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
Friday, August 26, 2011
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
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
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
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