prayer | I've Always Been a Storm

Merry Advent!

Posted on November 29, 2015 by Brittany-Marie

Happy New Year friends!! Merry Advent!!

Today starts the first Sunday of Advent and a new liturgical year for the Catholic church. Advent is my favorite season in the church. It’s like starting anew and eagerly awaiting Jesus’ birth with Mary.

The sense of anticipation, plus the snow and lights on all the houses make me feel alive.

Merry

Plus the season change makes me so happy. There is nothing greater to me then stepping outside with a cozy sweater a cup of hot cocoa and being bitten by the crisp air.

Christmas also makes people nicer.. even in NYC where everyone is stone cold all of the time. People care about the poor, being friendly, and truly smile at each other as they walk down the street..something that never happens.

In getting ready for Advent, I spent sometime in adoration yesterday. There is a particular chapel where I really feel close to Jesus and I was able to sneak in there with Mary for a quick hour of prayer. As I started to quiet my heart I asked Jesus for the same thing I always ask Jesus for. An answer.

I closed my eyes and started to talk at Jesus. Not with him, not listening just at him like I always do. Finally about 15 minutes into my talking at Jesus and not listening I said.. HELLO (insert Adele Hello joke) Britt (yeah I talk to myself in the 3rd person) have you ever really quieted your soul?

I know we have discussed this before, I am always moving, always doing something. I can never be quiet, I can never be stress free. Well it is finally catching up to me.. I started to get anxiety attacks. So bad I passed out at work two weeks ago…and most recently my nightmares have started again. Yesterday when I was in adoration I really challenged myself to just stop.

This advent, I need to learn how to be quiet and be still.

So how am I going to do that? Here is the plan I came up with in adoration yesterday:

This advent, I need to learn how to be quiet and be still.

I recently started reading a book by Emily P. Freeman called Simply Tuesday. She speaks of creating a place for her soul to breath. She even has a video series you can get for free on her blog here. The more I read her book and watch her videos the more I want her to be my best friend. If we are trying to be perfect all the time and loading our lives up with things and actions and events.. how are we supposed to have room to hear God? How can our soul grow? I am committing to spending an hour in prayer this advent with 15 minutes in silence and commit to morning and evening prayer.

I am not where I planned to be in life at 28. I expected to be married, with two kids, living in a beautiful house, getting ready to home-school my little’s, however, this was not God’s plan. I think it’s time I stopped complaining and started TRUSTING. In the end it is going to be the best thing for me. In my heart I know this.. but my head isn’t a good listener. My situation helps me to relate to Mary’s yes. At 14 she listened to an angel that came to her one night. Could I Brittany Marie say yes? Can I finally just trust that God’s plan is better than mine? As I was praying in adoration I kept asking the same questions to God over and over. What I am supposed to do with my life? What is my vocation. I had this feeling in my heart, God was whispering, you are getting to where I want you to be. Right now your main vocation is to support your priest friends and pray for them as much as possible (sometimes I feel like St. Therese and Maurice or St. Claire and Francis hehehe. ) So I’m saying yes. Will you join me in praying for your local parish priests this advent? I would love to pray for them too. If you leave their name in the comment box I will add them to my list. I’ll also be fasting on Tuesdays and Thursdays for an increase in vocations and to the religious life. I’m not sure how successful I will be at this one.. but I feel it’s something I am called to do.

Lastly, I am going to commit to blogging daily. GULP. I wrote it so I have to do it! I find that my spiritual life is always on point when I blog.. maybe because I don’t think anyone actually reads this and I can be brutally honest on here. So check back here daily and keep me inline!

What are some of your goals and traditions for this advent season? I am so excited for you to share with me!

Love and prayers,

Brittany

Why it’s okay to be Vulnerable

Posted on November 8, 2015 by Brittany-Marie

There is nothing that can stop me in my tracks like the word vulnerable. Gross, I hate even seeing it in print. It stirs something in my stomach that makes me scared, nauseous, and want to run away at the same speed a cheetah runs to catch her prey.

Vulnerability. I could do without it. In fact I have gotten very good at building up walls to prevent people from seeing the vulnerable person that I am. Because of this fear I have many many friends, but I only let them see what I want them to see. Very few know the true me.

How did this happen? At what point in life did the walls go up and the openness stop?

Think of the very first time you felt emotional pain. Step back into that moment, were you young? I was, I remember the first moment I was hurt by something someone said to me. I was four and I remember being so sad I went and sat on the top bunk of my bunk bed and cried while I held my cabbage patch doll. Brick one. Can you think of the next time you were hurt? Brick two. Slowly the hurts over the years help the bricks of the wall pile up around you and as the years go on no one can break through. That’s how it happens, friendships end, people move on, people leave, others die, feelings are hurt and suddenly you are left feeling like you would rather not deal than have to rebuild. That is the moment you stop being open.

So why should we be vulnerable, everyone just leaves in the end.

How Payton Sawyer of you to say (seriously.. if you don’t know what I am referencing you can’t read my blog anymore. OTH what what). Whenever I think of vulnerability I always think of Jesus and Psalm 95. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. We are a community of Christians. We are not called to stand alone, we are called to stand together. Christ calls us to help build each other up, and lean on each other to get to the kingdom of eternal life. How can you do that if you won’t let anyone in?

Last night I was having a conversation with my spiritual father about my fears, vulnerability and disappointing others mostly.. I recently felt like I let him down. I like so many others believe that if someone is disappointed in me it is impossible for them to love me.. because I am crazy.. and so for the last few weeks I’ve been avoiding him. He said (paraphrasing) just because I had to set you straight on something doesn’t mean I have stopped loving you. A good father gives direction and helps lead their kids back on path when they have gone astray…and I thought isn’t that exactly what Jesus does, or at least wants us to allow him to do? We have to be vulnerable and open to His love for us.

We often forget that God is our father and He wants to kick those walls down Chuck Norris style. His goal is to take our hearts and heal them into something bright and pure. Brick by brick, hurt by hurt God wants us to tackle those issues, to face them and to be free from them. Not to be held down by pain.

It is a scary moment when you say enough is enough, Lord I am ready for you to heal me. Jesus is not going to come in and take your heart without your permission. He needs to be invited in to each hurt, each moment, each layer of pain.. and it takes time. Sometimes just saying Jesus I need you.. and not rely on yourself is hard enough. Those with vulnerability issues tend to also love control.. but that is a different blog for a different day.. Start with the little things, slowly you will feel freedom from the things that hold you down.

This week I would like to challenge you, start small. Invite God to share your day with you each morning. Invite Him to your business meetings, classes, commutes, whatever you do just thank Him for being a part of it. At the end of each day as you are laying in bed reflect on your day. Where do you need healing? Ask Him for help.

Allow Him to love you, and allow yourself to be loved.

Why Confession is Literally the Worst..

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Brittany-Marie

Lets imagine you have just done the thing that you struggle with the most masturbation, premarital sex, gossip, homosexuality, whatever it may be and you now have to go to confession.

So at three thirty in the afternoon on a Saturday you hop in your car and drive to the local church to try to get on a confession line before anyone sees you. Of course you get there and the parking situation is already insane. Already on edge, you are now trying to prepare yourself and think of all the other things you did wrong since your last confession.. was I nasty to my mother? Was I rude to a coworker? Did I really pray enough? Did I miss mass two weeks ago? Oh I definitely cursed and I totally lied. As you get out of your car and walk into the silent dark church you get online behind someone who is 180, a 5 year old kid, and a nun.

Immediately your heart beats fast, oh man there is way more that I’ve done. This nun is going to confession right now?.. What do nuns even have to confess… I AM NOT EVEN HOLY ENOUGH TO STAND BEHIND HER. You awkwardly smile and nod at people walking by. The priest finally arrives and it’s the priest who moderates the ministry group you work with. OH THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING. Now I have to tell this HOLY man how UNHOLY I was.. after the nun goes in..and I am going to see him later at the community meal? Ok deep breaths… lets keep making our list. Okay our major sin, cursing, lying, oh and I totally gossiped too. The line moves on and the nun goes in.. it’s time for the pep talk. Okay Britt you can do this, just go in there and say what you need to say it’s not the priest.. it’s Jesus.. you want a clean soul right? You want to receive at mass right? YES YES LETS DO THIS.. READY? Break.

The door opens and Sister Holy Nun Lady comes out practically glowing in graces, you sit down and boom.

You forget everything. You say what you remember.. the priest absolves you and you go sit in a pew and complete your penance. At that moment you then remember everything you forgot to say and now you are even questioning if that confession counted.

HOLD UP. What is even the point in this!? Anxiety and now I still can’t receive because I forgot to confess that I was rude to my Aunt Betty two weeks ago?

Reality check time. I can’t even tell you how many people come up to me after I speak at events to tell me how much anxiety they have going to confession.. some go MONTHS or even YEARS(!!) with out receiving this grace. NOT OK.

I used to have such anxiety going to confession. I knew I had to go, but I wouldn’t confess the deep things I had on my heart because I was embarrassed or afraid of how the priest would judge me. So I didn’t have truthful honest confession.

Thinking about it now, I was playing right into the devil’s game. He would help steer me in the way of sin, and being weak I walked right along that path.. the fear that he put in my heart over confession just lead me further and further away from God and deeper and deeper into his web of sin that he created for me. And being that I was filled with sin and far away from God.. I wasn’t strong enough to get back on the right path.

After a few years I started to attend Catholic Underground again but my fear of confession prevented me from ever getting on that line. Finally after a few months I couldn’t avoid it any more and the pulling on my heart made me take the leap. I started going to confession because I felt like I needed to be a good example for my teens..

So I would start each confession literally with “Bless me Father for I have sinned.. I absolutely am terrified of confession.. but these are my sins..”. This friar would do his best to make me comfortable.. he had a great analogy. Pretend you are a little kid… three or four.. and your parents are having a big party so you are helping and your mother asks you to carefully carry the full punch bowl to your father in the living room but to be very careful as to not spill on the white carpet. But you are three, you get into the living room and drop the bowl right as you reach your father and the perfectly white carpet is now stained red. Immediately as a little girl you feel sad and guilty you just did what your mother specifically asked you not to do. But good parents will see that and scoop you up and dry those tears. They forgive you.. and immediately you feel better.

Isn’t that the same with confession? God wants to be that good parent who says it’s okay I still love you.. so how can we help ourselves to be more open and receptive to confession. I’ve got a good list of a few tips I think you will find helpful.

Realize that the graces you are about to receive is worth more than anything you could imagine. Jesus wants to heal your heart and this is one huge step closer to that.
You have to say everything, you can’t omit something on purpose otherwise it doesn’t count.
Tell the priest you are uncomfortable and struggling with this. They are literally trained to help you get through this.
You don’t have to know the act of contrition. They have it in the confessional!
If Pope John Paul II went every day.. believe me you need it at least once a month.

Remember that when you come out you are now pure and whole again, Walk out of there happy, and do your best to be strong and not go down that same path of sin again.

So I suppose, I don’t hate confession as much as I once did. Turns out God’s graces really overpower the fear the devil puts in your heart.

Who knew 🙂

Love and prayers for a squeaky clean soul,

5 Things for Thursday: Website Edition!

Posted on September 17, 2015 by Brittany-Marie

Bringing it back friends! In this edition I thought it would be nice to feature my favorite Christian/Catholic/Faith websites and blogs.

I hope you are having a blessed Thursday!

Blessed is She – http://blessedisshe.net/

Here at Blessed is She, we help foster community, through daily devotions straight to your inbox. We walk with you on this crazy journey as a daughter of the King. This is your path to continue your walk with the Lord, and as a sisterhood, we will walk with you. – This is a fantastic group and their daily devotionals are phenomenal. The best part is their facebook groups where you can actually connect and be friends with other members of the community.

Proverbs 31 Ministries – http://proverbs31.org/

Proverbs 31 Ministries is a non-denominational, non-profit Christian ministry that seeks to lead women into a personal relationship with Christ. With Proverbs 31:10-31 as a guide, Proverbs 31 Ministries reaches women in the middle of their busy days through free devotions, daily radio message, speaking events, conferences, resources, online Bible studies, and training in the call to write, speak and lead others. We are real women offering real-life solutions to those striving to maintain life’s balance, in spite of today’s hectic pace and cultural pull away from godly principles.

Building Bridges Podcast – http://buildingbridgespodcast.com/

You don’t have to spend a ton of money to take care of yourself.All you need is the community of friends, conversation that enriches, and women who understand exactly where you’re at.Let’s talk while you’ve got your hands in the sink, your feet on the treadmill, or your kids in the backseat.Whether you’re working to keep your house clean, or you’re working to stay fit for your family, you deserve the kind of connection you crave.That’s why Cristina + Jenna started Building Bridges. They’re two gals who became friends across the United States. While building a bridge to support a friendship, they realized they wanted the connection that you want as well: for someone to nod along on the hard days and to laugh on the beautiful days. – Jenna is one of the founders of Blessed is She. Cristina and her are HYSTERICAL together. I love listening to their podcast on my way home from work and can’t wait for the next season!!

She Reads Truth – http://shereadstruth.com/

As for us, we are a handful of women who manage the site and write the plans. We are just like you, dependent on the grace of Jesus and needy of the Holy Spirit moving in our lives. We are a part of this community and we are committed to reading God’s Word along with you. – A website and app full of wonderful bible studies!

Emily P Freeman’s Blog – http://emilypfreeman.com/

Start creating space for your soul to breathe today. I’m totally becoming obsessed with her way of clearing our your soul. She is phenomenal. And calming. Watch her video series!!

I hope you enjoy these sites as much as I do!!

Love and prayers,

Brittany

28 Things I Learned When I Turned 28

Posted on September 12, 2015 by Brittany-Marie

Hello My Friends!!!!

I have missed you more than you know! I am happy to say I am back to blogging, as life seems to be getting back to normal. While I have a million excuses as to why I haven’t written in so long, the truth is the past few months have been really difficult. I just haven’t had the energy or really wanted to take the time out of my day and write a blog post about a faith that I was really struggling with.

Things were dark for a bit, but I finally feel as though I am coming over this mountain.

Now onto the good stuff, two weeks ago I turned 28 and in the transitional year of being 27 I learned from the many experiences I went through.. death, life, losing a job, finding a job, struggling to adjust, an injury, the list goes on and on. So I thought a fun coming back to blogging post would be the 28 most important things I learned during this summer of growth. Here goes nothing!

Your family will let you down. They are human too, and you have for sure let them down. Vocalize your disappointment in a kind way. It is the only way you will be able to grow.

You do get to pick your friends, so make sure you pick the right ones. They will always be there when your family isn’t.

Sometimes we get the short end of the stick. AND IT SUCKS. But this is our chance to grow and learn. The way we deal with these issues shows our true character. Don’t let your anger define you.

Feelings are irrational to the situation. When you make decisions based on the way you feel instead of the facts you don’t always make the right decisions.

Travel, even if you don’t have money. Go on a drive to a place where you have never been. It helps clear your head and opens you up to new experiences.

Create healthy boundaries. Don’t hang out with the same people all the time, don’t spend all your time with your boyfriend and ditch your friends. How can you become a culturally diverse experienced individual if you are always with the same people?

Color. Like in coloring books. I do it all the time, they even have coloring books for adults. Its glorious and takes your mind off everything.

Money will always work out. Stick to your budget.

Read more. Read all the time. You should read a book a week. Come on you can do it.

Go outside. I am pale. Like PALE. Paper and I blend together. But the other day on the subway I saw a man who I’m pretty sure has never been outside. I wanted to give him my vitamin D supplements. The sun does a million good things for your soul. I am a dork and once a week I need to go to a country side. Pennsylvania, The East End of Long Island, the farms of New Jersey, the mountains of upstate New York or the twisty turning hills of Connecticut to breath deeply and experience the warmth of the sun and watch it set. DO THIS. We spend way too much time inside. Believe me you will notice a change.

Speaking of vitamins. Take them.

Cook your own food. I work 9 hours a day, and I commute four hours a day. Which means I am out of my house 13 hours of the day. I sleep for 7. It takes me 1 hour to get ready for work leaving me 3 hours of “Me” time a day. After I get home from work I never want to do anything other than watch TV and sleep. Become a crock pot junkey. I LOVE mine. I got it for like $15 after the hurricane at Target. I am also a Pintrest addict. You can find my favorite crock pot recipes here. I make one dish on Sunday nights that I can serve different ways and take it for lunch throughout the week. I promise it makes your life easier.

Schedule 5 minutes a day of silent time. I hate being quiet, and silence makes me nervous but I need it. Just to listen for God. I like to sit in my rocking chair in my room and hold my bible. I say a little prayer or read a short scripture passage to begin and then I say “God, please help me quiet my soul and open my heart to your message”.

Be a better listener. Not everyone is looking for advice. Some people just need to talk it out.

Be a really great hugger. I hate touching people and I hate being touched. But everyone needs a good hug every now and then.

Go to confession more. Saint John Paul the Great went everyday. Dude is a “Great”… I am just Brittany Evans, the normal. I need to go ~~double~~ triple the times he went. Plus everyone needs a good soul cleaning at least once a week.

Forgive more, how can you expect God to forgive you for your sins if you don’t forgive the sins against you. This is extremely difficult. But your heart will feel lighter.

Struggling in your prayer life? Create a schedule. Sometimes we just have to be obedient. Some suggestions.. download the First 5 app from Proverbs 31 ministries and spend the first five minutes of your day reading God’s word. Imagine how great your day will be if you spend sometime with Jesus? My life is dictated by the LIRR schedule, so I very easily make my schedules by it. Every morning I have a half hour of prayer time from 5-5:30 and every night I have prayer time from 8:30-9:15.

Read God’s Word More. Enough said. Start at the beginning.

Read the Popes homilies. There is even an app for them. It’s conveniently called the Pope App.

Take a class that your church or diocese offers on something you find interesting in the church. If you are on Long Island email me. I can hook you up.

Volunteer somewhere. Do something good. I am taking a break from youth ministry but I am still assisting with my church. It will fill your soul to help others.

Write thank you notes. Write postcards. Write letters. The written word is not dead. Plus how nice is it to receive mail that isn’t a catalog or a bill?

Give people a chance to miss you. Take a break from social media, take a break from life every so often and just take a weekend for yourself. It will keep your head on straight.

Speaking of social media. I don’t care about your dinner, or who you are mad at, or how much you hate President Obama. Get off your soapbox. Stop using this as a place of negativity and start using it as a place of to evangelize and send positive vibes. Also, stop taking selfies. Seriously. Download the Moment app. It will tell you how much time you spend on your phone everyday. I’ll give you a hint. It’s too much. PUT IT DOWN. REAL LIFE IS HAPPENING!

Don’t stop taking pictures though. Take some, everyday of everything. There is beauty all over the place. Here is a picture I took today:

Give to the homeless. You have many things, don’t get wrapped up in them.

Lastly, and the best piece of advice I have ever received. Take it one day at a time. Do not worry about tomorrow, or the past. Be present and focus on the now. The rest is out of your control.

Life will always be a struggle, we are going to consistently be tested. But without these trials how would we have the beautiful testimony of our lives to share our hope in God with others?

I’m always praying for your friends.

Love and Prayers,

Brittany

A Letter from Brittany

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Brittany-Marie

Dear Readers,

I owe you the biggest explanation and apology possible! I feel like I’ve abandoned you! Here’s what’s been going on..

Work:

Well finally after 5 months of praying together I started my new job on February 2nd! I now work in the operations department of a company that does marketing, sales, and client acquisitions for non for profit companies. I have to tell you I love my job, it’s so different from my last job where I dreaded coming to work each day. Although there are over 6,000 employees, in the head office in NYC there are only 15. Mostly women, mostly Christian. We listen to praise and worship music ALL THE TIME. It’s so cool. We take lunch breaks, we have a beautiful view of Ellis island, and when I go home I don’t take work with me. I don’t even have my email on my iPhone!

Adjusting to work after being unemployed for 5 months has been a bit challenging though. I feel tired and run down a lot and like there is no time in the day for anything, but slowly I’m getting back into the rhythm!

Health:

Unfortunately when I get stressed out I tend to get very sick and with going back to work and the coldness of the winter I was lucky enough to catch pneumonia. Which took forever to get rid of, especially as an asthmatic. Slowly but surely I’m starting to feel better, but I could use some prayers in this area. I have a bum leg that acts up every so often as well and it’s been bad the past week. Only one more month until I have health insurance!

Youth Ministry:

After much prayer and consideration I’ve decided to step down after confirmations this year. I’ve been the youth minister for 5 years and I’m tired! I’ve loved almost every moment of it, except for the politics of course, and the relationships and friendships that have come out of it have changed my life. It’s weird to think if I never came back who I would be.. I wouldn’t even be friends with Mary.. And that would be terrible!

This is really a challenge. I know it’s the right thing to do but it’s the end of something so important and wonderful to me. I get a little emotional every time I think about it, but in my heart I feel the whisper of God telling me this isn’t the end and that he is going to call me to something bigger…after he give me a little break hopefully! I could use prayers in this time as well, I’m scared for what happens next.. And excited too!

Lent:

I can’t even believe I missed all of Lent with you. What!? For my self I felt like lent was a wasted time. To me it’s like New Years, I set all of these goals to grow closer to God. This year I gave up booze (wrong thing to do when you start a new job and quit youth ministry) and I set goals to complete the Blessed is She journal and pray at various times of various days.. I had a schedule. And I let myself down. I was told I was being too hard on myself, but I felt like lent was filled with me freaking out over leaving youth ministry.

Either way Jesus was resurrected so Happy Easter! But I do hope your Lent was spent growing closer to Christ and his love.

Well.. I think that’s enough of an update for today. Please again forgive me! But I’m back!! And I missed you all!!

Love and Prayers,

Preparing for Lent

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Brittany-Marie

So let’s talk about Lent. It’s next week, and I feel like I haven’t had enough time to prepare. Lent has come so fast this year. Not really, but it feels like that. So, to start preparing, I ordered the Blessed Is She 2015 Lent Journal. I really like the BIS describes this journal so here you go:

This journal is written and designed for all of us. We are the Marys and Marthas. We love the lord, but we are women with many tasks—in our homes, in our work & in our world. We struggle to set our busy ways aside, even for the One we love.

Let his words remind us this Lent that there is need of only one thing.

To be like Mary sitting at his feet, listening to his word & waiting to be transformed by his love.

Speaking of Mary, my Marian Consecration also happens to fall during Lent this year (it did last year too). I’m supposed to start on February 20th so that I finish the retreat by March 25th (The Annunciation). I use 33 Days to Morning Glory by Fr. Michael E. Gaitley, MIC. I loved using it last year, and I’m really excited to use it again this year!

Even with all of this going on, I was still having trouble thinking of what I should do for Lent this year. Finally, during Catholic Underground I realized that I should really come up with a game plan. I have decided (and hopefully I won’t change my mind) that I’m going to say a rosary every day during Lent. It’s going to correspond really well to my consecration preparation, and I really love the rosary. So that’s going to strengthen me, but what’s going to be my sacrifice? I really don’t have an addiction to anything, so giving up a particular food item wouldn’t really be a sacrifice. Also, my sisters wedding is the second day of Lent, so I wouldn’t really be able to give up sweets. I could but that would be too silly. So I thought, and I thought, and I thought. I hate getting up early. Actually I love it because I see how much good it is for me, but it’s also incredibly hard for me. So, once a week (probably Fridays, but this is subject to change) I’m going to get up at 6am and go to the 6:30 mass at my lovely parish. Wish me luck.

This Lent is going to be pretty Marian for me. I’m pretty excited. What are your plans for Lent this year?

Love and prayers,
MB

Resolution Recap

Posted on February 1, 2015 by Brittany-Marie

Happy February Everyone!

Can you believe that we are already a full month into the New Year? If you remember last month we discussed New Year’s resolutions. I thought today we could follow up and see where we are.

This year I decided that each month would be dedicated to a different topic, and I would have goals for each month including a reading goal, a financial goal, and a bible study goal.

As I write this today on February 1^st, I met my financial goal, my reading goal (I read four books this month!! ) and my bible study goal. I also met my other goals of doing my taxes, going to adoration once a week, saying a rosary daily, and organizing my apartment.

As February starts today, I just wanted to take a moment to encourage you to continue to work on your goals. This month my theme is my spiritual life.

My reading goal this month is a big one, 5 books that focus mostly on my faith I plan on reading the following:

Signs of Life by Scott Hahn
The Diary of St. Faustina
Dangerous Wonder by Michael Yaconelli
Letters to a Young Catholic by George Weigel
And the 4^th Harry Potter Book.. but this is of course my fun read of the month.

I’ve also started a 6 week guide to spiritual growth which focuses on your coffee cup every morning, it’s called The Cup of Our Life by Joyce Rupp. This was given to me a few years ago by a couple I am friends with and I’ve never taken the time to actually read and participate in the goals outlined by the book.

Please do not feel as though it is too late. 2015 is our year to make changes, make it happen!

Love and Prayers,

PS-With lent just around the corner (yea..18 days away) take this time to get back on track!

How The Blessed Is She Photo Challenge is Helping Me Keep My New Year Goals

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Brittany-Marie

As the New Year approached, I sat down and wrote out some ways that I could improve my life in 2015. You know, the whole “New Year, New You” kind of thing. Except maybe it wasn’t that drastic. It was really about reconnecting with the person that God wants me to be. Or something like that. I wrote about it here.

Anyway, Blessed Is She started a photo challenge for the new year.

This is just the first week Essentially they put out a prompt each day and the community responds via instagram with their interpretation. It’s been really great to see women from around the country respond to these prompts. But what I love about them is that each day they make me focus on Christ. These prompts make me read scripture, they make me pray, and they make me think about my relationship with God. They’ve been a blessing in this new year, and it’s pretty fun.

If you’re interested Britt’s pictures are here and mine are here.

Love and Prayers,
Mary

P.S. also, please keep me in prayer as I travel to DC tomorrow for the March for Life on Thursday

JP2 Strikes Again!

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Brittany-Marie

If you have been following the news over the past few weeks in New York, the tragic deaths of two polices officers have seriously affected the balance of life here. Between the turning of officer’s backs to the mayor and the debates over race, New York City has been in a serious mourning period.

But, light will always outshine darkness and while we continue to pray for peace and the improvement of race relations between everyone in NYC, and especially the relationship between the officers and Mayor De Blasio my brother graduated from the New York Police Department Academy and is now a police officer.

I cannot even express the level of how proud I am of my brother. Jeff has always been someone I’ve looked up to, even if he is two years younger than me. He is the type of person who always does the right thing and goes above and beyond to help people. He is a true hero and now he wears the uniform of one. Here are some pictures from this amazing day.

The ceremony was held at Madison Square Garden a true icon of NYC. They just completed a huge renovation project and it had been a while since I’d been there, each section had a display of an important event that occurred at MSG. It was pretty cool to see all the concerts and shows that had been held at this legendary theater. Then, as I got to our section, we had Saint John Paul the Great’s visit to NYC!! I didn’t even know he had been to MSG. It was a nice little treat to make this great day even better. I truly feel a closeness to JP2 as I pray for his intercession daily.

Please continue to pray for the healing of the families, the souls of the two officers who were killed, the safety of the NYPD, and for peace.

Love and prayers,