Women's Night 1

This past Sunday night was the first Women's Night for the youth group. I'm not sure how to begin talking about this...

Melissa and I were SO excited about it. I don't show excitement well, but I definintely felt the way that Melissa was acting. She just bubbled over with joy at what we were doing and our plans for these young women. Melissa has such an incredible gift when it comes to speaking about her faith and vocalizing her thoughts. I believe that God will touch the hearts of our teens through her and her words.

Melissa led the night. She spoke about how young girls are filled with such vast dreams, dreams that God intends for all women to have, how young women seem to have lost these dreams along their journeys, becoming broken beings of the world, and begged the question, what happens in between? Melissa spoke for awhile, the girls were given time for a self-examination, and we all discussed our thoughts. The teens also told us what they're looking for from our weekly women's nights, what issues they face and/or want talked about. At the end we just sat and talked for awhile. I turned on some music and we pretty much finished off all our snacks as we spoke. Once the teens were gone, Melissa and I discussed the night and started planning our future sessions. It ended with us, Pete, and two of the teens hanging out on the playground eating ice cream for a good long while.

Overall, it was an incredibly successful night. The teens seem to really be looking forward to next Sunday night, and I think they'll really get a lot out of it.

Melissa and I watching the ridiculousness of the others

"You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

John 8: 32

Father's Day Weekend

I know this was almost a week ago, but oh well...

Father's Day Weekend started out with nothing less than a wedding! I love weddings...getting all dolled up, dancing and laughing all day and night with your family, and, really, it's just such a beautiful, wonderful event. Weddings are such an incredible example of what this life is about. As humans we long to love and be loved, and then share that love with our family, friends, and, most importantly, with God.

Chris came in town to be my date for the event...and of course he was a fantastic one. He seems to have become very fond of my family, which tends to happen once you get past the intial crazy. I had such a wonderful time with him, my siblings, all my cousins, and everyone else. We laughed and danced and sang...and other such things that large Irish families do. My cousin, Melanie, the bride, was absolutely gorgeous, and the groom, Jeff, just glowed. I love watching the groom as the bride walks down the aisle. Jeff's face was completely alight from something deep inside, I could almost see his love for my cousin pouring out of him. It was a postively beautiful moment, and I thank God that, not only my cousin was blessed to have it, but that I was lucky enough to witness it.
Chris and I dancing

The day after this wonderful occurance was Father's Day, and what a day it was! Chris and I went to Laumeier Sculpture Park in the morning, but it was so terribly hot that we didn't stay for too long. We went to noon mass and then I took him down to Wash U to meet up with his sister to go home. My family gathered at an aunt and uncle's house in the afternoon to celebrate Father's Day. I can't go into detail about the happenings, but it definitely turned into one of our better parties. :)) Everyone had a great time, and I think it was a definite bonding experience for everyone involved.


Family is a blessing, appreciate and cherish it.

Love and prayers

Work Work Work

So far this summer my only relief from work has been the youth group. This week, however, a number of the teens, Pete, and Melissa are away on Project Life, a service retreat. I'm really excited for them, but I'm also very sad that I'm not there with them. It sounds like a such an incredible experience. Unfortunately, with all of them gone, most of our weekly events aren't happening, and all I've been doing is working. I'm still at Dairy Queen, and it's been wonderful. I normally end up covered in ice cream and strawberry topping, my back hurts whenever I do dishes, and when it gets busy I still worry about getting everything done properly. It's fun though. Working with Jenny is always the best, but all of the girls there are wonderful. Plus, it's almost never boring. My second job just started on Tuesday night too. This is my fifth summer working at the Muny Theatre. I had had no intention of returning this summer because honestly, I don't particularly like working there, but I can really use the extra money. My oldest niece, Taylor, plays in an orchastra that's been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in the spring. I'm so proud of her, and I really want to go see her play. I need the second job so I can afford the plane ticket. I just keep telling myself that when I'm sitting there listening to her play it'll all be worth it. Anyway, this week has been pretty exhausting, I've been working everyday at at least one of my jobs. Hopefully things will settle down after this week, but I have a feeling once things start up with the youth group again, it'll just get crazier.

I have had a few fun times this past week and a half. I've gone shopping a couple of times. The first time with Jenny, we went shoe shopping. It was wonderful, I got three pairs of heels, gold, silver, and green. They're all gorgeous and I can't wait to wear them. The second time with my mom. I got some new tennis shoes and a pair of jeans. My two favorite things to buy! I also got to hang out with one of my best friends from Rockhurst, Molly. She came over and we just sat on the couch and talked for a good long time. She and my mom sort of ganged up on me at one point, which I didn't appreciate, but it was the first chance we've had to really catch up this summer so it was still great. I've missed all of the ridiculous moments we have on a daily basis at school. I saw her last night for a few minutes as well, along with her boyfriend, Kyle, who is another good friend. I was working an early night at the Muny and they were there for the show so I was able to talk to them at intermission before I left. It was great to see them, but unfortunately since I was still in my uniform I couldn't give them hugs...and I really like hugs.

Molly and me

My fortune, and maybe your's too

"Strange new experiences will add to your joy of living"

A Sigh

Sighs have recently taken on an entirely new meaning for me. I mentioned in my last post (which I realize was just yesterday) the Nooma video series. Well, one of the videos from this series that I've seen is entitled Breathe. I won't go into too much detail, but basically the guy talks about how some believe, because the Hebrew letters for God's name, YHWH, when said, are like breath sounds, that the sound of a breath is like saying the name of God.

A sigh is a very audible exhalation of breath, and since I saw Breathe I've become acutely aware of people sighing. It's like each one is a brief and unknowing prayer. In the midst of an arguement, disagreement, or something of the like, a sigh can be a quick prayer for patience. During a moment of contentment, a sigh is like a prayer of thanksgiving for the calm, for the inner peace. It's incredible. The sigh has completely morphed in my ears. It's like a song I've heard a million times before, but have never really listened to. I'm now picking up on the subtleties of the melody and the meaning behind the words.

Love and prayers

AYM and A YAM

AYM stands for Assumption Youth Ministry, my youth group. This summer I'm working on the core team, and I'm SO excited about it! We have a lot of fun things planned, aside from our weekly prayer nights. In July we're going to the Steubenville Youth Conference, we're hoping to take the teens on a float trip at some point (this will take quite a bit of planning and organization, but it would be totally worth it), we play softball every Tuesday afternoon, go to mass and then to Bread Co. for breakfast--we're calling it Daily Bread--on Wednesday mornings, and one of the other core memebers, Melissa, and I are planning girls' nights to strengthen fellowship among our teen girls. Our teens are truly wonderful young people, so filled with the Spirit. The opportunity to spend so much time with them is really a gift for me. They are teaching me so much and are really helping me to find God in my everyday life, and I pray that I'm a postive influence on them, as well, and help them strengthen their knowledge and faith lives. I really love hanging out, planning, and organizing things with the our Youth Minister, Pete, and the other members of the core team, too. They're all incredible, faith-filled people, and I'm learning so much from them. The most important thing I believe I've learned from my time with these young adults, as well as the teens, is that I'm on the right path to discovering God's plan for me. I know that I'm not nearly ready to fulfill His plan, I still have a lot of studying to complete, life experiences to have, and self-growth and faith-exploration to do, but I know I'm on my way. I'm a pretty reserved person most of the time, so it's been difficlut for me to really open up with all these people. This is probably my biggest obstacle to overcome, but I think I'm starting to work through it.

Me with a couple of my favorite teens

As for A YAM...Assumption Young Adult Ministry. This is a new thing that Pete is starting in our parish for adults in their 20's to help us deepen our relationship with Christ and hopefully with each other as well. We have a program called CONNECT that's going to take place this summer. We'll be getting together on Monday nights to watch the Nooma video series. After the video we'll have a discussion and then probably just hang out. I'm really very excited about this. I've seen a couple of the Nooma videos already and they really have caused me to look more closely at myself, my life, and my faith so I can't wait to see more of them. I'm also interested to see who comes and excited to meet and talk with other people my age looking to form and/or deepen their connection with God.

Aside from working and sleeping, my time thus far this summer had been majorly spent with (or for) the youth group, and, though I'll be sad to leave it in the fall, it has gotten me very excited for my next semester at Rockhurst. My decision to major in Theology is a fairly recent thing and I really can't wait to begin studying it more in depth. I don't want to only deepen my faith, I want to deepen my knowledge as well.

A parting thought...

"It's hard to take your socks off when your shoes are still on."

This is a statement from a camper that a friend of mine is working with at her summer job. He may be just a little kid, but he definitely has a point to ponder.