Benedictus Simpliciter - Simply Blessed

I am a blessed young woman. I have an amazing, loving family. I have wonderful, caring friends. I have a simply fantastic boyfriend who knows just what to do to make things better. I have many possessions on this earth. All these have been given to me by my heavenly Father, and boy, is he good. It's amazing really,  when I think about how fortunate and how tremendously blessed I am. God has given me so much, how does one repay such generosity? 

Dum Dulcedine- So Long Sweets

Lent. It's one of those things where people say that they are going to give up something. Kind of like new years resolutions, only religious. People give up facebook, texting, television, the computer as a whole, pop, or as I am doing, sweets. (mainly candy, cookies, cakes, ice cream- you know, the good stuff.) In chapel at school today we had Father Dennis from a church in GR. I was pumped to begin with just with the fact that I HAD to call this guy Father. It's like a rule. How good. But anyway, he talked about how the things that we give up for lent aren't always bad things, they can be good too! He mentioned that in the Catholic church, they give up meat for the 40 days of lent, except Fridays, when they eat fish. People can go to the church to get fish, then knowingly he said, "they all come to church for the halibut." You may not get this right away, but say 'halibut' out loud to yourself a couple times.If you're still missing it, the syllables, hal-i-but relate to the words hell-of-it, respectively, if you say them quickly, which is what that dear Father did. It was quite amusing and yes, I did continue to laugh to myself throughout the entire day. But back to my point, the things you give up for lent aren't necessarily bad; but you need to focus on how that changes what you are doing in some way. If you're giving up facebook, what are you doing with the time that you would have spent on the computer? If you're giving up sweets (ahem), what are you going to do with the money that you save from purchasing those delicious, but oh so unhealthy, morsels? So the moral of the story is, it's not what you give up, but how you use the time or resources that come from the giving up. 

Valentiam Gestatio- The Value of a Prominade

$60. Well, $65 to be exact. The amount of money the two prom dresses I own have cost me. Total. Where in the world did you find those ridiculous deals you ask? I'll tell you. A consignment shop, and a thrift store. The first dress was $45, and is the color 'trout.' (Yes, I did make up that color) That one was from the consignment shop. The second, and more recent, was purchased at a thrift store. It's a royal purple and was originally tagged for $170. I got it for $20. BAM. Take that corporate stores that sell dresses for hundreds of dollars. To be honest, I don't really understand why someone would spend $150-$200 dollars on a dress that they are going to wear once. For about 6 hours. At your high school prom. But, that's just me.

 

Mortem Coactus- The Death Of Stress.

Stress. It pretty much describes the life of a 16 (almost 17!) year old junior. What with school, MME's, ACT's, college visits, friends, boyfriends, exercise, and just maintaining a sane mind- free time is hard to come by. We're counting the days til Spring Break, when we can feel freedom, even if it is for a short time. Then, time flies. Prom. A.P. tests. Exams. and finally, summer. But does it get easier then? Negative commander; here come the stress of summer jobs, preparing for our senior year, more college visits, and ACT or 2.. and BAM summer's gone and its back into the swing of things. Why yes, I did just tell you my basic plan for the next 5 months. Some might agree with me, but others may say: geez Katie, slow down!  Focus on one thing at a time and let God handle the rest. I know, I know. I'm trying. I struggle with letting these things go. Take this week for example: 2 tests Monday; ACT Tuesday, along with worrying about a friend; MME Wednesday and Thursday; and 2 tests Friday. And I have an irritating cold which makes me feel worse. I'm beginning to despise bubbles. Hundreds of bubbles, just wanting to be filled in by my #2, mechanical, soft tip, pencil. (not ink either mind you). They haunt my dreams. I absolutely cannot wait for the weekend. It's just one of those weeks where you can't see the end until it hits you square in the head. My encouragement for this week would be Matthew 6:25-34, " “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." It's long, I know. But, how awesome! That verse(s) was read during youth group on Sunday night, and I thought, 'how fitting!' It was definitely what this girl needed to hear. It has been my prayer this week, and boy, is God good. This was what I needed, that slap to the face that said, 'hey Katie, chin up chica, you'll get through this stuff fine!' So my reminder to others today is to take it slow, laugh in the face of stress, and not to worry because it's all in God's hands.