Ten Months: September Recap

Where did September go? Where did the year go? Holy starfish. Goodness. Well, tomorrow is a new month. A new adventure. A new virtue.

I could have sworn I was supposed to start the virtue of continual mental prayer tomorrow, but I looked at my schedule to make sure and apparently it's self-discipline. That's good. That's quite alright. Especially because my prayer life has lagged and ceased and diminished this month (probably due to my life being so great. Oh, the irony.), I need to get back into the habits of daily prayer.

September has been great, though. Did I tell you I went to Homecoming? Yeah. I did. Well, what happened was God brought the most amazing young man into my life. I believe, firmly, that I am so lucky to have met him. You will, no doubt, be hearing about him, so rest assured.

And patience? Though not always easy, and not always successful, there were times I made myself slow down and wait. Especially at night and in the mornings. Okay, I was still a grouch, but I just kept thinking, "Patience, patience, patience." over and over, even if I was obviously exhausted and just wanted my sister to get into (or out of!) bed without a fuss.

And I started teaching! I now teach 4th grade at my Church, and I love it! I think my kids like me, too, and I think they're learning, which is most important to me. Today was a bit interesting; I won't go into details, but we'll just say it was kind of stressful, to say the least.

I also assist in the Confirmation class, and have gotten all of the students to spiritually adopt children! A few even adopted more than one! I am so proud of them! They're very excited, too, because they receive letters from their children about twice a month. I delivered the first letters last week, and some of the students were very obviously touched. One girl teared up, and a few others sat silently just rereading their letters over and over until class began.

Oh! And I got nominated for Governor's Honors in French! I found that out last week. I am so excited! I'm going to work on my essays today, and have my application in by Tuesday!

And fall started. My favorite season. Hallelujah!

Yeah. September's been good. Now, perhaps October will be just as wonderful. I just need to get my prayer act back together. Yay for self-discipline!

Enjoy this picture of pretty leaves!

Birds and Ants

I'm sorry I've barely blogged at all this month. September has been filled with school, school, and more school. I'm exhausted. My prayer life has lagged (tremendously, actually. It's sad.). Life has been busy.

But I finally have a moment! Triumph! I'd like to talk to you about ants and birds.

See, I really don't like ants. I really, really don't like ants. I was taking out the trash the other day and stepped into an anthill and got lots of ant bites. I don't like ants.

They're hated, despised, and loathed because they sting, hurt, look creepy, take over lawns, and no matter what you do, you can never get rid of them.

Jeez, that sounds kinda like religion, doesn't it? I mean, without the stinging and hurting bit.

I originally meant to say Christianity, but then I realized that all religions are like that. To the unreligious, the religious are a nuisance, often times. Not always, but think about the average, unreligious American. They hear about God and Allah and Brahma (if they know who Brahma is) and Buddha (especially if they think Buddha is a god), and just start to shut down and start getting their ant protection together.

By contrast, think about birds. Birds are everywhere. They can fly, sing, and eat as much as they want and not have to worry about burning off calories. We can't escape the birds. They're beautiful. We are drawn to the birds.

Jeez, birds sound a lot like the religious, too. But when people hear or see birds, they smile. They want to be around birds. They like birds. The average, unreligious American hears about God and Allah and Brahma and Buddha, and is intrigued. They wonder what could be so great about religion.

Notice I have two average, unreligious Americans, but both of them are the same. What's different is the religious.

Now before you go all "what in the world?!" like you more than likely usually do when reading my posts, just wait a minute. Think about it.

There are some religious people that are birds. People admire birds because they don't intrude. They live and work as breathe and fly and people just like to watch them. Ants, on the other hand, are aggravating. They intrude, attack, and are associated with a total negativity, unless you're an antologist.

Let's be honest. There are some religious people that just talk too much. We love them, Jesus loves them, but religion is not a topic you want to talk to them about.

And then there are some people that you don't even have to talk to and you know they're religious. You know they're good people just by looking at them.

St. Francis of Assisi said," Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary use words."

As people who love God, we do not want to drive people away from the light of His Love; we want to draw others into it to be an example of what God can do. We do not want to be ants.

Let's be birds.

And yes, because I'm on my iPod and can't get on google images AND blog at the same time, I took a picture of a picture in a book. Tada!

Maps

So I promised a wonderful woman that I would write a post with her in it. I guess that means I should send her the link to my blog.

Anyways, this wonderful lady (we'll call her Mrs. Nellie), always has my back, for musical purposes. I need music? She's got it. I need music printed out and my printer's being a pain? She's got it. I need a lift to a gig? She'll take me. I need a set list? She's got it. I accidentally leave a song at home? She's got extras. I leave my whole set at home? She'll find a solution. She's really quite amazing; she's always willing to inconvenience herself to help others. I greatly admire that quality and pray that one day I will be as loving and as humble as she.

I could write post after post about only these two aspects of her, but I have another in mind. If you're thinking, "Oh, starfish not another metaphor", feel free to smugly look at your computer screen in the triumph of your correct guess.

People say that music is life. I disagree. God is life. However, I do think that music can be the map of life. Not totally "turn left at the sign that says don't eat the apple. It's poisonous" accurate, but it maps out the basics, like "if you need a hand, lean on me" and "how he loves us". It's a general map because every story is different.

Mrs. Nellie helps/gives me music so that I know what to play and when. A chord chart is my map to a song, or sheet music is my map to a masterpiece. God gave us 2 maps. He gave us, first the Bible, which of course has practically everything that could ever occur on earth in it; He also gave us His Son. His Son taught us the value of the Bible by coming down here to earth and demonstrating it Himself. He showed us how to live, and if He knew we still had a question, He would point and say, "For those with questions, see Saint So-And-So".

I know that it's rude to point, but perhaps more than anyone else, Christ points to Mary. If we have a question that He did not answer, then Mary will be able to answer it. Our Lady was wonderful. She was a mother and a virgin, she died a normal death and yet she was a martyr, a sword pierced her heart as the soldier pierced her Son's side with a lance (not literally, by the way), she was crowned Queen, but still remained humble and loyal to her Son and to her God.

Music is a map. Mrs. Nellie gives me my map. Christ is a map. God gave me my map. Well... maps.

Although I'm glad I do have my maps, this does not always mean that the going will be easy. Of course not. Christianity is far too complex for that. No, there will be crossroads.

Turn left to attend Georgia Southern.
Turn right to attend Valdosta State.
Continue straight just to see what happens.

Like those books from years ago, the "have your own adventure" ones. Remember those? I wish we still had them.

Turn to page 45 to fight the dragon.
Continue on to fight the other dragon.
Turn to page 72 to fight both dragons.
Turn to page 364 for a werewolf.

Always crossroads, always wondering. But we have our music. We have our conductor. We have our map. Follow the music and you'll be okay. Follow the map and you'll be just fine. Keep your mind focused on Mary, Christ, and the saints. We'll get to Destination Heaven somehow. Just continue down Highway Virtuous and don't be discouraged if you start seeing signs that say "Prince Charming Lost? Bet'cha he's here!" or "Tired of chasing a goal that seems impossible? Stop here for a closer one". Keep going until you're there.

Apparently I've Been 'Tagged'..

I have been tagged for the Eleven Questions game by Miss Clare of Sisters Grimm and must now share 11 things about myself, than answer Clare's 11 questions for me. After that, I'm apparently supposed to tag someone else. Mwahaha. So, here goes!

1.) When people ask me for my middle name, I automatically include Francis since he's my Confirmation saint.
2.) when I get married I plan to make Francis part of my legal name.
3.) when I graduate from high school I'm going to donate my hair again
4.) I bite my nails
5.) I have a very high, physical pain tolerance
6.) I don't wear matching socks. Ever.
7.) I'm already thinking about Lent for next year.
8.) I'm really tired
9.) I have freckles, but like Rapunzel's mother you can't see them unless you're right in front of my face.
10.) My Brown Scapular has Our Lady of Guadalupe on it. Like a boss.
11.) I am now, officially, the 4th grade CCD teacher at my Church and the assistant teacher for the Confirmation class!!!


1.) Why did your parents name you Amy?
Because my dad had taught a number of Amy's before an they were all amazing.

2. Have you ever broken a bone?
Yep! An arm in the 1st grade and a foot (okay a toe!) January 2011

3. Can you give a synopsis for what you are currently writing?
A coming of age journey between Benjamin, a teenage author who mocks God, and the main character of the novel he begins to write.

4. Tumblr or Blogger?
Blogger, but that's a tough one

5. How many concerts have you been to in your life?
Live concerts? Including symphony concerts quite a few, not including, only like 7 lol

6. How did you meet your best friend?

TRUEGIRLS!!!

7. What is your favorite word in a language besides English?
Probably the French word for pomegranate: pamplemousse

8. Can you dance?
Yes. Very badly, but I have nothing keeping me from dancing.

9. What's your favorite kind of pie?
Cheesecake.

10. What is your favorite day of the week?
Sunday's and Tuesdays

11. Favorite TV show?
Gosh, no idea. Probably Doctor Who.

And now, drumroll please...


MEG! You have been chosen! If you wish to be, of course!

1.) green tractors or red tractors?
2.) cooking or baking?
3.) why do you like to cook/bake?
4.) what is your favorite word? English or otherwise
5.) favorite musical instrument?
6.) favorite brand of water?
7.) Favorite song?
8.) least favorite book?
9.) who is your Confirmation saint an why?
10.) if you found a treasure chest that was worth a jillion dollars, what would you do with the money?
11.) sleep in the dark or sleep with light?

Yippee! Good night!

10 Months: Introducing Patience

So apparently it's September now? It's ridiculous how fast this year has passed. I really cannot believe it.

But here it is! And with a new month comes another virtue. Month 4: Patience!!!

 Ah, patience. I suppose I'm a pretty patient person (when dealing with human beings) until about 9pm, then little by little it escapes my grasp. My sister, the lovely Samantha, can testify. The hours after 9pm, I know already, will be the hardest for me. That is when I get tired, cranky, and I don't want to be bothered by anyone or anything unless someone is dying.

But August! Like with humility, I believe I could have done better, but I do think I am on the way to becoming the-best-version-of-myself, as Matthew Kelly would say. After about 9pm was, I think, the most "heck to obedience" mentality came in, because, as I said, that's when I transform into a grouch. But, like I said with humility, I do have more time to improve this and I know that God is urging me to, so onward I go!

I am pretty proud to say that not once this year have I taken a short cut on homework. I've done it all, fully and completely! Yes!

Patience, patience, patience. AND WE'RE OFF.