Lost in a Good Book

It's amazing, I have a whole three weeks off from school and what do I want to with my time? Read! It seems silly considering that most of my time the last few months has been spent reading, but as much as I am awed and fascinated by the human body and everything I've been learning, you can only read textbooks so much! I've always been the type of person who loves to snuggle up with a good book and lose myself in it, so I'm reclaiming that, before textbooks gobble me up for another ten weeks.

I've finished "Letter and Spirit" a theological work by Scott Hahn that I started last summer on the interrelationship of liturgy and scripture. A very interesting book, but more studious than some of Hahn's other books ("A Father Who Keeps His Promises", "Hail, Holy Queen", "The Lamb's Supper"), so a little tougher and slower for me to get through, but I did. I'd recommend it if you have the time to set aside and dig into it.

I also just read a fiction novel "The Memory-Keeper's Daughter" by Kim Edwards, a fascinating book that explores the consequences that can result after one split second decision. I really enjoyed it.

If you're on vacation, take time to enjoy every minute! Do what you love, no matter what it is, and spend time with those you care about too :)

Christmas Greetings!!

I hope everyone is doing well today on Christmas Eve, as we await one of the holiest nights in Christianity, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, the true meaning of Christmas! In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season in our culture, it's so easy to lose sight of what this season is about, between frantic shopping and fighting traffic and eating way too many Christmas cookies (my personal struggle this holiday :) ) To help me remember how God has worked and continues to work in our world, I thought I'd share a story that happened to me just a few weeks ago...

Those of you who know me know that I'm always busy, running from one thing to the other and trying to keep my head on straight in the process. This year is no different, as I've gone back to a full-time graduate program and have stayed on with both the Life Teen youth ministry at my parish and our Guatemala committee from our trip this summer. As the quarter got deeper however, I started questioning what I was doing staying so involved with church activities while finals loomed, stress was creeping in! The weekend before finals week I had to drive to Bellingham on Saturday to practice with the choir for an old roommate's upcoming wedding, in which I'll be playing the flute. We learned some beautiful, though challenging music including a musical setting of St. Therese's Canticle of Love and an incredible Ave Maria by Franz Biebl. That Sunday I had to go to campus to study and our Life Night was one of our yearly favorites, making Christmas boxes to hand out to homeless teens in Seattle at a dinner we helped put on. Then finals week.

Well, Sunday, after spending 6 hours studying at school, I went to Mass. Just as the Liturgy of the Eucharist was starting I began to get majorly stressed... why in the world was I staying for the Life Night, I had so much to do! Our first communion song was "Enough" ("All of you is more than enough for all of me") Neon sign #1. The words of the chorus that I sang as I went forward to receive the Body and Blood of Christ reminded me of my priorities, as did the song we sang during our second collection "Strength for the Journey" Neon sign #2. My stress level dropped and the Life Night was great. But God knows I sometimes need a really big neon sign to get it... That night I was praying, mainly about how I felt that what I was doing with church and my friend's wedding were an important way of serving Him and trying to keep my faith life alive while I was in school. But I questioned if I was doing too much, if I should focus more on school. I always fall asleep to classical music and it was on quietly while I prayed, suddenly I was distracted by the music. Why? I thought I recognized the song but wasn't sure and tried to get back into the prayer, but I couldn't. I listened again, more closely, and it took me a second but I finally figured out what it was. The Ave Maria by Biebl that we're singing at the wedding, which I had never heard before that Saturday and have not heard on that station since. (Really big) neon sign #3. I knew in that moment that God was telling me that I was doing the right thing by keeping my faith up front and trying to serve others. And I passed all my finals :)

God speaks to us in big ways and small, differently to each person depending on what we need to hear from Him. This season, as we celebrate His choosing to walk among us and our brokenness, so that He could save us, take a second to listen. What does God want from us right now, today. And call on Him if you need Him because I know He's there waiting and loving us. Merry Christmas!!

Made it Through!!

Wow...without a doubt, this has been the most intense finals week of my life! But I'm here, I'm alive and back blogging :) Now, I'm planning to enjoy a fabulous three weeks off, celebrating Christmas with La Familila who will be making their way over homeward. Also among my top list of things to do this break is to read a book, any book, just as long as it has nothing to do with school!

It's the little things...

I thought I would post info about this really neat website that a friend told me about. As you all know, worldwide hunger is a very real issue, and while it might seem insurmountable for everyday people like you and me, there are small things we can do. Enter the website:

http://www.freerice.com

The concept is simple, go to the site and you play a game where you pick the correct definition for a word. If you get it right, you move on to another one, but here's the cool thing...for every word you get right, the site donates 20 grains of to the U.N. World Food Programme to be given to those in need. Now, while you're probably thinking, "Ok Jess, 20 grains isn't going to do much", about 200 million grains are currently being donated each day, with 4.2 billion so far, according to a recent article in the UW Daily...that's a whole lot of rice!

Here's a link to a Seattle Times article on the site, if you'd like more info...

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=freerice05&date=20071105&query=Freerice.com

Check it out...help those most in need and expand your vocabulary at the same time!

It Begins...

You know that nice week called "Dead Week" they have in undergrad...the one where they don't give tests and you have lots of study time for finals? Well that's a distant memory. I'm currently in Dead Week and have just had my first test out of three, and turned in the reflection questions I did for the book we read in seminar. Oh and I have two papers due this week too. And then next week is finals...5 of those, can't wait! So forgive me if I've seemed to retreat even farther under my rock then usual, I'm just looking toward three weeks of Holiday fun over Christmas break :)

But something else is beginning right now which merits mention...we are now in the first week of Advent. More than punch out calenders with treats inside, this is a special time in the church year to prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ at Christmas. I'm going to try to be consistent with praying with an Advent wreath this year, hopefully I'll stick with it despite the busyness!

Two Weeks and Counting

Until Finals Week that is. I'm finding myself in that place I am every quarter about this time, when I realize that an entire quarter has gone by and somehow I missed it, since it flashed by so quick. A couple of days ago I added back onto my ring of anatomy flash cards all the muscles I've learned so I could start reviewing for the final....it was amazing how thick that stack was! When I stop to think about how much information I've crammed into my head in the last 8 weeks it's mind-boggling. I've also learned though, what a difference it makes when you're learning information that you love and it 100% relevant to your future career - learning really takes on a whole new dimension at that point.

Oh and the brined turkey was beyond delicious, I've never had such moist turkey! If anyone is curious about the recipe, it's by Alton Brown (host of "Good Eats" and "Iron Chef America", here's a link...
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_8389,00.html

Happy Turkey Day!

Or Tofurkey for my non-omnivorous friends :) Either way I hope today you get a chance to celebrate with family, friends and of course, the most important, FOOD! My brothers aren't able to make it home for Thanksgiving, just my sister, so we'll be a smaller bunch, but we're still going all out with turkey, yams, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pie....good eating. We're also trying a brined turkey this year which is supposed to be delicious...I'll let you know the verdict!

Ultimately, today though is more than just about incredible amounts of food and some football games. Hopefully you'll all be able to take a second to reflect on those things that you are thankful for. Whether it be family and friends, good health, employement, only you know. Do though, be thankful for those things that are good and positive in your life! Happy Thanksgiving!