A Picture is Worth....

So, as you can see from the previous post, I am working on catching up on the blog! Yay!

I figured it might be best to present the major events of the last couple months to you in the form of pictures and captions. This way, you won't have to be submitted to several thousand words of drivel. :)

Here goes:

It all began many years ago....

Yep, that's me! Crazy, huh?

I suppose we needn't go back that far though.

How about, say, Thanksgiving 2012. 

Tons of AMAZING food! Yum!

We were able to fit nearly twenty of us at one table!

Although we had to use some plasticware, cloth napkins
 and homemade name tags jazzed things up a bit! We tested the
hypothesis that a spaghetti noodle will function in the
 place of long match when lighting all the candles...
whoever came up with the idea never tried it. :)

Christmas Preparations! 
This year, I made most of my Christmas presents by hand. Some months ago, my sister brought up the idea of making Christmas-themed pysanky Easter eggs (how is that for contradictory?). Anyhow, I took the idea and decided to make egg ornaments using the pysanky wax/die method. It's been so much fun!

It starts with drawing your design on a blown egg. Then
one adds wax and die alternately to apply color. Once
the final color has been applied, the wax is melted off
to reveal the design. 

I had made Our Lady of Guadalupe before, but this one
turned out better than before. Thanks be to God!

I made this egg for my brother, who is an avid
Corn Husker. :) 

Eggs that tell a story are definitely the most fun to make.
This one has a game of frisbee on it! 

An application of nail polish will add a finished look!

Of course, one cannot prepare for Christmas without
 baking some Christmas cookies! This was the first time I
was introduced to "painting" unbaked sugar cookies...
Never. going. back.

Christmas! 
This year, Christmas was a bit toned down due to the flu, but it was grace-filled nonetheless! Thanks be to God for niquil and sudafed though! We were blessed to have my brother and sister-in-law join us part of the time!

Prince of Peace

 

A family of Huskers. 

The wonders of cream cheese and ranch mix. 

Yeah. um. These are the best chocolate chip
 cookies in existence. Their name?
"I want to marry you cookies" 

The beauty of the Nativity is that it looks
forward to Calvary.

Ok. This is embarrassing...

Ok. So here's the thing. I have a plentitude of things and pictures to share with you but am not sure where to start. The ironic thing is, despite the fact that things have been rather quiet around here lately, I  actually have sat down to write fairly regularly. Hence, my post page looks like this:

Yep, that's right. Three fourths of recent posts are unfinished and unpublished. Hopefully this isn't a gauge for life. ;) Anyhow, I hope to get caught up soon! 

Benefits and Drawbacks to Being a Science Major

One of the perks of being a biology/health sciences major is that one generally knows which health symptoms are minor and which symptoms are not. This can be fortunate as it can allow you to waive aside a cramp or strain etc. However, it can be unpleasant because you know the symptoms that can be indicative of much bigger problems.

Isn't this awesome? My lab partner and I took this picture
of nerve cells (neurons, if you want to know)! It's so
 amazing to think that we have billions of these guys in
our bodies! 

Therefore, you can imagine my peaceful delight this morning when I found that my hand kept going numb. Yay. It doesn't take a degree to know that this is something you can't ignore.

Numbness and tingling is often associated with nerve damage. Yay again.
Had I sustained an injury, this might have been expected. However, I hadn't been in a car accident or something like that, so the numbness was definitely concerning.

One of the disadvantages of having just studied the nervous system in Advanced Anatomy and Physiology is (cue: suspenseful music) being aware of the pathological issues involving nerves.

We all know that knowledge is power and with great power comes great....jumping to conclusions, right?

So therefore the only logical reaction to my problem was to think: "Ahhhhh! I'm going to lose mobility, my brain is going to stop working due to a brain tumor and now I'm going to die!" 

Or something like that.

I was able to conference with my mother (who used to be a nurse) and she was concerned as well. Great.  Now off to school to go learn more nerve pathology about neural innervation of the ears. 

...

Now, you ask, didn't you think about God or spiritual things at this point? 

Well, whether or not it actually crossed my mind that I may die younger than St. Therese of Lisieux (who died at 24) is up to your imagination. ;) 

Seriously though, what really struck me is how hard it was to just trust in God whatever was going on. I know my situation was quite different from someone who truly was suffering from a terminal disease, but if it were a sort of "dry run" for that I definitely failed. 

The thing about a situation like this, is you get stripped down of all pretension and imagined holiness and you realize how small you really are--how small your love is.

You begin to realize how much you need God's grace. 

You find that the amount of effort you are putting into loving God and neighbor is much less than what is possible for you to give.

On one hand this can be very discouraging, but on the other hand it is a much needed breath of fresh air. 

You see, it is very humbling to find that you are really not the king of the universe. 

When your soul is naked and you see that you cannot even control what happens to your own body, you find your rightful place in life: a creature placed at the feet of the Creator. 
Utterly helpless, but for his grace. 



Yet this knowledge is so freeing. For you are no longer bound by the "imagination of your heart", pride. 

God is good. I am learning how small I really am. How much I need God's grace. I pray that I may grow in love of God and truly align my priorities in life.

Happy feast day! 

Follow up to the numbness: Although I still am experiencing it, we believe that I probably pinched/tore a nerve in my shoulder Monday night (by pulling something heavy from across the car). Thanks be to God it is nothing worse.

Not Alone: A Post-Election Reflection

Though dark night closes around, we will not be afraid. For you, O Lord, are our strength and refuge. Whatever may come, good or ill may we praise and glorify your name!

Let us not forget, that it was on the bleakest of all nights, when all hope seemed in vain, that Love himself conquered and triumphed!

Therefore, we must not fear. The battle has already been won! If we but cooperate with Christ's grace, we will be able to convert the world! How blest we are to be able to suffer in union with our Divine Lord! Now more than ever we will find that mediocrity is not an option. We must be saints! But what a time to be saints!

 Ours is a culture which has rejected The Cornerstone--a culture which worships the creature rather than the Creator. Brothers and sisters in Christ, we face a culture which is not unlike that which the first Christians encountered. And our task is very much the same! We must go out to the four corners of the world and proclaim the goodness of God! 

Odds are, like the early Christians, we will be persecuted. But what a joy it is to give all to God our Savior! Whether or not that means shedding our blood--only God our Father knows. Yet he is that--Our Father!--and "all things work for good for those who love God..." (Rom 8:28) Though all may appear to be collapsing, we must have hope. I say again, remember Good Friday! 

When all hope seemed lost, when everyone was scattered and the King himself publicly mocked, humiliated and murdered, that is when Love triumphed.

 It may be that we live to see a new culture of life, but it also may be that we all called home to our Father God during these dark days ahead. May his name be praised! Whatever he may want, at any moment, Fiat! let it be done! Though I walk in the dark valley, I fear no evil; for you are at my side... (Ps 23:4)

He is here and will walk us through the night. We are not alone. 


Let us ask the intercession of the first Christians as we face this difficult time. May we imitate them by living our lives totally united to Christ even if that means giving our life for love of him.

Lightning!

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate to be able to travel to the beach with my family. We stayed on a marine base in a house built on the sand. It was as incredible as it seems....

...a beautiful bungalow

...the ocean within spitting distance... 

...fabulous finds...

...and last but not least, a visit from my brother! 

The last night we were there we got a spectacular thunderstorm! I'd never photographed lightning before, but per my brother's directions I got my first shot!! 

(A trip to a marine base would not be complete without some pretty intense road signs ;) )

Freedom to Love

Painting by Norman Rockwell taken from Arts Experts Inc

I would like to begin by telling you the story of a young girl. I first met her when I was still very young but did not actually get to know her very well until fairly recently. For the sake of anonymity I will refer to her as Marion. 

Marion was born into a loving and holy family in the Midwest. God showered her with many blessings from the very beginning. He gave her a quirky sense of humor, a rich enthusiasm and an aptitude for learning. Most importantly, God provided that Marion would be formed in the faith from an early age. Marion was far from perfect though: not only did she have a nasty temper as she grew up, but she also suffered from pride and a lack of self-discipline. In high school, God blessed her once more by allowing that she develop friends not based on popularity but on true friendship. In these friends she began to see something that she was lacking, but she was not able to identify it until many years later. You see, Marion ought to have been the most carefree girl around being blessed in so many ways. Slowly -through God’s grace-Marion began to discover what plagued her: her love was tainted. That is, her relationships were not “pure” because she only was good to those she felt like being good to. Beginning to understand the problem was one thing, but for Marion doing something about it was something else. She seemed fixated on increasing her self discipline in order to discipline herself in her relationships, but to no avail. But then one day, something changed.

And that something is what I am about to relate to you. It all began when Marion heard a quote from the Dialogues of St. Catherine of Siena. (Christ is the speaker).

"I would have you know that every virtue of yours and every vice is put into action by means of your neighbor. Love of me and love of neighbor are one and the same thing. The more the soul loves me, the more the soul loves the neighbor. I've distributed my goods to everyone in such a way that no one has them all. Thus, I've given you reason to practice mutual charity. I could well have supplied each one of you with everything that you need, but I've wanted to make you dependent on one another so that each of you would be my minister, dispensing to one another what you need by means of charity... I ask you to love me with the same love with which I love you, but you can't do it because I loved you without being loved first. You don't love me freely but out of duty. I love you freely. This is why I've put you among your neighbors, so that you can do for them what you cannot do for me: loving them without being loved first, without being loved in return, without any concern or profit to yourself."

It became clear that if she was to love God purely, Marion must purify her charity. This was much easier said than done and her minute progress was very discouraging.

Mary of Sorrows
The most holy rosary.com

Some weeks later, Marion attended Mass honoring Our Lady of Sorrows. In his homily, the priest spoke of how it was through Our Lady of Sorrows that he quit smoking and encouraged everyone to put their struggles in her hands. That day, Marion put her whole life and her discouragement in Our Lady’s hands and asked her to “take care of this mess, please.”

 It is hard to imagine the change in Marion’s--or rather--my life. You see, Marion never really existed. It is my life that has been blessed and which Our Blessed Lady has taken under her mantle.  

Now I can see that I must give myself to others in imitation of Christ's gift of his life on the cross. Sometimes it is much easier than others, but I have found that there is a profound joy and peace that accompanies that gift--whether it be a job volunteered for or simply a smile and a kind word. Ironically, the self-discipline that I've been working on for years is so much easier now that I have begun to learn charity. 

For nearly my entire life, I have been caught up with anxiety about what God wants me to do with my life. And only recently have I begun to understand in a tangible way the quote from the Second Vatican Council: "man...cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself." -Gaudium et Spes

I don't have to worry about my future. By giving of myself to others out of love for God, I can discover that unique purpose and vocation for which God has made me.

A priest once asked, "Have you ever wondered whether God wants to comfort/help/etc. someone through you? After all, the Church is the Mystical Body of Christ--maybe he wants to act through you?" (paraphrase)

What a beautiful gift it is to be able to serve God through giving of ourselves to others! While it may not be easy at all times, how incredible it is that God can use us to reach everyone around us. 

I have certainly not mastered charity, but with the help of Our Lady and God's grace, I hope that Christ's words may be applied to me as well:  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (Jn 13:35) 

Next Food Project?

Popular Music and Prayer

Music can be a very beautiful thing. (How's that for a platitude?) As such, it can be a way of bringing glory to our Creator in its very essence. That is not to say that all "music" falls into this category nor that only hymns can be used for prayer. 

Basically, what I am trying to say is this: music, even that not expressly written to praise God, can be used as a conduit to prayer. As such there is a time and a place for both popular music and hymns. Obviously, pop music does not belong in the liturgy, nor should hymns be restricted to liturgical use.

Nevertheless, popular music, as long as it is not inherently evil, can be a very useful jumpstart to prayer. Even the saints have used it to praise God. In particular, "St Josemaria used to love singing love-songs, to which he gave a new meaning about loving God. “Never be afraid,” he said, “to use clean human love songs to sing about divine love. Because we love with one same heart. God loves us like that, madly, each of us, as if we were the only person on earth” (quoted by Ana Sastre, Tiempo de Caminar). " From http://www.josemariaescriva.info

 A song that I've come to appreciate more in light of God's goodness is "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri. 

I cannot listen to it without meditating on Christ's presence in the Eucharist. I like to see it as a dialogue between the soul and Christ. For example, the song begins with a soul afraid to submit to God's will. In the refrain, we find Christ's response:

I have died everyday waiting for you
Darling don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

Who else has loved and waited for us for thousands of years in the tabernacle? Who's death is made present in the Sacrament of the Altar every day in all corners of the world?  

Time stands still
Beauty in all she is
I will be brave
I will not let anything take away
What's standing in front of me
Every breath
Every hour has come to this

The purpose of our life here on earth is to follow Christ's will for us: in every moment, at any time, fiat! Let it be done!  "Every hour" of our life comes down to this. Strengthened by God's grace, we must "be brave" and rid ourselves of attachments which distance our relationship with not what, but Who is standing before us in the Eucharist. 


"Jesus has made Himself the Bread of Life to give us life. Night and day, He is there. If you really want to grow in love, come back to the Eucharist, come back to that Adoration."
--Mother Teresa

"When you approach the tabernacle remember that he has been waiting for you for twenty centuries."
--St. Josemaria Escriva

Let us make an effort to visit our Divine Love in the tabernacle today in gratitude for his great goodness to us poor creatures. 

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real: Fireworks Edition!

This Independence Day, Miss Sarah and Miss Me hosted the gang over at their house for food, fireworks, and fun (not to mention fantastic friends of course). There was a fireworks show within walking distance, so an hour or so before it began we trekked our way through masses of people to find a good spot. 

Let me just say:

The show was absolutely fantastic. 

Apparently, the town hired  Zambelli Fireworks (renowned throughout the world for their displays) to put together the event. You could tell. 

~Pretty~

These photos really don't do justice to the show, but I'm thankful to have been able to catch them!

This one reminds me of a sea urchin!

There were several like this--exploding from the ground as well as mid-air.
There is another example further down the page. 

There was a light fixture that obstructed our view, but it didn't
diminish the beauty of the show, thankfully!

See the reflection of the show in the car window (lower left): so neat!

~Happy~

Did I mention fantastic friends? 

Red, White and Blue!

~Funny~

There were several times when the fireworks were so beautiful that we wondered if the grande finale had begun already. Thankfully not.  But, as a result, I was able to get some of the main show on film (as you will see below). 

Strangely enough, the fireworks at the end of this clip reminded several of us of bacterial growth/rock formations/coral. Ironically enough I'd have to say they were some of the prettiest that we saw.

~Real~

A) I didn't take out my camera until the show, so I didn't get any pictures of Miss Sarah and Miss Me's delightful party.

B) Although I'm very thankful to have captured the previous pictures, I really cannot take any credit for them because my camera has a nice "fireworks" setting and so therefore does all the work adjusting aperture and exposure (and foreign things like that ;).

Basically, I ended up taking around 200 photos, most of which turned out like this:

All in all, it was a delightful Independence Day, praise God! :)

Head over to Like Mother, Like Daughter for some more Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real! (click the picture)