New Blog

I started a new blog using tumblr called Lead Me Along, so I won't be posting on here much.

You can find my new blog at www.leadmealong.tumblr.com.

Blessings,

Avery

FINALLY!!

The new site is FINALLY up, and the new show is FINALLY there! I'm not going to be posting on here any more, just on the website. So check it out!!

www.livewtl.com - the site

www.livewtl.libsyn.com -the show

We'll be on iTunes soon!

It's been one whole year since we started, can you believe it?

Blessings,

Avery

Update

Well, as usual when I write, life is crazy busy. But that's nothing new. I'm still working on getting the website up. It's a mess right now. Ugh. Exams start this week.

American History is tomorrow. I like history, but this exam is probably going to be the hardest. I have history the last period of the day and I'm always like dead tired by the time I get to the class. My history teacher is seriously a pro at making her room the perfect condition for falling asleep. Like if I ever have problems falling asleep ever again, I just have to simulate her room. 2:00 in the afternoon after getting up at 5:30, hungry, tired, bored. Having a projecter in the room to watch videos. Lying your head down on the desk. Having someone in the far distance talk in a monotone. That would be American History class. Like, I actually like the class and teacher and all, I just haven't actually caught like half of what was said this month. Life has been so stressful with getting ready for exams, lacrosse ending, dance recital, Confirmation, having the website down, hours of studying, the flood, trying to be in the mindset to work, HUGE honors portfolio projects, etc. I literally worked for 15 hours this weekend on school projects and packets. I counted. Ridiculous. There's no silence, no time to relax, no time to just be quiet. And for me to say that is weird, cause I'm totally an extrovert.

Well, aside from my rambling, I do want to let you know that I'm working on getting the site back up. I know I have been saying that for like a month now, but we'll get to it. 3 and a half more days of school. I can make it. Hopefully once school's out I can come up with something actually halfway profound to post on here.

Blessings,

Avery

Sorry!

Hey Everybody,

I'm writing to apologize about the show. As of right now, I still cannot connect to my site to publish. I have two shows done and ready, but they can't publish. I'm going to be redesigning my website over the next few days, so don't freak out if it looks different. Sorry about the show and site! Hoping to get it up as soon as possible.

On a side note: Thanks for all of the emails everyone has been sending with questions, comments, etc. I promise that I read all of them and I try to get back to everybody. However, I sometimes forget and these weeks have been crazy with the flood and exams and getting ready for the end of school. I promise, the second school gets out for summer, I will check my email and get everything replied to!

Blessings,

Avery

Please Pray

(This is the interstate 5 miles from my house- I have never seen an interstate flood this much!)

Hi Everyone,

Sorry it is taking so long to get this show out! My computer is still not working with publishing and tech support has yet to get back to me.

Just wanted to ask for your prayers. Right now, in Nashville, we are having some major flood problems. 10 people have died, and some of the schools are closed until further notice. Luckily, my family has been blessed not to have suffered too much from the flooding, but I just ask that you keep the residents of Nashville in your prayers.

Avery

Show Late

Hey everybody,

I'm hoping to have the show out as soon as possible, but it may be a while. With confirmation over the weekend and having relatives in town, I didn't have time to make a show. Now, with school coming to an end in two weeks, everything is crazy with exams and stuff. But I will try to work on the show a little over the next few days and get it out by friday night.

:) Have a great week!

Avery

Confirmation

Today was my Confirmation. It was a beautiful ceremony and here is a picture of me and the bishop. :)

Hope you all have a great week!

Avery

Hold Us Together- Matt Maher

A beautiful song from Matt Maher's most recent album, Alive Again.

Also, here is a video of Matt Maher explaining the song...

I think you all will really enjoy the message of this song.

God Bless!

Avery

By Your Side- Tenth Avenue North

We had a song at the confirmation retreat a few months ago, and I was listening to it on my iPod a few minutes ago when I decided to post it on the blog. The song is "By You Side" by Tenth Avenue North. I really liked the message of the song. Here's a video with the lyrics. Tell me what you think!

Blessings,

Avery

Serenity to surrender

Well, my spring break is officially coming to an end. Major bummer, I must say. It's been very relaxing and enjoyable, and I am not looking forward to returning to the monotony of the school year. Oh, well. Only six more weeks until summer.

For easter, my parents gave my sister and I these books with all kinds of quotes and such in them. I really liked looking through the quotes, but here is one that I really liked:

Why, my friends, would we not embrace every day? For even among the challenges in life, when we look closely, a challenge is just a blessing in disguise. When ridden of our vanities of this world and when we seek Christ, we see the true blessing that every waking moment truly reveals itself as.

I liked the message of this quote. Sometimes we get wrapped up in our worldly desires and things and we find it hard to surrender ourselves to God. Here is a beautiful prayer of serenity.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. --Reinhold Niebuhr

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths. Proverbs 3, 5-6

It's not an easy prayer by any means. We can find it difficult to surrender beyond our selfish and hipocritical hearts to truly dedicate our lives to Christ and spend every moment living towards him. Spirituality and our relationship with God is a lifelong journey, and no one is perfect. However, it is our calling and our responsibility to embrace the blessings we have every day, amidst our sometimes seemingly difficult lives, and trust God with our lives.

"Take, O Lord, and receive my entire liberty, my memory, my understanding and my whole will. All that I am and all that I possess You have given me. I surrender it all to You to be disposed of according to Your will. Give me only Your love and Your grace; with these I will be rich enough, and will desire nothing more." St. Ignatius Loyola

A prayer and a meditation for today.

Blessings,

Avery

New Show!

Live WTL is now mobile too! Check out livewtl.com on your phone or iPod!

This week's show: April 7, 2010

On the show:
Popple
An interview with Popple, a fantastic and inspiring Catholic band
Questions from You
Questions regarding Easter, also a few trivia questions
Music
The Song "salt and Light" by Popple and based on the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 5

Enjoy!

Blessings,

Avery

Easter

Hey Everybody! I hope you all are enjoying this wonderful spring weather and the lovely Easter weekend. I wanted to let you all know, the show is going to be just a little bit late this week due to the fact that I'm on Spring Break. But I'll get it out as soon as I can, and I hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Easter.

Blessings,

Avery

P.S. What do you all think about the new blog background and graphic?

By the love of the Holy One

Just a quick reflection I'll give for this Wednesday of the blessed Holy Week, a time of intense meditation and reflection, a time to look back, evaluate our lives, and make our trust and intimacy with Christ the ultimate goal and driving factor in everything we do.

Here's a prayer I wrote that I'd like to share:

Lord God, Father God, we come to you as sinners and failures

We admit our faults and our hipocrisy

We despise the evil in our hearts and long with great desire to be close to you

Lord, we come as failures, but we come as your children, made in the image and likeness of You

We love you and praise you and honor you as the Lord most High

We desire within ourselves to devote our lives to Your Kingdom, and live as faithful disciples.

Lord, your sacrifice was ultimate

Words can hardly describe the price you paid for our glorious salvation

Honoring you as our God and our Father, we thank you

As a solemn vow, we dedicate our lives to your work and the work of your people

You made the world, made us, created this beautiful life we now live. Every day is a glorious gift from you, and it is our call and our responsibility and our joy to respond to this amazing love you have shown us.

Life is not always easy, but you are always there

Love is not always found in our people, but Love is always within you

We love you, we honor you, we serve you, we thank you.

This, dear Lord, is our prayer.

Amen.

Have a blessed holy week!

Blessings,

Avery

Finally Friday!

Wow, I feel monotonous in saying this week after week, but I must say, I'm so glad to be able to say "It's finally friday!" It's been yet another crazy-busy week in our household. Life is moving very, very fast. It's literally flying by my eyes. That is, I must say, except for when I'm actually living it. My statements seem to contradict each other, yes, I know. However, that's what I'm feeling. Looking back, I just see a whirlwind of laughing and crying, loving and trying to love, drama and stress and every emotion in between. Yesterday seems like just a second ago, yet tomorrow seems so far away. Life moves so incredibly fast when I look at it, but when I live it, it seems painfully slow. Like, science class? Balancing chemical equations? Learning about the civil war? Geometry proofs? Spanish verb conjugations? Research papers? Lacrosse practice? Dance practice? Planning a charity run? Everything-else-I-have-over-committed-myself-to? VERY VERY SLOW.... yet looking back, it went by so fast?

How can this be? How can it possibly be that two things that so dramatically contradict each other somehow intertwine to form this beautiful, confusing, puzzling, crazy, amazing thing I call my life? How can time move so fast yet so slow?

Ah, the mysteries of life. But, what, in its self, is life? Like, duh, its what we live, the greatest and most amazing gift from God. But, what is it? Why do we have it? What's the purpose? Sometimes it can be confusing. One verse that always brings me comfort in the midst of all this?

"For this is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!"

--Psalm 118:24

It's one that reminds me every morning (I have a poster hanging in my closet with this verse on it) why I'm doing what I'm doing. It reminds me why I'm getting up at 5:45 am daily and going to bed by 10 (hopefully). It reminds me why I even care about half the stuff I cram into the 24 hours we call a day. The reason: Jesus. It's simple, really. He made us, created us, came for us, showed us, died for us, reigns for us. Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior, our God and our most Gracious King, he has made every day that we have. He's created it as a gift and as a blessing and he expects us to live out the gifts of days that he has given us.

So when you're having one of those days (or weeks, or months, or school years for that matter....) where everything just seems to be moving slow and boring and yet fast and crazy at the same time, remember the reason that we do everything we do. It's pretty simple. Because every day we live is a day God made, and we are to rejoice and be glad in it.

Blessings for this weekend!

Avery

New Show!

Hey Everybody!

Be sure to check out this week's new show, for March 21, 2010.

On the show:
Prayer
Talking all things prayer- from how to pray, when to pray, and some prayers from the saints!
Pure Faith: A prayer book for Teens
Absolutely a wonderful book by Jason Evert
Popple
Check out Popple's website at www.popple.us

Have a blessed week!

-Avery