March for Life 2012: Planning Woes but God always knows

This past Friday, I got on a bus for what we thought at the time would be a 22 hrs bus ride. No big deal, spend nearly a day traveling on a bus filled with fellow Rockhurst students and Benedictine students. Well, there was ice in IL and IN...lots of ice. We spent 6 hrs moving 8 miles (I say moving because we weren't really driving, it was a roll, slide on ice, roll, etc). Needless to say during the 33 hr bus ride, there were lots of movies, praying, and SUDO-sleeping. 

We got to our hotel, slept a couple hours, and woke up for the Students for Life Conference, the largest Pro-Life Conference in America. It. Was. Awesome. 2,000 college students, woke up at 6-7am to arrive at a conference in which they would learn about abortion, the link between breast cancer and the pill, overpopulation myths, how to help pregnant women on campus, how to help women hurting after abortion, fundraising techniques, and so much more. We learned, we wept, we laughed, and...we learned some more. http://studentsforlife.org/

It was Sunday and after desperate searches for Mass, we found one at Georgetown University. Our bus driver was kind enough to drive us over and wait till Mass was over. It was wonderful being on a Jesuit campus with college students.

Monday morning began with massive chaos, just like all previous days :) We began by heading to St. Alosius for the Jesuit Mass and Rally but the man at the hotel desk was very incorrect on where we needed to be. Needless to say, we were at 20th street and Mass was at 1st street...with fifteen minutes before Mass was to start. We began walking. About halfway through, a seminarian, Stephen, joined us after he said a prayer to God asking for someone to help him find Mass. Stephen missed Mass at the Verizon center so according to him we were his "answered prayer". Stephen is an amazing seminarian, he followed us as we got extremely sidetracked while speaking to the sisters and two Irishmen (one, who was 87, told me he goes to two big events each year the March for Life in DC and the St. Paddy's Day Parade). Once we got back on track, we were walking in Chinatown and found a church named St. Mary's Church. However, they didn't have Mass until noon- it was ten. I decided to poke my head in to see if there was someone around I could ask where a nearby Mass would be. But that would not be necessary as God always provides. :) The priest was getting ready for Mass which would start in a minute. 

It was a Latin Mass in a beautiful Church. After we continued our way to the Mall, stopping at a McDonalds for lunch, where our Seminarian, Stephen paid for us all! He explained that God had blest him with us so it was the least he could do. Well God had blest us as well by giving us him for a few hours! We got to the Mall, listened to the Rally in the cold rain, and marched. 

Before leaving for DC I planned for several hours on where we were going when and how we were getting there. There were countless times I got discouraged, wondering why I planned so much when nothing was going the way I figured out it would. I had forgotten it isn't my will but the Lord's. Usually that would be enough for me, and I would be able to let it all go, this time however, I could not. I couldn't let go of all the work I had done, all the time I used up, I just wanted something to go 'right'. I needed to see God. Looking back on it, God was all around me. God was in the joyful sisters and Irishmen who took us off our path but brought me personally joy in talking to them. God was in the people we meant and gave bagels to. God was even in the many people I asked for directions who mumbled "sorry I don't have time" while briskly walking away. I think in situations like these it's okay to get upset and frustrated, it's okay to be annoyed at the amount of time used to plan, just as long as one is able to sit back and see God at some point in all the chaos. To see that God brought us through all of that so we could find Mass at St. Mary's, so we could see Jesus in the Eucharist, to see God in the loving but lost seminarian, to realize that yes, it is not our will but His. Sometimes the work in which you do for the Lord (all that planning I did) is what He wants but not always used because he has something better in mind. 

I've always heard that when you pray for something, God gives you the opportunity to practice it. God, thank you for the opportunity to practice patience, I shall never pray for it again! ;)

Learn more about the March for Life 2012: a video account by blogger, Bad Catholic
article National Catholic Reporter
P.S. 400,000 Marched for Life...just sayin' :)

The Occupy Movement

I know, I know. ANOTHER opinion about the occupy movement. I just want my voice heard. Well, just pretending someone is listening by blogging will work too.

Occupy Wall Street. What the heck? First off, who are these people? And where did they come from? You can't tell me all these people protesting have been laid off work because of the 1%. And even if they were, have they been seeking employment? I somehow don't think they have been since they started protesting so I don't feel sorry for people who are not proactive about improving their lives... yes, a little harsh but it leads me to my next point... (not to toot my own horn but it's my perspective...)

I am a college senior. I'll be honest, my parents helped me pay for school. I still have student loans I will pay off. I chose to go to a private university knowing I would come out with loans. Due to the scholarship money I received this private school tuition costs less than instate tuition. I have worked at the same place all 4 years tutoring underprivileged kids as my work study job. I will graduate with a B.A. in Psychology, Theology, Nonprofit Leadership, a concentration in Fundraising, and a certification from the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance. Because of all of this I have had to take 18hours nearly every semester. I hold multiple leadership positions on campus. On top of my 18 credit hours I have internships to improve my resume. Needless to say, I work hard and do not spend time getting drunk and partying. I will graduate in May with loans but I will not complain, I will pay them off easily because I live modestly. I have a cell phone that only texts with T9 and spend $30 every 3 weeks at the grocery store. I hope to get a job in my field right after school but if I don't I will be open for any job. I made a decision when I decided to get a degree and that decision was that I would be in debt, but I will work hard so it's not for a long period of time.

Yes, I'm part of the '99%'- if you want to look at it that way. But that is just one statistic...

I am also part of the 1% in the world because I have a computer and will have a college degree. I am part of the 34% of the world with a cell phone. I am part of the 83% who have access to safe drinking water.
And the craziest part of it all? I am part of the 5% from the United States, who have 32% of the entire world's wealth.

As Americans, we are the 5%. And to think, the rest of the world could start protesting against us saying they are the 95%. Put things in perspective, and be a little more grateful this Thanksgiving for what we do have, not what we don't have...