At the turn of the year,
I will be toasting to the adventures to come.
Let’s fly.
New Year, Better Me
An (Advent)ure as A Child
Earlier this morning I was rummaging through my craft box for cards & envelopes, but got distracted when I found some of my previous journals; I forgot they were here with me! I chose to open up the last journal I finished and once I turned to the first page it read: “The AVENTure begins.” I knew I had to continue…
Around this time a year ago, the continuation of my discernment and my personal reflections on the beginning of Advent were journaled. Here I am again, in the process of discerning my vocation after this year of service is completed. It’s certainly not easy, even if this is my second time around seriously praying about my calling. Our life is full of constant discerning, and this morning I was greatly reminded of the attitude I must have when taking on the challenge to understand my calling from the Lord. Here is my first journal entry of last year’s Advent season (I seldom share journal entries on a public platform, so appreciate this opportunity because it may never happen again, haha.):
December 2, 2010
Yesterday was the first of, not just the month, but the year: the liturgical year! This marks the beginning of this new ADVENTure! I cannot seem to describe perfectly in words the love of God and the peace that has overtaken my heart in ways I have never experienced before. And with that, it excites me even more because of the season we are now in. Yes, it’s a season of giving and love, and family, but I also believe it is the time to reflect on the coming of our Savior and to pray for our hearts to be transformed into hearts of children. After all, Christmas was started by a Child…
One of the big realizations that the Lord revealed to me throughout my discernment was to envelop my heart with childlike charac-teristics… not childish – childlike. Though I may be growing older, I’m praying that I may be blessed with a heart of a child, to love, to see, to touch, and to have faith like a child would have in their parents, to see the simplicity of everything and everyone around me. To find great joy in the simplest of things. Innocence. Purity. Dependence on the Father, as Jesus was dependent on Mary and Joseph as a helpless baby. And of course, having nothing to worry about because of an unwavering trust in the Father. There is a lot we can learn from children, and from Jesus our Savior. So as I journey through this Advent season, I pray that the Lord will bless the eyes of my heart, to see and live life like a child.
“It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.”
- Charles Dickens
It’s nice to look back at my goals, struggles, and victories. In confidence I can say that if it weren’t for an attitude of childlike faith, I wouldn’t have taken that leap to do campus ministry. Night and day, I hope to remember how free it felt to be fully dependent on the Father. Warm memories of babysitting my nephew every day last year also come to mind. I am so grateful for these simple reminders and I pray that the continuation of this Adventure may be filled richly with blessings, and that it may move me further along in my journey to Him.
With hope,
Fatima
Week Fifteen
My job is such a tremendous blessing. I love the students. I love serving them. They teach me something new every day and constantly remind me, without saying a word, to be a better person than I was the day before.
Last night’s choir practice was so perfect, in the sense of working together. It was a rather big deal to me, especially after the little struggles we had to overcome these past few months! God is so good. You all know – I’m not that experienced when it comes to leading music, but by God’s grace, He gave me the capacity to minister to these students musically, and most importantly, spiritually, and to remind them how the two are entwined. They are so gifted! After practices, I also try to remind them of how blessed I am because of them. I help them, they help me, we help each other…and we get to sing and play music together for the sole purpose of worshipping God each Sunday for Mass. What a crazy journey this has been and a truly humbling experience at that.
This evening’s Advent Twilight Retreat (don’t worry – it had nothing to do with the saga) was the perfect ending to this week. The CCM House was packed to the max and our offices weren’t big enough for our small groups (oh the irony), but they went so well and I was so glad to listen to and learn from new people. The talks were spot-on and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament ended the night perfectly. AND afterwards, several students came up to me, asking if we could have Adoration on campus more often! (The first student that told me said that it was his first Adoration experience, too.) PRAISE GOD. I’m so amazed. I’m tellin’ ya, these men and women are amazing. Is this really my job?!
With that said, please keep these students in your prayers; that their desire to seek the Lord may only grow. Great things may have already happened here at ODU, but there’s much more to be done.
As for me outside of my CCM life, in a nutshell, I’ve been really pushing myself to do more - mentally, physically, and spiritually. Read more, write more, cook more, explore the area more, walk/jog more, pray more, and love more. The more the merrier. :)
In Christ’s joy,
Fatima
