O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Well, that's about it for today, I don't really have any great reflection or anything for today, but that's just what's going on in my world.
Have a great week!
Blessings,
Avery
Reflecting on my prayer journal today, I started to think about prayer. Specifically, I thought about how my prayers change all the time. Well, that got me thinking about one time in specific, the first time I ever really prayed.
It all started on that chilly winter day in November. Well, most of it at least. I specifically remember it being cold because I was wearing my sister’s itchy hand-me-down sweater, the one with the polar bear on it. Our classroom was burning hot that day, and mom hadn’t let me get a donut after mass. I was hot, I was tired, I was hungry, and I had a cold. Basically, in my eyes, I was the most unhappy a six year old could be. I really didn’t want to be there. As lovely and quaint as little old room 136 was, there was so much else to do. Like color. Or play Barbies. The last thing I really wanted to do on this rainy November Sunday morning was put my sticker up on the attendance chart and recite my memory verse. Oh, and sit on the raggedy carpet squares that smelled funny. But Mom and Dad insisted. So I mentally told myself it would be okay and walked right up to that room to get my sticker. Little did I know, this day would change my life.
The topic of 1st grade Sunday school happened to be prayer that day. As I look back, I really have an appreciation for Mrs. Kathleen and Mrs. Debby, my teachers. I don’t know how I could possibly try to teach six year olds about spirituality. But they did. And they did it well. I remember my memory verse from that day. Actually, I remember it quite well. It is the signature on my emails, my favorite verse to meditate on, and the motto of my show. John 14:6
For I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.
Now at that time, it didn’t mean much to me. Reciting that verse was just another way to please the adults in my life (and get a Hershey’s kiss if I said it right). But back to the lesson that day.
Prayer. My teacher Ms. Kathleen wrote in on the board in big chalk letters. She asked us if any of us knew any prayers. I immediately raised my hand.
Bless us, O Lord! and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty, through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
I proudly recited my dinner prayer. Ms. Kathleen was pleased. “Now, Avery,” she asked “what does that prayer mean?” There, I was stumped. Yeah, I said it every day before every meal, but did I know what it meant? Not a clue. I mean, I was six. I always had wondered what a “bounty” was, and when exactly we were receiving it. It didn’t really make much sense to me. I stared at her. She smiled and explained that we were giving thanks for our food. I still was wondering what a bounty was. Then a girl in my class, Sarah, raised her hand to recite the Lord’s prayer. Ms. Kathleen, again, smiled and asked if anyone knew what the prayer really meant. She had a good point there. We all knew a bunch of prayers. Ask me for the Hail Mary, and I’d have given you the Hail Mary. Ask me for the Glory Be, and I’d have given you the Glory Be. But did I have any idea what I’m saying? Nope. Not one bit.
That was when she began talking about our personal relationship with God. She told us God was our friend and he would always be with us. We could tell him anything. She said we could even tell him our favorite color. We could tell him about our friends and our pets, and even our parents.
Well, that got me excited. I was excited to meet this God who was going to be my best friend. I was excited to meet this God who would always be with me. And I was really excited to tell God about my cats. I guess I had prayed before then, but it wasn’t real. Not tangible. Well, I went home that night and prayed. I uttered the most sincere prayer I could think of. “God,” I prayed, “Thank you for my life. I want to be your friend. And God, my favorite color is green.”
Now over the years after that, my prayer life has dramatically changed. Obviously I say more than thank you and what my favorite color is. I listen to God, and it isn’t all about my problems. But that day, that chilly November Sunday when I really didn’t want to be at Church, that was the day I learned to pray.
Just a little reflection for this week. Think back through your prayers. The ones we've said so many times that they sometimes can feel like they've lost meaning. I can tell you this, they haven't. So think through the prayers you say, you just may discover something cool. Oh, and don't forget to tell God your favorite color tonight. :)
Blessings,
Avery
Sorry I haven’t posted in a while… I hope everybody is doing great! Well, this week, I’ve been super lucky. We’ve had a five day weekend because snow and ice have been making all of the roads slick and really just can’t seem to melt. And this morning, as I was getting ready to go back to school, I was thinking about how refreshing the break had been. I had been able to relax, play in the snow, go sledding, have a sleepover with my friends, go to the mall, catch up on watching Psych (which a new episode comes on tonight, if you’re keeping score….) start recording, and even break out some of my acrylic paint and a canvas which had been hiding in the closet for quite some time. It wasn’t exactly a quiet, doing-absolutely-nothing weekend (which can really drive me crazy- I’m a people person), but it was really refreshing. For the first time in quite a while, I was actually not completely dreading school. Which by the way, is quite an improvement for me. I mean, I like learning, I love seeing my friends, even the work isn’t too bad, its just the whole cycle gets crazy. You throw in waking up at 5:30, spending an hour on a bus, sports practice, a few hours of homework, getting like 6 hours of sleep, and life gets crazy. And repetitive. And sometimes you just need a refresher. The same thing goes for God.
We can get super caught up in our lives- really easy and really fast. It’s easy to blow off God. I mean, we’re busy busy busy people. There’s always somewhere to go, someone to see, something to do, some homework or project or test to work on, and then, oh yeah, there’s God. But you have to remember, this is God. God, the creator of life. God the Alpha and Omega (beginning and end if you translate from Greek, just for trivia’s sake…) God the Father. Our Father. The One who loves us. Who made us. The Jesus Christ who loves us so very much that he gave the ultimate sacrifice on the cross so we can spend eternity with Him. Oh yeah, so that’s just God. I don’t think so.
In order to love God, we must know God. And in order to know God, we have to understand who He is. We must reflect. Meditate. Pray. That’s where the silence comes in.
Life is loud. Trust me, I know. Life is very, very loud. Somehow, someway, there’s always noise, it seems. But when I talk about silence, I don’t really mean like physical (soundical? Is that even a word?) silence. I mean spiritual silence. Now that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be quiet. I mean, it’s easier to pray and reflect when the radio and your phone and the computer are all off. But the silence I’m talking about is spiritual. We must silence ourselves and our hearts in order to listen to God.
Right now, think about the lunch table. If your friends or you are anything like my friends and I, you’re loud and crazy and you LOVE to talk to each other. Now imagine a conversation at the lunch table. Or even on the bus, if that sets the scene better for you. Now thing about what you would say. What you friend would say. Then think about what the 15 other kids at the table would say when they just happened to be hearing your lovely conversation. One thing I’ve found is, no matter what you say, someone’s going to disagree. Always. So at this lunch table, with the fifteen other kids who were really just eavesdroppers, someone’s bound to disagree. (Work with me here, I really do have a point. I promise.) So the debate begins. Then it gets to where about ten kids are having a conversation and talking over each other. A lot. Now this isn’t really a bad thing, trust me, it happens all the time. It’s really what conversation is. But whatever point you were trying to get across to your friend is not going to get there if you’re talking with these other people the whole lunch.
The same thing goes for God. In our lives, we have to silence our hearts. We must focus on our goal of salvation and promise that no matter what may try to get in the way, we’re going to spend time with Jesus. So this week, I challenge you to silence your heart. Pray to God, and draw nearer to Him and His Holy gift of salvation. It’s really refreshing to be able to get silent with yourself and pray. Just like the snow days gave me a refreshing perspective on school, prayer and intimacy with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, can give us a refreshing perspective on life, faith, and salvation.
May God Bless you this week!
Avery
This week at my school, we were given a special opportunity to take part in a program with STARS. It was mainly about stopping bullying, kindness, and becoming less judgmental. It was a two day program that consisted of half of our grade going on one day and the other half going on the next. On the day we weren't in the program, we sat in teacher's classrooms and did "busy work" like copying definitions and doing worksheets on things we had known since like 3rd grade. I remember sitting in the classroom on Wednesday afternoon, after almost an hour of copying full dictionary definitions and writing sentences in silence, and the feeling I felt wasn't really bored. It was more "empty". I couldn't really understand why we were spending so much time copying definitions of words we had known for years. (I still don't, by the way) And so, as I sat there in silence staring at the clock and wondering how much longer I could really take the emptiness of the busy work, I came a realization about my faith.
One thing that's great about God, our Savior and Redeemer is his Holy gift of love. We never ever feel empty when we are filled with the joy of Christ. We can still feel sad, afraid, even sometimes a little bit alone, but we never feel empty. We are filled with emotion as we are filled with the gift of Jesus Christ. I know as a teenager it can be hard to pray. It may be finding time to pray that's difficult, or even just the actual prayer itself. We've all had those moments where we really couldn't concentrate and we felt like we were just talking to the ceiling when we prayed. Sometimes we think our prayers should be answered sooner or in a different way. I know there have been times when I asked God for guidance, and it seemed that He just never answered. But looking back, I really see that it was me who never found the answer. Prayer is a conversation with God. You can't just ask God for guidance then wait for the heavens to open up and you to hear his voice coming from a burning bush. That's just not how things usually happen these days (not to say they couldn't, it's just not every day that we witness these). So when you search for God's call, when you search for a purpose or guidance in your life, stay open and listen. Listen to what Jesus is telling you. True prayer is a two way conversation, not a monologue.
So back to the subject of emptiness…. If you feel empty in your prayer life, take the time to embrace Jesus. With Christ's love and Christ's spirit, you'll never feel empty in faith. Fulfillment is a great thing. Whenever prophecies were fulfilled in the New Testament, it was a great thing. In our lives, the fulfillment will be our ultimate goal: Salvation. So stay open to God's call and work towards the goal of fulfillment in your life: Salvation in Jesus Christ. We've never been to heaven, but just from reading the words of our Lord, we know that its well worth the wait and struggles of our lives.
So how is everybody? Honestly, I have to say that I'm just glad that this school week is over! Wow, life has been crazy busy lately…
I think my favorite Bible verse of all time has to be Psalm 118:24. I don't know if it's just the fact that I've heard it so many times, sang so many nursery songs about it, or what, but it always lightens my days and brings me peace, comfort, and joy.
"For this is the day that the Lord God has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!"
Psalm 118:24
I think it's really a perspective thing. Sometimes we so caught up in our daily lives, we can forget about the real reasons we are here: To praise God, discover God, and build up his Holy Kingdom here on Earth. It's a verse I have posted on every wall in my room. When I get up in the morning (at 5:45 am- and I'm not really a morning person!), I sometimes think that there are about a million other things I'd rather be doing right now then getting up at an unearthly hour to get on a bus, to go to a school, to go to lacrosse or piano or dance class or something like that (which I really enjoy, it can just be stressful sometimes) to come home and do hours of homework. But I have to remember the blessings I have. Jesus Christ, my Lord, my Savior, and my King, blessed me with this day, these opportunities, these things. I have the blessing of living in a country where I can get an education. I have the blessing of living in a country where I can do fun things like sports, dance, and music. I've been blessed with a day, an opportunity, a life. So count every day as a blessing. There's song by the band Superchick called "We Live". It's really about embracing every day for the blessing from God that it is, and making the most of life. There's a verse in there that I'm remembering right now that says,
Waking up to another dark morning
People are mourning
The weather in life outside is storming
But what would it take for the clouds to break
For us to realize each day
Is a gift somehow, someway
We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cause the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love
We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cause the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love
So remember, every day that we have, every day that we are blessed with is a gift from God. We can embrace it and use it to build up His Holy Kingdom.
With something to think about…. May God Bless You!
Avery
