be grateful

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow"-Melody Beattie

Happy Thanksgiving!

All through Christ,

Maddie

How can I Keep from Singing?

Everyone has their favorite way of  relaxing. For some it is to watch their favorite television show, and for others it is going on a run. (Bless you people who have the energy to get out of the house to sweat… I applaud your courage.) For me, it’s music. I either play my guitar and sing random songs or shove some earbuds in my ears and turn up my favorite tunes. Either way, it relaxes me.

Since this is a Catholic blog, I turned this into my favorite religious songs. If you would like to hear some of my favorite general songs, just let me know in the comment box below.

Also, my taste in music may vary from yours. I am a very musically emotional person, which pretty much means that I like music that makes me feel something deep. So most of these songs are slower than some of you may like, but I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

1.     You Raise Me Up- Josh Groan

This is such a classic song, you should be ashamed if you have never heard it. Haha, I’m just messing with you. But seriously, who hasn’t heard this song! It is one of those few songs who have an amazing tune, and the lyrics match the same level of amazingness. There are so many versions out there, but Josh Groban is my man in this case. That man’s voice is literally flawless.

2.     Draw Me Close to You- Michael W. Smith

This song has a very deep meaning to me. During my time in Tarzan, it was a very frequent worship song. When our beloved friend and fellow cast member passed away during that show, this was our go to song. Again, the lyrics are amazing. This song is an anthem of our  need and inner desire to love and know God. It is so powerful.

3.     Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)- Hillsong

This song has really climbed its way up the ladder of "Most Frequently Played on K-Love" in my standards. And it is for a perfectly good reason, because it is such an emotional and beautiful song. This song really talks about trusting in God and how we call upon Him in tough times while keeping an ocean symbolic theme, which is pretty great.

4.     Go Light your World- Chris Rice

If you are looking for a song of inspiration, this is

 totally it! This song never fails to inspire me when I want to do something big but I have some restraints. The whole song is a metaphor of candles, which makes the song very interesting and powerful. The image you get when you hear this song cannot be copied. Great song, great message.

5.     Even if I Fall- Mike Coward

(sorry, that's the best video I could find)

This is another frequent song that we sing during worship time during musicals. It is a 

very simple song (it does have some duet parts though, which I find amazing) but it is great. It talks about how even in the midst of hard times, we will always know that God is there.

6.     He Loves Us- David Crowder Band

And yet another worship song! There is nothing else to say but this song describes almost perfectly the amount of love God has for us. So beautiful.

7.     Completely- Among the Thirsty

This is a rather new song, and has because my second favorite worship song of all time, even though I don’t sing it at my theatre. This song talks about how we are compeletely giving our selves through Jesus. I cant really explain how beautiful and amazing and sooo powerful this song is. It is literally describing how we are stripping our selves down to our bare morals and saying “God, make me Yours.” It describes my faith life.

8.     Lord I Need You- Matt Maher

this is my all time favorite worship song of all time. I have a pretty amazing story that is behind it too. So when I first heard it on K-Love, I thought it was one of the most boring songs ever. I would change the channel whenever I heard it. Then when I attended my local Catholic summer camp, they played this song and I heard it in a totally new light. I felt like Matt Maher took my deep spiritual desires and morphed it into a simple, beautiful worship song. Like the title shows, this song just shows our need for God. Every time I hear it, I tear up. When I am having a bad day, I turn this song on. When I need help, I innerly sing this song. It is my Anthem for life.

Another cool story about this song comes from a local band. They always give concets at my school and the summer camp, and they always share this story.

So the guy who wrote this song, Matt Maher, was asked to sing this at World Youth Day. As you know, millions and millions of people travel across the globe to go to World Youth Day. Think of how nerve-racking that would be, to sing a song in front of millions of people! Matt Maher did it, but in the most humble way possible. He turned away from the audience toward the tabernacle, and knelt down directly in front of the Eucharist. It was just him, his guitar, and his love for God.

I hope you enjoyed this little summary of my favorite worship songs. Be sure to comment down below your favorites, and not forget to tell me why! :) Thanks and have a great week! 

All through Christ,

Maddie

Temptation- How to Beat it

Temptation is one of the most... well tempting things in our lives to just ignore. We all know what it means, and we all know that it's bad, but do we really think about it?


Now let's straighten out a few things. First off, temptation is not a sin. It is the desire to commit a sin. Secondly, temptation blocks off your inner conscience. Do you ever feel those voices battling in your head sometimes? That's your conscience (God) and temptation (the Devil). When you follow through with the action that the Devil is tempting your towards, then you have committed a sin.


Kapeesh? :)

There was this one time where I was feeling very tempted. (To do what? You might ask. My lips are sealed.) I was standing on the end of my stairs, and my head turned into a battle ground.

Do it. Do it now.

No!

Come on, no one will notice.

Don't do it, don't do it.

 Sound familiar? It happens all the time in our minds. Sometimes, we train ourselves to ignore the battle and just go along with what we want.

But most of the times, what we want isn't want God wants.

So there I was, standing at the top of the stairs, staring off into space and thinking about what I was going to do next.

And then I thought of something my religion teacher said.

"You can destroy your conscience."

What?! You can destroy your conscience? How!?

And the answer, my friends, is quite simple. You go against it over and over until you can't hear it anymore. Like I said above, we can train our conscience to just fade into nothingness.

Do you really want that to happen to you?

 

1. Listen to your conscience.



 " It also judges particular choices, approving those that are good and denouncing those that are evil. It bears witness to the authority of truth in reference to the supreme Good to which the human person is drawn, and it welcomes the commandments. When he listens to his conscience, the prudent man can hear God speaking." ETWN

 

Our conscience is here for a reason. Although God did give us Free Will, that doesn't mean He's completely out of the picture. He gave us a voice to follow- specifically His voice. The whole entire purpose for our conscience is to listen and ponder about our upcoming decision.

 

2. Your conscience is a muscle. Strengthen it.

Like any other normal muscle, you need to work out to strengthen it. Although you can't physically feel the strain or soreness afterward, you do feel a little uncomfortable at first- especially if you haven't listened to your conscience in a long time. It might seem awkward at first, but after a few times you will feel like a pro.

 

3. Surround yourself with good temptations.

If you surround yourself with good temptations, logic says most of the time you will be fine. If you sit down reading a good, appropriate book rather than watch a sketchy movie, chances are you will be so wrapped up in the book you won't even think twice about the movie! Don't let yourself get in those tight situations where you are forced to make a hard choice. This is especially hard when you are with your friends. If your friends invite you to a movie, make sure you find out what it is first. If it's looking a little on the edge, then maybe suggest a different movie! If they don't respect your decisions, maybe you should question their morals and wonder if their influence is good around you.

 

-

 

 

If you follow these three steps, you will  most surely listen to your conscience and ignore the Devil! Remember, our souls is the treasure that is constantly being protected by God, and yourself. If you wield up the shield of your conscience, you will have no problem battling temptation.

 

All through Christ,

 

Maddie