With a Grateful Heart

Thanksgiving Day is a day that most see as a day of family and food.  But, as my pastor reminded us at Mass this morning, it's primarily a day to thank God for what He does in our lives.  That's so important for me to remember, and I definitely don't do it enough.

My "Thankful" List

My Faith- a God who loves me, a Savior who died to save me, and the Spirit who gives me so much grace and inspiration

My Family- Mom, Dad, Aunt Patti, Christine, David, Teresa, Jake, Sarah, Matthew, Joseph, Tobias, Rebekah, Catherine, MaryGrace, Celia, Jacob, Jonah, Rosie, Baby G*: You guys are awesome, I love you, and I thank God for you every day!  Thanks for keeping me “in the loop” while I’m constantly away from home :P

My “Second Family”- John, Josh, Zechariah, Peter, Mario, Stephanie, Grace, Kirstin, and Amanda: Thank you all for the beautiful friendship that we all have.  We’ve all been blessed beyond imagination and God certainly knew what He was doing putting us all together this summer!  I say this with all the sincerity in my heart- you are family, and I love you.

My Friends- Hannah, Robyn, Hannah, Leslie, Abby, Leslie, Gracie, Evelyn, Stasia, Grace and everyone else who has made me who I am over the years: I’m so grateful that you’re in my life.  I’m sorry that I haven’t kept in touch with all of you like I should have, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten you.  Thank you for your friendship.

What else I’m thankful for: (in no particular order)

Confession

Spiritual Direction

love

the opportunity to go to a Catholic school **

Once Upon a Time

Waking Rose

Principles of Biblical Studies class

Skype and Google chat

laughter at 2 am

photoshop

quotes

Montana

The Milky Way

the founders of Crossroads and all current directors

Andrew and his beautiful witness

tea & scones

conversation with friends who expand my worldview

* surprise!  Come June, I will have a new little niece or nephew!!  Needless to say, I’m fairly excited (read: I’m freaking bouncing off the walls!)

** despite the fact that sometimes it drives me nuts… ;)

What are you grateful for this Thanksgiving Day?  Maybe tonight, before you fall asleep, you can say a quick prayer thanking God for something that you usually take for granted.

xoxo,

Striking a Balance

Today was a beautiful day.

It all started with the walk to Mass in 70-degree weather.  Say-WHAT?!  It's Ohio, in November, and we get 70 degrees?  I'll take it any day!
Mass was great, as per usual, and I was able to EM.
Following Mass, I had lunch with Stephanie, which was really nice since we hadn't really caught up since fall break 2 weeks ago.
And THEN we ran back to my room and google-chatted with our Crossroads Family!!!!  Everyone except Mario and Zechariah was able to come, at least for a little bit, and it was so awesome to be able to talk to everyone.  We all gave our little update as to what was going on in our lives, and we laughed a whole lot.  Fun times :D
As if that wasn't enough, I then spoke with my friend from when I was in kindergarten, who I haven't actually talked to in about 3 months.  Whoops!  I've known her and her sister for 14 years!  I'm so blessed to know them, and the great thing is that no matter how long its been since we've talked, we pick right up where we left off.

Now, though, the fun is over.  I have quite a few books of the Bible to journal through before 1 pm tomorrow.  Wait, scratch that.  The fun can't be over when Grace is coming to journal with me!!

xoxo,

Missin' You

Today was one of those days that I realized how much I missed my Crossroads team.

I guess it started yesterday.  In a matter of 24 hours, I received a letter from one, had lunch with a second, skyped a third, had a text conversation with a fourth, and facebook-messaged a fifth.

I miss seeing Stephanie's beautiful acts of service.
Kirstin's joy and laughter.
The way Grace made us all smile.
Mario's deep insights.
John's quiet leadership.
Josh's strong example.
Peter's philosophical musings.
(*)

Yes, I can honestly say that I think of these people (and all the others who walked with us) like family.  I learned so much from each and every one of them.  I learned faith, respect, and genuine love.  I learned how to set boundaries, how to respect others' boundaries, and how to open up my preconceived notions of "the perfect boundary".  They helped me change some of my views, while other views were made stronger. (**) I learned how to share a space the size of a postage stamp with 12 people at the same time.  This group helped me through some extremely difficult moments, and they were all there rejoicing with me at other times.  They let me into their lives, and I have gladly let them into mine as well.

Not all groups of people would gel as well as we did.  Not all past Crossroads teams had the amazing experience that we did.  I'm guessing that if many other groups were faced with our "hell week", they might have packed up and gone home right then.  But because we supported each other, suffered with each other, and lifted each other up in prayer, we made it through that week, and we all grew and became stronger because of it.

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You guys have become my second family.  I thank God every day that He brought you into my life.  I'm sorry that I don't get to talk to some of you as often as I'd like, but that doesn't mean that I've forgotten about you.  This summer was by far the best summer I've ever had, and I hope many more Northern Crossroads teams after us have the wonderful times and crazy adventures that we did.

I love you, Grace, Kirstin, Stephanie, Amanda, Claire, John, Peter, Zechariah, Father Dave, Mario, Josh, Dan, and Alex.  Thank you all for being... you.
xoxo,


*and yes, even though they weren't with us the entire time, I miss Zechariah, Amanda, Daniel, Alexander, Father Dave, and Claire as well... I didn't forget you!!
**I first wrote "solidified", but that gave me an awkward feeling.... WHY JOSH WHY?!?