We Are All Called

I was looking at some of my followers’ blogs. I came across The Happy Guide. There was a post they did regarding an inspirational video that was circulating. In it, two young men (who are on YouTube usually to prank people) decided they would take it upon themselves to go out and by food and water and gather up old clothes they didn’t need to give to the homeless.

In the video you will see them handing out food, water, and clothes to perfect strangers. The best part of the it has to be the respect that is shown and the selfless love they exhibited. The smiles they are given has to be better than any material reward possible.

 

What do you guys think? Would you (or have you) done anything like this? I challenge you all to do three random, selfless acts of kindness to perfect strangers this week. Make someone smile. You never know what it could mean to them!

Have You Lived Today?

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me’. – Erma Bombeck

Today I went to lunch with my Mom. We got into this very intense conversation about life and how we think it should be lived. My Mom thought that she hadn’t ever really done anything exciting with her life. She began to reflect back and I pointed out that yes, she has in fact done some pretty spectacular things. She’s made bold, life changing decisions. She’s pursued her passions and made some great memories on the way.

It got me to thinking, When I’m her age, what am I going to reflect back on and smile about? Right now I feel like everyone my age is getting their life started. They’ve moved across country to a new place, they go on vacations, they do whatever they want without worry. I recently ran into an old classmate from high school and he asked me what I’d been up to, Oh, just the usual — going to school and working. When I asked him the question you know what he told me? My buddy and I are moving out to LA to pursue our DJing. We leave in two weeks! Yes, he was leaving. Just him and a friend. He packed up all of his belongings into a few boxes, said goodbye to his parents and left.

It got me to thinking. What am I doing? I’m in school and working my butt off. I eat, sleep, go to school, and hang out with Abraham. I love school — I love learning, and I love Abraham to pieces. But I feel like I don’t do anything. I want to be able to look back and say that I lived during my 20s. I don’t want my only answer to “What did you do when you were in your 20s?” to be, I went to school. 

This is the time when I am not tied down to one place with kids and a career. I am free. I am me. I want to live it. I want to experience everything I can.

My goal? I want to learn. About everything. That is one of my greatest joys in life – learning. I feel like this world is filled to the brim with lessons, experiences, and challenges. So much so that there isn’t physically enough time to deal with it all.

But I want to. I want to spend my life learning, not just from textbooks and lectures, but from people, through experiences. I want to soak up everything I can. I want to use everything I have to propel myself through my life. Never stopping, just experiencing.

I’m tired of just sitting idly while my life flies by. Lately, I feel like the weeks are just speeding up and the birthdays are coming more frequently. It’s making me realize that you only have one shot at this life. Why should you just sit around, lazy, when you could be out living it?

So here it goes. Time for a change. Who’s with me?

Relationships and God

This post is regarding something that has recently occurred in my life and I honestly can’t stop smiling because of it. It is part of my list of things I wanted to alter in my life. My own self-improvement plan. Because of it, the smiles have outweighed the (unhappy) tears, the laughter has banished the anger, and conversations have filled the silence. What is it, you may ask? God.

I was raised Catholic. I’ve always had a firm belief in God. But I’ll be honest, growing up I was more of a “Sunday Catholic.” Not that I was a rebellious teenager: I’ve never smoked, consumed alcohol, done drugs of any kind, or slept around. However, within the Church I never…felt alive. I didn’t grow up in a family that said grace before meals. I never really prayed at all. I just went to Mass and tried to be a good kid. My faith was always there, but there was so much I wasn’t doing to strengthen it and profess it.

Abraham is a Christian who is very involved in his Church. He plays guitar and bass in the Youth Group band and he is one of the Youth Group leaders. He comes from a very devoted family who actively participate in Bible Study and the Church.

Abraham and I have always had God in our relationship but it wasn’t until recently that we centralized him within it. Before, we never went to service together or prayed together. Recently though, we’ve started attending the same service together. It has really helped me become closer to God. Before, I used to go to Mass and (like a lot of people) just went through the motions. The Word never hit me.

That is, until this Group. Weekly, I find myself being impacted by what is preached. I find myself reading my Bible more and more and studying it. Before, I never read the Bible and was ashamed at how lost I was when people would quote scripture. Now, I find myself praying a lot more.

The most interesting change I’ve seen is that if I do something wrong (cuss, get angry, etc.) I find myself being aware of it almost immediately. Not that I have a sailors mouth but I would say a cuss word here and there and I would just glaze over it. Now if I say it, I’ve begun to correct myself and feel guilty for it. I love that I am noticing change.

This change has done wonders for my relationship with Abraham. I love going to Service with him and being able to share that time with him. I can’t tell you how blessed I feel being able to Worship with him. It has brought us so much closer! Before I was terrible at communicating. If I was angry, I was the Queen Bee of the silent treatment. I just couldn’t bring myself to talk. Now, that barrier is completely gone. I am not as angry of a person as I used to be. I am so much happier. This change has affected not only myself, but Abraham too. I can tell he is so much happier. Being able to share this and love God together as a couple has completely altered our relationship for the better.