Too much Fog....

I just went to USCCB to read the Mass readings for today and they are really awesome... READ THEM HERE! The second reading is what I focused in on though. All I can think about is "God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called."
I went to Tampa last night to hang out with some friends and ended up about 45 minutes away from Leo and didn't leave there until close to 3am, which isn't that bad except there was so much fog and it was so thick that I couldn't see more than a few feet in front of me the whole way home even with my brights on. As I was driving I decided that I wasn't going to be able to drive on the highway any longer and thought it would be better if there were street lights so I decided to go home instead of back to Leo which would take about 10 minutes off my drive too.
Next thing from last night:
Last night I learned some things that really got me thinking...I learned that my life could have been completely different if I would have not done something that I am a part of now and waited for another opportunity that was coming, and that opportunity is exactly where I wanted to be. It got me a little bummed because I thought I settled for something less, but in actuality, what I am a part of now is exactly where I am supposed to be.

I was thinking about everything from last night and I realized that this is like our faith journey sometimes..Our path gets fogged up by what could have been or should have been or what WE want, so God throws something in front of us so we have to go home to Him to find out what is real and where HE wants us.
I love where I am now and I wouldn't be the person I am without everything that has happened in the last year especially. It's so great to see where God wants me to be and go down that path even though it is easier to go down our own paths sometimes. He doesn't call you for what you are qualified for, he qualifies you for what He wants you to do. A year away from home...I know He will give me what I need to get through the year away :)

Challenge: Bring God into all of your decisions and see what He wants you to do.

Love,
Erica Jean

Thanking God for 4 new brothers and 16 new sisters!

"Into marvelous light I'm running,
Out of darkness, out of shame.
By the cross you are the truth,
You are the life, you are the way"

This weekend I had the opportunity to go on a retreat to grow closer to God and also learn about a fantastic program called NET Ministries which stands for National Evangelization Teams. This weekend is something that I can't even explain really because it was just so EPIC. If I had to describe it though, I've decided that "Spirit-filled" would be the best way to sum it up. Everywhere we went and in every session, especially prayer time, the Holy Spirit was definitely there and it didn't go unnoticed. Also the people, not just the staff, but the young men and women on retreat were so filled with the Spirit too. I can't say that I have been able to be on a retreat where I've noticed the Holy Spirit's presence as much as I have on this retreat. The young men and women on retreat were just beautiful and holy people and it showed in everything they did. They were glowing. There were 4 men and 13 women and they are my brothers and sisters. The men on retreat were so different from each other but each of them were glowing with this awesome love they had inside of them and it was really great and inspiring to see such Holy men. The women were no different-they were so accepting and open to the Lord which makes them so beautiful. (I am praying for each and everyone of you!)

After the retreat was over, some of us spent the night so we didn't have to travel at night and the fellowship was AMAZING that night (Saturday Night). We played games, the human knot being one of them, while the men were still upstairs and we did a Jesus Chain (I am pretty sure that is what it was called and Santiago will correct me if I am wrong) and just hung out. After we went to our respective area of women and men dorms, the women just sat and talked and shared in one of the rooms for awhile then some of us went to the chapel and had 1am Praise and Worship time which was BEAUTIFUL! There was dancing, shouting, clapping, singing off key, and just so much joy coming from myself and other beautiful women.

This morning(Sunday), some of us woke up around 6:15 to go downstairs before Adam (one of the men on retreat) left to go home because we wanted to sing Happy Birthday since it was his birthday today. I thought it was great. The things that we did this weekend made it feel as though all 17 of us have been friends for years but really we didn't even know each other for more than 36 hours probably. There were so many jokes, so much laughter, and amazing LOVE present among us this weekend as we were filled with knowledge, more love and the Holy Spirit.

One of the parts that I enjoyed a lot, which is actually every part of the retreat, but this was cool on a different level, was when we got to opportunity to share our 3 minute personal testimonies with the group. We were barely given an hour to write it before we were supposed to be sharing. I liked the rush though..I enjoy challenge. I found my main topic to talk about while I was praying during a few minutes we had before sharing time and I didn't write anything down because when I did try to write something down I found it wasn't where God was leading me to go with it. In the end, I prayed that the Holy Spirit would just speak through me and I would say exactly what needed to be said.

This weekend was filled with challenges and taking steps closer to God. The main place that we were challenged to go further was in Praise and Worship. We learned about expressive prayer, which I think is awesome and we kept getting told to go further and open ourselves up to the Lord. All weekend I felt so comfortable and at home during Praise and Worship. I enjoy being able to clap and raise my hands while singing and praising and that's what they challenged us to do, open up to the Lord.

On retreat it was so easy to open ourselves up because I had so much time for personal prayer and we had what would be called team prayer because we were all praying together. They taught us how to P.R.A.Y using this acronym. P=Praise.

Something BIGGER

"Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life, something heavenly"
<3 Sanctus Real

     I was talking with my friend Mary on Facebook chat earlier today and in the middle of our conversation she sent me the beginning of the lyrics at the beginning of this post and it got me listening to the song. I forget about songs sometimes because I start to listen to just one band or something sometimes, but this song, after she said the lyrics and I thought about it, the song popped right back into my head and I was singing it. Anyway, I put it on a little bit ago after reading the Gospel for tomorrow...I read the Gospel and was thinking about it and listening to what God wanted me to take from it, and it brought me back to that song surprisingly.

The part of scripture that really was stuck in my mind was this part:

"Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples
to set before the people;
he also divided the two fish among them all.
They all ate and were satisfied.
And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments
and what was left of the fish.
Those who ate of the loaves were five thousand men."
-Mark 6: 41-44

How something so small can feed so many people is amazing, but it reminded me of the Eucharist then first. Every week, every day, when we gather for Mass, the same thing is done with the Eucharist. AMAZING! After that I was thinking about how after we receive the Eucharist, we go out into the world and serve others. We are just one person. One person in this big world. What can we do as one person? I got thinking about that... As one person. As a child of God. As His, I can do so much. I just have to take that step and then keep stepping. It's amazing how much one person can do if they keep giving.

TobyMac's Facebook page earlier this week had a post on it that really caught my eye..