The Power of Prayer

Since Nathan started his job in September, we have not had the opportunity to attend mass together very often. Thankfully we are on break this week and have attended mass together both yesterday and today. Today was especially a huge blessing. Being Ash Wednesday, we decided to go to confession, mass, and adoration.

After confession, I could feel our souls being cleansed and immediately knew that we would be growing even closer to one another. After finishing our penances, we knelt and prayed in front of Mary. It was such a beautiful opportunity to spend time asking her for guidance and intercession in our relationship.

Adoration is always incredible, but especially so today. Being in the presence of our Lord is so powerful that my heart is always yearning to embrace Him. Although I had the same desire, I felt as though both my heart and Nathan's were focused so deeply on allowing Jesus into our hearts, that we were walking the path together. I really understood that loving the Lord in that way with someone else, is ultimately what love is all about.

Ash Wednesday

Father in heaven,
the light of your truth bestows sight
to the darkness of sinful eyes
May this season of repentance
bring us the blessing of your forgiveness
and the gift of your light. Amen.

A Lesson in Perseverance

Mom bought me ice skates for Christmas and since then I've only had the opportunity to use them twice, including yesterday. There are only a few times a week that public skating is offered around here, so we took advantage of it. Unfortunately, I really haven't skated in atleast 5 years. Mom held my hand and helped me get going, but I looked extremely scared and uncomfortable on my feet. Thankfully, Mom stayed next to me the entire time and helped me out in all of my near falling experiences. Although it was not looking as though I would be a pro skater anytime soon, I continued to try. I was determined to go around the rink on my own by the time the 2 hours were up. During the second hour, I successfully had myself on my feet with no problems. It was incredible! I was so excited to have reached my goal! As my ego grew, so did my skating abilities. During the last 30 seconds I decided I would prove my stuff and try to do some fancy foot work. At that moment, my ego crashed, I fell first on my knees, ended up on my stomach, and slid across the ice. With 24 seconds remaining, I fell for the first time all day. It was embarrassing, but I got right back up and realized that although we can persevere and accomplish our goals, we should never let our egos grow or else bumps will form in the ice.