Living while you're young?
The twisted message of YOLO


"I'm going to go to the party.  YOLO, right?" 

"I guess we can do that, just this once.  YOLO."

"I never thought I would do that with you....but I guess I'm only young once."

The hip, modern term of YOLO (you only live once) is never followed with something that makes your life better.  You'll never hear someone saying, "I've decided to go to Mass everyday! YOLO!"  It is usually followed by something that translates into: "We're young.  We've got our whole life in front of us.  It's ok to commit some major sins, we might as well get it over now, right?"


Wrong.  In fact, it couldn't be any more wrong at all.  Look at the messages the world is pushing at us.  Immorality.  Immodesty.  Disrespect.  Hatred.  To prove the point, let's look at the hit songs of the summer:



"Last Friday Night."  Without going into the offensive lyrics too much, Katy Perry encourages her listeners to go crazy, dance on tabletops, max out credit cards, and give yourself physically away to a stranger.  But it's OK, because you are drunk and won't remember it all.  Right?


One Direction sings about getting "some" and living like we're young.  What exactly do they want "some" of?  Hint, it's not skittles that they are singing about.  Using youth as an excuse to be impure shouldn't be something we scream and sing about when some British boy band comes on the radio. 




Ah, Justin Bieber.  He sings about monopolizing a girl's time while dancing around scantily clad girls at the swimming pool in the music video.  What exactly do seemingly most girls see in this guy?


Songs, media and peers will influence us to live while we're young and do whatever feels good.  They also say you don't have to worry about improving your faith life - there is always time for that when we're older, when we have more time, and it can wait 'til later.

What if you don't get a "later?"  God is wanting us to live with eternity in mind.  That means realizing that everything we do should be done for the glory of God.  Live everyday like it is your last.  We are loved by a God who will send His son back to earth one day.  It could be in two hundred years....it could be in two weeks.  Live with a knowledge of that.

After all, you only live once, you know.

God bless you all!

Chloe M. 
 

Easy Way, Hard Way, Born This Way?
Understanding a popular argument.





     I have been thinking about this post for a long time.  It all started with a pro-life rally this Tuesday that my Dad attended.  In the crowd of pro-life supporters, there were four or five students from a high school across the street carrying pro-abortion signs.  One of the signs read, "Do gay babies have a right to life, too?"  This got me thinking.

     Some people have homosexual tendencies - not homosexual people, because homosexual tendencies is what they do, not who they are.  What they are is a child of the one true King.  They will say that they are born this way.  They say they were made to be homosexual, and they cannot deny who they are, it's not their fault.  Some statistics seem to reveal that ten percent of the population was born with homosexual tendencies.  But is this a valid excuse?

     Perhaps if we look at this situation in the light that all of us were born with original sin and a tendency to not choose God.  Without God, we can't do it - we revert back to what pleases self.  With God we strive to become selfless and walk with Him. 

     Some people are born with a genetic predisposition to become an alcoholic.  True fact - they have addictive personalities similar to their family history and are predisposed to easily become addicted to things, particularly  alcoholic beverages.  But does this mean that they can wander around at three am in the morning publicly intoxicated with no reprimand?  I don't think the officer who is arresting me is going to take my slightly-drunk version of Lady Gaga's words as a valid reason to let me out of the handcuffs. 

     A pre-disposition is not a free ticket - actually the opposite.  It is an ability to see where you are weakest and avoid those situations.  If you are genetically pre-disposed to be an alcholic, perhaps you should avoid excessive drinking.  We are all called to avoid occasions of sin, regardless of our particular vice.

     Each us is called to be pure.  ALL relations outside of marriage between a man and a woman is immoral and sins against God and His divine plan for our lives.  This is true regardless of sexual tendencies, gender, race, and age. 

     God has an amazing life planned for us if only we would say "No" to our plan and run towards Him - He has His arm wide open.

God bless you all,

Chloe M. 

 

Live Like That...

 

Sometimes I think
What will people say of me
When I'm only just a memory
When I'm home where my soul belongs

Was I love
When no one else would show up
Was I Jesus to the least of those
Was my worship more than just a song

I want to live like that
And give it all I have
So that everything I say and do
Points to You

 

     Last night at Winter Jam, Sidewalk Prophets sang this song off their album and it really hit me.  What do we live like?  Do we live so much so that people who we don't know stop after seeing our actions and wonder what we have that makes us so happy?

     Sometimes it is hard for me to evangelize with words.  I get nervous and worry if I'm going to say the right thing or make a difference.   But with actions, it's easy.  Per St. Francis, I just have to always speak the Gospel and use words if necessary.  

 

     When we are gone, and at our funeral, what are people going to say?  That we made a lot of money?  Got good school grades? Always had a funny joke?  Or that we were always a example of what Christ would be if He were still on earth? 

 

     Now you may think that this message doesn't apply to you.  Maybe you still go to school, or just work a job, or stay at home.  Believe me, it does apply.  The people who you interact with on a daily basis, even if it just your family, are opportunities for you to show Christ's love. 

 

     Christ tells us to love the least of these.  This could be your brother who wakes you up after you had stayed up to late last night just wanting to play a board game with you.  It could be the woman at the store you work out who just isn't having a very good day.  It could be your mom or dad who needs help around the house that you can give them. 

 

     We all have opportunities to live like that.  To have our worship mean more than just a song.  Will you?

 

God bless you all,

 

Chloe M. 

-1-

With the combination of Martin Luther
King Jr. Day on Monday,
a sick day on Wednesday and taking today
off from work (see more on #7), I only worked two days
this week - a.k.a., I feel very lazy.

 

 

 

-2-

Today is the March For Life in D.C.!
I went back in 2011 and it
was the experience of a lifetime.  Thank you
to all who are in attendance this year and let's

pray abortion is stopped in the United States.

-3-
I taught my first piano and guitar
lesson yesterday, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
I was nervous, but I quickly realized that
I not only love music, but I love teaching
music, too!

-4-
Which brings me to point four - I have
too many things that I like.  With senior year
fast drawing to a close, I'm trying to get some handle
on what I would possibly like to major in.
But I like too much: I like babies (neonatal nurse),
I like music (music teacher), and I love
writing this blog (English education/ Journalism).  That's OK, for now I'll just enjoy
getting to like all of them at once.

 

 

-5-
To aid in my major decision (no pun
intended) I have decided to rule out
what I don't want to be.  So far I have
crossed off: Lion tamer, astrophysicist, runway
model and movie director.
Four job choices down, one hundred million
to go. 
-6-
In other (non-significant) news, I
cut my bangs!  So now I have blunt bangs. 
I am still on the upward climb to
grow out my pixie cut, which feels like it
is taking forever. Anybody have any tips
for growing out hair?  The girl
who cuts my hair keeps trying to get me to
take hair-growth vitamins, but I haven't
resulted to that......yet.

 

-7-

I am going to Winter Jam tonight with
some youth group friends in Kansas City.
It is going to be an incredible concert:
$10 gets you in the door to see almost ten
contemperary Christian bands, including
TobyMac!  It'll be an awesome
night, and watch Mady's blog for
a better update tomorrow, probably
complete with pictures, too. 
God bless you all and happy Friday!
Chloe M. 

 

 

 

I'm replaceable.

Yesterday I was sick with a nasty cold/flu hybrid that landed me in bed with a headache the size of a small country.  And I had to call in sick to work.  For the first time.  Ever.

To some, this is no big deal.  But to me, it's a big deal.  Because I hate letting people down. 

But since I was worried that I wouldn't be able to stand for that long at work and not get sick to my stomach, I called in sick.

Then I crashed in bed from 10:30am to 5:30pm.  By this morning I felt good again, so I went into work and everyone just asked if I was better, and said they were glad I was back.  No one said how crazy it was without me there . 

That was when it hit me:  the world will still turn if I don't come into work because I'm sick.  Ultimately, I'm replaceable. 

Now here is the catch:  I am replaceable to my place of work.  They can always find another bank teller.  But I am not replaceable to God.  There will never be another Chloe M. exactly like me.  I'm not replaceable to my family.  No one can fill my shoes because there will never be another me.

It's time I focus on the relationships in which I am irreplaceable versus the work positions that can always be filled by someone else.

God bless you all,

Chloe M .  

 Good morning!  I'm sorry I didn't post this last night, because I know you all were dying to know how the Catholic Campus Center went.  And I totally would have had it not been for a swollen, throat, a horrible cough, shallow breathing and my eyes glued shut by nasty stuff that doesn't even have a name.  Yes, it's flu season.  Yet the flu hit later last night, so I still went to the center.   

But enough about my flu, let's talk about Sunday night!  I came in a bit early to introduce myself to the director of the center, meet some new people, and get a quick tour of the center.  This all went well, and all involved were incredibly welcoming!  We started the evening off with Mass.  (Which included a homily that I will post about tomorrow.)  We then headed to form teams for the Minute to Win It games.  

The games went very well - hey, you are talking to the fifth place winner here - and were a lot of fun to watch.  I felt like I fit in and wasn't just the weird and awkward homeschooler.  Who looked like this: --> 
I was the only senior in highschool there and was worried about looking to young in comparison - but half the kids thought I looked old enough that I could be a senior in college - whoa, never got that one before!

The dinner conversations included: "So, which word of the new Mass translation is your favorite?" and "What is the line that you always mess up at during the Angelus?"  (So you know you are hanging out with Catholics when....)

All in all, I met some neat, Catholic people, who I hope to see on campus in the coming year and hang out with at the center regularly.

Thank you thank you thank you for all your prayers and assurance and tips.  They really did help and made the night a success.

God bless you all!

Chloe M. 

January 22, 1973.  This is a day that we look on and shake our heads.  "Why?"  We ask ourselves and say a prayer for the 55 million little children who did not get to see this world.  Let's look at some aspects of abortion, how it affects us, and what we need to do about it. 

In a recent magazine article I read, this guy was saying how he doesn't like the attitude of those who participate in the March for Life in DC.  He says they'll do the march, pray, and at the end, turn to the person next to them, smile, and say "See you next year!"  Why are we happy about abortion being legal for another year?  It is because we have settled for abortion, and now think that it will always be legal and we might as well face it.  Don't.  Look at our nations history!  Almost exactly 150 years ago, slavery was legal in the United States.  Less than a hundred years ago, it was legal to have separate bathrooms for African-Americans and Caucasians.  In the time period in which they occurred, and even looking back on it today, these must have seemed like impossible causes.  Hundreds of thousands of people died to make slavery illegal.  Many died in the civil rights movement.

Every 26 seconds, a baby is killed in what used to be the safest place on earth - his mother's womb.  Where are the hundreds of thousands of people standing up and saying that this is wrong?  That we are going to do something about it?  Marching for life is one thing, but what about financially supporting your local pregnancy crisis center?  What about being there to talk to your friend who just found out she's a teen and she's going to have a baby?  What about standing up for life when you are in a conversation that turns towards justifying abortions? 

Perhaps you a personally opposed to abortion, but you don't want to enforce your beliefs on someone else.  This is like saying that you know abortion is wrong because it kills babies, but you don't care if other people kill babies.  It is a contradiction to support a woman's right to choose an abortion and then say you support a child's right to live.  The two are opposites. 

We need to make it clear that we not only love babies, but we love their mothers, too.  This isn't being felt by women though since 28% of abortions are obtained by Catholic women, and that one in every three women will have had at least one abortion by the time they reach their 45th birthday.  (guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html).  It seems that there are lot hard decisions to be made regarding hard situations.  What about rape? Incest? Poverty? Health of the mother?  Yes these are tough situations, but we have to see that in each situation, the innocent child who takes the shot for the situation is never to blame.  He/she is a victim of rape, incest, or poverty, but is never to blame for those situations.  If the man who is convicted of rape cannot be legally killed while waiting for a trial, how come the baby who was conceived as an outcome of the rape can be legally killed while waiting to be born?  And in the case of the mother's health, we still are not allowed to deliberately and directly take innocent human life, no matter what the circumstances

If an unborn is not a human being, than an abortion is nothing more worse than taking out our wisdom teeth.  But if an unborn is a child, created in the image of God, with a soul and a body and a right to live,  then we have no right to kill them simply because it is inconvenient.  And if a baby is not a baby, then why do abortion "doctors" have to re-assemble the body of the child after the abortion to make sure they removed all the parts?  This can easily be answered by pictures, video and sound bites.  Pictures of a baby before and after an abortion adds to the reality of what abortion really is.   Catholic Answers points out that an "ardent pro-choice woman became as pale as a ghost after she agreed to test her beliefs and watch a recording of an abortion in progress."  Sometimes we don't realize how evil something is until we see it with our own eyes.

David Bereit, founder of 40 days for Life says, "Each abortion clinic should hang a sign on their door that says, 'Open with permission of the Christian Church."  What if every day, at an abortion clinic in your state, Catholics surrounded the clinic and peacefully prayed for the conversion of the workers, the souls of the mother and the child, and the stopping of abortion?  Instead of yelling out that they want abortion to stop, we must come together on our knees.  Catholic Answers says, "Just as the walls of Jericho fellas the Israelites marched around them, so too can abortion facilities close their doors as pro-lifers peacefully, patiently, and prayerfully make a public stand for life. 

Will it be easy?  No.  But JPII says that we must "Be not afraid."  We must show with love and prayers that we oppose abortion, but that we love babies and their moms.  Steps to take to accomplish this task can be:

   -  Giving of your time, talent and treasure to support local pregnancy support centers and post-
      abortive care centers

   -  Model a life of purity that shows children should be conceived in a relationship between a man
       and a woman who are committed to each other and life in a marriage

   -  Working to pass laws that will restrict abortions

   -  Showing all we know that abortion should not be tolerated in a God-centered civilized nation.

Since 1991, over 1,500 abortion facilities have closed, which is a 70 percent decrease in facilities nationwide.  God's is the victory, but this does not mean that we are to give up and let God do all the work.  As St. Augustine said, "Pray as though everything depended on God, and act as if everything depended on you." 

God bless you all and strengthen us in this fight against abortion,

Chloe M. 

-1-

One of the funnest (is that a word?) thing to do
when you are sitting around with your friends is to play fictional matchmaker

with the people in your church directory.  A.K.A - what I did
all afternoon with my friends. 

 

-2-

I passed my local Starbucks and realized that their
signs for Holiday Drinks are still up with the words "While
Supplies Last" in big, sharpied words.  So, my lunch break
today will be spent at Starbucks- fingers crossed that they
still have enough supplies for one more Carmel brulee latte.

 

-3-

Our last Christmas party is tonight - yes, we do stretch the Holiday
out pretty well, don't we?  But it has helped us avoid the Christmas letdown
that you feel after getting done with all the celebrations and
feeling like all that preparation was for one day.  This also means
I can put up one last picture of cute Christmas animals:

OK, now I'm good. 

 

-4-

After all the work on the Roe V. Wade paper, I submitted it this Tuesday
with bated breath and fingers crossed.  Lo and behold, Wednesday morning
brought cries of joy at the A- paper, graded and returned. 
Huzzah! Huzzah!  Ring the Christmas bells!  (What? I still
have them out, remember?)

 

-5-

My courage is slowly gathering for the Catholic Campus Center
visit that is fast approaching.  Thank you to all for the comments and
advice concerning my home school introvert-ness.  That also
broke the record for the most comments on my blog!
I see you like hearing about my nervous breakdowns, eh?

 

-6-

The guy who calls my phone sometimes from work is always the
bearer of good news.  He is a recorded message that automatically
plays on our answering machines when jeans day occurs.
Needless to say, there was one person dancing around the house
shouting "Jeans day! Jeans day!" when he said that it was jeans day
for every remaining Friday in January...and in February! 
So, this picture is of jeans.  Because they look like they are dancing, too.

 

-7-

Tomorrow night, Dad, Mom, Reagan, Grandma, Grandpa and myself
are going to a local Church to hear Phil Keagy in concert.

For those of you who don't know him, he is one of the
most amazing Christian guitar players.  Ever. 

 

Thanks and God Bless you all!

 

Chloe M. 

Making new friends....

Yes.  Yes, I know.  It's been since the 9th that I posted.

I do have good excuse(s):

- I am finishing up application for two of my scholarships.

- I finished my essay on Pride and Prejudice

- I started my new job transfer to another bank branch today

- I attended my first law class

- I worked a trivia night

- I went to the gym and did a stinkin' cardio workout and now it hurts to bend down or walk up stairs.  Stop laughing.

-  I am dying of nervousness.

Let's expand on last excuse, shall we?   This weekend, my church's bulletin had an announcement for current college students and seniors planning on attending our local college.   They are having an open house / Mass at the Catholic College Campus Center.  Well, I am  senior in high school and am planning on going to that college, so I defiantly fit the bill.

What is the issue then?  Me.  The home schooled introvert who doesn't think she does will with new people - especially people she has never met and will probably be spending some time with over the next four years. My ideal day would be this:

Ok, not really this bad, but you get the point.  So I am feeling a bit better beings that the first event of the night is Mass, which I can participate without feeling completely awkward.  Unless I start responding with the old Mass responses.

Then, after Mass, the center is hosting a minute to win it game show activity.  This is also ok, since our youth group has played these games before (see Mady's blog). 

So then what is the issue?  I am nervous because I don't know how to make friends.  You may laugh,but I am serious.  The friends that I have now are youth group friends.  I was never the new kid.  And I've watched new kids after new kids come into our group and it is awkward.  I hate being the awkward person with no one to talk to, so this might be interesting. 

So, if you are thinking about me this Sunday, send up a prayer for the least-awkward situations to occur.  And if you have any tips on how to not come across as an un-socialized homeschooler, let me know. 

God bless you all!

Chloe M. 



The Match Made in Heaven
Looking at the Original Love Story of Adam and Eve

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"The man [Adam] manifests for the first time joy and even exaltation, for which he had no reason before, owing to the lack of being like himself.  Joy in the other human being dominates the words spoke by man on seeing the woman.  All this helps to establish the full meaning of original unity."

 

- Pope John Paul II

 

     Re-read this quote and think about it carefully.  It essentially says that man had no other reason to be this joyful and praise God until woman was created.  All he can say is, "This at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh."  In other words, "Wow Lord!  She's beautiful!  She's like me, but different!  She's perfect!" 

     In the garden, we read that Adam and Eve were naked, yet had no shame.  With their bodies they said, "I am yours, giving myself to you freely, totally, faithfully, and fruitfully."  When you give yourself to someone this completely, in the setting of a marriage, you are truly naked without shame. 

     Nakedness means exposed, revealed, nothing is hidden.  So Adam and Eve were able to see their failings, struggles, hopes, and fears.  Yet because they were pure, they felt complete trust in one another and in God.  Because they knew each of them wanted the best for one another, they didn't have to worry about being hurt.

     When they looked at each other, it wasn't with lust - it was with genuine love.  It was when sin entered the world that lust entered with it.  So instead of looking at each other and seeing the person, they looked at each other and saw the body.  When the soul is mentally separated from the body and one can look at each other with no strings attached commitment-wise, a person is just an object for one's pleasure.

     Society often fails to look at the whole person instead of just the body.  Movies, soap operas, romance novels, pornography, one night stands and break ups have left both women and men feeling like there is nothing special about them. To begin to change this pattern, we must never forget that God created us with incredible worth.  This is a worth that we must not only see in ourselves, but must also be reflected in the way that we view others.

God bless you all,

Chloe M. 


    

Doctor Knows Best?
Quotes from Abortion "Doctors"





- They [the women] are never allowed to look at the ultrasound because we knew that if they so much as heard the heart beat, they wouldn’t want to have an abortion.
–Dr. Randall, former abortionist

- Even now I feel a little peculiar about it, because as a physician I was trained to conserve life, and here I am destroying it.
-Dr. Benjamin Kalish, abortionist


 - You have to become a bit schizophrenic. In one room, you encourage the patient that the slight irregularity in the fetal heart is not important, that she is going to have a fine, healthy baby. Then, in the next room you assure another woman, on whom you just did a saline abortion, that it is a good thing that the heartbeat is already irregular… she has nothing to worry about, she will NOT have a live baby… All of a sudden one noticed that at the time of the saline infusion there was a lot of activity in the uterus. That’s not fluid currents. That’s obviously the fetus being distressed by swallowing the concentrated salt solution and kicking violently and that’s to all intents and purposes, the death trauma… somebody has to do it, and unfortunately we are the executioners in this instance.
- Dr. John Szenes, abortionist


 - I got to where I couldn’t stand to look at the little bodies anymore.
- Dr. Beverly McMillan, former abortionist






What has happened to our society when the men and women who perform these horrific acts can say this and the abortion industry not be affected?  Pray to end abortion.
God bless,
Chloe M. 

Burden or Beauty to be Revealed?

" You also say 'Oh! What a burden!' and you scorn it, says the Lord of hosts.  You bring in what you seize, or the lame, or the sick.  Yes you bring it as a sacrifice.  Shall I accept it from your hands?  Cursed is the deceiver who has in his flock a male, but in his sacrifice offers the Lord a gelding.  For I am a King and I, says the Lord of Hosts, shall have my name be feared among the nations."

                                 - Malachi 1:13-14

 

 

     Sometimes we can look upon our current vocation as a burden.  We are so caught up in anticipation of the beauty that is to be revealed that we fail to see the beauty around us now. 

     We then can find ourselves bringing crippled sacrifices.  We claim that we have given our whole selves to God, but we reserve a little for ourselves.  Yet how can God give us the best when we are keeping our best from Him?

     Instead of always looking towards the future in hopes of boyfriends, girlfriends, courtship, dates, proposals, and weddings, how about we look around and see the beauty of being single?  Have we realized the gift of having time to fully devote ourselves to the Lord? 
    
     Last night in my Bible time with God, I was just sitting there and talking with Him about things that had happened over the weekend.  Not talking AT Him, but WITH Him.  And I caught a glimpse of the peace that it feels like to give your entire love life over to God.  And let me tell you, it's incredible. 

     This is an incredible time to strengthen our personal relationship with the most important person in our life : Christ.  Pope John Paul II said, "The more you cling to Jesus, the more capable you will become of being closer to one another."  When your practice for loving another human being in a way you have never loved a human being before, who better to practice loving than Christ?  

 

     A three fold chord is not easily broken.  What an incredible bond you and your future spouse will find when you meet and are bound together by a common love of the Lord!

 

God Bless you all,

 

Chloe M. 
 

 



They Exist

Tonight my sisters and friends went down to Lawrence for a Regency/Jane Austen dance.  Filled with a lot of fun (although a little more complicated than last year) dances and conversation, all of us had an incredibly fun time. 

Yet more awesome than the dancing, something we only get to experience about once a year, was an interaction with a certain young man who set the bar for how all girls should be treated.

This young man asked many girls to dance - some who had been sitting out due to lack of partners.  He was courteous and pleasant to everyone there.  He thanked his partner for the dances.   He had made an effort in getting ready for the evening and was dressed in a black suit with dress shoes and a tie.  While his actions during the dance were both memorable and commendable, his actions after the dance were even more so.
While us girls and Dad were getting ready to head out for the night, he had walked out with his coat on (by the way, gentlemen, if you wish to impress a girl, wear a wool trench coat and a fedora).  He held the door open for  the girls and offered to take one of our plates that we were taking out.  After walking us to the car, he asked if he could open the door for me.  I replied of course, and made sure to thank him. 

Dad later informed us that, as he was talking to the young man when all of the girls had gotten into the car that he had always been taught by his mom to open up doors and carry things for girls.  It was usually unacceptable by the girls though.  So for us to thank him for his chivalry was not the usual reaction.

BOYS:  Please understand that if you want to make a girl feel like a million bucks, treat us like a lady.  Open the door for them (in the car and in buildings).  Ask them if they need help carrying things.  Walk them to their cars if it is dark.  The reason this is so impressive is because it is so rare.  

GIRLS:  Appreciate the guy's efforts.  Like our situation tonight showed, gratitude is often not the usual reaction.  It will make the guy's day if he knows that what he does to go the extra mile is appreciated.  You have to make sure that you are acting like a lady to be treated so, though.  If you are throwing yourself at a guy and doing the pursuing yourself, he doesn't feel that he has to treat you like someone special. 

Ultimately, it comes down to this.  If you think that there are no guys out there who will treat you like a lady, then think again.  They are out there.  They exist.  So (for guys) be that gentleman and (for girls) thank them.
God bless you all!

Chloe M. 

 

-1-

Welcome Conversion Diary readers! As you’ve probably heard, Jen is in hospital with bilateral pulmonary embolisms. Please keep her in your prayers! She’s currently awaiting test results and in the process of making treatment decisions but I know she plans on updating you all soon!

-2-

Today is a day of rejoicing - I am done with senior year except the last
two quarters of my English course. 

 

 

 

 

-3-

Strangely, I have been finding an incredible amount
of time to read - my sister showed me these books,
and I haven't been able to put them down.

 

 

 

 

-4-

If you haven't done this yet, you have to:Patron Saint Generator
It generates a saint to be your adopted patron for the year.

I picked (or was picked by?) Blessed Miguel Pro.  He was
a martyr in the Mexican revolution, and was arrested
and killed.  We know the most about him through written
letters to the fellow believers in Mexico, a form of
inner-journalism. hmmmm....

-5-

 This Sundays is the annual Regency dance in town.
We are able to learn how to dance similar to
the scenes that you could see in the Jane Austen movies.
If only I could figure out what I'm going to wear.

 

-6-

The best thing about working at a bank?
Two words: Federal Holidays. 
I was able to enjoy New Year's Day with my
family.  We stayed up 'til 9:30pm with the
little kids and watched The Avengers.
Time well spent.

 

-7-
I was listening to my favorite radio show (Brant on Air1)
and he was saying how his new year's resolution is
to talk to more people at the gym.
I'm sorry - everyone at the gym thinks I am a
total introvert (and a typical homeschooler) since
I'm pretty sure I have no uttered a single word
to a non-family/friend in there.
Do you socialize at the gym? 
Enlighten me!

Crushes.....Good or Bad?



     "Oh my word.  He looked at me."

     "Now there is a guy who I could walk down the aisle to."
      
     "But do you think he likes me?"

     Welcome back to Chloe's blog.  Joining us is our old friend and semi-regular.   You all know it, you all love it.....the crush.  It seemed that everything was going wonderful in your faith life and your decision to give your love life over to God when this wonderful person (or is it an angel in disguise?) walked into Church and caught your eye.

      It's love at first sight.  But before you go over to introduce yourself, and after you've planned out what color your bridesmaids will wear and how you would do your hair for the wedding, may I recommend that you stop and ponder the age-old question:  Is having a crush a bad thing?

     The answer: Sometimes.  "Well thanks.  You are so specific and helpful," you answer.  There are five steps to determine whether your crush is crazy, obsessive, and not pleasing God.
These five steps were laid out by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin, co-authors of my new favorite book, It's (not that) complicated: how to relate to guys in a healthy, sane, and biblical way.    

Step one:  Father, let MY will be done.  God loves you SO much.  Really, He does.  To show our love for God, we have to trust him.  So we die to ourself in the constant struggle to say, "Let THY will be done."  When we give into the struggle and decide that it is our life, and thus, our love life, we are putting a certain attractive person over what God wills for our life.  What does that boil down to?  A crush is unhealthy if you are worshipping the object of your affection as a false god.
          

Step two:  He/She is mine.  Though it's great that you think that this person is your perfect match, that you both understand each other so well, and that your children are going to be the most beautiful that the world has ever seen.....you have no right to monopolize his/her time if you don't have a wedding ring on your finger.  True love (not puppy love, infatuation, or lust) really wants the best for the other person.  So if you really love this person, it means giving up your notion of what is best in exchange for God's better plan for the both of you.
    

Step three: Letting her lead / taking command.  In the way God created relationships to be, the man is the initiator and the woman is the chosen.  But when the girls do good things only to make her look like holy wife material when the guy is around, this is not being the chosen.  This is saying, "Look at meee!  I would make such a good wife!"  vs.  the correct approach of doing good things as though no one is watching.  As a young woman, you cannot pick the guy to pick you.      

Step four:  Hello!  Welcome to our imaginary house.   Your future with a young man / young woman is not guaranteed unless you are married.  So when we build our whole life around something that could-maybe-possibly-if everything falls in place-if he does the thing I want him to do possibility that you two might end up together is not relying on God.  For all you know, you could be someones wife (not his) and he could be someone else's husband (not hers).
    

Step five:  My heart made me do it.  Just because your heart beats fast every time he/she walks in the room does not mean that you are destined for each other and this. is. love.   It also doesn't mean that your mind can take a back seat and let your heart do the driving.  The inner struggle in dealing with a crush has nothing to do with the guy who looks like he could be the lead singer in one direction.  It has everything to do with being satisfied as being a daughter / son of God.

     What do you think?  Do you have a crush that you need to
re-evaluate?  Let me know in the comments below!


God bless,

Chloe M.