Time Is Valuable

Just yesterday I visited my great grandma, someone who to me seems to hold all the knowledge in the world. The kind of insight that really holds my interest. She’s the kind of person that when she starts talking, you instantly drop everything you’re doing or thinking of to listen to what she has to say, and you love every sentence, whether it holds a lot of importance or not. She was talking on a particular subject yesterday that seemed to strike me more than the usual. The subject was time.

Time is valuable. Time can not be bought. You can not earn more time, you can not buy it, but it can only be taken away, and for lack of a better word, wasted. My grandma sparked all the thoughts in me by saying how grateful she is for having family who visits often, and gives our time to her. She says that she knows some residents who are actually pretty lonely because they don’t get very many visitors, family or friends. She then goes on to tell her ultimate point of the story, that even though they are wealthy people, you can’t buy attention and the time of loved ones, something that could truly fill their hearts. In her words, time isn’t something to be thrown away, and if you aren’t happy doing what you’re doing— change it.

Everything is measured by time. Everyone judges experiences on if it was a time well spent, or a waste of time. Everyone always seems to want more time, but the funny thing is, as before mentioned, you can only play with the time given, and only God knows when it will run out. So, are you spending your time right? Are you making full use of the time you’re being given? No matter the situation or position you’re in, you’re always able to choose to make your time useful. You may think your job or school is holding you back from your happiness, but that’s absolutely no reason to hold off using your time how you’d like. There are always things to be accomplished, big or small, and you can work on these (or work up to) anywhere you are at in life. Time is valuable, it’s not something to be postponed, it’s something to make the most of while you can, so do not let a minor setback be what keeps you from getting where you want to be, mentally and/or physically.

Being how valuable our time is, we need to see that we are giving it to valuable sources, something that in the end will benefit us. Do not partake in something that will not help you in the future. Don’t create a temporary happiness, do something that will truly keep you happy day in and day out, no matter how hard of work it is. (2 Corinthians 4:18 So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.) Invest your time in something that can bring you up, and even when you think you're as high as you can get, you keep getting brought up.

Time is something that needs to be managed wisely, and although you can give yours away, make sure to never take anyone else’s without valid reason. Do not be caught wasting someone else’s time gossiping or complaining to them, for that’s not something they need to hear nor will it benefit either of you. If you’re going to take someone else’s time, just make sure they appreciate when you have, and that they would gladly give more to you.

I am not trying to offend anyone by all I have said, I know that I have personally “wasted” weeks maybe months of my life when put all together, and I am by no means trying to say that I haven’t personally, or that I haven’t wasted hours of other’s time. In conclusion what I am trying to do, is make you realize that if you have something you’ve been wanting to get done, but don’t really think it’s the right time, do it anyways. That if you’re not happy doing what you’re doing and you’re not benefitting from it, then find something that you feel betters you as a person. That the next time you’re laying in bed thinking about all the things you have to do, but don’t want to get out from under the covers, (which is a totally understandable feeling) that you get out and get a head start on all your tasks anyways.

Thank you all for reading and I’m sorry it’s been a while since my last post. I hope you all had a blessed holiday season, and I’ll be back with another post soon. Have a good rest of the night and make good use of the rest of your weekend! : ) 

“So, then, be careful how you live. Do not be unwise but wise, making the best use of your time because the times are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” - Ephesians 5:15-17 

Week One of Basketball Recap

December 4th marked the first basketball game of my Junior year in high school. It was an away game on a Friday night at Osborne. It was the first time that I’d played in that gym and let’s just say it left a good taste in my mouth once I left.

Hearing the announcer say my name and going to the middle of the court with a million butterflies of excitement in my stomach that started the Monday of that week was a familiar feeling I’ll never get tired of and was overjoyed to feel it again after waiting a long eight months in between.

This was the first game I played with my team where I really feel like we were constantly pushing the ball and ready to jump on anything. Everyone was giving it their all and playing their A-game. I was also very impressed with how the freshman stepped up. Scoring 20 points in the first quarter we were already put in the lead by 11 points. We pressed the whole first half and a little bit into the third quarter. All of the extra running and conditioning we did during practice the weeks before was to prepare us for this and you could tell how much it did. Each girl on the court was full of fire, and if they were tired they were hiding it well.

We walked away with the first win of the season out scoring the Lady Bulldogs 52-32. I had a huge amount of satisfaction and joy from the way we played and hope for what’s to come this season. Not to mention we got pizza on the bus on the way home which added to the joy. ; )

The next week we would be playing three games, one on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, for the Tescott Tip off Tournament. The first game we played Wilson, and there was a drastic difference from how we played Friday to that game. It may have been because it was at 3 p.m. and that was throwing us a little off inside but the whole game just kind of felt a little slow and like we were sitting back and watching it happen instead of taking charge as we did the game before. After half though we came out ready to go and retaliate. Scoring 16 as a team in the final quarter we put away the Lady Dragons with a final score of 45-41. Giving us a 2-0 record and in the running for a first place in the tournament.

The next game played was against the Tescott Trojans on Tuesday. (Say that five times fast.) Coming out from a rather unsatisfying game the night before we proved what we were really here for during this game. Scoring 20 in the first quarter as a team and ending the game with a total of 16 steals, we definitely surprised some people. Stepping up or game in hustle not only from the years before but also the night before, the Lady Warriors won with a final score of 42-23 and an advance to a first place competition against the Sylvan-Lucas Mustangs the upcoming Friday.

I definitely did not step on the court Friday expecting what we had coming. The game started of as regular and routinely as it always has but within minutes we were shown that our team would have to play a little dirtier with this one to get the outcome we wanted. It wasn’t until getting my head got bashed not only once, but twice against the court, a girl rolling across my whole body like she was trying to get the last bit of tooth paste out of me, and a swollen shut eye for a player on the opposing team, (given by her own teammate) did we truly start playing with the aggressiveness that showed we were not to be thrown around and messed with like the way they were treating us.

Going into half down by 3 and coming back out after a big firing up session in the locker room your own Lady Warriors put it to the Mustangs outscoring them in the third quarter 20-6. Everyone on the team was on fire making mostly everything we put up, proving we were not to be pushed around and are not a team that backs down to a little challenge. Which is something I have come to love about our little group this year, everyone truly has each others back, we are a family. After a hard fought battle, big emphasis on battle, we defeated the Mustangs with a score of 55-41. Making the Lady Warrior undefeated after four games and also the Tescott Tip Off champions for the second year in a row.

I have loved every minute of this season, and I think it will lead to be the most fun for me yet. I feel as everyone is stepping into their positions. Everyone is always helping each other, there is no finger pointing or drama which I love. We are all here to better each other and have fun in the process. I have personally come to love having small numbers on a team (We have 11 this year, and it marks the first time in my high school sports career we have enough to scrimmage.) and I feel that it makes us more tight knit and I love how close we all are, not only with the team mates but also with our coach. We were left without an assistant this year (We miss you Mrs. Petty!) but I also feel this is just one more thing that draws us closer together. This team is my family and there is no one else I would rather be playing with or for.

We have a full season ahead of us and I can guarantee that every game will be one worth watching, so if you have the chance, please do come to support and watch the Southern Cloud Warriors as we go into the season prepared to take on anything.

With my closing words I would like to say to all of the girls on my team reading this… Stay Hungry.

The Beauty of a Church

The Beauty of a Church

There’s something about a church. There’s something about feeling the presence of God as soon as you walk through the doors. There’s something about the flood of comfort I get while making the sign of the cross with holy water while staring right at the crucifix. I never experience anything more beautiful than I do while at mass. The murals, the stained glass, the sculptures, sometimes I find myself paying more attention to what’s depicted in pictures around the church than I do to what’s really taking place.

Although the beauty of the church to the eye is big, the beauty of the church to the soul is huge. The fact that we have the chance every week (everyday even) to receive the body of Christ, and I can’t emphasize that enough because they don’t have enough text styles to make that stand out anymore, we are receiving THE BODY OF CHRIST. Jesus is entering into us. There is SO much beauty found in that. (I do realize that not every church offers communion, which I am not discriminating against at all by saying all of this, every church I’ve been to beholds it’s own beauty in it’s own ways.)

I love all of the small things about the church and what we participate in. The pipe organ, the bells, the decorations for Christmas and Easter, the frankincense, the palms we get on Palm Sunday, the ashes we get on Ash Wednesday. There are so many times during the short hour of mass we have that I get the feeling my whole body is smiling. Whenever we play a certain song during procession I look at my mom knowing she’s thinking the same thing. We have played the hymn “Go Be Justice” so many times that it’s basically the theme song for St. Mary’s, and you accept the fact you will be singing it in your head for the rest of the day. Whenever Father holds up the body and blood and says, “Do this in memory of me.” and the bells are rung. Whenever I see someone reach to the pew in front or behind them so they can hold someone’s hand during the Our Father. Whenever I go to mass with my sister and she hugs people for the sign of peace instead of a handshake. They all hold their own value to me, and each is as special as the other with a special place in my heart.

The opportunities offered by the church to get closer to God and pave your way to eternity with him is unbelievable, and yes, beautiful. Mission trips, confession, the Holy Eucharist, retreats, all of the chances we get to volunteer and offer ourselves to others. It all feeds into the realization that we weren’t given this life to live it for only ourselves.

I am blessed to be a part of the church community that I am, and I am blessed to get to experience all of the churches I have around the country. The consistency they all have of a welcoming spirit and of beauty everywhere I look is such a comfort to me. Although not every church engages in the same beliefs or traditions of the others, we are all linked in the acceptance that Christ is our savior, and that he died for our sins, and there’s nothing more beautiful than that.

Use me, God.

As November draws to an end, I look over all the major events that have happened, both good and bad. One event I know that every person has heard of are the terroristic attacks. When I say those words, I’m sure Paris instantly comes to mind for mostly everyone, but did you know there were more attacks than there were days in the month of November? There are many things that we are clueless of, being we usually only hear of what’s being reported on the news. Which it’s truly disheartening all of the tragedies that get left out. There are children being murdered for wanting an education and attending school, and I was completely oblivious to this until maybe a few months ago.

Our world is going through an unimaginably terrifying time, in many ways, in many places. Drought, terrorist attacks as before mentioned, famine, poverty and debt, natural disasters. I didn’t seem to acknowledge that the United States isn’t the only country going through trouble before recently, and when put into perspective learning all that I have lately, compared to other countries, we’re pretty dang lucky to be where we’re at. Going through these hardships, it seems an easy time to lose hope. You don’t know what’s going to follow up, whether it’ll be a miraculous recovery, or if it’s only going to get worse. I don’t know about you, but I personally felt useless to all these problems, thinking “What am I able to do to help in situations this big?”

It’s funny how God seems to always have perfect timing. While fighting with my mind on whether I’m big enough to make a change, or too small to be noticed, God handed me the answer. I opened my laptop this morning, and I saw I had an e-mail of the daily reading for December 1st from a catholic website I subscribed to earlier before. The first thought that went through my head was that it was annoying how many of these e-mails I was getting and questioning why I gave them my e-mail address in the first place. God didn’t seem to think that was too amusing. I got a feeling in my mind telling me I needed to give it a chance today, so I did, and that was probably one of the best decisions I've had in a while.

The reading gave insight to a couple questions my mind had been wondering. The first being, what does the world do during a time like this, how do we recover? The second was, what do I do? In the reading, it contains a story of a tree, a very old tree, that was chopped down and left to rot. The stump that was left did not die though, it produced a new shoot, which sprouted the promise of a new tree, a new beginning. The new tree will grow to produce many baskets of fruit and give shade to all of those in need. It also quotes a lot of how God will be judging the people of our world, and how we should not judge, but treat each other as equals.

I found the answer for my questions in the analogy used for the new tree sprout. The tree stump, representing our world, “rotting.” Although this new tree will take a long time to grow and prosper, there will be a new beginning, looking to overcome the past struggles. What this reading was truly supposed to be representing was advent and the coming of Jesus to earth in time of need, but I also see it as it applies to today too. Our world is in desperate need right now of support and guidance. The rotting tree stump produced an even more capable tree, the people just needed patience to wait for it to reach it’s full potential. I feel as if we can keep our faith through the turmoil of our days, there is a new era waiting for us, but we have to do just that. Keep our faith. Keep praying. Keep hope in better times. Anything is possible through prayer. Answers will be sent to all those in need of them. God is always standing by us, no matter how cruel things seem to be getting, he is with us waiting and working for the consent of the sin, and I believe that is how a small person can make a big change, with God by their side.

Another big lesson I learned out of the small reading was to not harbor hate for the people responsible for all of the attacks. Something that is a lot easier said than done, but at the least is possible. They are being tempted by the devil, as we all have, but the devil is winning with them. What they are in need of most right now are our prayers, a lot of them. Say rosaries in intentions for them or offer your mass intentions for them, do everything you can to shine the light of our God onto them. It also says in the reading that, “Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted.” I feel as though if we want to follow in his footsteps as much as possible, we must not only see hope for ourselves and community, but also for the people who afflicted the hard times upon us. Hope that things get better for them too, not only ourselves and the people we love around us.

After all of that, I hope to inspire the small part that everyone has inside them that says we are able to make a difference in this world for good and work toward putting everyone on the right path to working for God day by day, letting him take complete control over our thoughts and actions. Please take any fire you have to better this world and put it to good use for everyone is capable of exceptional things, it’s just the matter of using our talents for the right purposes. Anything is possible with the right mindset.

"For I know the plans I have for you. declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." — Jeremiah 29:11

"Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." — Jeremiah 29:12-13