Thought of the Day

These past few weeks have been pretty hectic. School here, family there, homework here, friends there, et cetera. In the midst of it all, I seem to always encounter this problem; Where shall one draw the line in friendship? When I mean "draw the line" I meant the line between being brothers and sisters (for girls and guys respectively) to taking the next level.

In this modern society that we live in, we tend to be surrounded by the product of the media. The media brainwashes children and even older adults to believing that it is impossible to keep a platonic relationship with the opposite sex.

That bothers me. This is where my rant starts.

Where has all the chivalry gone? What happened to being friends first, and trusting that God will send you the right soul mate?

Brothers, stop chasing after us like we stole your wallet. We sisters do not like to be chased around, nor do we appreciate you touching/talking to us inappropriately. I understand that this is not all the brothers, but you guys seriously need to start learning from each other. How can we ever view you as a brother when you cannot respect us as a sister?

Sisters, guard you heart. There are so many guys out there that all look like a nice piece of candy. But some of them will make your tummy and your heart feel ill. Be patient with God and trust Him first. Always strive for purity! You are your own billboard- you attract men by the way you dress, the way you talk, and present yourself. Empty yourself and let God in so that he can fill you with the love that we long for. :)

So how can we keep our relationships with our brothers and sisters pure and friendly? We should all love one another, just as Christ loved us. We should all respect each others personal space, privacy and friendship. We must keep our mind focus on the ONE who created you both, and He will direct your relationship in the right direction.

Fin.
Sarahboo.

A Speaker, Speaks.

Evangelism.

Since Cafe Catholica- no, scratch that.. since I have admitted and practiced my faith this year, I started to see and feel so many opportunities to evangelize.

Ooh! The word that not very many Catholics are quick to do. For 20 years of my life, I have always hidden behind the door, because of my little faith. Marcel LeJeune in Cafe Catholica Houston 2010 told us that as Catholics, we were CONFIRMED and ANOINTED not to be just "labeled" Catholics, but to be a light to others through evangelism.

I don't know what you are thinking, but the idea of evangelism has such a negative connotation these days. I was just talking to two great friends of mine, and they just hate it whenever people come up to them and ask them if they are saved or that they will be going to hell because they are straight up Buddhist. I constantly get ridiculed because they assume that I will do the same thing to them because of my faith. I do not blame them! Did Christ go up to his disciples and told them that they will go to Hell? Or did He lead by example and showed love and compassion to everyone he encountered? Mohammed did make a point (don't quote me):

"I like your Christ, I don't like your Christians."

How can we bring people into the Church if we scare them away? You cannot force anyone out of their free will, so lead by example and love with all your heart, your mind and your soul to our Lord Jesus Christ. "It is not your job to "lead" (them), but to get out of the way (LeJeune)".

I will leave you with a special quote by my lovely sister, Janie:
"Sometimes we are only meant to plant the seed."

Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Surrender.

Surrender. In order to be the good fruit in the parable of the sower, I need to surrender my life to Christ. That's a pretty bold statement.

Why do I find it so hard to surrender my life to the One who made the heavens and the earth? The One who made me. Why is it that whenever I move my foot one step closer to the Church, that I am moving two steps away from my friends and family. I think that is my issue: selfishness. I cannot move forward with God if I continue to hold onto what I love on this earth. It hurts SO MUCH because I am feeling this bubble. I know where I stand as a daughter, a best friend, or a acquaintance, but now I am not feeling them around me. I am just driving alone in the road looking for God like I am looking for a gasoline station on a dirt road. Emotionally I am so disconnected from this worldly reality that I even question it at times. Why did God try so hard to keep me living from the day of conception? WHY AM I HERE?

I feel that the real struggle is that I am a control freak. I want to take control of my life and make my own rules and have all the attention on me. I seem to lack the precious quality of being humble. At mass a few days ago, the priest explained that longing for God is not a feeling, it is a decision. The emptiness that I feel because I do not have God first or totally in my life must be treated like an chronic illness. Constant nourishment from our Lord, acknowledging our lack of worth and our debt to Our Savior to keep the love and the life going is only scratching the surface of what must face.

So I must face the world and let God take the wheel.

Why is Good Friday, Good?

What really got me yesterday while eavesdropping on a conversation:

'What is Easter?'

As we approach the end of this Lenten season, I think about all the times I have taken Easter for granted. Bunnies, easter egg hunts, chocolate---the media truly had me as a child. I never knew about Good Friday, or the Easter Triduum.

How can we take Jesus's cross for granted by replacing his image with bunnies? I don't understand how the greatest sin of crucifying an innocent man could be replaced with such an image. How could we be so self absorbed to forget the real meaning of Easter?

I dare you and myself to look at a cross, and think differently this Easter.
We die because of our sins, and then are forgiven. Tell me that's not powerful.

Praise God

So I'm pretty ecstatic right now, because God answered my prayers!

Leave all your trouble and worries to God, because he will provide and he will answer. He will set you free from your problems and show you how merciful and how powerful he is. :)

Thank you Emily for the wonderful news. You have made my year!
Say girl, may I have some of that BACON.
Digital hug! (hug)


I love my roomie, Cindy!
Hi my name is Cindy, I'm 20 years old...
I know.. I know... I know...


By the way, studying is great ;)
<3

Wonderful Experience

Hey everyone! I feel anew again!

Confession is the most relaxing and rewarding experience ever.

Better than that ride at Frontier Fiesta.

Haha.

Woo!

I just want to give appreciation to God and praise him here.

I'm so blessed to have Him in my life.

Love God.


I'm so addicted to the CNC, I'm not even joking.

Life is just getting started!

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling great!

Since my last blog, I reflected on those three resolutions that I planned to commit to. I would be glad to say that I have been living up to all three of them.

I just came from the Alternative Spring Break (Galveston, TX) and I feel like a new person. I have the drive to meet new people, and spread a smile wherever I go. Most of all, the service taught me to always turn to God when I have problems and with praises. I know that I would have have been able to go through work this weekend without praying to him right before and after work. He's a miracle maker, I can tell you that.

Right now, the passage in the bible that I'm thinking about is the one that Father Mundy mentioned at mass yesterday. It was about a girl accused for adultery, and the Pharasees were testing Jesus by using Moses' Law. According to Moses, those who commit adultery should be stone to death. Jesus replied by saying that whoever is without sin is the first to throw a stone. The men started walking away, and the only one left was the girl. Jesus didn't throw a stone either, and told her to not sin anymore.

This passage reminds me of the times whenever I was unfair to my friends or acquaintances that I accused because they did something wrong, but only finding fault in myself as well. It sucks, I've lost many friends that way just because I hung out with a crowd that pretty much gossiped. I really want to be friends and mend broken bonds, even though it seems too late. It's really never too late to do God's work, anyway.

I've never been so happy in my entire life.

Praise be to God,

Sarahboo

The New Year, or the "new me"?

I'd like to take this year, like every other year, as a challenge.

Every January, we tend to bring ourselves to start a new beginning by creating a diet to lose weight or to read the bible every single day. And each and every year, there are obstacles that face us and our promises slip away until we revive them for the next new year.

This year will be a different year.
I will be single for the first time in over three years. I will be able to experience this freedom to have crushes and to like someone and not be cooped up inside my turtle shell. This means looking good and feeling great inside and out.

For the new year and the many years to come (as God allows),

1. I will watch what I eat. I'm open to diets, however I know I will not stick to one, so now I will make sure that full does mean full and not hungrier. If I don't finish my food, a tupper-ware will be used to scrape off the leftovers for the next day. I will not waste food by throwing it away.

2. Second, I will exercise. Sampanda and I will have our exercises outside so he can have a great run while I could burn some off some of my cellulite. I figured that I'm not getting any younger and its harder to take the fat out if its been there for a while.

3. I will be nicer to people. I think this is my hardest promise because I am a biased freak-of-nature and I do believe what my friends think, but I will have to widen the horizon.

I think three is good enough.

Thanks Brian Berger for reading, I'm loving the encouragement :)