wacky week

I feel like I start every single post with an apology for not posting in a while... Sooooo um sorry I haven't posted in a while, I guess I just haven't done anything interesting enough to talk about BUT this week I did!!!

This past week I had the privilege of dancing in Gateway Church's "Wacky Week", which can be best described as vacation bible school on crack. It's insane, in the best way possible and I am so incredibly thankful to have been a part of it. I danced in the opener, day 1 & day 2 closers and got to be a dance-worship leader. (Seeing as I often feel my calling in life is to be a worship hand motion choreographer, the last one was especially fun) Today I want to share a couple of things that made this week so special to me...

I'm not a member at Gateway so I was pretty nervous that Olivia & I would be excluded because we were outsiders. But everybody there was SOOOO nice, it wasn't hard at all to see Jesus in each and every person I met. I made tons of new friends and was welcomed by everybody, by the end of the week I felt like part of their huge family. What I admire the most is that status didn't matter. The dancers shared a dressing room with the actors and singers and nobody was more important than another. The people who on a TV show would be portrayed as the diva or the condescending genius, were the sweetest of them all. The female lead singer, Anna, especially warmed my heart. She is an amazing singer, yet she is incredibly humble and is a ton of fun to hang around with. She constantly praised us dancers and was enthusiastic about taking weird pictures of Olivia and me backstage. It was also surreal getting to hang out with/dance with so many members of Ingredients dance company, which I wrote about in a previous post (read it here). It was crazy getting to dance alongside so many people that I look up to. 

I'm gonna try not to get too sappy here but a month ago today, my dance teacher, Connie, had a preventative double mastectomy (meaning she had it to lower her once very high chances of getting cancer - NOT because she had it!). On the way to our first Wacky Week rehearsal, Olivia and I went and visited her in the hospital and yesterday I was dancing with her onstage! God does amazing things for amazing people! One of my new friends said the other day, "Connie, you are literally my inspiration" She laughed off the comment but its so true, and if you know her I think you'd agree. She's inspiring in the simplest ways, and in big ones too. For me, she inspired me to want more from my dancing, showing me that there is more to dance than just steps. Throughout this week Connie has thanked  us immensely for helping her out and I always feel like I'm the one that owes her thanks. Most of the other dancers come from Christian studios and companies, so it may not have been that big of a deal to them  but this was the first time I had gotten to do dances created specifically to glorify Our Lord! IT WAS AMAZING!!! And now that I know how it feels, I never want to go back! So Connie, if you're reading this I love you, thank you so much for allowing me to dance & worship this week, you're seriously the coolest person I have ever met. 

During sound-check one day, Pastor Ken, told us about how every generation seems to say that the generation below them is the "generation that turned their backs on God". He said that it's people like us, people who use their talents to glorify Our Creator, not worldly things and imitation love, who can change that and I truly believe he's right. I wish you all could have seen the kids  attending Wacky Week when we danced and led worship - even the boys in the back row were jumping around and lifting their hands in praise. Knowing that I contributed to kids encountering Christ is the most gratifying thing in the world. This week, though for the children, was a retreat for me as well. 

When I was little and went to VBS, I always had a "favorite" big kid. There was always one person I watched and looked up to and wanted to be just like. They never knew how much of an impact they made on me and now that I'm a big kid and there's probably a little girl who looks up to me. It sounds so silly, but what made this week so special to me is that idea. I'll never know her name, but I have touched her heart and that fills me with enough joy to last a lifetime. 

Once again I'm really thankful for this week, making new friends, growing closer to my already friends and growing closer to God! I'm also excited because I get to do it all again in July!!!

In His Name, 

Meredith 

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

**PRAYER REQUESTS** 

All of the kids who went to Wacky Week

Connie in her recovery, her caretakers and doctors

Here are links to some short videos from WW...

Opener: http://instagram.com/p/ppWXq0rE3W/

Alive (my arm is on the big screen haha!): http://instagram.com/p/ppWvu9rE3z/

I'm the one in the center-ish, wearing pink pants and a blue jacket.

we waited all week to take a picture smashing our faces against the glass of the drum cage haha

okay this is in SL town square but I've always wanted to open a dance studio in this building and the store is closing so my chance is now (lol I'm not opening a studio any time soon though)

this fantastic portrait of a horse is in the green room, so I had to do some snap chat story-ing with it...

in a box

pretending i'm in the noize

these guys & girls were amazing in the skits all week

Olivia, Connie & me - purple version

Rudy & me trying to be hardcore... except I did the "I love you" sign instead of "rock on" oops

most of the dancers

Me, Tressa & Olivia

hanging up my hat

Hellllloooo ok for those of you who don't know, I decided not to do drill team again. Why, you ask, well keep reading this post.... 

My decision to quit Lariettes had nothing to do with the fact that a group of girls made me feel left out. It had nothing to do with the early morning practices and freezing walks from the parking lot. It had nothing to do with hot and sweaty band practices. It had nothing to do with seniority or ugly costumes. It just isn't the kind of dance I want to be doing. This is the hardest decision I've ever had to make because there are a lot of things I love about Lariettes. I love the fringe. I love football games. I love having the locker room as a safe place. I love my directors and I love my team mates. But for the dancer I want to be, drill team is just not the right place to learn and grow. I want to be an artist, and on drill team everybody is told to be exactly alike. I definitely grew tremendously as a dancer on JV, and was pushed to work my tail off to prove myself. But now it’s time to hang up my hat and move on. I went back and forth between quitting and trying out for officer about five times spanning from November to February before I finally made up my mind. It's just that when I see dances at competitions and conventions I always say, "Wow I wish I could dance like that." and I realize that where I am now won't get me there. I finally accepted that I can't just keep the things I love about Lariettes, it's all or nothing. And I'm going to have to take nothing if I plan on being the dancer I want to be. I would give anything to put on the fringe and shake it with the drum line one last time. But in our lives we have to make sacrifices and we can only have faith that we are making the right decision. 

I am one of the few dancers that doesn't consider dance to be a sport. To me it is so much more than scoring points. Dance is art and dancers are not only athletes, but artists. Sure, you can channel emotions into a game of soccer or basketball, but dance is different. Each piece, each step, has a meaning. Dances tell stories, or at least they should. Dance is personal and it is emotionally taxing. Through this year I’ve realized how wrong it is to compare one piece to another. 

The first time I thought about quitting Lariettes and pursuing dance more seriously was actually before I even tried out. It was at Showbiz competition and two of the best studios in the metroplex (Next Step & Prodigy) were competing there. I felt something real when I watched them dance, and I knew that the dancers also felt something and were pouring their heart into the dance. I wanted to be able to dance like that. I seriously considered moving to Next Step even though it is half an hour away. However I decided to try Lariettes because that's where my all my friends were. 

All throughout football season I worked my "derrière" (French for butt) off. Besides being without a bus buddy, football season was incredibly fun. Some of my best memories definitely took place during that time. Then in November I attended Dance Revolution (the dance convention, not the video game). It is an amazing organization that I hope to become more involved in in years to come. The dancing I did that weekend was so different from the drill team field dances I’d been doing for the past couple of months and it felt amazing. I realized that I could be dancing like that every day and decided to start asking God if Lariettes was really the place for me. My parents were supportive of me not coming back to Lariettes as a junior but at the time we didn’t know what else there was for me to do. You can’t just walk into a new studio and join their company right away and since I was already committed to Lariettes and my studio company there was not time to go try out different places so eventually I shifted back to being content with drill team.

When we started our money themed production in Lariettes, I knew again that I wanted to quit. Being part of a group that glorifies worldly things like that was and still is unnerving to me. I remember being super angry after learning that choreography and being given a fluff part. I drove myself to the grocery store and bought three boxes of toaster strudels because that’s what I do when I’m ticked off. I declared once again to my parents that I was quitting, once and for all. Then a week later I melted back into Lariettes and this time was fully committed to becoming an officer so I didn't have to do fluff.

The week of my first blog post back was when I made the final decision to quit. Although it wasn't really me, but God. I was in the studio working on my solo and I just could not seem to do anything right. I couldn't spot my turns. I couldn't balance in a double pirouette. My turnout was non-existent. It was basically God saying, “Look, you developed these bad habits on drill team and it isn't where I want you to be. I have bigger plans for you.” I prayed and prayed, talked about quitting with my parents, changed the concept of my solo and two days later when I worked on it in the studio again I was on fire. The moves were flowing naturally through me and I felt His presence in the room with me. I knew that it was His way of letting me know I was making the right decision.

The day after my last drill team competition I went to my dance teacher’s wedding. She was part of Dance Revolution’s professional company, “Ingredients” and the company danced in her wedding. Watching them dance, I realized what was missing in my dance – purpose. They were dancing for the Lord and you could see it in their bodies and faces. I’d been doing high kicks and aimless reaches for months, never knowing what I was missing. It was then that I knew once and for all that God was pushing me in the right direction.

Our Creator created this beautiful thing we call dance. He gave us music, He gave us agile bodies and amazing choreographers. I want to use my dance to glorify Him and Him alone.

So that my friends, is why I quit drill team. I will definitely still be an active supporter of the organization, but I’ll be cheering the Lariettes on from the student section next year. I had two goals going in to Lariettes. 1) Be in the front line for a field kick dance & 2) Make all of the contest dances. I accomplished both of those goals so I'm not too disappointed with my time on drill team. I made lots of great friends and great memories in my year on Lariettes and plan on doing a highlight post later, but as we approach banquet - my last hoorah with the team, this has all been on my mind so I felt like sharing. I am excited about what my future as a dancer holds and I don't want to spill just yet, but I trust that it's where the Lord wants me to be. I'm preparing for the long road ahead and praying for the strength to fight any battle that arises during this journey. 

In His Name, 

Meredith 

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

**PRAYER REQUESTS** 

The 8th & 9th grade confirmants at St. Ann, especially the beautiful young woman I am sponsoring, Kassidy. 

This is one of my favorite Ingredients dances. It's cool too because I can connect with crying out to the Lord and hearing His voice guide you. 

"Hop on my back!"

Well friends, we're approaching the busy season. Banquets, recital, tryouts - oh my! For me, there are a lot of "lasts" and I'm only a sophomore. A lost of it has to to with growing up, which is both scary and exciting. In this past year alone my responsibilities have doubled, driving, choreographing solos, and as of yesterday, becoming an EMHC (Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion). Being able to do all of those things and be trusted to carry them out properly is awesome but I think we all  miss the days where we had no responsibilities. When we're little kids we don't have any responsibilities, we don't have high expectations from anybody nor ourselves, we haven't been exposed to the struggles this earth holds for us. So in the wake of some ridiculous drama/ stress at my dance competition this past weekend, it was great to be able to hang out with a four year old girl to take my mind off of all of the worldly troubles. 

This particular four year old is one of the dance teacher's daughters, Tatum. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of kids but I cannot get enough of Tatum. She's got an infectious spirit, one of those laughs that instantly makes you happy. At the beginning of the weekend I was deemed her friend and by the last day, she told me that she loves me. Aside from funny selfies and vines, the most important thing I got from my weekend with Tatum is a reminder on how we're all made in God's image. Four year olds don't have tunnel vision like we teens do, if you come talk to to Tatum, she declares you  her friend. She's accepting, we all should be too. The second thing I learned is that we all need to laugh more. Olivia and I rode back to the hotel with Miss Jessica (Tatum's mom) on Saturday night, Tatum in tow. Most fun car ride of my life. Tatum would say something random then start cracking up, causing us all to do the same. She told us all about her fish named Bunny and her three brothers (Barrett, Landon and Daddy. Landon is her favorite.) Eventually she ran out of real words and started making up her own which was even funnier. When we got back to the hotel and had to split up in the elevator, Tatum was devastated. 

As I said, the weekend was full of ridiculous drama and stress, which all dance competitions are, but hanging around with my favorite four year old took my mind off of all of that stuff and definitely made it a trip to remember. 

So, that was my short, sweet and happy post to make up for my previous one. I hope you have a great day/night. Here are some pictures and vines taken with Tatum this weekend, enjoy...

Stretching with the big girls!

Selfiie ft. Olivia 

Sisters???

She did not enjoy being onstage for the award ceremony...

Dancin' 

breakfast "it's too early to be awake!"

pic ft. her new pink elephant

And of course, here're the vine that the title of this post came from...

https://vine.co/v/MiD9O9iEe0j

"He called a little child and had him stand among them.  And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me."

Matthew 18:2-6

In His Name, 

Meredith 

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

**PRAYER REQUESTS** 

Tatum and all of the other little kids with such pure hearts, that they stay pure. 

New EMHCs (Including me) 

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

instagram: mered1th

instapray: meredithbm 

Instapray!

Hey y'all really quickly I just wanted to talk about this new app I found called "Instapray" The best way I can describe it is like a twitter for prayers. Basically you write prayer intentions or even just thoughts or bible verses and people can pray with you. My friend, Tommy was diagnosed with Cancer this summer and recently found out that his cancer spread. I asked for people to pray for him, his family and medical professionals and within two minutes over twenty people from all over the world, who don't even know Tommy had prayed for him. So go to the app store and get it! It is free! And follow me: meredithbm :)Click here for the app's websiteIn His Name, MeredithIf 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  

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