First off, happy fourth of July to all of you in the United States, I hope it has been a blessed day for all of you. Last week I was super blessed to be able to attend an Echo camp put on by Dumb Ox productions, the camp was Theology of the Body for Teens. It was so amazing! For those of you who aren't familiar with Theology of the Body, it was put together by Pope John Paul the second and has been adapted since for teens. It is essentially a collection of teachings that relate to our bodies and the marvelous theology behind them. The camp was a few days long and I grew so much in faith and community with everyone there. When people show up for God, God answers in such beautiful ways!

One of the things that stuck out most as a "theology of the body" message to me was this, human beings are the only creatures that God created that have both body and soul. Our bodies and our souls, before the fall of man, were in perfect union with each other. After Adam and Eve transgressed they became disconnected. That is why "I do what I hate" (Romans 7:15) because I am no longer in perfect union with my body. That does not mean that we are not our bodies. When someone punches you in the face you don't say, "You just hurt my body!" you say, "You just hurt me!". We as human beings are both body and soul, and one day after we die our bodies will be raised up and made new. That is one of the beautiful things about Jesus' assumption into heaven, since he was without sin his body was brought into heaven with him. There is so much beauty in who we are, and so there is so much beauty in our bodies.

During the week I really felt God open my mind to so much of his truth. One thing that blessed me SO much during the week was a reminder that God is so big, vast, unimaginable and wondrous! We cannot contain him to a few experiences, or a few memories, because that would be tacking him to time and he is not in time. He is timeless and engulfs time itself. He is so much larger than we could possibly imagine, even if we dive in deep we can always go infinitely deeper! This has little to do with theology of the body, but it stuck with me so much that I wanted to share with you.

I hope to continue posting things in accordance with what I learned at the ECHO camp, but I wanted to share a little with you now. Please pray for me, Faith Camp is fast approaching (you can read a little more about Faith Camp in one of my recent posts) and I am so excited for it! Please pray specifically for good weather for Faith Camp, and for the girls that will be in my cabin. I am getting excited about the beautiful week that God has planned! Faith Camp itself is from July 11th to the 15th if you would remember it in your prayers during that time. I am praying for you and hope that you have a blessed couple of weeks!

Peace and love in Christ,

Alyse

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Sixteen... Wow

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

As you may have guessed by my updated heading, I am a year older now! My sixteenth birthday was yesterday, June 22nd. I can hardly believe it! This year has gone so quickly by, retrospectively it feels like a matter of months. So much has happened, but the year has still flown by, I must be getting old ;) . Every year I realize just how blessed I am. God has given me so many blessings in my life I would never be able to count them all. I am so thankful that God has been so good, and that he has given me another year of life!

It's funny how age works in my mind. I usually do not think about how old I am at all, so as soon as my birthday rolls around I end up thinking "Wow" and it snaps me into perspective. I have always felt that one should not be judged by their age, and I do my best to be the same way. "Say not I am to young" is one of my favorite scripture verses in the Bible. You are never to young to let God move in miraculous ways for you. It is not about what you do, but what you let God do for you. Nothing that anyone accomplishes in spirituality is on their own terms, it is all God. One of the easiest lies the devil tells the youth of today is to put themselves in a box. The box saying "You are to young." "No one cares about what you think." "You can do it on your own, totally by yourself." This is one of the most dangerous things that teens believe, because that is not at all what God thinks. God's plan for children, youth, and adults are all equally as magnificent. Some of the most remarkable Saints in history were young people. Saints who didn't fall into that box the devil set out for them. The Saints that pushed the boundaries and lived to their absolute fullest potential. I am not going to begin to pretend I have accomplished this, but at least I know the truth.

Teenagers today need to step up, to live what God has planned for us. I am going to high school this fall, and I am praying that I find a community of young people living wonderful lives. I am afraid this may not happen, but I have hope. I have hope because I know just how much God loves us, how much God loves everyone. To see the way that so many young people live today makes me so sad. I know that so many young people fall into the lies of this world but we are not of this world. We are children of the most high God who died for us. Everyone needs to step up, to love those who struggle, to help them, to turn to God for his help that he wants so desperately to give us! Today a lot of the struggles lie in teens, who are trying to figure out who they are, who are trying to live the lives they want to live, who are searching for love. God is the only one who can save, not only teens, but everyone. He loves us so desperately. I am not saying that I do not struggle the same way, because I do, every day. God is bigger than struggling though, nothing can separate us from his love. This is the truth that will set us free. The truth that no matter how much we screw up, or how awful we feel, God loves us just the same.

This blog is such a great blessing in my life. I watch as my stats, followers, and page views grow and I realize that God is really using this as a tool for his glory. Because, what I have to say is not so interesting, but what God has to say is truth, love, and glorious freedom! I want to thank you for reading, you, the one who is reading this right now. Thank you for blessing me and for, I hope, listening to what God has to say today. You are not to young, to old, to small, to sinful to live to the fullest of your potential! God loves you soooooo much! I keep you always in my prayers. Have a blessed day, week, year and life!

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Monday, June 20, 2011

Happy Father's Day

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I am sorry that this post is coming a day late. Yesterday was a very busy day, full of huge, yummy meals, a long walk in the sun, and a visit with Jesus at mass. We celebrated with my step-father Kevin, by making a huge meal of ribs and other yummy things, and by giving him gifts. My mom and Kevin have been married for two and a half years now, and Kevin has been such a blessing to our family. My dad lives in Rome, so we weren't able to to see him yesterday, but he was in my prayers and mind all day.

It is such a blessing to have so many great and holy men of God in my life. My grandfathers, uncles, dad, and even friends have shown me wonderful examples of fatherhood my whole life. The ultimate example though is God the father. God is the perfect father, who never fails, who never falters, who is always there loving you. God has also given us fathers to share his love with us. The celebration of father's day is a wonderful reminder of what a great blessing it is to have fathers in our life. I hope your father's day was blessed by celebrating with your fathers, or by being celebrated yourself. God bless!

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Faith Camp Staff Retreat

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I have had such a busy and blessed week! I left to Abbeville on the 9th and arrived late that night. On the 10th I had a blessed day, where I was able to relax, read, and then go to my friend's house. The 11th was the beginning of our two day, one night staff retreat for Faith Camp. For those of you who don't know what Faith Camp is, I will fill you in.

It is a summer camp for kids in Junior High, you can be a camper for three years, and after that a disciple. After you are a disciple for one year you become staff. All of the staff is high school students, with the exception of a few college students and only a few adults. The camp lasts a week and is filled with so much fun, prayer and community. I feel that it is one of God's greatest works for his youth here on Earth. My uncle John Paul is the head coordinator, but there are a handful of on fire servants of the lord that also coordinate this camp. This is my fifth year to participate in faith camp. I am now a staff member!

Faith Camp is one of the most precious things in my life. I am so blessed to have been able to participate for the past four years. This year I am a cabin leader, and a team leader. Usually the two jobs are split, but since we are short staffed I get to be both. Under normal circumstances, I would probably be a team leader since it is my first year staffing. I had really wanted to be a cabin leader, but had decided to be patient and rejoice in anything God had for me. I am so excited that I get to be the leader of a cabin full of campers! I, along with one other girl, will be leading a cabin of twelve to sixteen girl campers throughout the week. I always looked up to my cabin leaders, and will be super blessed to be in the opposite situation now. The camp is from July 11th to the 15th. If you are reading this and are interested in attending or staffing Faith Camp, you can find the information at www.bestweekofyourlife.com

The staff retreat was super blessed! I feel that since we are so small, I will really get the opportunity to know all of the staff. To be in such a holy environment is so good for me, I can feel my soul being refreshed. We covered all of the details of the week, signed up for skits and jobs, and had time as a community. We played games, the girls dominated :) , and had praise and worship. It was all so blessed, and I could see the joy and love on everyone's faces. I have so may friends amongst the staff that I feel like we get to be having a super awesome, blessed party!

Please pray that Faith Camp goes super blessed. I am on the red team, and my job is to pray for weather, I ask that you all pray with me. Good weather is essential to Faith Camp, and God has always provided against the odds these past fifteen years! Pray that it be the best year yet, and that God pours special blessings on all of the staff. God bless!

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Sunday, June 5, 2011

A Beautiful Missionary Wedding

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Yesterday I had the super blessed opportunity to go to a wedding! Not only was it a wedding, it was a wedding between two beautiful missionaries, who I love! I absolutely love weddings, I always feel so blessed to see the way that God brings two people together in such a beautiful sacrament. My mom was Kristen's bridesmaid and that was great :) The wedding was in Texas, so we took a five and a half hour drive to get there, but that is nothing compared to seventeen hours, so it didn't feel to long. I was so happy to see a bunch of fantastic people there! All of the stateside FMC missionaries, plus the girls from General Cepeda were there. Also, my good friend Hollis was a photographer, and I was happy to spend the day before the wedding swimming with her.

The ceremony was beautiful and super blessed! The music was fantastic, and I am planning to recruit them to sing for my wedding ;) . You could feel God so strongly amongst the people there. Kristen looked so absolutely stunning, like a princess! Jonathan was glowing and it was smiles all around. Kristen's dad is a deacon and so he was able to give the homily, which was amazing! He talked about their missionary vocation, and their vocation as a married couple, and you know that he meant it from his heart. God truly talked through him and everyone felt it. The ceremony is always the best part of the wedding, because it is the most important part, and their ceremony was definitely partaking in the glory of God. You could almost hear the angels singing along with us as they sat at the feet of God in heaven!

The reception was great too, and it was awesome to see all of the fun they were having. There was dancing, toasting, eating and laughing, it was great! It was also super fun and holy, which is always awesome! They were glowing the whole time, and they really enjoyed themselves. We stayed till the very end and then had a blessed drive home.

Also, he surprised her for their honey moon, which I think is really sweet. I don't know if I would want that, but Kristen loves surprises! They are in Mazatlan Mexico, a wonderful choice on his part! Jonathan has a blog that is in my list of missionary blogs, he hasn't updated it for a while, I wonder why ;) But if you want to check it out you can!

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Monday, May 30, 2011

Much Ado About Nothing

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I have been so blessed this past week with preparations for our play, and finally, the play itself. Our homeschool acting troupe put on Shakespeare's: Much Ado About Nothing with a cast of 29 children ranging from seven to sixteen years old. The play itself was a challenge, considering it is Shakespeare and is a difficult performance to pull off, but it was a total blessing! I wish I could express how happy I am to have participated in such a blessed play. The cast was all so fantastic, encouraging, holy and wonderful! I really felt God's blessing poured out on us from beginning to end. I have a journal entry that I think expresses my feelings more completely. Here it is,

May 27th 2011
Journal,
Today was our play! We put on two performances of Much Ado About Nothing. I was sooo blessed by it all! I realize how fortunate I am to participate in this wonderful theater class. I have been so unbelievably blessed by all of the cast! Joseph has decided to let me know that I could be a professional actress every five minutes :) . Bryan is so encouraging, Emily is so sweet, all of the little ones are fabulous, and I feel so loved! Everyone hugs me all of the time, and Trevor asked me if I took acting classes. The performances went really well. The first was a little choppy, but the second was perfect! I got all of my lines/cues right and I didn't screw up at the guitar. I was so proud of my handsome little brother who I have worked so hard with, and Anika did FANTASTIC! I realized today that I will miss New Orleans more than I could ever imagine. I wouldn't mind living here another year. It's funny how quickly things change. All I know is that God is good and he is faithful. He has loved me so much through the hugs, smiles, encouragements, thumbs ups and excitement of my fellow cast. Right now I am just so pleased, blessed, happy and proud of everyone! Alleluia, God is good!
-Alyse

This play has really wrapped up our year in New Orleans. We are moving in two months now, and I realize how quickly the time has flown by. It will be hard leaving again, but God knows best! He has the best plan for my life and for my family, wherever we move, or even if we stay, God will be the same wonderful God that he always has been and that he always will be. I don't deserve all of the love that He has given me, but he pours it out endlessly nonetheless. All I can do is praise him and continue to seek his will for my life. Although the future is uncertain, the present is blessed. Our acting class has definitely been a ministry, and God has definitely blessed it. Praise Him for his goodness!!!!

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

p.s I updated my Photos page!

Monday, May 23, 2011

A Reading That I Love

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I really loved the second reading yesterday at mass. It is Peter 2:4-9 but I am just going to share two little snippets that I particularly enjoyed. The first is this: "Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God, and, like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."

I was wondering what a "living stone" was, and then I realized it is to be alive. Instead of something that is dead, and therefore without life, we are to be full of life for God, even if you are a stone. Also, I love that part where is says to let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood. The truth of being something bigger than just yourself, to be a part of a community forming a house for God through self denial. I just love that! We, his living stones, are brought together to be something beautiful for the glory of God.

I also love the part at the end where it says: "But you are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises" of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. "

I feel that that passage really encompasses the necessity of evangelization in a very short sentence. The fact that we are God's chosen people is why we must announce the praises of him who saved us. He, who called us out of darkness and into a wonderful light. A wonderful light, doesn't that sound fantastic? A light that must be spread because it is the light of the savior of nations! Praise be to Him!

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Monday, May 16, 2011

Sunday's Gospel

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Yesterday's gospel really blessed me. It happens to be one of my many favorites! It is the reading of John 10: 1-10 about the good shepherd who's sheep know his voice. I like the particular part where it says, "When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice." I love to think of us, God's people on Earth, following Jesus by recognizing his voice. So much of our walk with Christ relies on hearing God's voice every day and following it. Many times, whenever we hear the voice of God, it becomes apparent because we recognize him, because he has made himself known to us. If we can recognize God's voice we become able to follow it and to avoid the voice of sin and deceit. God has blessed us so much by letting us know his voice in scripture, and also through the words of our brothers and sisters who are also following Him.

Another part I love in that scripture is at the end when it says, "I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly." Our good shepherd came for us to live life to the fullest. If we follow him we not only receive his gift of life, but that life in fullness and abundance! To live abundantly is something we all desire. I don't know anyone who strives to live an empty life. Who wakes up and says, "I am going to sit around, earn, learn and do nothing today. That is what I want in life, utter emptiness!" On the contrary, so many people go through life looking for fulfillment. Unfortunately, many do not know that only Christ can bring that fulfillment, that no amount of money, things, friends, or entertainment can truly fill us. We are the good shepherd's flock and only he is enough. Only he can give us life in abundance! Praise Him!

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Friday, May 13, 2011

Father Cantalamessa's Talk

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I was so blessed to be able to hear Father Cantalamessa speak at church on Wednesday night. My grandparents were celebrating their forty-eighth wedding anniversary, and they came in to hear him and spend time with us. Let me start off by saying that this man is amazing! He has written a handful of books, many on the Holy Spirit, and he is the personal preacher to the pope! He preached to our holy fathers John Paul the second, and now to Benedict the sixteenth. Father Cantalamessa was introduced with an extended round of applause, but he turned to the altar and clapped with us. I was immediately struck by two things, his humility and his joy. He had a constant smile on his face that lit up the room. Also, is accent was great, it was a very soft, nice sounding Italian accent that resonated with joy and emotion. Right at the beginning my mom whispered to me, “I bet he will be canonized some day.” I truly got the feeling that I was in the presence of a living Saint. I felt God say to me, “This, Alyse, is special. This is special.” it was such a beautiful feeling that it brought me to tears.

I wish I could remember everything he said. Even though I kept my ears tuned in to every word that came out of this man’s mouth, a lot of it has escaped my memory. I would love to share a few things that he said, and I will try, but it might be best to buy his cd :) . His talk was on a new pentecost, and of course the Holy Spirit. As he opened his talk he said, “I want each of us to be able to go home and say, I saw Christ tonight, and share it with everyone.” One great thing that he said was this, “To know God is not an intellectual knowledge, it is something you experience. Christ is not a character, like Napoleon or other historical figures. Christ is a person. Even though you can talk about Napoleon to people, if you ever said, ‘I talked with Napoleon last night’, people would think you are crazy.” He made so many good points! Another good point that he made was this, that often the term “baptism in the spirit” is thought to be made up by a religious group, when really Christ instituted it as it can be seen in Acts 1:5. Also that baptism in the spirit is not a new baptism, simply a rekindling of our first one.

He also gave the homily for mass, and that was awesome too. He said that the point he wanted to bring across was joy. He said that in the world when you think of happiness and sorrow, happiness comes first. It is always the high that leads to the let down. With Christ though, it is the opposite. Suffering brings eternal redemption, that is why Good Friday is first and Easter is second. He said that in Italy the cold of November and March is the same, but for some reason he can stand the cold of November. It is because, he continued, that the cold of March brings the hope of spring whereas the cold of November brings the prospect of more cold.

Like I said, I wish I could remember everything he said. But I hope I was able to bless you through a few of the words of this holy man of God. I was so glad I decided to give my night so that God could give me such a huge blessing. God bless!

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Sunday, May 8, 2011

A Few Little Things

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

First of all, happy mother's day to all of you mothers out there. We can all honestly say we wouldn't be where we are today without you :) I hope you are all abundantly blessed on this day.

A few days ago my family and I went into Lafayette for my mom to have a D and C, the doctor said it was mandatory so that she wouldn't run the risk of hemorrhaging to death again. My mom's surgery went perfectly, and now she is recovering and off of bed rest. I do ask all of you to pray for her healing, we don't know what the matter is but God does, so please send prayers our way. My mom is such a strong woman of God, and I admire how well she has handled this situation.

We had already planned to go into Lafayette for my cousin's first communion and so my siblings and I attended. It was a beautiful mass. There were so many children receiving the beautiful sacrament of Jesus' presence that day. For my first communion I was all alone, so I didn't have a church jammed full of people. But for theirs the church was absolutely packed. My cousins read the prayers of the faithful in mass and I was really blessed to be there. The priest gave a great homily. His name is Father Blessing, which I think is a great name for a priest! He told a funny story that I want to share. He said that he was shopping at a local grocery store and a woman came up to him. She said,
"I think I know you from some where."
He said she couldn't guess and so she said,
"Give me a hint."
He replied,
"Mass?"
She said,
"No, that's not it."
He laughed and let her continue to guess for a little while. He finally said,
"At church on Sunday?"
She said,
"Oh yeah! I didn't recognize you with your normal clothes on."
He said that was a good analogy for us and God. Sometimes we don't recognize God in our everyday lives, even though he is always there. I liked that a lot, partially because that is one thing my blog is dedicated to, recognizing Him every day. So, I was blessed by that and decided to share it with you all.

Have a blessed weekend everyone!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Friday, April 29, 2011

To Not Know...

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I told you awhile back about my Mom's pregnancy. Two weeks ago, when she was six weeks along, she was able to get an ultrasound! We were all so nervous, we had never heard a heart beat before. This time, we did! Mom went in and got a test at the doctor's, all of the levels were perfect. We all thought that this time, after six miscarriages, the baby would make it. We would finally have a baby on the 9th of December 2011!

Today she went in for another ultrasound. We all expected it to be great, why wouldn't we, God is our father. We trusted that he would give us the baby this time, this time we would watch it grow. Mom walked back and opened the door, she immediately burst into tears and announced that the baby had died. My first response was, "What?" I couldn't believe it. I could not accept that this baby had died along with the others, that now there were eight of my siblings in heaven.

Our whole family was devastated. We sat on the couch and cried. Kevin said that we should pray, so we did. During it all I kept on thinking, "Why did this happen? Lord God, why can't we know? Can't you tell us why you have let this happen again?" Through it all I kept on remembering that God's ways are above our ways. As Kevin prayed "Lord, you even let your own son die." I realized how true it was. We cannot understand while we are on Earth. We may never know why God let all of our babies die so early on, we may never know on Earth at least.

As I sat I also thought about how when we reach heaven, the wait will be over. We will see all eight of them, waiting for us, and assuring us that they had prayed for us the whole time. When we get to heaven, it will be made clear, we will know why God decided to let all of the Granger babies go to him before they came to us. His ways are so above our own! I cannot fathom a reason for the suffering that we have endured, time and time again. But God can, he knows why he lets certain sufferings fall upon certain people. Even though we do not know, even though we suffer from that lack of understanding, it is good to know that He knows. It is a consolation to know that God has it all in his hands.

While we prayed the song "Beloved" came to mind. I will share it with you, it is a beautiful song that has blessed me before. In the line "It's a mystery" I find so much consolation. Here it is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CUGTIWCFyo For some reason I cannot attach it to my post :P but you can copy and paste the link if you want. That's the only video to the song that I found... I hope that it can bless you all as well.

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Life Kites

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I have a mental bucket list, it's not that I think about it at all, but when something comes up that I want to do I realize it has been on that imaginary list the whole time. For example, to successfully fly a kite is on that list. I built a kite once, in fourth grade with my whole class, it was a miserable failure. If you are flying handmade, still wet kites in the windless desert around twenty other kids you cannot expect much. Anyhow, to fly a kite successfully has always been on my imaginary bucket list. So when we got kites in our baskets for Easter I was pumped up with the excitement and hope of a successful kite flying adventure.

We went to the park today and built our kites. Anika's and I's were one type, Soren's another. As soon as I built my kite the wind picked it up and pulled it away, letting it soar in the air. I was delighted, I held tight onto the string and let more and more slack out as I watched my swirly lolipop sun kite fly in the air. Anika's worked great too, and we were happy about it. Poor Soren, his would take off and then nose dive into the ground. The whole time we tried to get his off of the ground and failed, while mine and Anika's flew perfectly in the air.

As I held onto my kite and admired it flying through the sky on a perfect day, I felt God's presence, and a slightly cheesy analogy coming upon me. I'll start with the God part, the fact that I was flying a kite and fulfilling one of my little, unimportant dreams was so happy for me. It's like God saying, I want to see you delight in all that I give you, and now I am giving you a kite and a pretty day in the park. The slightly cheesy analogy is this, our spiritual lives are, in some ways, like kites. Sometimes it takes little effort on your part to get it off of the ground, God just comes and sweeps you up and lets you have this fantastic adventure while all that you have to do is hold on. Other times, there is hardly wind at all, you can't feel God, and so you don't even bother trying to fly your kite. Other times our spiritual lives are ill founded, like Soren's kite, and because it is not strong enough you just seem to pick up and drop like lead. When all we have to do is launch off and hold on, God does the rest. We need to go to him daily in prayer, and we need to persevere in our relationship with him, when you do it is as easy and beautiful as flying a kite.

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter!!!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Yay, I can say it again :) He is risen from the dead! God, who died three days ago, conquered death and rose! How beautiful! How absolutely amazing and wonderful is our God, that even the chains of death could not hold him. He rose again and brought us hope, he wiped our tears and put an end to our mourning!

My brother, after watching the Passion, said, "How sad would it be if after all of that he didn't rise?" There wouldn't be any joy after the suffering. God came back!

At mass today it was packed, standing room only. It makes you want to get to learn punctuality :) Standing and watching all of the people squeezed into the pews, and singing joyful songs to the Lord, is enough to make you want to sing, dance and shout to the top of your lungs, "He is risen!" Thankfully I didn't, considering I would have been dragged out of church and probably looked at funnily. But how awesome huh? How awesome is our God!

When I woke up in the morning I had this fluttery feeling in my stomach. I walked into the living room and saw a sheet over the Easter baskets, and my mom preparing a feast. We acted out the resurrection story, which is funny considering we are all a little "old for that" :) and then we opened baskets. Easter is one of the few days where you can eat so much candy that you feel sick, take a break, and there is more candy that you feel you have to eat, cuz hey it's Easter! We went to mass, came home, ate a HUGE Easter lunch/feast and the day is not even over! Colorful eggs, baskets, candy, mass, pretty dresses, and most of all the celebration of one of the most fantastic events in history! I love Christmas, and it is such a beautiful, fantastic, holy, blessed holiday, which I love; but everyone is born. Easter, on the other hand, is a celebration of resurrection, which not everybody does :)

So, I want to say a few things. I love Easter! God is sooooo good! Alleluia! and, HAPPY EASTER!!!!!

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Good Friday

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Yesterday, on good Friday, God really blessed me so much. I think I have shared before how profound Jesus' death on the cross is and how much it means to me. To have a day set aside for meditation on such a profound and world changing event is so meaningful. God, came to Earth, shared, taught us to love, and then died in the most gruesome, painful, bloody expression of love and passion that man has ever seen. He took our sins, suffered for them in our place and then his people, we his children, hung him on a tree.

We watched the Passion yesterday. That movie always strikes me so much, if you have not seen it then you should. Passion, strong and barely controllable emotion, that is the definition I found in the dictionary. I wondered why they decided to name it such "The Passion" and then it hit me, that is what it was. It was his strong, uncontrollable love for us that brought him to the tree, that brought him through the whips and spitting and nails. His passion for us. As hard as we look we will never find someone who loves us so much, someone who is so passionate about us that he or she will do what Christ did in the way he did.

One thing that I love about the movie is the impact. Let me explain, when you meditate on a crucifix you are used to seeing Jesus with a few cuts and a little bit of blood, sometimes. When you watch the passion I feel like you get a grasp of how real it all was. He sweat blood, was mocked, was torn and cut, had thorns driven into his head, walked carrying a heavy cross that nearly crushed him three times, and then was nailed to a tree and left to dehydrate and die. That is real. His love is real. His passion is real. God's fervent passion for us is the most real it can get and yet we hardly think about it. I feel that if we each truly meditated on his passion each day our lives would be better, our families would be better, and our world would be better.

God loves you. He loves you so much that he suffered unimaginable pain and humiliation and he did it willingly, to save you. I know it is almost Easter, a season with a feel and message very different from that of lent and good Friday, but we always need to keep that reminder in our hearts and souls. That reminder of his unending love and passion.

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

So Much!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As the title implies, I have been up to a lot lately! My mom is pregnant :), we are all soooo excited! So, because of that, she had a doctor's appointment on Monday. It went well, and since it was in Laffayette we took our vacation to Big Woods. I was so blessed to be back a again. I have visited this year quite a few times, but never for an extended period of time, so to be there for three nights was a blessing. I feel like my home is in missions, but in the United States it is at Big Woods. I saw my family, and visited with my friends, it was spectacular.
Another reason we visited was to go to my newest cousin's baptism! His name is Anthony Joseph and he is absolutely adorable! God blesses me so much around babies and I was so blessed to meet him and go to his baptism. All of the family came and I was surrounded by little ones, which brings me sheer joy. My cousins are all so stinking cute and I wonder how come we got blessed with such good genes.
While we were there it was beautiful out, and blackberries had just grown. My sister and I went out with the two little missionaries who live on premiss, and blackberry picked! I remember how much I loved it and it was great to see that same joy in the faces of Anthony and Maria.
I was also able to baby sit my little cousins! The super fun kind of babysitting, where you play for an hour, then they go down for a nap without a peep and you get to hold the baby :) That was great!
I really, as you can probably tell, was so blessed by that trip. It is great to be able to spend time outside, see your family and friends, and then have prayer time in front of the blessed sacrament every night. God blessed me so much! He is so good to me :)
There is more to write so I will post later on!

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Being a Catholic Missionary Rocks

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

So, if you didn't already know, the title of my post will tell you that being a Catholic missionary rocks. If you don't believe me, go find one, and then you'll know. So anyway, what inspired said title? I will tell you. It is sort of a couple of things so I will tell you each.

This one is great :) My brother and sister just got pet hamsters. They are cute and furry, like every good hamster should be, and they bring our house an added level of excitement. This morning, Anika was holding one and petting it. Then she said,
"We need to tell them about Jesus."
She left the room, got a crucifix, came back and began to speak to the hamsters.
"This is Jesus." She told them. "He loves you very much, he loves us more but he still loves you."
The hamsters sniffed Jesus' head and continued as normal. This cracked me up, and made me swell with pride, at the same time. It made me remember the years long gone when Anika would baptize her stuffed animals in the pila. She was five, and it was so cute. Anyhow, seeing her evangelize our hamsters made me realize how blessed we were. So blessed to realize the need for everyone to know about Jesus, since there weren't people there Anika took advantage of the hamsters' presence and got to it.

This one is more about how great it is to be Catholic :) Today we went to confession. We lined up against the wall and people flooded in. While we waited there was the rosary being prayed. I felt so blessed at that point, and I realized that other religions don't get this experience. To go to confession, be forgiven in the profound way that you are after confession, and pray the rosary. It was great! Also, while we were there Anika offered to save the spot for a pregnant lady and it made me realize once more the beauty of our missionary upbringing to reach out to all those around you.

God really has been blessing me in my everyday life. I know that right now we are not called to be in the foreign mission field but we are still called to be missionaries. Everyday opportunities arise to take advantage of your past and religion. I know that not all of us are called to be foreign missionaries, and not all have had the blessing to be Catholic for whatever reason, and these people are still blessed and can have great lives. I just have really been feeling so blessed by what I have :) God bless!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Snippets

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

So, as the title of this post implies, it will consist greatly in snippets of thoughts and not one solid one. So if you could just bear with me :)

I went to a writer's conference yesterday, it was really cool! It is called LItfest and is for writers in High school. There were a bunch of people there, which was great. I felt abnormal amongst them considering that I looked relatively normal, and that many other's had eccentric styles :) . It was a cool cultural experience I could say, which sounds funny since I am in my home country, but considering that I am home schooled I don't spend much time around huge groups of people my age. There was an open mic and kids, well I guess they are all my age so I don't know if it is fair to say kids, got up and read some of their work. I was impressed how many talented people were there. I was also sad to see that some of the stuff was not the kind of work that is appropriate. It made me realize once again the need for clean media in our country. If all that you are exposed to contains material that is not pleasing to God, chances are that it will seep into your life as well. Over all it was a great experience, but just please join me to pray for an increase in good quality, clean media in our world today.

I have also been thinking a lot about my vocation. I believe that I will serve God one day as a full time missionary but I am obviously not doing that right now. So what am I doing? I have felt the stress on the importance of family. Family stretches beyond when you are grown and have children and such, it is when you are young too. And that is a struggle that I find myself fighting with, to truly love my family, especially siblings, well. To love them givingly like I will need to one day when I have children and a spouse, assuming that it is God's will. It is so easy to dismiss your family responsibilities when you are young, and to find them unimportant, but it really is fundamental in your growth as a person and therefore should be looked upon as a mission in itself. I feel like God is helping me learn that.

Last snippet, yesterday, at the conference I heard this interview with a man who said that when you look back the first 25 years are the most fundamental, and the first 18 even more so. Now, I don't believe them to be any more important then the last years of your life, but he did make an impression on me. It made me remember how important it is to reach out to children and teens. If you build your house on the sand then it will crumble, the same thing with your life. It needs to be on a solid foundation and so we need to make a special effort to be there for the youngest in our world. Praise God that he is raising up strong men and women in their faith to lead the youth with groups and sessions, so we need to support them with our prayers.

Well that's all!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Sometimes Life is Like a Coconut...

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As you can tell by the title of this post it will be a very metaphorical one, the reason simply being because life is very much unlike a hairy fruit in many ways. Now, I didn't name it that so I could tell you all of the ways that life is unlike coconuts but to share a little revelation as to why it can be.

I was thinking the other day about all of the things that they say life is like: toilet paper, rivers, a box of chocolates. And those metaphors are all fine and dandy but I decided to mix it up a little. Sometimes, life is like a coconut. You can't tell what it is like on the inside, because all that you are seeing is external. There is a story to back up my new saying, it goes like this:

My brother loves coconuts! What's not to love really? Anyhow, we walked into the store one day and saw a big box FULL of coconuts. Soren, my brother, went crazy, begging for a coconut. My mom finally caved, even though we don't own anything that can open coconuts easily, or because some people in my family do not like coconuts. But that day we left the store with a coconut in our cart. It sat on our table for days, my mom not wanting to open it up in fear that it would be to hard considering we don't own an ice pick. One day Soren finally begged hard enough and mom went at it with a knife. She took the knife, hammered as hard as she could on the coconut's eye, and it still didn't crack. Finally it resulted in her sawing it open with a knife that was very nearly ruined afterwards. After much effort the fruit was open. Yay! It smelled great, looked fine and we all were craving some. I went to serving a little of the meat to everyone and we were met with a bitter surprise. It was actually more of a rotten surprise. You guessed it, the coconut was totally rotten. It had pink fuzz growing inside of it and it felt really slimy. So the much awaited coconut ended up in the trash.

What's the moral of the story? Well that, sometimes, life is like a coconut. It looks great on the outside! It is super desirable and appealing, you think it is all dandy and await the day where you will take the time and effort to peer in, expecting to be pleased. But what if it's gross? What if we take the time, and with God's help, look deep into ourselves and find mold and gunk in our souls? Unlike coconuts, we cannot go to the store and buy a new life. So what happens? We need to fix it. We need to put our lives in shape, take out all that which is gross and unappealing. There is good news, we can. We can fix up our lives and make them great again. God gives us the tools to do so. We can dig into our souls and rip out that which is bad, not only that we can keep it out, with God's help. Lent is a great time to do this, to look inside of our souls and ask for God to help us fix it up. That way, when we look inside again, we get to delight in the goodness of our lives and souls.

Peace and love in Christ,

Alyse

Thursday, March 17, 2011

New Family

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My dad just got married this last Sunday. He is married to a wonderful woman who's name is Simona, she is from Rome, Italy. She came in with her daughter, her mother, and her stepfather. I was really blessed by being able to meet all of them.

The wedding was so nice and all of the family was there, having a great time, and enjoying each other's company. The reception was at a beautiful bed and breakfast and it was really nice.

My new little sister's name is Beatrice, she is the cutest! She is four years old and has the sweetest personality. She only speaks Italian, but with a little effort you can hardly feel the language barrier. God blessed me so much with her openness and free spirit. He reminded me of the beauty of playing with children, and blessed me so much with her. On the way to the airport today we played with dolls, something I haven't done in years! I really felt God's blessing during the time we had with Simona's family.

God has the funniest way of doing things, like giving me a family in Italy :) I have really enjoyed my visit with Dad, Simona, and her family, although her family left today. It reminded me of my family in the international church and that there are people to love and enjoy all around the world!

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Friday, March 11, 2011

It's Lent!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Lent has arrived again. On ash wednesday I was blessed to see the church so full. It is so encouraging to see so many come to mass for the preparation of a forty day penance time. When I think of lent I usually don't think "happy" or "great" as it should be, since it is a time for penance, but it does get me excited. Excited to know that my soul can go through a sort of spring cleaning, and get rid of all of the junk that has been in it for the past year. It is a great time to examine your spiritual life, your everyday actions, and change them. To turn your life around with penances and fasts that you stick to and form good habits of.

Of course you don't avoid sweets for the rest of the year, or that kind of thing, but lent can teach you so much. God really works when we sit and listen, and I find lent to be a good time for that. To be able to say "Okay God, I love you so much that I am going to die to myself for a while and let you work in me."

I hope that you all are having a blessed lent and are preparing your heart for Easter, when we will celebrate His resurrection!

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Sunday, March 6, 2011

The Media

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Today at mass a deacon gave a homily. He touched on many points but one in specific caught me. He said,
"I feel like the biggest problem in our society today is,"
I waited to hear what he would say, curious as to what he thought it was.
"the media." He continued.

I was surprised. He went on to say that we watch so many people and spend hours of our days devoted to them, and slowly we become desensitized. We become desensitized to all of the bad stuff that the media contains. Now, desensitized is one of my favorite words to describe slacking, because it is so powerful. To be desensitized is to not feel, to no longer be alert to something.

When you think of becoming desensitized it is almost scary, to know that it is still equally as bad, but you just don't care anymore. I have become desensitized, and I feel that it is a common problem in society. To see gore, or listen to crude jokes, or foul language and not flinch. Slowly it becomes so common place that you don't notice, or don't care. How sad, huh? To know that we are settling for less than what is good, to be okay with the mediocre or straight out bad. We need to become re-sensitized to the world around us, we need to pray for change.

Media affects our society sooooo much. Without noticing it, you may change the way you look, act, speak, respond and even feel, because of a tv show or music. Media is what sets our trends and enters our lives and conversations. It is where we go for entertainment, or to have a good time. And if it is bad then it affects us no matter how hard we try. Do you get my point?

Now, I am not saying that everyone should stop listening to anything but praise and worship music, and never watch a movie above a PG rating. What I am saying is that we should become more aware of what we watch and listen to, it should still affect us. If you know a movie has awful stuff in it, just choose not to watch it. If you are listening to the radio and all of the sudden there is nothing but vulgarity, switch the channel.

Since media affects us so much, let's make sure that it is good media. Things that glorify God, or at least doesn't glorify sin and the devil. We can pray for change, we can pray for better media in our society. We are in such desperate need of clean tv shows, movies, books, songs, and magazines! When we pray, God answers. So let's all pray to be aware, let's pray for good, entertaining, clean media.

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Spring

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Today we stepped out of our house and I saw this beautiful tree. I saw how beautiful and bright the flowers on it were and how happy and new it looked. I also noticed that the tree itself could have been mistaken for dead. There weren't any leaves on it and it was dry, brown, and twiggy. I pointed it out and my sister said, "I bet if you cut it open it is green on the inside."

I looked once more at that little tree with the beautiful flowers and it made me think of God. So often I find myself in a spiritually dry place, it seems like my relationship with God is almost lifeless, just the twigs of what had been a beautiful relationship. But then you see God turn it around and make beautiful life spring from what had been dead! In the bible you read about the dry bones that came back to life, that is what that tree reminded me of. The picture is below and you can see what I am talking about. Such a dead tree has so much life inside of it that it no longer is dead but is giving life!

My friend and I were having an awesome conversation the other day. She said that when God gives you spiritual dryness it is to bring about something new and wonderful. Like Winter, if it were Spring all of the time you wouldn't be able to see the beauty of what is present. God may give us times where we feel dead or dried up but his plan is so much greater! He gives us those times so that he can work in the secrets of our hearts and bring about a spiritual Spring!



Our plans are different from God's but he tells us "I know the plans I have for you. Plans for your well fare and not for your woe. Plans to give you a future filled with hope".
Praise God for his goodness and his perfect plan!

Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Sunday, February 20, 2011

God Bless You

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Have you ever been driving under an overpass and seen a homeless man with a cup out, asking for money? My guess is that you probably have. Now wether or not you have ever offered anything to this man is between you and God, but if you have you might have noticed what usually follows. My experience shows him smiling graciously and offering a "God bless you" in return.
What makes him say that? My guess is that he knows that God exists. He knows that God is real and living and going around blessing people. Now, this makes you think "What makes him know this?". When he is in a situation that all of us strive to never be in, he knows that God lives and loves. I have seen the same thing happen in Mexico with people who have nothing according to the world.
We live in a world where so many go out of the way to deny the existence of God, and those who have "reason" to doubt go out of the way to affirm it. How often do I say God bless you to those I encounter on the street? I am ashamed to say almost never. This man's "God bless you" really blessed me. It opened my eyes to how simple it is to say, and to how powerful it can be to say it. I might think it would make someone uncomfortable, but should that stop me? No. Jesus didn't come to make people comfortable, quite the contrary. He came to set the world on fire, and the last time I checked being in fire isn't all that cozy.
I guess what I want to say is that God lives, God loves, God blesses, and that we should share that with all those that we can. I have yet to say God bless you to my checkout lady or some other stranger, but I will try, I can learn so much from that man that has so little.
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse
p.s- God bless you

Monday, February 14, 2011

Valentine's Day

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Happy Valentine's Day! What a beautiful day, huh? A day to celebrate love! When you think about it you realize it is yet another day to celebrate God, since God is Love! I woke up this morning to a delightful, pink breakfast that my sister lovingly made, a card from my brother and some candy and a watch from Mom and Kevin. It blessed me to be able to participate in this little exchange just to remind each other of the love that we share as a family.
This is a little biography that I found about St. Valentine, the namesake of this holiday: Valentine was a holy priest in Rome, who, with St. Marius and his family, assisted the martyrs in the persecution under Claudius II. He was apprehended, and sent by the emperor to the prefect of Rome, who, on finding all his promises to make him renounce his faith ineffectual, commanded him to be beaten with clubs, and afterward to be beheaded, which was executed on the 14th of February, about the year 270.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Friday, February 11, 2011

100th Post

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This is my 100th post! Thank you to all of those who have followed or read my blog. It is such a blessing to live in a world where your thoughts can be shared so easily and readily! God really has taught me a lot by having this blog, it has helped me to search more thoroughly for all of his blessings so as to share it with the world! I have had many page views from a large number of countries, which I think is really great. Thanks again for reading and sharing my blog :) God bless, you all remain in my prayers!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Photos Page and Comments

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I created a Photos page :) Check it out! Also, I have made it easier to comment on my posts, if you want to!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

To Die With Christ

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.- Romans 6: 1-12

Wow, huh? When I think of baptism I think of new life, and here it says that we die with Christ in baptism. If you think about it more you see how true it is, even though we die we find life, new life. We die to this world, to sin, and to ourselves. In turn we live with Christ! Not a bad deal huh?
Think of a dead person, nothing can affect them. No matter what you say or do nothing can change them because they are no longer living. We are called to be dead to sin, not only insensitive, but totally dead to it! It sounds so crazy, so impossible, but yet it is already here! We are baptized so we have died and lived with Christ, we can live a new life! Through our baptism is brought so much freedom, freedom from sin and from death. We are brought into life and life to the fullest, life abundant! Praise Him!!!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Light of the World

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Today in mass the homily was really beautiful and it made me think. He said that when we think of lamps we think of those that you can turn off and on, dim, brighten and unplug. He said that in the time of Jesus lamps were different, they were bowls of oil you couldn't turn off, all you could do was cover them with a bushel basket. That is our kind of lamp. We cannot turn off the light of Christ within us. We can cover it, hide it and ignore it but it will always be there, we are called to let it shine. To not cover it with a basket but to rather put it on a lamp stand and to be lights of Christ.
I guess it is just something to think about that I wanted to share will all of you! God bless.
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

This Crazy Wonderful Life That God Gave Me

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I have been thinking a lot lately. I have been thinking about how crazy wonderful God is and how much he loves and how much he loves me. I also have been thinking about how crazy awesome my life is! So many people go through life disappointed, sad and depressed. What about? We have this fantastic gift, we have a fantastic father who is crazy about us! We have fantastic people, places and things surrounding us! We have a new morning every day and a clean slate after every confession. We are so blessed to be alive! I am so blessed to be where I am, what I am, and around who I am. God has just showered infinite blessings upon me, he has opened his arms and said "I love you."
God is so good! Even when life seems hard and annoying and boring and impossible it isn't. It is so far from those things and God has given it to us, he has given us life! I know that I am blessed, I know how much I am loved! Now I get to go and share it, I get to be Christ's love to all of my brothers and sisters :) Praise God for his crazy, awesome, amazing fantasticness!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Canned Tomatoes

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
"Don't eat this." my Mom warned as I stood in the kitchen making lunch. I turn to find her pouring canned tomato sauce into a tupperware container.
"Why would I eat that?" I asked, genuinely curious to hear her answer.
"I don't know, but if you do all you will get is a spoon of canned tomatoes."
I laugh silently to myself and continue making sandwiches. Why I would ever want to eat a few spoonfuls of tomato paste beats me, I know it's gross and my mom knows it won't be good for me. Wait a second... I thought about how God must have felt giving the garden of Eden to Adam and Eve.
"Don't eat from the tree that will lead you astray from me." He warned kindly.
In a garden where there is so much good stuff why would they want to eat the only bad thing? It made me flash to myself, standing at the fridge eating spoons of tomato paste greedily while other delicious things my mom has provided sit inside the refrigerator. "Now I've done it, I have finally done it!" I would laugh maniacally as I slurped yet another spoon of cold, flavorless paste.

Why would I ever want to do that? And yet it happens time and time again. God warns to not do something that will permanently damage our souls and yet we do it out of pure adventure or disregard. When God gives us so many fantastic things in life and warns not settle for the nasty yuckiness that the world serves we sometimes rebel and ignore all of the wonders God has in store! It seems so silly when you put it into terms of tomato paste for a snack, but yet I do things much sillier in real terms! Choosing to sin instead of do the service God offers me is like choosing tomato paste instead of yogurt, cheese sticks, granola bars or ice cream. The better option is soooo much better!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Saturday, January 22, 2011

My job

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I have a job! It is only part time, I get to hold a sign on the side of the road for two hours a day for two weeks. Exciting huh? As I stand there my options are very limited to what I can do, yet God can bless people in the least seemingly blessed places. I entertain myself by looking for familiar cars, one is a car with eyelashes, and finding out the most comfortable way to how to hold the sign. Also I do some other things, and now I will list all that has blessed me.
It is rather boring to stand on the side of the road, and yet I decided to smile the whole time. I prayed that people can somehow see my love of Christ through my smile instead of the usual "kill me now" look of others I have seen holding signs.
I pray a rosary everyday! This has blessed me soooo much because I love to pray the rosary and seldom set aside the time to do so during an average day.
I listen to music, and I try to make it all upbuilding and joyful to help in my "smile always" task.
Yesterday a lady came up to me and handed me a few dollars saying "Go get yourself something warm to drink after your shift is over. You are doing a great job." This lady blessed me so much! Especially considering yesterday I was sick and standing in the cold with a sign was even less enjoyable than it had been.
I guess what I want to say is that even when we don't feel like we could be blessed God finds ways to do so. If there is one thing I have learned from my job it is that. God bless!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse

Friday, January 14, 2011

Roots

Brothers and sisters in Christ,
I had been praying a while ago that God would remind me of his presence in my life, I know that God is so present but sometimes I can't feel him. Even though I don't deserve to be answered, especially when I am doing something so absurd as assuring myself of God's love, he answered me. A few days later I got an email from a woman saying that my siblings and I blessed her three years ago. We met once, for a few hours and then she found us and told us that we blessed her so much!
After that I gave a talk at that confirmation retreat which was great. Now, a girl that was there got in touch with me asking me to talk to her high school Christian club. I feel like they're roots, sprouting out and growing. You know how some roots spread out and grow into other plants from the same roots. God was great enough to plant a seed that has spread and grown so much!
I feel so blessed and loved and I am reassured again about the truth and greatness of God and his love. Even when I fall short God never ever does, praise him!
Peace and love in Christ,
Alyse