I'm a big fan:
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
Pluggin' on through
The title pretty accurately describes what life is feeling like. Just gotta keep on going, whether the end in mind is a break from school, a weekend, or maybe just a few hours between classes to call "my own".
Classes are still going well. Having five in one day on Mondays is, well, insane. But the rest of the week gets "easier". I've had three tests so far this year, with good grades on all, so I have high hopes for the rest of the semester. I love that I'm in the midst of my classes pertaining to my fields of study: we dig right in at the beginning of the semester and don't bother with silly introductory stuff except for maybe the first one or two classes.
I now technically have two jobs. My regular gig at the nursing home, and now I have work-study on campus, which is a desk assistant position at the Learning Center. This consists of: sitting doing homework, occasionally signing in students coming for tutoring appointments on the half-hour, and going back to homework. As you can see, I very much appreciate the down time, and I am productive and get paid! Love it.
And activities. Oh activities. Students for Life is off to a good start...maybe not everything I thought it would be in my mind, but my expectations can unrealistic. FOCUS is still lovely, although being unable to attend the FOCUS Mass since our Students for Life meeting is at the same time is still very distressing to me...FOCUS is all about fellowship, and I'm missing out on my "fellowship" time with the rest of the group...next semester maybe will hold the promise of a better balance between Students for Life and FOCUS. And let's not forget the music practices for playing flute for Masses, and tutoring sessions, and other randomosities that present themselves throughout the week.
Despite how full it sounds, I believe I have struck some sort of balance this semester. I could definitely use more sleep, but between classes, homework, work, activities, and individual friendship time, I think things are going quite smoothly.
Happy Feast of Our Lady of Mercy :-D
Classes are still going well. Having five in one day on Mondays is, well, insane. But the rest of the week gets "easier". I've had three tests so far this year, with good grades on all, so I have high hopes for the rest of the semester. I love that I'm in the midst of my classes pertaining to my fields of study: we dig right in at the beginning of the semester and don't bother with silly introductory stuff except for maybe the first one or two classes.
I now technically have two jobs. My regular gig at the nursing home, and now I have work-study on campus, which is a desk assistant position at the Learning Center. This consists of: sitting doing homework, occasionally signing in students coming for tutoring appointments on the half-hour, and going back to homework. As you can see, I very much appreciate the down time, and I am productive and get paid! Love it.
And activities. Oh activities. Students for Life is off to a good start...maybe not everything I thought it would be in my mind, but my expectations can unrealistic. FOCUS is still lovely, although being unable to attend the FOCUS Mass since our Students for Life meeting is at the same time is still very distressing to me...FOCUS is all about fellowship, and I'm missing out on my "fellowship" time with the rest of the group...next semester maybe will hold the promise of a better balance between Students for Life and FOCUS. And let's not forget the music practices for playing flute for Masses, and tutoring sessions, and other randomosities that present themselves throughout the week.
Despite how full it sounds, I believe I have struck some sort of balance this semester. I could definitely use more sleep, but between classes, homework, work, activities, and individual friendship time, I think things are going quite smoothly.
Happy Feast of Our Lady of Mercy :-D
Monday, September 17, 2012
Song recommendation of the day XXVIII
This is admittedly one of those "guilty pleasure" type of songs for me. Boy bands with cheesy repetitive lyrics are not usually in my genre, but I make exceptions for songs that are fun to sing with friends or that are sweet and simple like this one. Enjoy :-)
Monday, September 10, 2012
Holy Blush
"Dr. Alice von Hildebrand says that when women no longer know how to blush, it is an indication that a society is on the verge of moral collapse."--
The song "What Makes You Beautiful" by OneDirection has held a lot of interest for me lately. You can listen to the song here, but it's about a girl who doesn't recognize her own beauty, or at least avoids the subject. It has me thinking on how I respond to compliments of beauty.
I believe as women we sense a pressure to walk a fine line in how we recognize our beauty. On the one hand we can grasp that we are beautiful creatures, but if we let others know that we have an idea of our worth, then we can be mistaken as being vain in character. On the other hand, others might tell us of our beauty and we avoid the subject or flat out deny the beauty, thus not giving glory to God for the gift of femininity. The two together can lead to a reaction of false modesty...we deeply know our beauty, but do not believe that we can "let on".
So how shall we as women honor this beauty (My focus for this post is on women's own reactions, not men's.)? I believe that this is where a balanced response of feminine traits come into play. In order to discover a proper feminine response, the best to study and learn from is that of Mary. Mary doesn't say much in the Gospels, but there are a few instances of her praise to God that are quite evident. The two situations I like to contemplate are her reaction at the Annunciation, and her Magnificat upon meeting Elizabeth. In the first she pondered the mysteries in her heart (many today would classify that as "shyness"). In the second she testified to the greatness that God would bestow upon her and how He would be glorified among the nations for His great deeds (some would say she could be "vain" in thinking she would be great). Look carefully at both of her responses though. She does not necessarily grasp the blessings of her femininity at that time; she simply makes the most out of it. She is deeply in communion with God, and knows that His blessings flow through her. Her beauty acts as a vessel, and her response is deep respect and awe for the mystery taking place through her. She does not flaunt it, though she does not deny its presence. She does not pretend it is not existent, though she is modest in her outlook. I often wonder if her downward glance in many of her depictions, in addition to looking upon her children on earth, is not also a "holy blush", a wonderful acknowledging of God's blessing upon her.
Nowadays a blush is viewed as a "childish" response, a mix of shame and vanity. Though this may often be the case in our broken state, we as women need to blush, in a sense. If we cannot blush or be aware of the mystery of our beauty, then we have lost the sense of awe and from whence our beauty comes, which is, in my mind, perhaps a worse conundrum. A lack of a "blush" or some other such response is often a sign that the time taken to contemplate beauty has been tossed to the side and replaced with "instant gratification" of desires. In those instances, beauty may be said to be "appreciated", but is rather degraded. I will try not to have you call to mind instances of women not blushing, even though engaging in less than feminine activities, as I do not want to damage innocence of thought. But this is what is meant by the profound thought offered at the beginning of this post. When the blush has disappeared, beauty has been disregarded and the mystery of God's creation is no longer respected, leading to the taking advantage of women, the loss of the respect of dignity of human kind, and further loss of a sense of morality. It may seem like a huge step, but it is rather a slippery slope.
A "holy blush" is thus the proper response to compliments of beauty. This can probably manifest itself in a number of ways, from a physical blush, to an aspiration of praise and thanksgiving, to a simple "Thank you" to the compliment giver. We need not over-think such compliments (a WHOLE other issue for women to deal with...a compliment is a compliment! It is not a pick-up line, it is not a sarcastic comment. Be thankful!). We need simply to be receptive. It is built into our very nature; it is not something to fight.
Hammond, Colleen. Dressing with Dignity. Rockford, IL: Tan and, 2005. Print.
The song "What Makes You Beautiful" by OneDirection has held a lot of interest for me lately. You can listen to the song here, but it's about a girl who doesn't recognize her own beauty, or at least avoids the subject. It has me thinking on how I respond to compliments of beauty.
I believe as women we sense a pressure to walk a fine line in how we recognize our beauty. On the one hand we can grasp that we are beautiful creatures, but if we let others know that we have an idea of our worth, then we can be mistaken as being vain in character. On the other hand, others might tell us of our beauty and we avoid the subject or flat out deny the beauty, thus not giving glory to God for the gift of femininity. The two together can lead to a reaction of false modesty...we deeply know our beauty, but do not believe that we can "let on".
So what can be the proper response of a woman to her own womanhood? How can we approach that mystery? If the Tabernacle of God was approached with reverence, then the tabernacle of the openness of womanhood must be met with due awe. Awe in a certain sense can be synonymous with fear; fear, though, is often misconstrued in today's society. There is a fear that leads to being shunned...there is a casting away of fear that leads to licentiousness. We must rediscover the emotion of holy fear.
Holy fear of womanhood is a powerful force. It can open the doors to contemplation about the purpose of femininity, and I think even touch on the relationship to masculinity. If the beauty of a woman can make a man's head float in the clouds, then it reveals two essential truths:
- Men have knowledge of the power of objective beauty (whether they know it or not).
- Man can begin to glimpse the beauty of God, which reveals itself in some way in the beauty of women.
Nowadays a blush is viewed as a "childish" response, a mix of shame and vanity. Though this may often be the case in our broken state, we as women need to blush, in a sense. If we cannot blush or be aware of the mystery of our beauty, then we have lost the sense of awe and from whence our beauty comes, which is, in my mind, perhaps a worse conundrum. A lack of a "blush" or some other such response is often a sign that the time taken to contemplate beauty has been tossed to the side and replaced with "instant gratification" of desires. In those instances, beauty may be said to be "appreciated", but is rather degraded. I will try not to have you call to mind instances of women not blushing, even though engaging in less than feminine activities, as I do not want to damage innocence of thought. But this is what is meant by the profound thought offered at the beginning of this post. When the blush has disappeared, beauty has been disregarded and the mystery of God's creation is no longer respected, leading to the taking advantage of women, the loss of the respect of dignity of human kind, and further loss of a sense of morality. It may seem like a huge step, but it is rather a slippery slope.
A "holy blush" is thus the proper response to compliments of beauty. This can probably manifest itself in a number of ways, from a physical blush, to an aspiration of praise and thanksgiving, to a simple "Thank you" to the compliment giver. We need not over-think such compliments (a WHOLE other issue for women to deal with...a compliment is a compliment! It is not a pick-up line, it is not a sarcastic comment. Be thankful!). We need simply to be receptive. It is built into our very nature; it is not something to fight.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Pro-Life Feature IV
Abby Johnson is everything I expect a strong Texas woman to be: bold, beautiful, daring, and firm in her beliefs...which were once strongly pro-"choice" and now strongly for life. Her latest endeavor is entitled "And Then There Were None", which is her outreach to abortion clinic workers. Her approaches are always positive and compassionate, since she was there once herself. I just read her book unPlanned this summer and definitely loved it. So go ahead, head on over to her website and the "And Then There Were None" website!
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Blurbs
Matt officially gets the "Met Half of the Extended Family of the Girlfriend" merit badge. He passed with flying colors. Most of last week I was in "apologizing profusely for any awkwardness" mode...as in, every time the topic of Labor Day weekend came up, I apologized in advance for...weirdness. Oh family.
Last week was also the first full week of school. Considering all the first meetings and figuring out schedules for organizations and working and trying to find room to breathe, I'm glad I made it out alive. And well. Classes will be just fine, although I'm still unsure of what Financial Accounting will hold. And O. Chem...who knows.
Students for Life is off and running. I still get nervous about my leadership position and walking the line between taking up enough responsibility versus trying to control it and getting burned out on it. It's one thing to delegate, it's another thing to let the delegation be and not attempt to micromanage.
And FOCUS is still lovely. Unfortunately with scheduling, I won't be able to make it to Masses this semester, but Bible study and discipleships are all now planned and getting ready to start or just starting. My disciple and I will again be learning about saints, and my discipleship in which I am the disciple has not yet started, so I don't know yet which direction that will lead me.
Last week was also the first full week of school. Considering all the first meetings and figuring out schedules for organizations and working and trying to find room to breathe, I'm glad I made it out alive. And well. Classes will be just fine, although I'm still unsure of what Financial Accounting will hold. And O. Chem...who knows.
Students for Life is off and running. I still get nervous about my leadership position and walking the line between taking up enough responsibility versus trying to control it and getting burned out on it. It's one thing to delegate, it's another thing to let the delegation be and not attempt to micromanage.
And FOCUS is still lovely. Unfortunately with scheduling, I won't be able to make it to Masses this semester, but Bible study and discipleships are all now planned and getting ready to start or just starting. My disciple and I will again be learning about saints, and my discipleship in which I am the disciple has not yet started, so I don't know yet which direction that will lead me.
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