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. 

The Giver

Hey friends, if you came here looking for a happy post about how great everything is going you might want to turn around (please don't) because that's not what is in store for you today. These past couple of weeks have been rough - full of highs and lows and lots of emotions. I just realized that I haven't posted an actual blog post since last month oops. I have a lot of drafts but they are either a) finished and no longer completely relevant or b) stories that haven't been completed yet. So even though I've been writing, I haven't been posting and if you enjoy my blog, I apologize for that. Anywayyyy....

In middle school we read The Giver by Lois Lowry. If you say you enjoyed that book, you are lying. I always try to find the best in everything, but I really struggled with that one. However, if you have never read The Giver, which I doubt anybody hasn't, all you really need to know for now is that it's set in a dystopian society (wow so original) and this kid gets picked to be "the Giver", which is the person that basically takes on all of the physical emotional pain of everybody in the whole society. The book made it seem like being the Giver would be pretty terrible, eventually causing the main character to run away from society altogether. But right now, I would kill to be able to feel other people's pain, because until we can do that we'll never be able to truly understand their struggles. I like haveing a lot on my plate (metaphorically) most of the time. I try not to put myself into situations where I can help and choose not to. This brings me a lot of internal conflict because there's a fine line between "your problem/ responsibility" & "not your problem/ responsibility". Few things make me more frustrated than when I can't help somebody I really want to. We all have that friend who we've know since birth, and even if you maybe aren't as close to them now as you've been in the past, you'd still drop anything to go to their aid. Things were getting better, we talked things out and then I found out I was lied to and I just don't know what to think. To attempt to accurately describe how I feel: picture this- you're working on a video project for school and iMovie/Final Cut/ Premier Pro is working well, which is weird because it is always janky. You feel that you are making a lot of progress and this project is going to turn out to be spectacular. Then your computer shuts down unexpectedly. It's okay though because your project saved automatically right? Nope. You log back on and all of your progress has been lost and now you have to start at square one. Except now not only are you exasperated because your project got deleted, but you're running out of time and have to slap something together really quickly. You're less focused on getting a good result and more focused on just finishing the project. We've all been, there. It's where I am right now, except I'm not dealing with a computer. There's the side of me that wants to give up, I'm done being sympathetic and since I never know what to believe, I can't really be empathetic. But then there's the loyal side, knowing it isn't my responsibility, but still wanting to fix her problems. I'm torn, I really am and at this moment I can't tell y'all what I'm going to do about it because I honestly have no idea. But what I do know is that even though I may not be able to help, God can and if we ask for His guidance, we're going to get it. It won't come in words most likely. You've got to keep both of your eyes and ears open for a sign and you've got to be patient. One of my favorite bible verses, 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 says, "For this momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen; for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are unseen at eternal" When you're unsure of something, it helps to try to look at the big picture. However a lot of the time God is the only one who can actually see the big picture. We need to trust His plan and take whatever he puts in our path with gratitude, knowing that out struggles are only making us stronger. 

fun stuff. 

These past couple of weeks have been a bit too emotional for me to handle, truth be told. See, I'm a big believer in the fact that nothing is really a big deal in the grand scheme of things because God is bigger than everything around us. He has a plan and if something happens it's because God intended for it to. However in the past two weeks I have gone through a lot from officially deciding not to do Lariettes again to this whole friend debacle I talked about about. On top of that I gave up sweets & junk food (so my entire diet) for lent and have a hard time replacing the stuff I gave up with healthy stuff, instead I just don't eat that much (oops). So if you'd pray for me, that'd be greatly appreciated. Oh and also my friend, who I will not name, Jesus knows who you're talking about. 

I wouldn't dare leave a post on a negative note because that's just not my style. So here are some awesome things that have happened...

• There's a new girl in my grade and she seems super cool, I mean we have the same watch so basically we were made to be best friends. Some of my friends wanted to meet her yesterday at lunch so I took them to say hi and later she told me it made her day, which made mine. 
• My mom's birthday was yesterday and she spent a couple hours of it listening to me cry over dance stuff. She rocks if you don't talk to your mom, you really should. Moms are awesome. 
• I went to my dance teacher's wedding and OMG it was beautiful! Here's the video of their first dance to Mirrors by JT, go watch it: https://vimeo.com/90272683
• As I mentioned, I am not continuing with Lariettes and this week is tryout week. I thought I'd be kind of sad but I'm not at all, which can only mean God has some great stuff in store for me instead of drill team. When people tell me they miss me or it's weird without me it feels good in the sense that I have made enough of an impact on them for them to notice my absence. 
• Sarah is great and she can sense when I'm strugglin', so I talked to her and I feel much better. Go friends! 

Okay y'all if you have gotten this far, thanks for sticking out my less than cheery post. Have a beautiful day :) 

In His Name, 
Meredith 

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

**PRAYER REQUESTS** 
My dance company as we travel and compete in Houston this weekend & all of the girls trying out for Lariettes/ Silver Stars tonight! 

Some relevant songs: Make Me Whole by Ayleron & Worn by Tenth Avenue North 

Dancing with Jesus

I'm supposed to be packing and I leave for Houston at 6 am tomorrow morning so what better to be doing right now than writing a blog post?! But I just have to because God has been so incredibly awesome this week I need to share.
One of my greatest strengths and weaknesses is that I don't get stressed. It really is a great quality to have until you're a week away from competition and you haven't finished choreographing your solo. Yes, you guessed it -  my inability to get stressed out leads to massive procrastination. I made a promise to myself at the beginning of this year that I was going to practice my solo at least once a day so that it could be perfect by the time competition rolled around. Well, needless to say I broke that promise so this week I tried to cram in as much rehearsal time in as possible, which is difficult when you're leaving on Thursday morning. Here's my original plan...
Saturday: rehearsal with Miss Rachel
Sunday: go to open studio and run solo
Monday: use other room while Connie works with another girl on her solo
Tuesday: leave ballet early (boo hoo) and use other room to work
Wednesday: use other room instead of going to jazz

But of course, my plan didn't go as I had hoped. Here's how it actually turned out...
Saturday: got strep throat, had to cancel rehearsal
Sunday: still sick, can't be around other people nor could I actually dance
Monday: Connie's student forgot she was supposed to stay and I can't be at the studio alone at night
Tuesday: left ballet early as planned but had a mental breakdown because it was a bad turning day and I couldn't do anything right
Wednesday: Taught my turn & leap class part of my solo.Used other room instead of going to jazz - got solo worked out and now feel a lot better about it (yay!)

This whole week I have been asking God for help; Lord, please grant me the focus and perseverance to finish and feel comfortable with my solo. Finally, today, something clicked. I had the focus and I got major work done. There was a point when I stopped dancing and realized how close He was, like Jesus was in the studio with me choreographing and cleaning my dance. At that, I was overwhelmed with joy and had to pause, turn off the lights and have a mini-worship sesh by myself (to Lord, I Need You by Matt Maher of course!) because I was (am) so grateful! THANK YOU JESUS YOU ARE THE BEST!!!

So, even though I'm supposed to be packing right now, I wanted to share this with y'all. Always know that it might take a few days for God to answer your prayers, but He will, it's all part of His greater plan. Aside from dance this has been a rough week for me, I made a huge decision regarding the future that would be quite scary if I didn't know God is on my side. I've leaned on Him and asked for His guidance a lot more than usual this week and He has really come through. 

**Quick prayer requests: 1) My drill team as we travel and compete this weekend. 2) Please continually keep Tommy Gantt in your prayers, he is battling cancer. 3) Please pray for me and my solo on Saturday**

In His Name, 
Meredith 

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

This song came on while I was driving home and it was really speaking to me tonight so I thought I'd share it with y'all. It's called: End of Days by Hillsong Young & Free 

DCYC - Saturday Part 1. "His will and my will are the same"

Our day began with Mass at 7:00 am. When you go to bed at two in the morning, you can't expect it to be easy to wake up at 6:00 am. But eventually we got out of bed and got ourselves down stairs. It was so early in the morning and so much went on on Saturday, I honestly cannot remember anything about the Mass except this; even at seven o'clock in the morning, everybody was singing at the top of their lungs, praising the Lord. With that, I was ready to take on the day and adsorb everything I could. 

During the conference that morning, father and daughter duo, Michael and Alli Hoffman spoke to us. They talked a lot about staying with your faith through college. Michael said that 80% of college students will not attend church weekly in college. He then had everybody except the first four rows of the room stand up.  Probably around 480 people were standing and to me that looked like a huge amount. But 80% of all college students. That's 80% of the nearly 20 million college students here in the US. That's 16 million people straying from the Lord. Mike encouraged us to be the generation that changes that statistic. And I expect to do my part in that. I'm now at the age where I need to start thinking about college (ugh) and the big thing I look for in a college is whether or not it is Catholic. Partially because I want to major in theology but also because I know that if I am in a setting where going to Mass regularly isn't encouraged, I could get swept up in the idea that God isn't number one. I have gone through times when I wasn't as close to the Lord as I should have been and they have been without a doubt the hardest times in my life. College is hard enough as it is, and I want to be surrounded by people who are as passionate about God as I am. 

The thing that most resonated with me from Mike and Alli's talk was this: "His will and my will are the same" At the time I heard it, I was like "oh that sounds really cool and profound" but it wasn't until later that night I truly understood the meaning of it. "His will and my will are the same" 

As I said, I am writing about Saturday in chunks because it was such an amazing day and I would write a novel about it if I could. Really, I want to be able to convey a message from each part of the day and there is no way I can do this with justice all in one post. So stay tuned for Saturday part 2, where I will talk about a workshop I went to with Fr. Zach Webb.

In His Name, Meredith

If you have questions, prayer requests or just wanna say hi please leave a comment! And remember if you need somebody to talk to feel free to email me meredithmunro@icloud.com 

twitter: meredith_munro

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DCYC - Friday

I arrived at the High School Ministry office with my two friends, Daniella and Kassidy, and anxiously watched people arrive. We had no idea who was else was going to the conference, I was half excited to meet new people and half nervous that somebody I didn't feel comfortable around would show up. Luckily the room soon filled with a great group of people from all different schools and circles of friends, which made me even more excited.
We walked in late to the opening assembly but that didn't stop St. Ann's HSM from going full force, singing and dancing. Later that night Steve Angrisano told us a story that really stuck with me. He talked about how one night he was out with a group of Nuns and ended up in a bunch of crazy situations. In the few hours he was with these Sisters, they impacted the lives of four completely different people. The things he said about the Nuns made me realize a couple of things.
1) The nuns thanked the waiter and manager at the restaurant for the meal and how caring they were and said the meal was the best food they've eaten. Steve said these Nuns appreciated the food like they had not eaten in forty days. Simple, everyday things such as restaurants often get ignored. Yes, we pray before we eat, but do we really appreciate the food we eat? As an upper middle class teenager in Coppell, TX hunger is not something I am exposed to. But it is all around us, there are people just a few miles away from where I live who depend on Catholic charities and food banks for their meals. They can't just go out to eat whenever they feel too lazy to cook. I have volunteered at the food bank countless times and the most gratifying thing is getting to see how much the recipients of the food appreciate the people who package, shelf and sort it. The Sisters were just as thankful to the people cooking and serving the food as the people from the food bank are for the volunteers. If a group of Nuns, who certainly are never short of food and how it got there, can appreciate it that much, why can't we?
2) When the Sisters were walking out of the restaurant they were approached by a man whose asked them to pray for his wife, who had cancer. Of course the Nuns said yes but Steve was expecting that to be the end of the conversation. However, instead of taking off and praying for him later, the Nuns put their hands on the man right then and there and prayed over him and for his wife. In the middle of the street. How many times do we say, "I'll pray for you" and then wait until later to do it? Why can't we drop everything to pray for somebody? Fear? Something better to do? This made me realize a bad habit of mine, which I am deciding to call "pray-crastination" (ok well I think it is kind of funny???) As I go through the day I develop a list of things I will pray for that night, but WHY do I wait? We have the gift of prayer so we can use it wherever and whenever we need it, we should take advantage of that lovely ability we have.
3) After leaving the restaurant, Steve and the Sisters went to the grocery store. On the way there the traffic light was broken and Steve was freaking out because he thought he'd miss his flight. Outside of the grocery store there was a woman sitting on the ground and crying. The Nuns, went over and spoke with her. The woman's husband had just left her and her children homeless and she was on the brink of a breakdown. The Nuns prayed with her and gave her the address of a place where she could go for shelter, work and food. As they were driving Steve to the airport, one of the Nuns expressed how happy she was that the traffic light was broken on the way to the grocery store, because if they hadn't been there when they were, they might not have met the woman and been able to help her. Isn't that great? I absolutely love how God does things like that. And we often don't think of the things that slow us down as good things, but sometimes they are. God, along with Saint Anthony (he's awesome!!!) have worked that way in my life recently...
Over spring break I went on a school trip to London and Paris. Very late the night before we were to leave London, I got back to my hotel room and noticed I didn't have my phone. I looked everywhere, asked everyone but it was nowhere to be found. That night I repeated the prayer "Dear Saint Anthony, look around I've lost my phone and it can't be found." over and over until I fell asleep. I know a phone is a material thing that i don't necessarily need, but being halfway around the world without my parents is scary, let alone without a communication device. I was also afraid of what my parents would do, they definitely would not replace my phone if I was irresponsible enough to lose it in a foreign country. My tour guide, Linda called the bus company and asked them if they had my phone but they still had not returned her call when we were going through security at the train station to go to Paris. It was snowing very heavily in Paris that day and our train kept getting delayed. I had to find other ways to entertain myself while all of my friends were listening to music and playing games one their phones while waiting at the train station for nearly five hours. Eventually our train was cancelled and we had to stay another day in London. The extra day came with numerous blessings, we got to see a lot of things in London we didn't have time to before; The London Eye, The Tower of London, Piccadilly Circus etc. And during those times, it was a blessing not to have a cell phone to distract me from the beauty and history of the city. The afternoon we were leaving for Paris, Linda got a call from the bus company... they had my phone! Still today I don't think Linda knows how much I appreciate her. She easily could have said "Your loss kid" and not done anything, but instead she called every person possible to get my cell phone back and I am so thankful that God gave me such an amazing woman as a tour guide. We picked up my phone on the way to the airport and all was well again. But I truly could not process how incredible it was that we just so happened to be stuck in London that day I lost my phone. If God had not sent that snowstorm to Paris, I would have left the country without the cell phone that my loving parents provided me. Now, I know that my phone was not the sole reason it snowed that day, but that is the cool thing about Our Lord, he watches over every single one of us and sends his grace at all times. I know I was not the only person who benefited from Paris's snow. 
Linda to me was like the Nuns to the woman at the grocery store; they didn't have to help her out, but they did because that is what Jesus would do and they wanted to follow his example. It's what I always tell myself, "Never put yourself in a situation where you have the power to do something and choose not to" 
4) Being a Nun sounds like a 24/7 Jesus party and I want in! 

By the end of Friday night, I could tell this weekend was going to be transformational. 

A fun difference between this conference and a normal retreat is that there's no adult in your room to tell you when to shut up and go to bed. Needless to say, my friends and I did not get very much sleep that night. 

Thank you so much for reading my blog! I will post about Saturday (probably in 2 or maybe even 3 parts) as soon as possible. This is a busy week for me, please pray for my drill team as we go through line camp this week! 

In His name, 
Meredith 

If you have questions, prayer requests or just wanna say hi please leave a comment! And remember if you need somebody to talk to feel free to email me meredithmunro@icloud.com 

Dallas Catholic Youth Conference 2013!

This past weekend I was blessed with the opportunity to attend the Dallas Catholic Youth Conference. DCYC, for those who don't know, is a conference put on by the Dallas Dioceses for teens. If you have ever been on a church retreat, it was a lot like that but in a hotel and with people from different churches.
When I signed up, I had no idea what do expect, but I was excited for whatever God had in store for the weekend. As always, He did not disappoint.
Over 600 Catholic teens and youth ministers attended from all over the diocese. The event was anchored by a long list of incredible Catholics including; Bishop Kevin Farrell, Bishop Douglas Deshotel, Steve Angrisano, Michael and Alli Hoffman, Jason Deuterman and my own youth minister, Naomi Lehew. All the previously named and other speakers were able to express things about our religion that I would have never been able to figure out on my own. Each talk came with an important lesson that impacted me and made me consider the way I live day-to-day. 
As much as I would love to give a play by play of the whole weekend, I understand how boring that might be. I cannot adequately express the events of this weekend in words, so you'll have to go next year to fully understand what I am talking about. However, I will share the highlights of my weekend and what I have learned.  Look for my blogs on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at DCYC! 

In His name, 
Meredith 

If you have questions, prayer requests or just wanna say hi please leave a comment! And remember if you need somebody to talk to feel free to email me meredithmunro@icloud.com