Prayers and Thank You's

I am at peace knowing that God has me where He wants me.  At least for the time being. :)


There is such a peace overflowing in my heart.  I've sold most of everything I own.  Just a few more items.  And, the rest - summer clothes, shoes, and other assorted kitchen items - is being taken to SVDP.  
It's such a release to be material free.  To live the simple life.  Really.


I still have my books.  I am Dominican, ya'll.  But if someone needed food, I'd sell them. :)

Knowing I'm within a $5,000 end to my debt makes me even more at peace.


God and many benefactors helped me pay off $7,000 of my personal debt!  That is simply amazing.  And, in less than 3 months, at that.


He does Mighty Things in our lives.  Sometimes we have to open our eyes to see!


I know that if He wants me at Summit sooner than the end of April, He'll make it happen.  


I mailed my St Joseph grant application today.  I pray for that decision as well.


There is still a special intention for November 21st that is near the top of my prayer list.


Tim is at the top.  Please continue to pray for my dear friend.  For God's will in his illness and his condition in ICU.  He would want God's will to be done, not his own.


Thank you for praying for me and for Tim.  I hold each and every one of you in my heart and pray for your intentions.


My teens are going on retreat again, Nov 4-6, for the Guys retreat and Girls retreat.  This is the last retreat that I will help lead.  If I'm around in March, there is a Spring Retreat, but the NET team leads that; I'll be in the kitchen. :)


So, I'm psyching myself up for that weekend.  I've loved every day that God has blessed me to grow in faith with them.  It really has been a beautiful journey. :)
Please keep our teens in your prayers.  

Be a Man! Discern the Priesthood.

Please continue

Please continue to pray for my friend Tim.  The road to recovery is long.  This is a marathon, not a sprint.
I will not stop praying and offering sacrifices.

Tim is on breathing machine,

Tim is on breathing machine, & he is septic. CT shows a perforation, so emergency surgery now. Plz pray for him at Mass.

Taken a turn for the

Taken a turn for the worse. Intubated. Doctors working on him. Take out rosaries and pray.

We need to Rise Up!

When I was on CORE at St Catherine's, we brought a bunch of teens to Steubenville Summer Conference in Atlanta.  I confess that I've been to every Steubenville Atlanta Conference unless I was in college or in a monastery.


But, anyway, we were at the conference, and a deacon we know had brought two teen guys with him.  The deacon had to assist in the conference and wasn't able to chaperone the guys he brought.  So, we brought them into our little 'flock'.


These two guys, who we'll call Adam and Bryan (not their real names), were dealing with some heavy burdens in their lives, issues they seriously thought God couldn't handle.  These burdens - sufferings - were weighing them down.  I prayed and asked God all day Saturday to give me their suffering so they could freely and completely worship and praise Him that night in Adoration.


God answered my prayer, and I was given their suffering.


Since that time, I have asked numerous times for other people's suffering so they can heal faster.  And, God has granted my request.


I've been privileged to hear my teens say that they too have asked and received.


And, now, tonight, together with LF, we were talking about asking for suffering.  


The day I found out about Tim, I should say the hour, I prayed and asked God to give me a little of Tim's suffering and pain, so that he can be healed faster.


And, what if, we all asked for a little bit of Tim's pain, would that provide the miracle he needs?  
Think about it, and pray about it.  I pray you do.


This road to recovery might be a long one, but it's a road to recovery!  And, we might have to carry his burden for a long while.  But, I am sure, we can all think about how Jesus has carried us through tough times and storms.

Rosary and/or Divine Mercy chaplet

I really believe that we need to be up on the mountain like Moses imploring God the Father for a miracle while Tim is down on the battlefield. Could you pray a Rosary and/or Divine Mercy chaplet daily for Tim's healing and for the doctors and nurses to figure out how to stabilize him. And to pray until he is home and working again with his teens! :)

Praise God! Tim is off

Praise God! Tim is off the breathing machine. However, still in serious condition in icu. #keeppraying

PRAY for Tim

Tonight I went to visit Tim again in the hospital.  in ICU.  I read on his CaringBridge that he was intubated.  But, it really did not prepare me for what I saw.


He is in need of our prayers and our sacrifices.  This is totally out of our control.  We need a miracle.


His colitis and liver issues are completely separate to each other.  Without him having colitis, he would have never known he had a blood clot on his liver!


But, because of his colitis, his liver issues are hard to resolve.  They have tried to put him on blood thinners (to remove clots to his liver and other organs) but the colitis is making him bleed.  See, we need a miracle.


I want you to PRAY.  And, pray constantly - offering up little sacrifices for him throughout the day.  And, PRAY for a miracle through JPII's intercession, asking our Blessed Mother for help, sending your guardian angel to help, etc.  Just PRAY.




May God's Most Holy Will be done.




And, if you feel comfortable, get other people to pray for him and/or with you.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!

Last Wednesday night I received an email that a dear friend (friends for 18 years), Tim Davis, was in the hospital in ICU.

I about freaked out, and couldn't sleep all night.

On Thursday, I went to see him with LF.  He was in good spirits, having just come out of surgery where they placed a TIPS liver shunt.

Please keep him in your prayers.  He is 33 and in tip top shape.  He eats all the right foods, has never drank alcohol or experimented with drugs, exercises every day, and loves Jesus with all his heart.

He's also a fellow youth minister at a neighboring parish.

Tim is suffering from inflammatory bowel disease complicated by blood and liver syndromes.

He's been in the hospital for near two weeks, and of course, it's been a toll on his family as well.

The power of prayer is very apparent in my own life.  And, here in Georgia, we have many many people praying for him, and now I believe more people need to pray for him.

He was moved from ICU to a regular room on Sunday.  But, tonight, while visiting with friends, he began having sharp abdominal pains and went for an emergency CT scan.

Please gather and pray for this dear friend of mine.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!

single most important relationship

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Jesus is AMAZING in His love for us!

My teens in the ministry God has blessed me with inspire me to do more in my faith life.

When they get so excited about sharing why they chose their Confirmation saint or just want to tell other teens about Jesus, it gets me teary-eyed.  I ponder on what the early Christians went through, and that gets me excited.

Last night during Confirmation class, we continued our discussion about Acts of the Apostles.  Everyweek I take about 10 minutes and bring to life the early Church.  For me, its a refresher course, and for most of my teens, its the first time they're really able to live it.

Last night we talked about Peter and John going to the temple to pray and to spread and defend the faith.
Last night was the first time I saw a spark ignite in more than one the teens' eyes.  Last night, I hope, they were feeling what I feel when I read Acts of the Apostles - strength and courage!

Jesus is my best friend, and getting to know Him is the single most important relationship in my life.

The Rosary Project (video from the Domincan Nuns) :)

God's enduring mercy.

I am $600 away from paying off another credit card.  I am so elated right now.

There is no bounds to God's enduring mercy.

Keep praying for my Nov 21st special intention.

If it's His will, it will happen.

Hair disaster

So, a little story or view into my life:


My teens were asked to bring at least 500 baby items to our Oh Baby Life Night to benefit Cobb Pregnancy Center in Kennesaw.  And, if they brought more than 500, I said I would dye part of my hair green.


Well, they brought 1668 baby items! Yay!


And, last Thursday, LF and I dip-dyed part of my hair green.  We bleached it first and then applied the green color.  However, the color was semi-permanent and washed out in 3 days.  boo!


So, I decided to bleach my hair again to a lighter blonde to maybe get the color to stick longer.


Last night, LF and I proceeded with the process.  With a new bleach kit - Radical Bleach Kit.


20 minutes into the process:
I'm sitting on the couch with my hair in ziplock bags.  And, something, that didn't happen last time is happening.  I'm hearing a snap, crackle, pop and my hair is getting warmer.  To an expert, that would've been signal to wash out the bleach.  But, it hadn't been at least 30 minutes, so we left it in.


An off-hand comment was made, "What if your hair breaks off?"
I was like "Whatever.  If it does, it'll just grow back. And, anyway, in a few months, my hair will be under a veil."


We wash out the bleach, and shampoo it.  And, LF says it looks funny in the middle of my hair.  I'm like let's blow-dry this so we can put the colorant in.  And, she's like why don't you just let it sit for a while and finger comb it.


I'm sitting on the couch again and finger combing.  And, it's falling out.  I go to the bathroom and this is what happens.

After the video, we get the kids to pull on the rest of my hair, and this is what I'm left with:

I love my teens, I love my teens, I love my teens...


Its just hair.  It will grow back.  And, the nasty, coarse hair will eventually be cut off.


But, the best part, what a GREAT Story!




** Note: it's just a small section of my hair.  I can tuck it behind my ears, and you can hardly see it.  Oh, and I did save the hair that fell out for a special project. hehehe

Life Again Drama

I wrote a drama called Life Again for our Confirmation retreat.  In this performance, it was one of our 3 dress rehearsals.  During the retreat performance, the teens had shirts on with their character's name on it. Jesus changed from a white shirt into a Priest shirt at the end of the drama.

The wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23.

The skit "Life Again" is about how sin affects you and your relationship with Christ. Once you've said "yes" to sin, its that much easier for you to keep saying "yes". You keep 'opening' the door to sin. The only way to close the door is by asking for help in the sacrament of confession.


The Main Character (MC) does not run to Jesus, for if she does/did, He would be there in less than a heartbeat. When it appears as if she is, she is actually sinning again; going back to what is familiar. These are her 'regular' sins.


The teens who play the various sins (anger, jealousy, pride, etc.) are sins, they are not people. And, therefore, the focus is not on the sins but on the MC and her relationship with Christ.


When a sin comes into the MC's life, the sin always pulls her away from Christ.


The action of the sin ~ through the MC's choice ~ results in Christ being beaten as well. Every sin we commit affects our relationship with Him. That is why the MC's beating is mirrored upon Christ. However, Christ maintains His mercy and His love no matter what we do to Him and to ourselves. He is always waiting for us to ask for His help.


The more sins you commit, the more there is a gap in your relationship. The only way to repair that relationship is to seek His mercy in the sacrament of Reconciliation.


Christ is with us through everything! Yes, everything.

Green Hair

Green hair...
I tried to dye part of my hair green.  LF and I gave a section of my hair blonde highlights (read we bleached a section).  And, then put the green dye on it.  But, the color only lasts for a few days.

I have an idea, and its probably what I'm going to do.  B/c its the only thing that will work.

Work is insane.  We are full steam ahead.  So, after the Confirmation Retreat this weekend, I was able to be off for a few days.

Doctors appointments and sleep were on my agenda.

The grant application is almost done.

I'm still praying for my special Nov 21st intention.  Please join in.

And, all of my apartment has been sold...for the most part.  I have one shelving unit that I'm trying to figure out what to do with it.  And, then there's my clothes.  I have clothes to move into AR's with.  But, I also have some items that Plato's Closet wouldn't take - Corduroy pants, shoes, sweaters, and two pairs of shorts.
I'm selling each item for a $1.  I just have to take pictures and upload them to FB.

I'm very calm knowing that all of my stuff was sold to friends and family.

John 10:10 is running through my world.  He has come to bless me abundantly.  I trust in His plan.
His plan is best.  I do not see the outcome, but I am here in the journey.

Keep praying for benefactors for me.  And, please share my story with others.