Tuesday, August 5, 2014

How is God like a canoe???

A while ago at a church retreat my friend, Kassidy and I went canoeing despite the fact that it was extremely windy. We got stuck by the boat house for a good ten minutes, then once we got out onto the lake we thought we would never get back to the dock because the wind was pushing so hard against us. It was a struggle, but we finally made it back and decided that our canoeing experience would make a great witness one day. So I am now here to explain to you just how God is like a canoe. Well okay not a canoe, but like the story I just summed up...

He will never let you stray too far from Him. We all have our Jesus highs and lows, but no low is ever too low to rise up from. I personally, have never hit an extreme low. Whenever I start to stray from God's path, He puts something in my way that brings me right back to Him and I am soooo thankful! 

Recently, God spoke to me and told me about my future. I am very much a plan ahead-er so naturally I was so excited to hear Him tell me how much bigger and better His plans for me are. But then the exhilarating roller coaster ride I felt like I was on screeched to a halt. I'm not giving spoilers, mostly because I'm not ready to share exactly what He told me, but I will say that I burst into tears, and not the happy kind. I kept telling myself "Don't go astray! Distancing yourself from Him won't work, and won't change His ultimate plan!" I stayed close for a long time, asking God for more understanding of the ambiguous (SAT WORD ALERT) thing He had just told me, but as the answer's became just as ambiguous as His announcement, I started to lose hope. I only went to Church so I didn't have to go to reconciliation before my next EMHC day, I cracked and binge watched Orange is the New Black and I stopped listening to Christian music. You might be reading this saying, "Hah, that's what you call a low?" but, you're only as pure as the things you put into your mind, so yeah it was!!!! Luckily, it was only a matter of time before I got this message via Jesus Calling....


July 29th


"COME TO ME CONTINUALLY. I am meant to be the Center of your consciousness, the Anchor of your soul. Your mind will wander from Me, but the question is how far you allow it to wander. An anchor on a short rope lets a boat drift only slightly before the taut line tugs the boat back toward the center. Similarly, as you drift away from Me, My Spirit within you gives a tug, prompting you to return to Me. As you become increasingly attuned to My Presence, the length of rope on your soul's Anchor is shortened. You wander only a short distance before feeling that inner tug--telling you to return to your true Center in Me."

Hebrews 6:19; 1 John 2:28; Matthew 22:37


Before I allowed my mind and my being to wander too far from Him, God sent me that passage. He sent me to the Gateway Student Conference. He sent me Wacky Week Round 2, Hillsong's Zion Acoustic Sessions and MKCYC - all to show me how much better life is when it is centered around Him! THANK YOU JESUS! 


So in conclusion, God is like a canoe because no matter how strong the wind (temptation, sin etc.) is pushing against you, He will help you fight against it and bring you back to the dock (home/ Heaven!) 



lost at sea
finally home!
crazy wind blow hair + fishing (we didn't catch anything)







Okay, so I wrote this post about a week ago and since then I have found a couple more things to add....

Like, I said up there, I've been praying for understanding. Well, on August 7th, the Jesus Calling passage begins with this: "Understanding will never give you peace." I read those words and panicked a little because I want/wanted nothing more than to understand and find peace. BUT then it goes on to say...

That’s why I have instructed you to trust in Me, not in your understanding.  Human beings have a voracious appetite for trying to figure things out, in order to gain a sense of mastery over their lives.  But the world presents you with an endless series of problems.  As soon as you master one set, another pops up to challenge you.  The relief you had anticipated is short-lived.  Soon your mind is gearing up again: searching for understanding (mastery), instead of seeking Me (your Master).
The wisest of all men, Solomon, could never think his way through to Peace.  His vast understanding resulted in feelings of futility, rather than in fulfillment.  Finally, he lost his way and succumbed to the will of his wives by worshiping idols.
My Peace is not an elusive goal, hidden at the center of some complicated maze.  Actually, you are always enveloped in Peace, which is inherent in My Presence.  As you look to Me, you gain awareness of this precious Peace.

Jesus, You've done it again! Also, today's Gospel was the story of Jesus allowing Peter to walk on water through trusting in Him. I realized that's what I need - more trust in God. Faith is one thing we could always use more of. 
In His Name, 

Meredith 

questions, comments or prayer requests? Feel free to email me: meredithmunro@icloud.com 

My blog is sooooo close to hitting 2,000 views! That may not seem like much but it is a milestone none the less! If you could share this post with your friends and family, it would mean soooo much to me! 

Also, check out my new page, where I have put some of my favorite bible verses!  

**PRAYER REQUESTS** 
Teachers preparing for the start of the school year
3 year old, Jessica Birrittieri, who is currently at Cooke Children's hospital recovering from brain swelling due to a pool accident. She is making a lot of progress, keep the prayers coming. 

Sunday, August 3, 2014

#MKCYC14 & 1 year blogaversary & i love being an EMHC

Hello all, I am so excited to say that I am writing this post from my new desk which is one of the many products of this weekend! I am also excited to say that this is roughly the year anniversary of this blog!!! Granted, I took about four or five months off but it still counts okay... I said this in my last post (which can be found here) but my weekend at the Dallas Catholic Youth Conference was what made me decide to start blogging. I also mentioned that my parish cancelled our trip to DCYC this year. My friend, Kassidy, and I have been looking forward to DCYC all year so we decided to throw our own conference to substitute for DCYC. We called it "Meredith & Kassidy's Catholic Youth Conference" here's a little recap for ya....

Saturday: 

  • Dinner at Canes 
  • Jamba Juice aka my second home
  • Michael's to get supplies to make shirts 
  • Designing and making MKCYC shirts (took about 3 hours, but they look great)
  • Watching the Missoula Children's Theater production of The Jungle Book  we did probably 7 or 8 years ago. The DVD started skipping on our scene together but it was hilarious none the less. PS Kassi played young Mowgli because she looks like him & I played a cobra. 
  • Deep Jesus talks 
  • Watching Miranda Sings videos until we fell asleep. This is also the year anniversary of when we fell in love (not lebanese) with Miranda
Sunday
  • Impromptu trip to Ikea with my parents 
  • Getting Ikea's "twine for your convenience" and each holding an end so that we wouldn't get separated
  • Smash Burger 
  • Assembling my desk, but eventually getting frustrated 
  • Mass! I EMHC-ed today so we were really early
  • Signed up for the St. Ann Carnival (September 5-7 btw) come see us in Kiddy Land on Friday the 5th!!!

Although we both would have been thrilled to go to DCYC, MKCYC was the only other way I would have wanted to spend this weekend! I am so incredibly blessed to have a friend like Kassidy. 

We decided the verse for the weekend was 1 Thessalonians 5:18, which says "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" Basically, even though we weren't happy with not going to DCYC, we made the best of our circumstance and are both so thankful for the weekend God gave us instead. 




As the title says, I love being an EMHC which by the way, stands for Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion. So I get to give communion at Mass. I've been pretty blessed with the masses I've gotten to serve at this far. I served on the Solemnity of Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ or, the Feast of Corpus Christi, which is an entire mass celebrating the Eucharist. All of the readings were about it and the homily too so I was pumped to get to give the Eucharist to a group of people who were so in awe of it already. Again today, the Gospel told the story of when Jesus multiplied five loaves of bread and two fish to feed a ton of people and had 12 baskets left over and the readings talked about being fed by the Bread of Life. Today I actually started shaking during communion, knowing that I was holding Jesus in my hand and allowing so many people to receive Him! 



Here are some pictures from MKCYC...
post Churchidy Church

low quality pic of us miranding with our shirts

jamba juice

Pope Francis made an appearance!!!!

our tweets made it to DCYC even though we didn't!!! #famus

my new desk!!! one day there will be MacBook there... hint hint parents



I love you all dearly and am so grateful that you take the time to read my ramblings. Happy one year! 

 In His N
ame, 

Meredith 

questions, comments or prayer requests? Feel free to email me: meredithmunro@icloud.com 

 

**PRAYER REQUESTS** 
Those who did attend DCYC this weekend!
Kassidy & her classmates as they start school this week!

HEY!!!!!! YOU SHOULD GO LISTEN TO HILLSONG ZION ACOUSTIC SESSIONS! I HAVE HAD IT ON REPLAY ALLLLLL DAY!