prayer folder

soo, at our last student leader meeting for FOCUS we were given these folders... inside the folder there was a daily reflection, a chapter in the Bible to read, and an act or daily little "homework assignment" of sorts... there are things like go to confession, don't care what others think of you today, give up sweets, give God 5 extra minutes, etc. it's filled with all sorts of wonderful things like that... and i was flipping through the past weeks and came across this one again so i thought i'd share it, it is The Suscipe of St. Ignatius Loyola:

Lord Jesus Christ, take all my freedom, my memory, my understanding, and my will. All that I have and cherish You have given me. I surrender it all to be guided by Your will. Your grace and Your love are wealth enough for me. Give me these, Lord Jesus and I ask for nothing more.

It got me thinking... my friends and I lately have been focusing so much on what is bothering us. Things that are confusing us, things we don't like or are frustrated by... and it makes me wonder. Why are we not simply satisfied by the wonderful love we are given each day. God's will for us is bigger than we can even imagine - so trying to figure it out on our own - is well, a little silly to be honest. ;) i've learned this the hard way. Ever heard the quote "If life isn't the way you like it, like it the way it is." ?? well! it's SO true. because we need to learn to love every little bit of our lives...even the sufferings because we are all made strong enough to get through it. and eventually, the suffering is going to start to become less and less -- as we start to have God's plans for us revealed.

not only do we need to love everything, but we need to love everyone. and guess what? everyone includes ourselves! i think this is a hard part for a lot of us. it's so hard to sit down sometimes, and think about all the gifts we are blessed with. we are so blinded by the things we dislike abour ourselves, that we are missing all the things that are incredible. i think it's important to take time to figure out why you love yourself - and share that with other people. i think we all could benefit from that! just a thought. :) sorry for the tangent...

hmm. idk, it was just a really cool prayer i thought! :) i've been having kind of a blah day. i feel like i'm stuck in a funk. i'm going to try and appreciate the little things around me more though... for instance: today is a BEAUTIFUL day. i have a wonderful family who i just sat down to a delicious meal with, and of course my adorable little dog who i love with all my heart - plus some really amazing friends.

"Be still and know that I AM."