Well, it's still not winter here! God is good!
And what I've titled this post is actually accurate! Isn't that crazy-awesome? I wanted to give you more specifics about how this is true, so I've decided to name a couple of the things I love the best about what I'm doing right now:
1. Making absolutely awesome friends. So much of what we do as missionaries is relation-building, and it's so good! Because of the friendships that I've formed with students, we've been able to talk about really important topics. The young people who are involved in what FOCUS is doing here have such a thirst for the truth, and are willing to make sacrifices to do what's right and help their peers to do the same. It's such a gift to have this time with them! I think that in a lot of ways, they've taught me just as much as I've taught them. It's humbling, but so good!
2. Learning more about the beauty and total awesomeness of the Faith. One of the most important things that we're doing is instructing the students in their Faith, helping them to learn more about what the Church teaches and why it teaches what it does. Doing this has also entailed learning a LOT myself! It's been sweet. Being Catholic rocks my socks.
3. Working on my prayer life. One of the most important philosophical principles that I learned at school is that you can't give what you don't have. SO basic, but so important on so many levels! This is actually how Aquinas proves the existence of God...so yeah, it's an important point alright! But I digress. This principle applies to Christ's love just like it applies to everything else. Making a daily holy hour a priority has been SUCH an essential part of living order, and that time with Christ in prayer and in Mass are by far the most important parts of my days here. Ultimately, we're striving to help students prepare for eternal life with God in Heaven, and what better way to help them reach this goal than to come before God and ask for His aid in guiding His children here at UNL?
4. Working for a purpose that transcends me and my wants and whims. In my experience, living in a way that is purely me-centered is when I am by far the most unhappy. Seeing as how we're made to be God-centered and not self-centered, this is really no surprise. Right now, a pretty good majority of the time in my day is spent focusing on others and striving to help them grow closer to God. I LOVE it.
Don't get me wrong, life is exhausting and at times discouraging. Most days, we begin with a holy hour at 9am and are lucky if we're done with what we need to do for the day by 11pm...but much of what we're doing is much more friendship-oriented than work-oriented (or I suppose it just overlaps...), and when you think about the fact that each person we're serving is Christ in disguise, having long days is really a great privilege.
Well, there we go. That's why I love what I do!
God bless! : )
God bless!
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