Mission Trip no-no

I cannot stand when people go on two week mission trips to third world countries to work in an orphanage. I know this most likely sounds selfish but I will explain.

I want you to put yourself in the shoes of an orphan. At the age of 1 years your father passed away in a car accident and your mother took care of you as long as she could. Money was becoming an issue and so not long after she dropped you off in the middle of the night on the steps of an orphanage. You have never seen you mother since that night. The sisters running the orphanage graciously took you in as their own.

As you’re growing up you have those broken memories of your parents but not enough to be at peace with the situation. You are staying with 50 other kids between the ages of 1 and 17. Every two weeks people come in to meet you. These people are usually from a different country and have many questions. You answer their questions, play with them but after two weeks it’s time for them to go back home. You thank them for visiting and beg them to come back knowing full well you won’t ever see them again. Another week, another group of people to meet, the same questions being asked and still no one to open up to.

The Journey to the Crucifixion

I wanted to share with you a bit of my research about the crucifixion. To me this is something that I always overlooked and just said kept on saying that it was the ultimate sacrifice. Yes, it is the ultimate sacrifice but have you ever stopped to think of Jesus as a person? Put yourself in His shoes and try being flogged by soldiers.

I wanted to walk this journey with Jesus and He’s really been giving me a glimpse of what He went through as I was throwing insults and mocking him.
The whips that the soldiers were using had multiple ends and on the ropes were tiny metal balls and tiny hooks. This means that every time he was hit he would either get instant blood blisters or his flesh was torn open. In Jewish law it was illegal to hit someone 40 times (40 was a number of death) and for some reason the Romans followed this law and only hit him 39 times. ONLY 39! This video shows what it might have looked like. 

3 Stages of Community Life

I’m really dropping the ball on this blogging thing. It’s not that I’ve forgotten to write it’s that I just haven’t been making the time the time for it I’ve been making excuses to not write. On a side note, I’ve actually been journaling a lot, I even wrote a few poems, I just haven’t been posting things.

I know, I know, I’m making more excuses but eh, nothing I can do about it now. Actually… YES…. there’s much that I can do and I’m asking your help to keep me accountable to blogging. If you notice that I haven’t been blogging do send me a friendly reminder saying yo bruh you’re failing at blogging. I promise that I won’t slam the door on your nose next time you visit.

To keep you update on my Australian NET journey I do have to say that things have been pretty rocky these past few weeks but really great at the same time. As I was told by someone I greatly admire there are three stages to living in community.

1. The honeymoon stage where everything is unicorns, lollypops and butterflies.
2. The you’re an idiot stage where everything is someone else’s fault and I’m the perfect person
3. The wait a second… I’m and idiot too stage where you realize that you’re not as perfect as you thought.

The Gambler

Here goes the last push of the my time in the Archdiocese. I do have to say that it will be really hard for me to leave because of all the contacts and good friends I’ve made. My eyes water just to the thought of leaving (who put these onions here?)

Just as I was going to write about the upcoming weeks a song came up and the lyrics made so much sense. Now, I know that many of you know this song by Kenny Rogers, The Gambler, but I’m going to dig a bit in some of the lyrics. I know what I’m about to say isn’t exactly fitting with the rest of the song but eh, it’s what caught my attention.

You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, know when to walk away, know when to run.

This reminds me of God’s will and how sometimes (often) we try to do our own will.

Ego, in my opinion stands for Edging God Out as when we think about ourselves we completely forget about God. This line reminds me of the spirit of discernment. We have to know when to pursue something, when to put it on
the back burner and when to stop. If it’s meant to be God will bring it up again. Know when to run.  Run when you know it’s not God’s will as it will only cause disaster.

Every gambler knows that the secret to survivin’ is knowin’ what to throw away and knowin’ what to keep. ‘Cause every hand’s a winner and every hand’s a loser.

Knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep. If you have a friends that always complains and keeps talking about themselves and you can never share what is on your mind. Is that a throw away or a keep?

No rest for Haitians

I can’t bare the thought of being in a safe home not needing to worry about my family while everyone in Haiti is preparing to take cover. My heart is completely torn apart.

I really didn’t think I left my heart in Haiti until I went to WYD. Haitians are very patriotic so whenever I spotted one walking around I went out of my way to speak with them in their own language. The more I spoke with them the more I fell in love with the country again. I lost a lot of my Haitian Créole but I could still hold a basic conversation with them.

It was always great to see their reaction!

Eh! Kijan nou ye?
Nou byen….  ou pale Kreyol?????

Hey! How are you?
We’re fine…. you speak Créole?????

Their reaction was like why is this white woman speaking our language? It just doesn’t make sense! We’ve been caught as we can’t talk in the secret of our language.

Australia!!!

Aye mate!

Ok!!!!! I have some super great news for you! It is official! I’m going to Australia in January!!!!!!

As many of you know I’ve been discerning religious life for a while and have many fears about taking the next step. To help me with this I decided (with the help of God) to join something called NET (National Evangelization Team).

This peer to peer, value-driven ministry is very effective because it offers a radical alternative to what is offered by society at present. NET teams bring their own positive stories, struggles, their willingness to listen and relate on a youthful level, this is indispensable.

As a member of NET I will deepen my faith, strengthen my relationship with God all by sharing the Gospel with others. What better way to discern religious life than with other young adults? 

Dating… why?

 

Dating, so many questions and so many uncertainties.

Sometimes we enter into a relationship more so for the status than the other person but hopefully more often it’s because we see a future with this other person. Dating has such a new meaning in this day in age and we really lost the original meaning. Why do we date??

In my perspective dating is all about seeing if the other person is compatible for marriage, it’s about leading the other person closer to heaven. If you can’t lead the other person closer to heaven while dating then you won’t be able to do such thing during marriage. You see, many people think
Oh when we get married I’m going to change this about my spouse but we really can’t think that way because if someone wants change it has to come from within and not from someone else. What you see is what you get. 

WYD in a flash

Ok! So here is the long awaited WYD post! Ok, it’S not really long awaited it’s just …well… it just is….

This was the tiny delegation from the Archdiocese

What touched me the most when I was on this pilgrimage was something very small and for many it probably was insignificant. But there was a music video and I wish I could find it. This music video was portraying the different stages in a pregnancy, they showed the weekly development of a baby. Why did this mean so much to me?

Well you might of put two and two together, I’m pregnant! NOO! I’m not pregnant!

My Promise

I’ve been thinking a lot about my to be godson. He isn’t born yet but I still feel a deep connection with him. He’s definitely a fighter!

Long story short my sister-in-law’s water broke in week 20 but thankfully she didn’t go in labour. Now, they are staying strong, fighting and celebrating that they made it to week 28! It’s not easy putting trust in God, knowing that we can’t do anything to change the situation other than pray and follow His will with an open heart.

Mathieu will be born a fighter, he will know the struggles of life but he will also learn that we are completely powerless. We need to acknowledge that God is on our side.

Mathieu,

You don’t know me yet but you will soon enough. I have heard so many things about you and I’m excited to meet you. 

Brushing my soul

Here’s a song to listen while reading:

What do our souls and brushing teeth have in common? I was asking myself that same questions but I had this random thought that came to me during mass today.

Going to mass in a state of mortal sin is like eating a delicious vanilla cake without having brushed your teeth for five days. This cake is still good but it could be better. Just like going to mass in this state isn’t wrong but it could be better.

Going to confession is the best way to clean the soul just like brushing our teeth is the best way to clean our mouth. And when we clean our soul we can better live out the mass. Same with brushing your teeth, when you do so the cake will taste much better.