Completely Gail

It’s a brand new day.

The Lakers are better than that…they’ve shown us. Just like when someone doesn’t meet expectations, you get disappointed. Especially because you know that they can do better because they’ve shown you. Doesn’t mean you don’t care, doesn’t mean you don’t believe. You’re just disappointed.

But, it’s a brand new day. Fix it. Work on it. And move forward.

Even youth ministers get frustrated. (Part 1)

It seems like everyone’s posts these days are about venting…that’s cool, yo. Even youth ministers get frustrated. =P

HOWEVER, what do we do with that frustration? Do we take it out on others? Do we hold it in? Both aren’t healthy options. Isn’t it often said that we’re not a people of joy anymore? Let’s fix that shall we.

I recently went to a conference and the first session I was in was called, “You Want Me To Be Good ALL DAY?”. Intrigued by just the title of the session, I started to reflect on how often I use that phrase (or a similar version of it). For me, sometimes it comes in the form of “Why now, God? Why not later?” or “Why me?” or “Don’t I deserve something good?”

As I thought about it more, the session answered all my questions and allow me to share what they shared with me - The 5 Essential Strategies for a Truly Joyful Life.

1. Be intentional about being a grateful person. They asked us the question, ‘what percentage of your happiness depends on your circumstances?’ Like, are you happier because you lost 10 lbs or are you sad because you messed up on something? Fr. Joe Kempf (the session leader), said we need to first start out by being grateful. Grateful people focus on blessings, regardless of how it makes them feel. The more we find stuff to be grateful for, the more joy we’ll have in our lives. Same goes for the opposite. The more we find stuff to complain about, the more misery we’ll have in our lives. So, be intention about being a grateful person. He gave us an idea which Mark and I started and have been doing so for over a month now, and that’s to start a GRATITUDE JOURNAL. At the end of the day, write down 3 different things each day that you are grateful for.  I just re-read some of our entries and it’s fun to see how much more appreciative we are of things because of it. Fr. Joe said don’t deny your crosses (because life still happens), but if we can at least find 3 things a day that we are grateful for, the percentage that we talked about earlier will go down.
2. Understand that our lives are not all about us.You mean, they’re not? =P Fr. Joe started explaining this one by sharing that he loves the beauty of motherhood. He defines it as ‘the incredible risk to have part of your heart walk out of your body for the rest of your life.’ Ugh, right to the heart. Re-read it again. ‘Motherhood is the incredible risk to have part of your heart walk out of your body for the rest of your life.’Man, that made me tear up. Imagine, you, right now, has a piece of your mother’s heart in you right now. Your life is not all about you because even YOU have a part of someone else in you. That’s some craziness, right there! We have to give of ourselves (aka LOVE) to others. Jesus said, “Love one another as I have loved you.” And we just saw recently on Good Friday just how much he loved us. Fr. Joe said, ‘we can’t get into heaven without getting a letter of recommendation from the poor.’ Ain’t it the truth, ain’t it the truth. It reminds me of that song, “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, they will know we are Christians by our love.” We have to remember - our lives are not all about us.

K…well, I think this post is too long right now. I might have lost your attention when I said “Let’s fix it shall we”. =P If I haven’t, THANK YOU for reading. I’ll continue with the rest at a later time but I hope and pray that you’ll be able to practice/remember these two strategies.

Blessings!

This week’s prayer.

Lord, help me to accept my cross as humbly & obediently as you did.

Alex Trebek without a mustache looks like Kermit the Frog.

Now that I hopefully have gotten your attention…please allow me to share that I’ve been having a beautiful Advent. Well, a very hopeful & beautiful Advent.

Very fittingly, my theme for the year has been “HOPE IN GOD’S PROMISE 2010” and ever since I heard Father Eugene’s talk on Advent (if you weren’t there, don’t worry, I have a whole recap of it – just let me know if you want it), I’ve fallen even more in love with HOPE this Advent Season. Also fitting is our theme for the UTC Winter Retreat – “Beautiful Struggle”, focusing on the HOPE and joy that can come from our own struggles.

I could never really wrap my hands around what HOPE was until this year. It is that light at the end of the tunnel. Even better, it’s the anticipation of our greatest desires. I don’t think we take enough time to really think about that. So do that now…and I’m not talking about, my greatest desire is new shoes or an XBOX or an iPhone. I’m talking about digging a little deeper, shoveling past the material stuff and looking at what you really desire. So stop reading this and write them down. I’ll wait.

*Cue Jeopardy music -doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo doo doo doo, doo, da-doo doo doo…doo….doo. bum bum.*

Did you do it? Don’t lie to me, I can tell if you did. I know everything! Hahah, just kidding. Or am I? Dun dun dun!

Anyway, I really hope you did do it. To make things easier and to show that I am in complete solidarity with you, here’s my list.

• A baby. Well actually, babies.
• Peace in my family, like for everyone to not get so easily frustrated with the other
• For more leaders in the youth ministry
• For Mark and I have time to guide the current & future leaders in the youth ministry
• To be able to spend time with my family more
• For more youth to know and fall in love with God
• For my dad and sis to stop smoking
• For Completely Gail to launch next year
• That my sisters can start attending mass regularly
• To pray for others more…actually to just pray more.
• Etc etc.

There are probably more if I dig a little deeper, but this is what I could come up with for now. It’s a pretty decent list, no? Anyway, so this is what I’m hoping for. And I learned that Advent is a time to hope for your greatest desires because if you look up James 1:17, he says that all good things come from God. And I believe that what I desire for and what mostly everyone desires for are good things, no? Joy, hope, peace, love, faith….

So HOPE IN GOD’S PROMISE, especially this Advent season, cause honestly, like FORREAL TO THE MAX, that is what has made a lot of my struggles beautiful.

Blessings to you and your family this season.

Hope in God’s Promise 2010.

I can’t wait to do the post 2010 blog entry.