Stand Up And Follow Me

Oh don't you dare look back just keep your eyes on me, I said I'm holding back he said, 'stand up and follow me,' my savior is my destiny he said, 'ooo stand up and follow me.'

Hey everyone! it's already July and if you're like me you can't believe it Summer is flying bye. I hope your summer has started off well with plenty of blessings and adventures. I'll start by saying the start of my official summer at the end of June was incredible and I wouldn't think of starting it off any other way.

Every year in Costa Mesa, California our Catholic Homeschooling group puts on a conference with talks, vendors, and you can also buy books for your upcoming semester of school. It's always been something I look forward too since we've had Teen Track which is simply what my parents have put together to keep us teens busy all day while the parents are listening to awesome speakers.

For the past two years we have had the Christian rock band Jeremy & Ryan who you have heard me talk about many times before. God has abundantly blessed us with them for the last two years because every year it's obvious that us teens have taken something from the day.

This year Jeremy and Ryan made a parody of the famous pop song Shut Up And Dance With Me by Walk The Moon. There version is called Stand Up and Follow Me and if you haven't heard it, you need too.

There have been a lot of things going on in our country lately. As Catholics we have to try and fight back on some of the things that have become legal. Gay Marriage has become one of the things our country has legalized and on my facebook I've seen so many mixed feelings. I wanted to post something on it the day it was legalized but then I realized that someone may not agree with my views on it and would start an argument over our different beliefs so I didn't post. A few days passed and our country was put to the test again by voting on Assisted Suicide which made me so mad and so sad so I decided to take action on it and the power of the Holy Spirit burned inside of me.

I was thinking of things I could do to help this country from legalizing Assisted Suicide and nothing came to mind. It was by the Grace Of God that I was listening to my Ipod when Stand Up And Follow Me came on. I then knew what I needed to do. That night I sat on my bed with my rosary and prayed. I prayed so hard on that rosary and told God to use me to help this country and to tell other people who may have different views on this subject about my opinion and may it enlighten them.

I knew that the only person who could stop Assisted Suicide from becoming legal was God. I also knew I could put my trust in God that he would use me. I prayed one of the most strongest prayers The Hail Mary over and over again. I ended up saying the rosary.

I woke up the next morning and I was filled with so much joy finding out Assisted Suicide had been taken down from the agenda was was not legalized in California. God was working so hard in congress that day. St. Michael I felt was fighting for us.

As Catholics in this time and era our faith is being attacked in  the worst way possible. What are we doing about it? We can't just say prayers and hope for the best. Prayers are amazing, don't think prayer isn't helping because it is but what else can we do to save the weak ones and  fight with our brothers and sisters?

The Devil is not dead in today's world he is so very active and it's such a scary thing to think about but what's even scarier is we aren't doing anything to fight him back. We need to put our God armor on, grab our swords, do the sign of the cross and fight.

I'm not implying that you should physically/verbally fight people who have different views and who don't understand but we need to start acting and not just saying we are going to take action because usually when we say we  will, we don't.

Take one step at a time because we weren't put here to do nothing. We were put here to spread the good news of God and to teach the lost people about Him. In Matthew 5:14-15 it says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

Do not be afraid of going out though. Psalm 91:11 says, "For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways." God wants you to fight, he wants you to put on your armor. Your guardian angel is equipped with everything they will need to protect you either while you are preaching God's word or helping the homeless.

It takes time and it takes effort and strength so tonight before you fall asleep instead of thinking about the next day ahead of you, school, or work, unwind by asking God to give you strength to do his will tomorrow, the next day, and this year. You'll not be disappointed in how God uses you.

People very close to me are out doing God's will. One of my great youth ministers is out in Georgia helping kids find their calling in the Catholic church. A very close family friend of our family is in Thailand right now helping kids. It doesn't matter if you are in Georgia, Thailand, or your hometown. There are people who need to hear about God everywhere in this world.

Be the salt and light of the world! Take a deep breath, do the sign of the cross, ask God to use you today because I asked God to use me one day and he did but I was too afraid to share about God's glory to this person who wanted to talk about church. It did happen though that God used me and of all places at the mall with one of the sales clerks. I didn't even expect it to happen. It just goes to show you the power of God is nothing to overlook.

A couple words from me about the choices our country is making right now: I don't hate gay people, I don't hate people who are homosexual, I don't hate those who try and fight my beliefs. I simply pray for them because they don't know how gracious our God is. People get confused. They think God will not judge them any less then God will judge us on judgment day. They don't think they are any different. God still loves them, yes. After all they are his children but what they fail to understand is God made marriage for men and women. I saw a post on Facebook that said God made marriage for Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve. God made a person for you, and they are coming but it may take time. Men and men should be kept as being friends (Same with women and women) because God did not make gay marriage, people did and that should scream louder than anything I can write. I know tons of people will find some way to fight this because I've seen so many but hear me out before you state your opinion just because you put a rainbow filter on your profile picture of facebook think for a second. The rainbow was made by God. It was the sign of his promise not a statement to represent equality. Catholics needs to understand we don't need to hate these people who are gay we just need to stand by our Faith because a lot of people think, 'oh yes lets get married because we are so happy.' Happiness doesn't mean to get married. God's plan will make you much more happier than any marriage. Gay marriage is such an argument right now and please hear me out just because Catholics aren't screaming doesn't mean your argument is any more right just because your louder.

May the peace of God be with you and may you have strength to stand up for these things as I need strength too. Pray for people who are getting married to the same sex. It's not marriage, it is not even a celebration it is pleasure of the evil of the world.

Fearlessly,
Sammy

100 Days Of Fear

If anyone of you saw the video I posted on Facebook and Instagram the other day then you know what the fabulous news I've been waiting to tell you is. I'll be interviewing rock/pop/christian band Jeremy and Ryan and posting the interview on  here! If there are specific questions you would like me to ask please comment them or text me and I'll ask them in the interview.(If there are any questions please send them to me before Tuesday the twenty fifth of this month.)

So lets start on this blog, shall we? Have any of you heard of the 100 days of Fear challenge this lady is doing? If ya'll haven't heard of it I'll tell you a little bit about it. This lady named Michelle Poler has been scared of so many things since she was a little girl. Big dogs, doctor appointments, even dancing in public. Growing up was hard for her because she let Anxiety rule her life now she is taking a stand and doing 100 days of fear. All the stuff she was so scared to do she is now punching in the face and getting over the fear of it.

This is some of the stuff she has done: Balls coming at you fast so she went to the batting cages, roller coasters, falling down in heels so she walked around New York all day long in heels, bugs so she ate crickets, and dancing around in public so she did it in Time Square.

If you would like to see Michelle's Story and the videos to go along with her conquering her fears click the link http://www.100dayswithoutfear.com/

We all deal with some kind of fear and anxiety. While other people may think what someone else's fear is silly to the other person it's something they struggle with constantly. I have a lot of fears myself, and by a lot I mean a lot and while I may not have 100 days worth of fear that I could do but I still struggle with them.

Some of us have mental fears or physical fears. For those of you that deal with spiritual/mental fears, YOU have a solution.  It is God. God is the solution to all problems you know. It may seem like God is a million miles away during your darkest moment in the middle of the night while fear keeps you up but that s when he is closest. I love listening to songs that talk about anxiety, fear, and being helpless because it reminds me I'm not alone in what I do and like I've said before we love to know we're not alone because we're human.

But to help you with your fears and to have a little fun I am going to do the 100 days of fear challenge and before you get too excited. No, I am not going to do the things that scare me to death for 100 days because as that could be dangerous it could get costly. I invite you to do this challenge with me but before I tell you what this challenge is and how you can get started I am going to talk about emotions for like two paragraphs. It'll be quick, I promise.

Emotions. Those big, scary, intimidating voices inside your head. Some of these emotions are fear, happiness, sadness, anger, and self doubt. I bet a lot of you have seen the trailer for the new Pixar/Disney movie coming out called, 'Inside Out,'  it looks adorable and it talks about those voices inside your head. Did you know emotions don't define you? Did you also know emotions are one of the biggest reasons why we don't do things and what causes Anxiety is the emotion of Fear? It's all true.

Emotions are nothing to be scared of though. A book once described emotions as this: 'Emotions are not good, they aren't bad they just are.' It can be confusing but emotions are just emotions. They just are something that everyone deals with. It's just a feeling in your stomach. It's not a fashion statement, it's not a person, it's not a medical problem, and it's not a bad thing, but it's not a good thing either. It's just A THING.

It's not wrong to feel a certain way-It just means your human like our wonderful Mama, Mother Mary. St. Rose of Lima has said, 'Without the burden of affliction it is impossible to reach the height of grace. The gift of grace increases as the struggle increases.' So struggling with emotions is kind of a good thing you are just getting more of a blessing every time you feel like you are going to pop.

So let's start on 100 Days Of Fear challenge! And what a perfect time to start. School is out and we have nothing to keep our minds busy from day to day until school starts up again. (To those of you who have graduated and to those of you who will CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2015!)

How To Participate In 100 Days Of Fear- Prayer version

1.) Make a list of things that scare you, arise worry in you, or maybe what makes you feel very anxious. Write a list of 100 things down and if there aren't 100 things that scare you you can write down a list of 50 things that scare you and 50 things you wish would end in the world. (Ex. Abortion, Poverty, Abuse....)

2.) For the next 100 days say the rosary everyday for something on the list and ask God to end that fear, ask your guardian angel to stand beside you when anxiety, worry, or sadness arises inside you.

3.) Start Living Your Life Without Fear. Within the 100 days or after do something you wouldn't normally do. ( For me one of my gross factors is to not eat Sushi ever, ever, ever! I would say a Hail Mary and go out and do it no matter how much I am scared to eat it.) Go on a roller coaster, go eat something you wouldn't normally eat, dance to Shake It Off in public, or go travel. God is on your side and he will never leave you in any situation.


I will be starting 100 Days Of Fear today, on June 22nd 2015. Please join me and if you can't say a rosary due to a busy schedule. Don't fret, say five Hail Marys and a prayer to St. Michael The Archangel. It doesn't matter if you say a rosary or a Hail Mary because we all need to pray more in today's world and believe it or not 100 days of fear does work. Try it out.

Fearlessly Living 100 Days Of Fear,
Sammy

FEARLESS' is not the absense of fear.
It's not being completely unafraid.
FEARLESS is having fears.
FEARLESS is having doubts. Lots of them.
FEARLESS is living in spite of those things that scare you to death.

-Taylor Swift 

Hollywood To Holy Vows (From Elvis To Jesus.)

Hello Everyone! I posted a picture a few days ago of a book I was reading called, 'Ear To The Heart.' Subtitled 'Hollywood To Holy Vows' written by Richard DeNeut. I just started it, finished the first four chapters and I am in love with it. 

It's about this little girl who was named Dolores Hart and her name may sound familiar. Her early life as a little girl was full of suffering, pain, and little joy. Her family was broken and she lived with her abusive father and mother for some years. Hart grew up in the city of blinding lights, fast speed life, and movie premiers, the beautiful city of L.A. where her father was a hand model.  Hart converted to Catholicism when she was a young girl without anyone telling her too. She had made that decision around age six when she was put in a Catholic school where nuns surrounded her and she would be able to go and visit Jesus in the morning for morning mass. Too make a long, inspiring story short follow Dolores's journey from being called the most envied women in Hollywood giving Elvis Presley his first onscreen kiss to hearing God calling her heart and to become a nun. The true story of Mother Dolores Hart will change everything you've ever thought about nuns, forever.

  

Still focusing on Sister Mother Dolores Hart we will be expanding on the secondary topic of

 'Likes' and Yes, meaning the likes you get on Facebook, Instagram, and the retweets and favorites you get on Twitter. A lot of us are on all kinds of Social Media. I'm on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. I'm a very obsessive pinner and you can ask my family and they will say the exact same thing.

When we post something whether it be something funny another family member said or did, or post a picture of what we're eating, or post about what we did that day we want Likes on the post because if we didn't want them we really wouldn't post it on Facebook. I know every time I post something I'm always just waiting for likes. It's really stupid but it's just what society has put in our heads. If we don't get likes then we're not cool, or no one likes me. I'm here to tell you once again that society is WRONG. 

Likes on social media don't define who you are or your personality. Honestly if I'm friends with you or following you it means that I like what you post even if I don't actually like the picture. 

Back when they didn't have Facebook though when Mother Dolores was just around the age of sixteen and in the movie, 'Loving You,' with Elvis can you imagine Dolores wanting all her friends to see her with Elvis and wanting to post the pictures and the trailer of the movie. In fact she would have to wait so long to tell her friends because she was on set day and night filming and now by the click of a button we can share things instantly. 

When Hart heard the calling in her heart to become a nun and enter the vocation she was scared that some of the people who had followed her and been of fan of her since Loving You came out would stop liking her because she was now going to become a nun and proclaim God's love for her by following him and exclaiming his love he has for His sons and daughters. 

I think we can all learn something from this story. We can all learn a few things but so we don't go off topic of Dolores I think what we can grasp from this is that we can use social media for all kinds of things but what we should be using it for proclaiming God's love and bringing people back to their faith or if they are going through a struggle to be there with them. Mother Dolores did all sorts of things in the midst of struggling for other people and even though we struggle we could help other people. 

Share a Lifeteen post, post something you found inspiring from the homily or readings at church, and even post your favorite bible verse. Still, post pictures of you, your family, and friends and your crazy socks you found for a great deal but as you have a hundred some followers teach them about God, too.

God never said following him would be easy or you would have a number of followers but he did say in the bible if you follow him it will be worth it. 

God is Good all the time and all the time God is Good,

Sincerely and Fearlessly, Sammy. 

If you would like to learn more about Sister, Mother Dolores click here:http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0366247/

If you would like to purchase her story please click here, you will not regret it: http://www.ignatius.com/promotions/ear-of-the-heart/#sthash.zRNEjOe8.dpbs

It's Just An Expression: Fashion

Hello all my fellow Fearless Catholics! I'm so excited to announce I have a guest blogger for ya'll today. She is a beautiful, outgoing, funny fashion-ista and is one of my best friends in the entire world! This blog post is all about Fashion and we both hope you enjoy it. Please follow her fashion-gram on Instagram down below and tell us what you think in the comments! Enjoy :)

 

 Hello, my name is Bethany, and I was honored to be asked by Sammy to write a fashion post for her blog.  What is fashion,  What is it like to be fashionable?  Fashion is the demand society has placed on us to dress the way they think is fashionable.  So to be fashionable is to go along with all the demands society places on your appearance.   

 

Fashion makes it hard for people like me, to fit in.  A few months ago I found out that I have loose ligament in my ankles. This means I don’t have enough support in my ankles, and I am really prone to sprains.  To help my stability I got orthotics.  The only bad thing about this is my orthotics don’t fit in all my shoes, and when I am going to be on my feet for a prolonged time, I need to wear my orthotics.   

 

Well I am a dancer, and they do not fit in my dancing shoes, so I have to wear black ankle braces when I dance.  It’s hard to wear the braces, as much as they help, because I know my outfit looks so much better without them.  It’s taken a while for me to be able to put my braces on and not care, and I still struggle with caring about how I look with them.  

 

 It’s made me very aware of all the other people who are struggling with this.  There are so many people who have to wear knee braces, wrist braces, and other things that don’t even involve braces; like, not feeling like you have the right body, all the things that make you feel like you don’t fit in with the fashion world. Well this goes for all of you, if you are in a brace of any kind every time you put your braces on look at yourself in the mirror and know that those braces show strength. They show that you have to live with pain, they show that you have the strength to go through that, and to put them on every time knowing that you wont fit in with what society has said is fashionable.   

 

For all of you who struggle with feeling like you don’t have the perfect body I want to share a Marilyn Monroe quote with you, “To all the girls that think you’re fat because you’re not a size zero you’re the beautiful one it’s society who’s ugly.”  Fashion has placed such a high demand for looking just right.  Whether that is not wearing braces, or having a body that is just right.  That is not right. 

 

 What’s not right is that we have a pressure not to wear our braces, and to physically injure ourselves, so that we are not emotionally injured. Maybe we feel the need to body bash ourselves because we don’t look like the people we see in magazines.   

 

This is where style comes in. Style is what is unique to each of us. Style is you deciding to wear your favorite shirt because you love it!  It is you deciding to wear a dress when you know everyone else will be in jeans.  Style is how you present who you are on the inside, on the outside.  When people on the street see you they are going to get a feel for the type of person you are by what you wear.   

 

So I suggest that the next time you don’t know what to wear, wear YOU so that even the people you don’t know, can get to know you.  You are beautiful, you are unique, and you are very very stylish.  As for me, what’s my style?  Well, black ankle braces of course J!

 

That’s all for me!  I would just like to thank Sammy again for letting me post and share with all of you on her blog!  I hope you all enjoyed this and got something out of it!  I have an Instagram account exclusively for my outfits, I would love if you followed it, @1998styles! J

 

“ Style is very personal.  It has nothing to do with fashion.  Fashion is over quickly.  Style is forever.” – Ralph Lauren 

 

Bethany is an amazing friend and has helped me know my fashion sense is me and that if I feel good in it and if I like it then that's what should matter not what other people think. 

"Unique and different is the new generation and beautiful. Style is what makes you individual. Different is a good thing, never think it's bad." - Taylor Swift

 

Like A Country Song (Is It Just The Twang In The Music?)

 All my friends are music lovers! They either love to sing, play instruments, or just listen to music. My siblings are very talented, my sister has played guitar, piano, trumpet, and has had voice lessons. My brother has played drums and bass. I haven't taken up any instrument yet but I would love to learn how to play the banjo which is like one of my favorite instrument.
Whether we sing in the car, dance while washing the dishes, or even listen to songs in the most crucial points in our lives music is really important to us. Is it because the guitar is just right, is it because this is our best friends favorite song, or maybe this was someones favorite song who is no longer with us? Whatever is the answer to why we listen to music there is a story behind it.

Anybody who knows me knows I'm a HUGE country music junkie but I wasn't always. I didn't ever really have a genre I loved until I was ten. I just watched Disney Channel I listened to the songs on High School Musical or Camp Rock or something. (Yeah I was one of those kids....) When I was just about to turn ten my sister told me I needed better taste in music because now that I look back I realized how did I ever think that stuff was good? She introduced me to Country music which was the music she loved and listened to at the time.

Not long after that I bought my first country album, Play On by Carrie Underwood and never turned back to listening to Disney tunes. Carrie Underwood has a crazy strong voice and I loved her. I then researched more into the country scene and got into Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, and Blake Shelton whom I still enjoy till' this day. (These names may or may not sound familiar to you.)

When I was 10 1/2 I was shopping for CDS and there on the shelf was a golden CD, no literally it was the color gold. There was this really pretty girl on the cover and she had long curly hair. I wasn't going to get this CD because it was more expensive than the other CDS I was looking at. My sister persuaded me into getting it.

On the way home from the store the lyrics, "Can't you see that I'm the one who understands you been here all along so why can't you see? You Belong With Me."blared through the speakers of the car and that was the beginning of my love for Swift.

Flash forward into life, I'm now 16 and still listen to Country Music. I still love Taylor, (In fact I'm going to the 1989 concert with two amazing girls.) It's really funny how your music taste change. If it weren't for change and my sister begging me to listen to better music I would probably still be in my bedroom listening to Hannah Montana.

There was a point and time though when I was fifteen and my friends begged me to expand my taste in music. I was very persistent because I had tried one time and I'm not fond of Nicki Minaj or One Direction. I just stuck with my country music but the again due to change I did find some other bands I liked.

One of my friends really likes Maroon 5 and she lent me there most recent CD at the time, Overexposed and Adam Levine is just so handsome and how can you not like, 'Sugar?' I then started to go more and more to different genres and found that I like Lorde, Ed Sheeran, Meghan Trainor, and Fall Out Boy. I still find different songs I like from different genres than Country that I like.

While some of you like pop, or some of you like Christian music, (I do too, who doesn't?) or maybe some of you are trying to find some different music to listen too. I've put together a song playlist of songs that aren't very popular but they are from all kinds of genres. I've posted it below but before we move on I would like to share a short story with you and a poem I've written. I promise this will be short.

Not a lot of people I know like Country Music. There are very very few people I know that like it. I'm really into Country Music I love everything from Hunter Hayes and Raelynn to George Strait and Reba McEntire. I think some of the best songwriters are Country musicians because if someone can transport you to a certain place or time and feel the same thing they are feeling that's pretty amazing! I never understood why people didn't like Country Music like I liked it. It's not all beer bottles, broken hearts, and farms. It's Happiness fishing with your friends on the dock of the lake, Sadness loosing your old huntin' dog, it's every emotion put into words. It reminds us that we aren't alone and it reminds us about God once in awhile. I wrote this poem to tell people why I like Country Music and it wasn't to change their opinion on genres they like but to simply change their views on Country Music.

 

      Stetson’s Under Broadway Lights

                              I am very fond of this particular subject and many aren’t

                                          Every time I hear it I think of beautiful art

                       Imagine the strokes of this painter’s hand and the creative piece

                    in his mind this kind of beautiful art may just save someone’s life

In each of our lives sadness arises in sorrowing ways but maybe it wouldn’t be hard if we knew someone else is feeling this way. The burdens we carry are like His cross and the loss of my son the soldier doesn’t mean he is really gone.

                                      I will take you back in time to the 1920’s

      where strings of guitars were getting  pretty costly.

     where cowboy hats were the thing, and cowboy boots

    were the so called ‘bling.’ it seems Nashville was the home

   too so many stars it’s where Presley died and Parton got her start.

            You may think you know this music of beer bottles, broken hearts, and trucks but do you really know what’s in the music that I love? It’s so much more than the twang we here it’s about trusting God when you feel he’s not here. It’s a little boy who lost his dad but they meet again in Heaven alas. It’s the place you grew up but your parents sold, it’s about remembering the soldiers who have died souls. It’s the breeze of trees on a hot summer day and the cold ice tea in the old oak tree shade, it’s the good times, and bad times which we all go through it’s something we can’t let go of or the things we let go of too soon.

                                    I understand your reasoning with genres you like

                                        I am not asking you to simply pick a side

                                       I am stating some facts that are true Country

                                           Music are the stories of me and you. 

Playlist

Kiss Me- Lucy Hale - Country
I Got The boy- Jana Kramer - Country
Yellow Flicker Beat- Lorde - Pop
Bad Blood- Taylor Swift- Pop
I Can Just Be Me- Laura Story - Christian
Careless- Raelynn- Country
Both Of Us- B.o.B (Feat. Taylor Swift.) - Rap
Misery - Maroon 5- Pop Rock
Everybody Loves Me- One Republic - Pop Rock
Each Coming Night-Iron & Wine - Indie Rock
Something In The Water- Carrie Underwood- Country Christian
We Fall Apart - We As Human- Rock Christian
Photograph- Ed Sheeran- Indie Pop
Hotel Ceiling- Rixton- Pop/ Rock/ R&B/Country
A Guy Walks Into A Bar- Tyler Farr- Country
Dear Future Husband- Meghan Trainor-Pop
Carry On My Wayward Son- Kansas- Rock
Falling- Iration-Reggae
Everybody Drives Drunk- Love & Theft- Country & Folk

I hope you all enjoyed this post! Please comment your favorite songs so I have some new music to listen too, as well. God Bless ya'll and look out for VERY special news coming out soon.

Fearlessly,
Sammy
 

Mama Mary

Hey Everyone! I've been really praying for you these past weeks that God will strengthen you in work, finals, school and mostly....life. As we all know Mothers Day is May 10th.  It's known worldwide as we celebrate all of our fabulous mothers. Our moms, grandmas, even aunts, and maybe some family friends who have kids of their owns. Our moms are the most awesome people in the world that's why we celebrate them. A lot of the time we forget about our BEAUTIFUL Mama Mary up in Heaven.

I know a lot of people have a special relationship with our Mama and some strive to have a relationship. I never knew why it was so important to have a relationship with Mary until the last few months of 2014. In honor of Mothers Day I decided to write about our beloved Mother and my story about how I've become to look up to her and love her with my whole heart.

I've grown up in a devout Catholic home. I'm really into my faith and each day I fall more and more in love with Jesus, the saints, and Mother Mary but that wasn't always the case. When I was little I knew Mary was the mother of Jesus and I knew all the stories about her, I knew she was called by God to have his son by the power of the Holy Spirit, and I knew many miracles that have happened about her. I never payed much attention though. (I really regret that now...)

As I grew older I heard many people in my church speaking about our amazing mother and how awesome she is and just what a great relationship they had with her. I loved our Mother don't get me wrong she brought our Lord into the world but I didn't have a connection with her the way so many other people did.

I didn't know what to do or where to begin to have a relationship with our Blessed Mother. I didn't know how to build it up. I wasn't sure how so many people felt like Mother Mary was with them in their every day lives. They were so filled with Joy because of it. When they talked about Mary they had huge smiles on their faces and everything they said about Mary was so enthusiastic and they were so on fire. I would look at them and be like I want that but how do  get it?

At the beginning of Confirmation 2. (I am aware I start off every paragraph off like this when I have this aha! moment. Confirmation really changed me and really deepened my faith.) I was just browsing on the Lifeteen store online when I saw this book on our crazy awesome Mom. It was called, 'That One Girl.' by Christina Mead. (Amazing read!)

It was then that I got the book, flipped through pages so deeply interested, and really wanting to get and grow a relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mother that I realized I had a relationship with her all along I just never took the time to acknowledge her.

I learned so much from that book and from then on I now look at Mary as a teenage girl who was called on by God. I just always had a hard time wrapping my mind around that. Mary was a regular teenage girl, guys. Mary went through heartaches, struggles, and temptation. Think about it....the devil, Satan tempted Mary the most because she was the Mother of the person he hates the most....God.

I'm going to take a little piece of the book and stick it here. Mary went through suffering, the Blessed Mother did not have an easy life. She rode a donkey when she was nine months pregnant! (Most pregnant women I know complain about lying in bed; Can you imagine how much worse prego life is on the back of a slow moving animal?) She had to give birth in a stable. (When Jesus deserved a 5 star resort.) Then, when she and Joesph brought Baby Jesus to the temple a couple days after he was born she was dealt a pretty rough hand. Then enters Simon who at first probably admired the precious Savior who had a glowing face but then old Mary, "Oh by the way your heart is going to be pierced by a sword." (Luke 2:22-38.)

I bet sometimes we think Mary had it great. God was totally on her side because he picked Mary to have his only begotten Son so she didn't have to go through any of the things we have to go through. She was born without original sin, Mary was assumed into heaven body and soul, and she's the Mother of Jesus! Like I have to say that one more time.

Guess what, though? Mary did suffer. She watched her son die on a cross for our sins. The debt we couldn't pay Jesus paid for us. Mary watched her son get spat on and she couldn't do anything about it. When we suffer in our heartbreaks we need to remember Mary watched her son that she loved so much die. Mary was probably disgusted, heartbroken, and a little mad.

Quoted from the book: It's okay to feel emotions. It's okay to feel anger, it isn't a sin. Jesus even felt angry when he overturned the tables people were buying and selling things on in the temple. I love imagining Mary as a feisty, passionate, full-of-life young woman. Why wouldn't she be? Since God wants us to be fully alive wouldn't he want our Mother to be like that, too? We so often reduce The blessed Mother to a statue or a beautiful somber woman standing in the clouds as the Queen over Heaven and forget to come to the realization Mary was still human and had a wide range of emotions, even anger.

Our Mother up above in Heaven watching over us, listening to our prayers, and interceding to Jesus, and protecting us in her most protective mantle is human, like you and me. She wasn't free from sadness or anger. God let her feel those emotions because he wanted us to relate to her, to love her, and to feel free to call on her. Because after all she isn't just Jesus' mother, she's ours too. 

Friends, I know it is hard to believe in things we can't see. I know it is hard to have Faith in the unseen even more to have a relationship with those we can't actually talk to but in reality they aren't unseen. We have so much proof that Jesus, Angels, Saints, and Mary are real! They were flesh and blood and now they are preparing a GREAT place in Heaven for us once we do our duty on Earth.

I wholly encourage you to have a relationship with our Mother Mary. She's Human she knows it's hard to be humans. She knows anger, she knows sadness, and she even knows purity. She understands us girls more than anyone, but for you boys she understands your sufferings too and she wants to help because she loves us, after all she is our Mother.

It was a great deal to me to have a relationship with our Mama! If you are striving for it too, please say the rosary, call on her because she wants to comfort you, dedicate a journal to her and write in it every so often thanking her, telling her things that are bothering you, and asking her things. She is your Mother and she loves you so much, oh my gosh, she loves YOU!

Until next time Mother Mary is praying for you all the time, I am praying for you, and so are all the Angels and Saints in Heaven. May God send his wonderful blessings down on you and that you may live in them like a Child of God.

Fearlessly Living Catholic,
Sammy

"As Sailors Are Guided by star to the port, so are Christians guided to Heaven by Mary." -St. Thomas Aquinas.

Are We Out Of The Woods?

Hello my brothers and sisters in Christ, I hope and pray you are having a great and life changing Lent. I also hope your Holy Week is going good as well. As we come to the end of another Lenten journey, let us try our best for the rest of the year to do better with either bible study or be more involved in praying. Lent isn't to make you struggle for 40 days it is to strengthen you.

Today I'm going to cover simple but complicated topics about Patience and God's timing. We never seem to get the idea of patience because we all have iphones now. We have answers for everything at the end of our fingertips. We no longer have to wait to check our calendars, buy a CD,  go on itunes or go home to check our Facebook.

Sometimes when we wait to see God's plan we kind of feel stuck in the woods. You may be a little lost and confused because God has an interesting and different way of telling us what his great plan is for us. I think when we look back on what we were so impatiently waiting for it all seems so simple and yes, I did just quote Taylor Swift's song.

I am not a patient person. I deeply despise waiting. I don't like waiting in lines, I don't like waiting at the doctors office (or any office for that matter), and I don't like waiting for midnight showings in the movie theaters. I tap my fingers and shake my leg and fidget with my purse and pick off my nail polish.

This past year I never looked at patience through God's eyes. I never saw patience as anything else but pure boredom. I hope this post changes your views on how you see patience and maybe next time when you feel impatient you can remember this story and try and look at patience in another perspective.

I know a handful of you (okay a lot of you) know I'm making my Confirmation soon! I'm super psyched and can't wait until I get a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit's gifts. At the beginning of my first year in Confirmation I didn't think much of it. I didn't think much of Confirmation and to be honest I didn't realize the importance of it. All I knew was my brother and sister got confirmed so I needed to as well.

I wrote papers, read books, and did the curriculum my Church assigned me. I slowly started learning more about Confirmation and understanding what it actually was. Almost done with my first year for Confirmation I really wanted to get myself ready, I felt something in my heart, and I felt this great feeling.

Going into Confirmation 2 I was the most on fire for my faith that I have ever been on. I couldn't believe what I was doing. I was posting God related statuses, reading the bible, actually studying the bible, praying the rosary without being with my family, and making time for prayer in the day, not just at night. It was a crazy time for me and I felt really good and healthy. Everything was going great and smooth. I LOVED CONFIRMATION!

A few weeks after Confirmation 2 had started I was told I had to pick a Confirmation Saint and Confirmation Sponsor. I picked my Confirmation saint relatively easy. It took me about a month of looking through different saints to find the perfect one, which is *drum roll please* St. Thomas Aquinas! I was really happy with my saint and honestly knew God had intended for me to pick St. Thomas Aquinas without a doubt.

The next thing I had to do was pick a Confirmation sponsor, Ahhh! Such a daunting, exciting, and awesome task. Most of my friends have already been confirmed so I asked them what they did to find their confirmation sponsors. They told me to pray a lot and to ask my confirmation saint to help me on this journey because it is not only your choice but God's choice.

I was so happy because I had this weird idea that God was going to put my future Confirmation sponsor in plain sight for me. I thought I would wake up from a text, message, phone call from the person God wanted me to ask.

I should've known better. God isn't a wizard or magician. He is SO much better than that because God always wants the best for you! I woke up the next morning, I checked my phone to find......nothing there. *Rolls eyes* I asked God the most commonly asked questions from us humans when his plans don't go our way, 'Why, God?'

I thought this whole picking a sponsor thing would be easy. I didn't know it then but I do know it now. Do you want to know why it's not easy? You're picking a role model to lead you closer to God and deeper into your faith. Your trusting that person to help you make decisions. That's a really big deal!

Thankfully that night was adoration and that was a true miracle because praying in front of our Savior is the best kind of prayer because you feel like your prayers and petitions go straight into his hands. So all throughout the day until adoration I was praying and praying because as I said previously I HATE waiting so this was quite irritating to me that God hadn't shown me who to pick yet.

The whole day had passed. It was 6:30, I knelt down on the kneelers and lowered my head, closed my eyes and prayed right before my God, my Lord, and my Best friend in the entire universe. I prayed in the dead silence of the church and this one person came to mind. I prayed about this person for quite some time and as I said in the beginning. God's plan is not always our plan. I was like "Yup. I'm picking this person right now. I'm going to go ask her right now. I'm going to do this right now". I waited until the end of adoration to ask but as I prayed more and more about this person I got this gross, stirring, nasty feeling in my stomach. At the end of adoration that night I kind of heard this voice saying, 'No.' it was a whispering voice in my head and so I walked out of church that night annoyed but also sort of happy.

This story of mine could go on for a few more weeks, or longer. I prayed hard on this. I just couldn't seem to find someone that I wanted but who also God wanted. One night after talking with my friend I sat down on my bed, told God I needed a sponsor, a great Catholic role model. Lord I need someone who is great, amazing, and someone I can talk to easily. I then asked him to put me at ease and to bring me peace in this part of my life and to welcome someone into at this point and time at my life who he wanted for me. I asked God to give me extreme patience. That's when it happened. Once I let Jesus Take The Wheel (No Carrie Underwood pun intended. Maybe a little). It became easier to be patient which I was never really good at.

The next day was a very exciting time in my life because God had answered my prayers and he had shown me who he wanted me to ask. This was the first time I had felt no stress, this was the first time I actually knew this is the right person and this was the first time I heard God saying, 'Yes' and not in a whispering way.

Don't worry there is no plot twist where I was going to ask this person and someone else came along because the person who I felt like God wanted me to ask is my sponsor today. I asked him to give me patience and ease because without it I honestly feel like I could have asked the wrong person and I would not be writing this post right now.

If there are any Sponsors reading this right now I am praying for you as you live your life of faith showing your candidates how to live their life according to the gospel. If there are any Candidates getting confirmed soon I am praying for you and your sponsor at this point and time right now. A big high five to you too for doing a job well done for choosing to be confirmed and if you went through the journey I did trying to find a spiritual role model.

Finally, a big hug to my sponsor for always being there for me, Thank-you! You are crazy awesome <3

As we have entered Holy Week already and Easter is almost here I am praying for you all so much this week. May you have a blessed Easter and live your Catholic life, fearlessly.

-Sammy

 I am sure that God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait. 

C.S. Lewis