Everything Inbetween





     Over the Christmas break, Dad and I watched the Tim Tebow movie, Everything Inbetween.  As we watched Tim train, interact with his family, train, talk to fans, train, talk to interviewers, train, and then go train, I was struck by something.

     Tim Tebow doesn' have a normal "job."  He doesn't play football on the weekends, then go to the office Monday thru Friday.  He is focused on football (and God!).  Football is his passion.  It is also his career, and more importantly - it's his response to God to follow his vocational path.

     Most of us don't have something like this.  Most of us feel like we have a passion, a job, and a vocation - all separated into their neat little piles.  Very few of us can say that our vocation, job, and passion are rolled into one activity.

     Stay-at-home moms have this though.  Their passion is their children, their job is their children's well-being, and their vocation is their motherhood.   But if you, like me, are just a young adult trying to find his/her place in the world, what are we to do to find the joy found in passion, jobs, and vocations?

     We can find a solution in Saint Therese's Little Way.  In this path, we do everything we do for the glory of God.  We offer everything up.  Don't want to go into work today?  Offer up your time to God and see what he can do with it.  In this way, our job becomes a way to fulfill our vocation, and our sacrificing for the Lord becomes a passion that draws us closer to him.

     Does this realization mean that I wish I could go play football everyday and not work a conventional job?  Going to have to go with a "No" on that one.  I'll stick with my regular jobs right now, and leave the football to Tim Tebow - I'm pretty sure he can handle it. 
God bless you all!

Chloe M. 

Created As A Helper






     In Genesis 2, God creates woman.  Adam has found that after all the interaction with the animals, not one is suitable as his helper and companion.  So, when Adam is asleep, God takes a rib and made Eve. 

     Eve was created from man and for man.  She was created to be his helper.  After all, the world is a huge place for one person to manage alone.  On top of this fact, calling Eve a "helper" is not derogatory towards women because they are there to help the man.  Rather, it is honoring women because it raises to awareness man's need for help.
       That's wonderful, you say, but what about today?  Are women still called to help men.  The answer is simple: YES.  Women are called to help men now, just as they were called to help men at the creation of humankind.  Eve was not created and then told that she was going to have to help Adam - she was created AS a helper for Adam.

     So if we are still to help men, how do we go about doing it?  First, we must conduct ourselves in a sisterly fashion towards them.  This would include: dressing modestly, speaking to them with respect, and not treating them as what they could be potentially.

     "Modesty?! That's ridiculous.  Boys can look if they want too, but I'm dressing for me, not them."  This is an argument we hear frequently.  True, boys are responsible for their own actions - aren't we all? - but we are then responsible for being their stumbling block.  The "I'm dressing for me" comment is a selfish mindset that is supposed to ease one's conscience.  When we truly love men, we put their spiritual well being in front of what looks "cute" on us.

     What about being respectful?  What about flirting?  When you talk to a young man, he could one day be a lucky girl's groom.  This might be you.....but it could also be someone else.  Would you be happy if some girl was flirting with your future husband right now?  Would you appreciate her being a stumbling block for your man?  I know I wouldn't.

     Girls, we have to remember that men are not just what they look like, what they say and what they do.  They are children of God, created with a heart, mind, and soul.  We need to relate to them as such and work on being a help, and not a hinderance to their salvation.  
God Bless you all!

Chloe M. 
    

Merry Christmas!

We’re recounting 2012, chockfull of blessings!
As we eat our filling of turkey and dressings,
Wondering how do we wrap up this year grand and merry?
We’ll start with the things back in January!

Taking a break from our yelling and messes
Dad’s training for BNSF took him to Texas
So as he talked with financial directors,
Kale and Liam were our house protectors.

February left us all in tears.
We lost our guinea pig of less than a year.
Mr. Knightly left us at such a young age
Now Mr. Darcy happily rules the cage.

March marks the month where we decided
To give back to the city – we’re all so excited!
Volunteering at Let’s Help once a month
Folding all their clothes and sorting their junk (I mean stuff.) 

April!  A month that went by in a whirl.
God blessed us with a baby girl!
Sofia Laboure Mooradian is here;
You’ve heard her screams throughout the year.

 

May brought a trip to the Omaha zoo
Which was lots of fun through and through
Visiting island where monkeys roam,
Some of our family felt right at home.

 

Kale picked up a new sport in June
He played baseball in the afternoon.
We learned of our rights and how much we need them,
At rallies for Religious freedom!

July – should have bought a stock in sunscreen
Plus Reagan entered the ranks being a teen
Lots of pool time provided for relief
In all of the record-breaking heat!

August, as the heat remained,
We all worked on our tennis game!
Our life expectancy took a dive
As Madysen continued to learn how to drive. 

 

September must be the month where stars of talent glow,
The oldest three and a friend won second place at the Mother Teresa Talent Show!
As the end of the month came our way,
We had fun with homeschoolers at our field day.

October left Kale and Liam yet again in command.
As Dad’s business trip took him to a Canyon that’s grand.

And the month would not be complete without
Apple butter and a fall campout.

November brought with it Thanksgiving,
We’re very happy for the life that we’re living!
Essays and letters, test scores all around,
Now that Chloe is soon college bound!

Now here is December!  This great time of the year!
We are all so happy because in our lives, you are here!
With Christ’s birthday party in sight,
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

 

Sheep, Sheepdogs and Wolves.



     Before I start to talk about the above mentioned topic, let me first apologize for my lack of posting.  I sincerely try, but Christmas keeps pulling me away!  So here is my thoughts on sheep and such:

     There are three kinds of people in this world.  Ninety percent of us are sheep.  They are those who don't look for or want trouble, but are content to graze through life.  They are mentally unable to hurt anyone intentionally and violence though life is accidental. 

     Then there are wolves.  They are humans who reside on this earth who have no conscience and have no issues with hurting innocent people.  Violence is the best answer and the consequences of their actions are generally last thought in the process.  These are those who have appeared in the news as the perpetrators of the shootings in the movie theatre in Colorado, the school shooting in Newtown, and the various daily shootings and violence throughout our nation and world.

     The last type of person is a sheep-dog.  He has the ability to harm others - he does have fangs after all, but he or she uses that ability for protection for others.  These are our police men, soldiers, concealed gun carriers, home land security and aware and concerned citizens who are always ready to help when a situation presents itself. 

      Sheep hate sheepdogs.  They remind them that their is danger to be protected from.  Sheepdogs also look a lot like wolves sometimes.  It does not help that some wolves go under the disguise of wolves - such as politicians who promise to help and don't, or cops who misuse their authority.

     What are you?  Here is an easy way to evaluate where you stand.  In flight 93 on September 11th, there were the three categories.  The wolves were obviously high jacking the plane.  They are easy to spot as they prey on the weak and have no problem with mass killings.  On the ground, there were sheep and sheepdogs.  The sheep said, "Thank you, God, that I am not on that plane."  The sheepdogs said, "God, I wish I was on that plane so I could have made more of a difference."

     Sheep?  Sheepdog?  Wolf?  Where do you rank and how do you feel about that ranking?  Perhaps it is time to take a stand against the wolves and be strong for our family, our country, and our faith.      MERRY CHRISTMAS!  God bless you and your family this season and always remember why we celebrate this most wonderful time of the year!

Chloe M. 

For more on this topic and to read the article, read here





         

Citizen of What City?






     St. Augustine says the world is in possession of only two cities: the City of God and the City of Man.

     In the city of man, self gain is the goal and people are just obstacles in the way of personal pleasure.  In the city of God, Heaven is the goal and other people are opportunities for growing in grace.

     What city do you live in? 

God Bless,

Chloe M.

The Heart of Christmas
"Live while you can.  Cherish each moment.  The ones that you love, make sure they know it.  And don't miss this...the heart of Christmas." 

- Matthew West, The Heart of Christmas
     These words ring louder than ever in light of the tragedy in Newtown.  Yet they also ring true closer to home.

     This year is possibly the last year for Christmas with our family all under the same roof.  Cherish each moment.

     This year, twenty-six families will have just put a loved one to rest.  Make sure the people who you love know that you love them.

     Our life is so short.  We have to make each moment count and live each moment to the fullest.  This cannot be used as an excuse for immorality - such as the popular YOLO (you only live once) slogan used to make sinning "OK" because you never know when you won't be around.  This means taking this time that we have been given as a gift by God to work to be a saint.
     The heart of Christmas is a celebration of the fact that Christ came down to the earth and became a helpless baby lying in a manger.  This Christmas, admit hat you can do nothing without God's help.  Humble yourself as Christ did and experience the true meaning of Christmas. 

Was this God's plan?

Twenty six victims.  Twenty of them are just little kids.  There are twenty little kids who will not come home from school again to tell their parents about their day.  There are countless presents under the tree that won't be opened by the little hands who they were meant for.  Where is God when this happens?  Did He leave these kids when they needed Him most because America has taken God out of school?
NO.
     Was it God's plan that a twenty year old guy should come in a shoot up a school?  No.  But just because it wasn't in His plan does not mean that He cannot use it to His greatest glory.  I know He is also greatly saddened by the loss of life, taken away from the littlest of His children.


     It is always hard to think that a God who loves us could let this happen.  And it is always hard to know what to say about this type of incident.  Yet another challenge is tackling the issue of gun control - an issue that becomes discussed rampantly when tragedies such as this happen.
     Is the answer to take away the guns?  No.  Why?  Because guns kill people like pencils misspell words.  It's not the gun - it's the person who pulls the trigger.  The concern should be over the people, and not the guns they are carrying.
     My heart aches for the families of the victims at this shooting.  Please keep them in your prayers as they go through their first  Christmas without a loved one.

     God bless you all,
Chloe M. 

Belong to God

    Today is the feast of Saint Lucy, the Virgin Martyr.  In today' culture the status of being a virgin is made out to be as rare as being a martyr.

     We live in a culture that sells and objectifies women until it seems as if we are a dime a dozen.  Take for instance, the new clothing line, shockling named "OMG."  It claims to be a delightful mix of faith and fun, but in actulity their campaign is riddled with teen girls portraying what they believe to be sexy Christians. 


     This occured when we forgot that we belong to Christ.  We don't belong to a boyfriend.  We don't belong to the task of working to look like a supermodel.  We belong to the King of Kings, the God of the universe! 

     We are given the amazing examples of saints such as St. Lucy, St. Maria Gorretti, and Saint Joan of Arc.  We are given a Heavenly mother: Mary ever virgin.  When did becoming a woman of God become shameful?

     This advent, let's strive to truly be women of God.  Project:  If you are blessed to have a true woman of God in your life, thank them for their example.

God bless you all!

Chloe M. 

    

Meet Allison
She is one year old and she lives in Mexico.  Although she is still very little, her parents say she is very smart and observant.  Her mother works as a housewife and her father makes shoes.  Struggling to pay the rent and save back for Allison's future schooling, her family applied to Christian Foundation for Children and Aging to set up a sponsorship for Allison.

     Today I adopted Allison.  Well, I can't bring her home to live with me, but I'm going to be able to sponsor her each month to make sure she gets the proper food, schooling, and learns about Christ.

     Do you sponsor a child?  What program do you go through?  Have you ever thought about sponsoring a child?  Let me know in the comments below!
God bless you all,

Chloe M.   

Straight Roads, Filled Valleys and Lowered Mountains




     Dear readers - yes.  I am alive.  Although my blog posting has said the exact opposite.  Over the past 48 hours I have been knocked out, had four wisdom teeth pulled, and have been either sick to my stomach or sleeping for the remainder of the time.  Yes, as in the words of a friend, "If wisdom teeth are so wise, why are they extra?"  I have yet to find an answer.

     So I return with vigor and victory to shower you with blog posts.  OK, just one.  Since I am on the last leg of my Tylenol dosage and my mouth is starting to hurt again. 

     Today I went to morning Mass and the Gospel today is about preparation.  (common theme in Advent, eh?) and Father Tom was talking about preparing ourselves for the Lord. 

      We all, I am sure, do a LOT of preparation for Christmas.  Your to-do list is full of house decorating, cookie baking, present buying, light hanging, Christmas partying, well wishing and gift wrapping.  But what about you to-do list for your soul?  After all, on Christmas morning we are to receive Christ into our hearts.  How is that path to your heart looking?

     The path to our heart that Christ enters in right now could be in pretty sad shape.  Perhaps there are some mountains of pride we've put in Christ's way.  Or some valleys of depression, despair and general gloom.  Even some winding roads of trying to convince ourselves of the morality of our bad actions could be hindering Christ.

     John the Baptist tells us to "Repent!" and make the valleys high, the mountains low and all roads straight so Jesus can have the easiest path to our hearts.

     How do we do this?  You can make a point to go to confession (penance services are probably starting up around your parishes), and sometimes simply stopping and thinking about the reason we are even celebrating Christmas can put things in a better perspective.  Christ came down as a helpless baby and then took upon all of humankind's sin and died for us.  We have so much to be thankful for and so much to prepare for.

     Christ's coming is worth some big preparation.  Thank goodness we still have sixteen days to get things in order - the things that really matter.

     Once again, sorry about the long break between posts! 

God bless!

Chloe M.

p.s. Grandpa is back home, they are thinking it was a small stroke.  He has follow up appointments soon.  Hopefully those can confirm some theories and see if we need to do anything else.  Thanks again for all the prayers! 


    

A Time for Laughing
     This weekend, I went on You Tube at the prompting of another fellow Catholic teen blogger and happened upon the following three videos.  Perhaps you can identify with some of them?  Let me know what you think in the comments below!



Catholic Pick-up Lines:

 

 

Things Catholic Girls Say

 

Things Catholic Guys Say

 

God bless!

Chloe M.  

Don't be perfect...be prepared

     Welcome to Advent 2012!  These next four weeks, we will be (hopefully) drawing even closer to Christ with anticipation of the celebration of His birth....right?

     Don't feel bad.  I love Christmas!  I don't love the getting, I love the giving!  Even though I know the Christmas focus should be on Christ's birth, I get wrapped up (no pun intended!) in the gift giving instead of the praise-giving to God.

     I think we fail to realize the sheer awesomeness of Christmas.    What other god in all human history or mythology has come down to earth to SAVE mankind?  What other Creator became the creation?  None but Christ.

     This Christmas will not be perfect.  Inevitably, something will go wrong.  We have to relax though, since Christmas isn't about how many people are happy with our gifts or how much we spend per person.  Christmas is about family, giving, joy and, most of all, a healthy dose of recognition for the love Christ shows us by His coming.

     The Gospel this weekend talks about being prepared for the second coming.  How about being truly prepared for Christmas?  Like the first reading says, we have become drowsy in the dealings of everyday life.  Let's all get our hearts and souls ready for the Lord.  Make sure to hit a confession near you in anticipation for a soul white as snow when you receive Christ into your heart on Christmas morning.

     You can't be perfect.  Be prepared.  

God bless you all!

Chloe M.

p.s.  Grandpa is back home as of yesterday night - the brains scans show that he is good to go and the heart scans show the same.  Thanks again to everyone for your prayers!