THAT Kind of Princess

I realized a couple days ago that I want to be a princess still. Kinda like when I was a little girl.  I want to be a princess as much as I want to be a saint.  But before you roll your eyes, hear me out.

I don’t want to be the girl that everyone thinks is just so beautiful.  I don’t want to have the glamorous gowns and sparkling jewelry.  I don’t want to be waited on, hand and foot.  But I do want the prince, and the epic, heroic moment.

I have always pictured this epic moment as one of those scenes where the prince is valiantly fighting for his princess, because he knows he has someone worth fighting for.  But in a sudden turn of events, the enemy has the upper hand.  Things don’t look so good for the prince.  Now the princess gets her heroic moment where she runs in to save him, and she turns everything around.  Because of her courageous action, the prince is able to get up and finish the fight.  They’ll have won the battle together, because they did it for the good of the other.

A friend of mine recently told me I remind her of Belle, from Beauty and the Beast.  I thought it was an awesome compliment, to be compared to a Disney princess.  So I compared my story to hers too.

Belle is an only child to a single father.  He ends up being a prisoner in the Beast’s castle, but with a self-sacrificing act to save her father, Belle takes his place instead.  She doesn’t know it, but the Beast has to get her to fall in love with him, or he will keep the appearance of a beast forever.  Slowly, as he pursues her, Belle and the Beast fall in love.

But then the Beast also makes a self-sacrificing act in order to set her free.  His sacrifice allows her to really live, not live as a prisoner.  She goes on her way.  She can either choose to come back to him, or carry on as though he meant nothing to her.  But then, as he’s under attack, it becomes a matter of life or death.  She remembers their love for each other, and comes running back to him when the battle is raging on.

And so Belle just stands there, watching him get attacked, and she won’t run in there and help defend him.  She doesn’t even tell her family how important he is to her—she’s just too embarrassed.  She won’t stand behind her prince.  She’d rather pretend this isn’t happening.  She lets everyone else fight to save him, but she, herself, does nothing.

Just kidding.

She obviously doesn’t just stand by and do nothing.  But what a disappointing ending that would have been!  People would think she was a terrible princess.  Would she really be a princess at all?  But I realized that this is how my “princess story” tends to look.

I’m just the girl who stands by and watches as the Prince is under attack, too afraid to say anything.  Everything He stands for is being persecuted, but I so easily feel embarrassed of Him.  I’m not a princess.  I’m not that courageous.

But I want to be.  Because I know He’s worth it.  He’s worth those moments where I charge in there to defend Him and say that I’m with Him until the end.  He’s worth those moments where I’m not afraid to say that I am Catholic, and say that I love God.  I want to be able to share my faith with my family, rather than feel embarrassed by it.  I want to be like Belle, who runs into the chaos to be beside her prince, in full knowledge of the battle that rages on around them.  I have always wanted that “epic, heroic moment” like I’ve pictured in my mind—but this IS that moment, but I haven’t been playing my part.

That’s why I say I still want to be a princess.  I don’t desire to fit the glamorous stereotype little girls think of.  To me, the word “princess” has a completely different definition.  She is the daughter of the King.  She is courageous.  She is not ashamed.  She stands for what is right, and stands behind her Prince through the battle.

I want to be THAT kind of princess.

That’s why I’m writing this post.  I kind of contemplated writing it for a while, but figured I would die of embarrassment if this kind of stuff were to get out.  So here’s an attempt at being courageous.  If I am supposed to be the daughter of the King, isn’t it about time I started acting like it?

 

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”

- The Princess Diaries

 

Andrea

Back to basics: Going Natural

Over the years I have been to alot of talks about the dignity of woman, the natural aspects of love, God’s design in making men and women. One of my favorites was a talk talk given by Dr. Janet Smith, a woman of great intellect and common sense! Ever since then I have often wondered:

What are women thinking?……Why do we so easily buy into the lie of our sexual society?…We are told that “Pregnancy is a beautiful thing but so is a woman’s “Choice”……Why do we, as living, nurturing women get sick at the thought of killing seals, whales, puppy dogs and yet can treat the question of “Choice” as though “choice” was concrete – that the life within us was abstract – that the word “choice” makes abortion “alright”?

Abortion kills BABIES! Why is it, when a woman is pregnant and wants to be, she tells everyone about her baby……but when a woman is pregnant and doesn’t want to be she only has a “fetus”? Desire doesn’t change TRUTH!

WAKE UP WOMEN!

I watched the video below. My sister, who has 6 beautiful kids sent it to me. Make time for this video! Educate yourself! Women: Get your body back!

Contraception is the number one advertisement for free intercourse. PERIOD. If you want to continue to be used, keep taking it. A true test of love is responsibility. If you stopped taking the contraceptive would your man still love you?

Your fertility isn’t a problem that you need to “pop a pill for”. And for all you mothers out there with lots of kids I APPLAUD YOU! THANK YOU FOR YOUR GIFT OF LIFE!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNSELFISH GIFT OF YOUR LIFE!

 

 

Blessed is the Woman

“Blessed is the woman who has a smile in her voice,

 a sparkle in her eyes, a song on her lips;

a spring in her step, a warmth in her touch,

a depth in her beauty, a purpose for her life,

a joy in her faith, a hope in her breast and a love in her heart.”

 

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. Proverbs 31:26

Take time to pray!

You are loved!

Psalm 139:14

 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

 

Conversion of a Soul part 5 of 5

      I didn’t know it yet, but my future husband was in my class. He was watching over me so to speak. I had no idea that he felt called by God to watch over me. Why, he did not know, but that is what he did. We built our relationship through God and got to know each other by participating fully in the school program. We never went out on dates until he graduated. Then those dates were with others. When it came time for graduation I chose to stay an extra year to write my thesis and Matthew went on to graduate that year. He was going back home to Minnesota.

    My thesis had a summer project and that was learning to train horses. Matthew helped me find a place in Minnesota to work with horses on Horse Shoe Ranch. The owner had agreed that if I worked on her ranch she would give me lessons on training horses and also a place to sleep for the summer. I could not resist the opportunity to live an half hour from Matthew, the chance for someone to teach about horses and to work with the horses. So I traveled out to Minnesota to train horses and to get to know my boyfriend a little better.

     That summer Matthew also had a horse he wanted to train. Her name was Antigone.   Matthew and I would work with Antigone every day at a set time. If we were late it was like starting in her training all over again. We learned that being consistent was important for her. One day Matthew was lunging Antigone in a circle and using his whip to guide her. I was sitting on the tailgate of an old pick truck with my horse training book. I told Matthew,

    “You are lunging her wrong because it says in the book that…” and before I could finish speaking he turned and held the whip right below my nose and asked me,

    “Would you like to come out and try it?” I of course said no being a little bit intimidated by Antigone for she was high spirited and mean. These kind of experiences helped our relationship grow. We began to learn to let go of our own opinions. In this way we learned how to work together as a team. We used our strengths instead of our weaknesses. In this case my strength was book knowledge and Matthew’s was experience.

     The summer went by quickly. I went and moved back to New Hampshire to finish school. Matthew went to live in Virginia. He visited and called me quite often but we both did our best to focus on our work and studies. Soon the year was over and graduation day had come. What I didn’t know was that there were a couple of surprises for me. The whole time I was getting pictures taken with my class and family Matthew was getting advice from an old friend on whether or not he should ask me to marry him on that day. There was a lot going on. I was moving down to Virginia to be closer to Matthew, it was also my birthday and I was graduating.

      When the festivities had died down we left the campus to go to my little house I was renting in Sutton NH. After a long wonderful morning, my parents took a rest and I asked Matthew if he would like to go on a walk with me. The walk was wonderful but he would periodically ask me if I loved him. I would of course with great fervor say,

    “Yes, I love you.” I started wondering what he was up to, when he asked me that question for a third time. Matthew asked if we could stop for a while so I said ok. We sat down and that is when he asked me if I would be his best friend for life. I was surprised and thought for a moment before I gave him my yes. That moment I will remember forever.

      God had truly sent me a friend to help me through this world. Matthew is still my best friend and he is a wonderful father and husband as well. We have our ups and downs but we know where we are headed and that is eternal life with God.

        I know from out of everything I have gone through in this life I know that my Father i.e. God never abandoned me and I know that He loves me. I see this daily in my husband and in my four little girls. Through my trials and through my joys in life I can honestly look back and say God was there holding my hand all the way. For I know with the kind of life I was leading I should have been dead five times over but yet here I am and only God knows why I am still here.

       I know God and what He gives is the only thing worth living for in this life and in the next. I tried what the world had to offer and it is not worth it. God picked me up broken and bruised and dressed my wounds and healed them. He has done His part now it is my turn to do my part with the help of His graces. For life is a beautiful adventure with God to walk hand in hand with you.

Hospitality: What are YOU doing?

Hospitality, Generosity and Acts of Kindness

Hospitality:  friendly behavior towards visitors, guests or strangers, intended to make them feel welcome

Generosity:  willingness to give

This past week on my travels throughout New Zealand I was fortunate to have experienced both. Generosity was given by my new Kiwi friends (kiwi is what New Zealanders call themselves), who insisted on driving me to the hospital and waiting there with me even though it took hours out of their day.  I had a wound infection and need IV antibiotics for three days. Hospitality was given by two Kiwi families who took me into their homes and said our home is your home. I was traveling through the North Island and it was a great relief not having to worry about accommodation. Kindness like this is inspiring! I was grateful for these instances of people place the needs of others before their own.  Also it made me reflect and think of how often I do it.

In addition to this I met an American couple living in New Zealand.  This couple was very impressed by the welcoming and friendliness of Kiwis. They said people just aren’t like this in America anymore, we’ve lost this kind of thoughtfulness. Unfortunately for them they weren’t from friendly North Dakota, but even I have noticed that New Zealand is on another level.  It is still acceptable to hitch-hike here, if someone can’t help you they find you someone who can and going the extra step for another person, even a foreigner, is no big deal.

After talking to this couple I began to wonder how generous, hospitable and thoughtful I have been to friends, acquaintances or strangers. I do often find myself asking God how should I love others.  And I do often catch myself so consumed with myself that I don’t even think about the needs of others.  Hospitality, generosity and just everyday acts of kindness –giving a complement, writing a thank you note, inviting a friend over for dinner, initiating a conversation with a stranger, baking cookies for your neighbors, helping someone with homework- are all the answers God is giving me.

 

~Emily

 

Let us be Chivalrous: From a Man’s Perspective

Chivalry

       It is a word that has been used for centuries by many men of many times, however; no matter how different his surroundings, or his way of life, the true gentleman has a deep connection with men who lived five hundred years ago. This connection is that of holding themselves to a higher standard, in particular, respecting and protecting women, not to put on a show, but out of love for all women through Jesus Christ.

This indeed is not an easy task, it takes great love, determination, and patience to make a gentleman. He has not only to open doors for ladies, or offer his chair to a lady when there are none left, but also to respect all women, ladies or not, in public, and when he is completely alone. Chivalry is what all men should and must strive for, however,

without the example and encouragement of ladies, it is nearly impossible to attain successfully.

              This is where you ladies come into play, it is because of you that we strive for chivalry, we see you holding yourselves to a higher standard and living out your life as a lady and it inspires us to hold ourselves to a higher standard as well, and to live out a life of chivalry and gentility. I do not think you realize just how greatly you can effect us guys. If a man is even simply open to becoming a gentleman,  it is easy for a lady to make him one simply by being a lady. Things like letting him open the door for you, or giving up his chair for you, or walking on the street side of the sidewalk, and thanking him for these acts of kindness occasionally, letting him know that he is doing the right thing.

As a young man, I know that this is true by my own personal experience, not many compliments can compare with one coming from a girl saying how she appreciates me treating her like a lady, it really makes me feel good.

It is this very feeling that makes me all the more ready and willing to continue and excel in a life of chivalry. These small acts that you allow me, and all men striving for gentility, are the very foundations of a chivalrous life, the small acts build into greater ones, and eventually, you have a man who is self-motivated in serving and protecting women of all ages, one who begins to strive harder for gentility through his daily actions and even thought process, and all this because you allowed us to help you!

              Now I know that society today thinks that real men are rough, tough, chew, drink, and swear. That is simply not true, real men are gentlemen, it takes far greater strength to be a gentleman and perform acts of service as a natural, daily occurrence than it is to be an undisciplined, rough, tough, guy. One only needs to look at the greatest example of true manhood, Jesus. He was kind and gentle to all women, even to those who were social outcasts and immoral, however, He endured the most horrific and humiliating death completely out of love for us. He was definitely no wimp, but He was the perfect picture of chivalry. One can also look at a slightly more modern example. The Knights of the middle ages were the most deadly warriors of their time, but their entire lives were devoted to protecting women, children, and the elderly. So do not be afraid to be ladies, you’re role is greatly honorable,and it will make men chivalrous, and you will be the ones effected by them.

    So if you want to be treated  like a lady, you must act like a lady in order to make us gentlemen. Lastly remember, you are a woman, and you are the most precious creature there is in our eyes, you are indeed God’s most beautiful and wondrous creation and He placed us men here on earth to honor and protect you, that is our calling as males, and our privilege as men.

Mark

Conversion of a Soul Part 2

Then God decided it was time for me to come back to the real world by force……

          My mother called up the toughest private foster care provider in Oregon that dealt with delinquents. I was not in the system so she had to pay for me to go. I was picked up by the foster mother put in her car and taken by force to live out my senior year of high school under her care. She did help me to get back on track with school and I did graduate with my class. I made up a year and a half and completed my senior classes too. This was all accomplished through God’s saving grace. I just didn’t know He was with me.

My soul was still very dark.

                My foster mother Betsy was very good at teaching me how to use others to get what you need. “You yourself is what is important in this life and nobody else.” With my soul still in the same state and my mind unchanged it did not take to long for me to travel back to my old ways except one thing happened that was different. I visited a Catholic College called Magdalen. Everybody was so kind it almost felt like Utopia on earth.

                I chose to go that coming fall. Everything seemed to be going well but I ran into one of my old friends and that’s all it took for me to go back to drugs, parties and men. My good mother warned me not to be friends with them but I didn’t listen.

                I lived that way for a year. I met a bouncer from the bar in town and I enjoyed his company. I moved in with his cousin. I don’t know how it got this far but one day I overheard them plotting my death. Now I saw for the first time were my way of living had got me. They told me they were going away for the weekend and would be back on Monday.

                The next day all alone in my room I felt scared and alone.

               Nobody was in the house but me. I think for the first time I prayed but I didn’t address God directly I just called out for help. I was answered with a voice coming from nowhere saying, “Go home to your family.” In that moment I said, “Yes” for the first time. I called my mother and asked her if I could come home. She told me yes as long as I could obey her rules and I quickly agreed.

                My family was on vacation at the time so there was nobody to help me move back home that weekend. So again I called for help and was told in my heart to call this young man who I knew was a good person. He gladly said yes but he needed to ask his mother. She agreed and they came that same day. When all was packed his mother scolded me rightly and said I needed to choose better who I lived with. Those words stayed with me for a long time.

                Things went well at home but I didn’t start going back to Mass yet. I started a job and went to college for a year. During that year my relationships with men were still just physical. Until I saw how it was destroying me. I really think it must have been the grace of God to help me see through my blindness.

                In my life I never did things half way so when I made a decision to turn my back on this life style I had to sever everything that I knew including every person I knew. I gave up this life for a better one.

So you have failed? You- be convinced of it - cannot fail. You have gained experience. On you go!

The Conversion of a Soul – Part 1

“Our hearts are restless until they rest in you O Lord.” St Augustine.

               My male influences in life I quickly learned you are not worth much unless you are pleasing in some way. As I grew I felt a deep sorrow growing in my heart like a cancer but did not understand what that sorrow was until I reached college. The strongest female influence was my mother. She taught me ways of kindness and understanding all rooted in the fact that there is a God and He is good and loving. But this seed that my mother planted in the garden of my heart started to be overrun with the weeds of my peers and what the culture taught.

                My peers told me that I need to be everything else except myself for being yourself is not cool. Peer pressure told me that I must pick a group or click to become a part of. “Your click is who you are. Your family is nothing.  Your group or click is your new family now.” This was deeply pressed upon me and I was willing to sacrifice anything to become part of the group. By this time the seed of faith in me had gone to sleep to be awakened later in my life. Now I was a well-trained imitator of others. I had discovered that the only real thing in this life is pleasures; I thought that was real happiness.

My mind was convinced but my heart never was.

                In high school I tried very hard to have boyfriends but I could never achieve that goal. Discouraged I noticed that even the girls that I thought were not that great looking had boyfriends. I kept wondering what was wrong with me. Then I met Todd. He was everything I was looking for in a boyfriend. Todd was cute, older, and free to do as he pleased. We had fun together partying all night long I really thought I found the one. But soon I discovered what he wanted from me. And I was so willing to give it to him, because I thought, this is someone who understands me and will make me feel needed, loved and safe from the rest of the world.

                Todd soon grew tired of having relations with me and let me know it in a rather unfriendly way. But when I would not take no for an answer he passed me along to another friend who was bored and looking for a new toy to play with for that is what I had become without seeing it.

                I still thought these men loved me but deep in my heart I was worried I would lose that security of feeling needed. So I did what I was told.

                In order to live this way I skipped school every day dropped out by the time I was half way through my sophomore year. All I did was drink, have relations and do drugs. I found the group that would accept me. Their titles were the stoners i.e. drug users and the Goths i.e. ones who wore black make up and dipped into satanic things. I thought I was happy. I had dulled my senses physically, spiritually, and emotionally with the drugs and drinking.

Or so I thought………

   

"I am with you always"