My sweet newborn daughter has been keeping me on my toes about once an hour for the past few nights. So, this morning I wasn’t “up” for 9am mass with my family, unfortunately.
But fortunately…my sweet Mom is staying with us again this weekend.:)
So I didn’t feel quite so terrible about shipping Michael and the kids off to mass without me. Or quite so terrible about not even getting out of bed to help feed and dress the older kids. Or quite so terrible about getting to go to mass this evening, by myself, with just one kid. 🙂
It happened to be the graduation mass this evening for the graduating seniors of the high school youth group. I was struck by how many of their bright faces I recognized as they proudly processed in, all dressed in their schools’ cap and gown. Before I had (multiple) kids, I used to volunteer a lot with the youth group, and I remember meeting so many of these kids back at their freshman retreat, and at youth nights and talks and retreats over the past few years. It struck me how much they’ve all grown up. (Heck, it struck me how much I’ve grown up. I was pregnant with my first child when I first met these kids…and I just gave birth to Number Three!!!)
Anyway, here are a few thoughts for “my” youth group kids as they go off to college.
First, keep your eyes on the Cross–both the suffering and hope. You’re going to go through some tough stuff, maybe a lot of tough stuff. We grow most in our faith when we don’t necessarily feel all warm and fuzzy about God, but we choose to follow Christ anyway. The mountaintops will come again. In the meantime, let the Cross give purpose and meaning to your sufferings.
Speaking of choosing…choose your friends wisely. And let your closest friends be people who seek to be Godly men and women, people who will inspire you to be a better person–and even hold you accountable to that in the way that our closest friends do.
Know who you are. You are created by God, on purpose and for a purpose. You have work to do and people to touch in your life that only you can do. It’s not about “making your own mistakes” or “finding yourself.” It’s about striving for holiness, growing in virtue, and choosing to draw close to God and seek and do His will for your life. When you’re doing what God created you to do, day by day, there’s an incredible peace and sense of purpose in that. That’s where you “find” yourself–not in traveling or experimenting or reinventing yourself or finding new friends or anything else.
Wait on the Lord and trust Him in all things. His timing is perfect.
When you pray, pray as Christ (and His Blessed Mother!) did: pray for God’s will to be done, not yours. Know that whatever happens in life (and whatever mistakes you make) God works all things together for the good of those who love him. And know that God has a perfect, amazing plan for your life, “a plan for good and not for woe, a plan to give your hope and a future.” A better plan than anything you could dream up for yourself!
Finally, keep learning about your Catholic faith. When you come up against tough questions, give your faith a chance. I promise that you’ll be surprised–and blessed–by learning about the what and why of those Church teachings that the world gives our faith a hard time about.
God bless you and keep you, sustain you and inspire you to be the mighty soul you were created to be!
“Do not be afraid to be holy! Have the courage and humility to present yourselves to the world determined to be holy, since full, true freedom is born from holiness.” – Blessed John Paul II
I just wanted to let you know that I nominated you earlier this month for The Very Inspiring Blogger Award! Congrats on your newest addition!
http://adreamerswife.com/2013/05/17/has-it-really-been-two-years/
Wow-thank you! I am truly honored. Love your blog! 🙂