In the Quiet

In this liturgical season of Advent, I pause and reflect on the meaning of waiting. We are waiting for the celebration of the birth of Christ. As I wait for Jesus, I realize that He is the only One who can fulfill me. I am about to get married. December 29th of this year is the big day! Though I am so excited to start this new journey, I also know that my future husband cannot totally fulfill me. No matter how wonderful he is, he isn't God. Only God can fill the God-shaped hole in my heart. We wait our whole lives for the next thing, and then the next thing. We want to be done with school. Get a job. Meet someone special. Get married. Have kids. Buy a house. It goes on! We are always chasing something. And yet, we aren't fully satisfied by just that. Are we? That's because only God can fulfill you! Spend time with Him, and you will be rewarded by just knowing that no matter what, He is there for you. Here's to hoping that you can wait with joyful anticipation...

+ J.M.J. Happy Friday friends! (Or enemies, who knows, I guess I have a few) ;) It has been an interesting week! Life has been moving by kind of slowly of late and I'm just trying to figure out what to do with my time. I should be more appreciative of time passing slowly--this is what I longed for, right? I just didn't know it would feel like this. I heard a great talk by Paul Kim  last night, and he said something that made me think. He said that we get so caught up in looking forward to the next great thing that we don't appreciate the present, which is what actually matters. For me, I keep looking forward to getting married. I keep thinking, "I can't wait until I get married!" But the thing is, I can wait. And I need to wait. Besides the fact that I don't have a choice about waiting (I still have to find a guy/he has to find me), now is a time of healing and discerning. It is a beautiful time of clarity and beauty. Thank you...

+ J.M.J. Photo credit: Elite Daily Oh hey! Stephanie's tackling a hot button issue! What a surprise! (Said no one ever).  So! Hillary Clinton's running for president in the next campaign (did you know she also ran in 2008?) Save your groans or squeals of delight for a minute. Let's break this down. Potentially, we could have our first woman president. About time, right? I mean, we've never had one! Women should be able to govern the country too! And hey, then her husband would be the "first man!" How cool is that? All joking aside, I do think that a woman president wouldn't be a bad thing. Think about it. If you think she's not capable, think about how many people advise her. Think about the decisions she would make. While you're at it, think about the decisions she would make. Yes, I typed that twice on purpose. Here's what Hillary Clinton stands for that I see as problematic: Marriage "equality" Wome...

Good afternoon. I am so glad to be back, blogging again. I took quite a long break from this while I was going non-stop in Winter Quarter. Now Spring Break is upon me, and I am back to typing and I am happy. I am hoping to keep up with it better during Spring Quarter. I missed this. You may think my title a strange one. I suppose it is, but it's something I've been turning over in my mind and heart this past week. This Lent, I've been attending the "Catholicism" series at our parish, and it's a DVD by Fr. Robert Barron. I do highly recommend this. It's excellent. But I digress. Something caught my attention, and I have a feeling that it was the Holy Spirit. I noticed what Mary's vocation was. Now, I have often heard it said that religious life is the "highest calling." Vocation-wise, I suppose it is. Theologically speaking, I'm sure I learned this in my Seton religion courses. But if the mother of God (and notice in her title, yes, ...