Once, there was a young girl who loved the Lord very much. She didn't know Him very well yet, but she loved what she knew, and she experienced His beauty in her purity and innocence.
When she was 4, she longed to be able to receive the Eucharist as her mother did at daily Mass. She thought that 2nd grade would never come; it seemed so far away.
But come it did: the happiest day of her young life. It was around this time that the girl began to think about a special union with the Lord. She loved to be with Him so much! She prayed about becoming a nun; maybe that was what He wanted her to do. Saint Therese, her special patron, had entered the convent at a very young age; perhaps she could do the same. Therese was 15... 15 seemed so, so far away! Again, how ever could she wait?
In 5th grade, though, her focus changed a bit when a very special boy transferred into her class. She loved everything about him, and she thought of nothing else for several years. 15 came and went without giving the convent so much as a thought.
High school was not much different. She bounced her affections from one boy to another, never receiving any in return. One boy would become her whole world until another came along that seemed better to her. She was always searching but never finding.
Then there was that one guy... He was so attentive, so kind. Desperate to be loved after years of deprivation, she gave in. She let him have her.
The wounds inflicted upon the girl's heart during the few months they were together would take years and years to heal.
"Lord," she said through her suffering, "I need to be loved the right way. I will never heal until someone really loves me fully. This wrong must be set right in my heart. Send me someone to love me as You meant me to be loved."
And the Lord stood up in all of his splendor and gentleness and said, "Well... here I AM."
And the girl fell in love.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Jet Lag
The past few weeks have been so crazy for me. School seems like a different world, it was so long ago. Here is just a little taste of the chaos that has been my life recently:
Thursday, April 23: last final. done with statistics forever and ever! hallelujah!!
Friday, April 24: move out of my dorm
Saturday, April 25: start packing for trip to China while frantically trying to get interviews for my final journalism story
Sunday, April 26: continue packing for China while frantically conducting interviews and writing my final journalism story. turn in the story tonight. (final word count: 1278)
Monday, April 27: finish packing for China, drive to New York with dad.
Tuesday, April 28: fly out of JFK airport at 10am NY time. 16 hour flight to Hong Kong
Wednesday, April 29: arrive in Hong Kong 1:00pm their time, 1am NY time. the sun didn't set on us. immediately board another flight to Beijing.
Thursday, April 30 - Sunday, May 10: whirl of touristy activities and concerts in various locations about China
Monday, May 11: last day in China. spend day on beaches of Hong Kong. get sunburned.
Tuesday, May 12: 16-hour flight home to JFK. with sunburn. ouch. worth it. flight leaves 10am Hong Kong time and lands 1pm NY time. drive home with dad. arrive home to jubilantly happy family, distribute souvenirs. pull an all-nighter due to jet lag.
Wednesday, May 13: make breakfast for the fam around 5am. crash around noon. mom wakes me at 6pm, which feels like 6am due to jet lag. grumpy evening. fall back asleep around midnight.
Thursday, May 14: make breakfast again. feeling slightly more awake. spend the day watching my bird, Jack, since he won't let me pick him up anymore. being at college without him sucks. do some research. decide he needs a companion bird. discuss with mother. agreement. run some errands for her. forget how to navigate Bethel Park. just happen to end up at Pet Supplies Plus. buy a bird. come home and hurriedly put her cage together in my room. (requires scrubbing and assembly). Jack knows something is up.
Profile: New Bird
Name: Elliot
Color: bright yellow
Species: Parakeet
Gender: ...unknown... we've all just sort of been calling it a "she" to distinguish from "he," which is Jack
Age: less than 1 year, probably about 3 or 4 months
poor little thing is so scared to spend her first night alone in her new home that she flutters wildly around her cage, keeping me up and bloodying both of her little wings. have to catch her and put cornstarch on them to stop the bleeding.
Friday, May 15: make breakfast again. fam is getting spoiled. am told repeatedly that they hope my jetlag never wears off. Elliot a little better today, sitting on her ladder instead of clinging to the walls of the cage or the floor. Later moves to top perch next to millet spray from where she has yet to move. While reading aloud to her to help her get used to my voice, I fall asleep. in and out of consciousness for the rest of the day, laying on my bed. Elliot watches from across the room, thinking, "boy, no need to worry about this one. she's a total slug."
Saturday, May 16: sleep in until 10 or so. fam makes their own breakfast with leftover pancake batter. convince Jack to sit on my shoulder while I make flower pot covers for the church luncheon tomorrow. he flies away after about half an hour. progress? ya, a little, I guess.
And now I am writing this blog due to my lack of patience with the flower pot covers. And now it's thunderstorming. This day just got a whole lot better... but I should probably get off the computer...
Thursday, April 23: last final. done with statistics forever and ever! hallelujah!!
Friday, April 24: move out of my dorm
Saturday, April 25: start packing for trip to China while frantically trying to get interviews for my final journalism story
Sunday, April 26: continue packing for China while frantically conducting interviews and writing my final journalism story. turn in the story tonight. (final word count: 1278)
Monday, April 27: finish packing for China, drive to New York with dad.
Tuesday, April 28: fly out of JFK airport at 10am NY time. 16 hour flight to Hong Kong
Wednesday, April 29: arrive in Hong Kong 1:00pm their time, 1am NY time. the sun didn't set on us. immediately board another flight to Beijing.
Thursday, April 30 - Sunday, May 10: whirl of touristy activities and concerts in various locations about China
Monday, May 11: last day in China. spend day on beaches of Hong Kong. get sunburned.
Tuesday, May 12: 16-hour flight home to JFK. with sunburn. ouch. worth it. flight leaves 10am Hong Kong time and lands 1pm NY time. drive home with dad. arrive home to jubilantly happy family, distribute souvenirs. pull an all-nighter due to jet lag.
Wednesday, May 13: make breakfast for the fam around 5am. crash around noon. mom wakes me at 6pm, which feels like 6am due to jet lag. grumpy evening. fall back asleep around midnight.
Thursday, May 14: make breakfast again. feeling slightly more awake. spend the day watching my bird, Jack, since he won't let me pick him up anymore. being at college without him sucks. do some research. decide he needs a companion bird. discuss with mother. agreement. run some errands for her. forget how to navigate Bethel Park. just happen to end up at Pet Supplies Plus. buy a bird. come home and hurriedly put her cage together in my room. (requires scrubbing and assembly). Jack knows something is up.
Profile: New Bird
Name: Elliot
Color: bright yellow
Species: Parakeet
Gender: ...unknown... we've all just sort of been calling it a "she" to distinguish from "he," which is Jack
Age: less than 1 year, probably about 3 or 4 months
poor little thing is so scared to spend her first night alone in her new home that she flutters wildly around her cage, keeping me up and bloodying both of her little wings. have to catch her and put cornstarch on them to stop the bleeding.
Friday, May 15: make breakfast again. fam is getting spoiled. am told repeatedly that they hope my jetlag never wears off. Elliot a little better today, sitting on her ladder instead of clinging to the walls of the cage or the floor. Later moves to top perch next to millet spray from where she has yet to move. While reading aloud to her to help her get used to my voice, I fall asleep. in and out of consciousness for the rest of the day, laying on my bed. Elliot watches from across the room, thinking, "boy, no need to worry about this one. she's a total slug."
Saturday, May 16: sleep in until 10 or so. fam makes their own breakfast with leftover pancake batter. convince Jack to sit on my shoulder while I make flower pot covers for the church luncheon tomorrow. he flies away after about half an hour. progress? ya, a little, I guess.
And now I am writing this blog due to my lack of patience with the flower pot covers. And now it's thunderstorming. This day just got a whole lot better... but I should probably get off the computer...
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