The Wellness Wheel

My job is probably one of the greatest things I have in my life. Every day I get to work with college students, specifically the twenty-some Resident Assistants that I supervise. As part of my job, I facilitate activities for my staff to aide in their personal and professional development and this week I had them do an activity called The Wellness Wheel. The purpose of a Wellness Wheel is to help people figure out their life balance in six different categories of wellness: physical, spiritual, environmental/occupational (this category varies), social, emotional and intellectual.

The Wellness Wheel

I listed several statements under each category and asked my staff to color in the corresponding pieces of the wheel to the degree they think the statement is accurate for them. For example, under the "Physical" category, a sample statement might be "I eat a balance and nutritional diet" and the student would color in the "Physical" section of the wheel as much as they feel they accomplish the statements. It is a really awkward thing to explain, especially in writing, so hopefully that makes at least some sense.

I decided that out of fairness to my staff members, I couldn't ask them to do The Wellness Wheel if I did not also do it. I filled out the physical section (I really need to have a better diet) and moved on to the spiritual section. As I was reading the statements, I realized that I only agreed with the belief statements, not the statements about spiritual or faith-based action. So I decided to come up with 4 things to help me remain active in my faith throughout the week.

#1: Pray before every meal - My family never really prayed before a meal unless it was for a holiday meal with the extended family. Thanking God before every meal is a nice and simple way to incorporate faithful actions into every day.

#2: Read and reflect on the daily readings - There are so many great phone apps that will provide you with the daily readings for mass just in case you can't make it. On

One of the little things I'm thankful for

top of that, some of them will even have reflection questions for you to consider after you do the reading.

#3: Go to a chapel - Sitting at home isn't always the easiest place to focus on a conversation with God. There are so many distractions like TV, computers, puzzles, etc. that can keep you from truly devoting yourself to talking to Him. Visiting a quiet space can help you really focus on that conversation.

#4: Find something small to be thankful for each day - A pleasant interaction with someone, a beautiful sunrise, playing with a cute animal, it doesn't matter what it is, just appreciate it, love it and thank God for it!

So we are always courageous, although we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.
~ 2 Corinthians 5:6-7

Pax,
Kay

Fall in Love with God

I finally attended my first RCIA meeting! Such a wonderful experience! I honestly don't even know if I have the words for it, but I'm going to try!

J and Liv as St. Therese

Completely unrelated to my RCIA class but so worthy of posting: So many wonderful things happened over the weekend! On Friday I was finally able to attend the Back from the Dead Cemetery Walk, in which people act as saints and such to share the stories of those who have passed and to encourage us to spend our lives growing closer to God. J was a guide of sorts and Liv played St. Therese of Lisieux on the night that I went. It was such an incredible experience! I cried a few times because it was such an amazingly powerful message. Additionally, J and Liv got me gifts! Normally I hate receiving gifts - I literally dread those occasions - but I was so excited about these. A couple weeks ago, Liv bought me a book called Saints that was written by an alum of my school and gives a brief description of the life of a few hundred saints. J bought me my first Catholic Bible and I'm so happy to finally have my own.

Now about my first RCIA class: I want to reiterate once more how grateful I am for my amazing best friends, J and Liv. These two women are some of the most joyful Catholics that I have ever met and it has given me confidence and joy in my decision to become Catholic. I was ecstatic to attend tonight's meeting, but as one of my other friends pointed out, many of the other people in RCIA aren't as confident in their decision as I am, which leaves them with a little bit of discomfort that I could clearly feel in the room. I was quite puzzled by this until I spoke to my friend about it after the meeting, but now I feel like I can understand where they are coming from.

My Bible and Saints book - I think I'm a fan of saints

In tonight's lesson, we discussed parts of the Creed. We picked apart the first couple of lines and learned about the biblical foundation for each, as well as how it applies to us as human beings pursuing a relationship with God. The very first line in the Creed is "I believe in God the Father," which is the first step in developing a relationship with Him because you must acknowledge your belief before you can strengthen your connection to Him.

One of the first things I was told when I was looking to become Catholic was that you have to fall in love with God. I don't think there is anything more beautiful than that. What better way to have a relationship with God than to completely surrender yourself to Him?! We are called to do this on many occasions, but one example can be found in tonight's Gospel reading from Matthew 22:37-38: "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment." We are called to love God fully because we are made in His image and are therefore capable of great love, a love that is most fulfilling when shared with Him.

Tonight's homily emphasized the importance of loving God, the perfect lover. In today's culture, we say that we "love" a lot of things. I, for instance, can often be heard to exclaim how much I love mac-n-cheese or Pride and Prejudice or a favorite dress, but to love something is to will its goodness at all times. This is not to say that there is no inherent goodness in comfort food or a good movie or a nice article of clothing because they are all part of God's creation, but how does our loving inanimate objects make that goodness shine? Love is meant to be shared among humans or between humans and God because we were created in His likeness. Seeking and giving love are qualities of God that he bestowed in us as He created us to be like Him.

Moral of the story: Fall in love with God and surrender yourself to Him completely. Easier said than done, but we have an entire lifetime to try!

He said to them 'You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment.' ~Matthew 22:37-38

Pax,
Kay

Positive and Passionate

Yesterday I had lunch and coffee with one of my amazing student staff members, whom I call Hons, who has been helping me join the world of blogging! She is the queen of positivity and always has a smile on her face. I am forever grateful for her amazing enthusiasm and support, so I decided to change the topic of today's post in honor of her.

I had originally planned to share the story of when I told an important person in my life about my decision to do RCIA and that person's not so positive reaction to my news, but my lunch with Hons persuaded me to do otherwise because that story was so negative - I'm still working on trying to make it a positive and helpful experience... I'll let you know when that happens.

Holy Grounds Cafe

There's an adorable little cafe and bookstore in my town, Holy Grounds Cafe and St. Philomena's Books & Gifts, that I have begun to frequent, thanks to many recommendations from Liv. It is a great place to sit down, unwind and do homework, read, blog, etc. During my last day off, I spent the entire afternoon in the cafe chatting with Hons and Liv. Hons and I fell in love with the cafe so much that we decided to make it the venue for our weekly meetings with one another.

While we ate our lunch and sipped on coffee, Hons and I talked about anything and everything from what we did during our Fall Break to blogging and things to do with our staff. We came up with a lot of great ideas, including some things I plan to do with my blog in the coming weeks! We were chatting about one of my favorite fashion blogs

My favorite drink at Holy Grounds - Cafe Creme Brute

and Hons commented on how passionate I was about this blog. She recommended that I expand my blog to include things that I am passionate about, such as fashion. I believe I responded with something to the effect of "Nah, that doesn't make any sense with what my blog is about." The ever-inspiring Hons replied with the reminder that a blog can be whatever I want it to be and if I want to blog about faith and fashion then I can do just that!

My brain is in creative mode as I figure out the best way to incorporate more of what I'm passionate about into this blog. I can't wait to see what things I come up with to make my blog even better. I hope to have the first Fashion Friday post up next week!

She is clothed with strength and dignity and laughs without fear of the future. ~Proverbs 31:25

Pax,
Kay

Say a Little Prayer

Me and my wonderful friend!

This weekend I went to Miami to visit one of my wonderful friends from college (hence why this post is up on Monday, not Sunday)! She is studying ecology in a doctoral program down there. She goes to the Everglades pretty much every day to do her research! But I digress... So I went to Miami, which is most easily accessible via airplane.

I love to go to new places and seeing and experiencing new things, but I really do not love the process of getting to those exciting new places. I very much enjoy having control over things in my life (Type-A personality and proud of it), so traveling leaves me feeling rather anxious. It doesn't matter if I am traveling by car, boat or plane, I am forced to relinquish much of the control that I'd prefer to maintain. When driving, you place a lot of trust in the other drivers to not drive poorly. When on a boat or plane, you basically hand your life over to a person you have never (and likely will never) meet. That has to be one of the most frightening every day occurrences in the world. As humans, trust is not something we give very easily, unless it is related to travel, in which case we so willingly place our safety into the hands of strangers. 

Needless to say, I started panicking days before I had to head to the airport. I had stress headaches and nausea just from the thought of going to the airport in a few days. The morning of my flight, I woke up, started getting ready, and then I felt so sick that I thought I was going to have to cancel. I barely spoke on the ride to the airport for fear that anything I said would end up sounding mean or nasty because of how stressed I felt. 

Amazing beach!

I got my boarding pass, went through security and, after a brief wait, boarded my plane to Miami. As we taxied down the runway I felt the oh so familiar gripping sensation around my heart. My breaths became shallow and quick. Tunnel vision was beginning to set in. Then I suddenly realized that I hadn't prayed yet that day. Through my short, almost gasping breaths, I muttered a quick prayer to God essentially asking for protection for me on my trip and to help me feel comforted so I would not have a panic attack. I said the words over and over again until I noticed that my heart rate had slowed down and my breathing was normal.

Next thing I knew, I woke up as we were descending into the airport in Miami. I had the best sleep of my life in those two, brief hours! It was a great reminder about the power of prayer and that verse from Philippians that I love so much: Be not anxious, but pray about everything! God graciously heard my prayers and answered them so I could spend the rest of my mini-vacation at peace and enjoy time with my friend!

Be joyful in hope; patient through tribulation and faithful in prayer. ~Romans 12:12

Pax,

Kay

Catching Up

I finally had my "catch up" meeting with the Campus Ministry staff members! What an information overload! I think I'm still processing most of it and I haven't even finished reading all of the handouts I was given.

The first thing I had to do to catch up was take a tour of the Chapel. The Chapel at my institution is

Chapel of the Immaculate Conception

called the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception (affectionately known as the IC) and it is probably one of the most beautiful creations I have ever seen. During my sophomore year here, the IC was renovated and the results were absolutely breathtaking. Unfortunately I cannot find any "before" pictures to allow for comparison, but the updated look can be seen to the right!

Much of my tour was spent looking at the amazing stained glass windows all around the IC. Through those I learned a great deal about Mary - everything from the connection between her and certain flowers (roses and lily of the valley to be specific) to her crown of twelve stars to the many Marian symbols and titles like the Immaculate Heart (we have an entire window dedicated to this)!

My tour provided me with opportunities to ask a lot of questions that had been floating around in my brain for a while. I had always wondered about some Catholic customs that were practiced on a regular basis, such as dipping one's finger in holy water and making the sign of the cross when entering a place of worship. The answer I received was incredible!

Before I even asked my question, it was explained to me that the sacraments are set up in the church

Holy Water Font

so that with each one, you move closer to God. At the entrance of the church, just inside the doors, is where baptism occurs. Baptism in the Catholic Church is viewed as the gateway to a spiritual life, so it takes place at the doors of the church to add on to the symbolism! Next comes Confession, which is why confessionals are typically located in the middle of the church. The journey is completed at the front of the church when a person receives the Eucharist. Catholics literally experience their faith journey every time they enter a church!

Through that explanation, I received an answer to my question: Catholics entering a place of worship dip a finger in holy water and make the sign of the cross to remind themselves of their Baptism! Super cool symbolism and reminder in my opinion!

I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ~Matthew 3:11

Pax,

Kay

The Trifecta of Signs

So I left my last post off with a bit of a cliffhanger (in the least suspenseful way possible), but I would not have done any of the following stories justice by squeezing them into the end of a post! The week before I mustered up enough courage to ask about entering the RCIA program, I had a wonderful trio of signs that pushed me to visit the Campus Ministry Office - and to keep trying even when I kept missing the person I needed to get in touch with for the program!

Sign #1

Monday: One of my best friends, J, came over to my apartment and through a random turn of events, left her ring behind. I did not really think much of it at the time, but I put the ring on so I would not lose it before I could get it back to her.

A picture of my friend's ring that I borrowed

Tuesday: My world became one giant ball of ridiculous, crazy fiascoes. I felt like I was standing on the edge of a cliff, about to reach my breaking point when I looked down at my hand and read the inscription on the ring: "If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it." Suddenly my mood was lifted and I knew that through these situations, God was helping me to build up my wealth of experiences, as well as my strength to handle difficult situations.

Throughout the rest of that very difficult week, every time I felt like I could not handle one more thing being thrown at me, I would look down at that ring and remember that God was with me through everything and he would give me the strength to make it through anything else in my path.

                                                                            Sign #2

My rose for the Feast Day of St. Therese of Lisieux

Wednesday: The Feast Day of St. Therese of Lisieux, a.k.a. the feast day of the favorite saint of two of my best friends! My other friend, Liv and I went to the evening mass and the gospel reading from Luke had a line in it that goes something like this: "You, follow me!" spoken by Jesus to a man on the side of the road. At this point I had already been contemplating talking to the Campus Ministry Office about RCIA, so I felt like this moment was God calling me to follow through on that.

Unfortunately, the person I needed to speak to was not there the first three times I stopped by and I quickly took that as a sign in the opposite direction...

Sign #3

Sunday: I went to noon mass with J. During the week I had been looking online to find a ring of my own and I really loved one that had Philippians 4:6 (Be not anxious) on it. On our way to mass I was explaining this to J, so when we sat down at mass and the second reading began "Be not anxious..." we both went crazy! The one verse that had most appealed to me the week before just happened to be one of the readings for mass! I may or may not have shed a few tears in this moment because it was such a moving experience.

A view of my beautiful mountain chapel <3

So of course I took that as another sign to hang in there. I waited (not very patiently) for a few days for the coordinator of RCIA to return to campus. Upon her return, I dug up my last bit of courage on the matter and headed to her office. She was so ecstatic about my interest in RCIA that she hugged me several times! Tomorrow I meet with her to catch up on what I've missed so far and then I'll officially be on this new journey!


Be not anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. ~Philippians 4:6

Pax,

Kay

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Me and My Blog

I've always admired bloggers, but I never really felt like I had anything to write about that was worth creating my own blog. I tried starting blogs a few times over the years, but I could never really narrow in on things to write about...so I quickly became overwhelmed.

Now, I have finally found something to write about! Recently I made the decision to take part in my University's RCIA program - Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults - to take the steps required to become Catholic! I am very excited (and anxious) about the journey I am beginning, as I have been out of touch with my faith for many years and I am now hoping to become a member of a very different faith community.

During my undergraduate career, I attended a Catholic Liberal Arts institution (at which I now work), but I was not Catholic and I had not been exposed to the Catholic faith very much. Throughout my four years there, I began to learn about Catholicism as a religion as well as the values of the Catholic Church that helped to make my university feel like a home, instead of just a college. Junior year I had an amazing heart-to-heart moment with some of my friends, and I knew in that moment that I wanted to be part of the community of believers that is Catholicism. Unfortunately, my young and impressionable mind was easily dissuaded from this decision when I told my (now ex) boyfriend about it - let's just say he was not the most supportive individual.

Junior year passed, then senior year and I did not reconsider RCIA again, even though it frequently crossed my mind. When my relationship ended in April of 2013, I felt lost. I spiraled down an unhealthy path that at the very least left me in a pit of despair as I grasped for any reason to take my next breath. I entered a graduate program and eventually found a job that I thoroughly enjoyed, but nothing seemed to be enough to pull me out of that dark place. Seeing my struggles (though not to the depth they extended), many of my friends invited me to attend mass with them on-campus, which I avoided for a long time.

Sometime in the spring semester, I finally gave in and joined my friend for mass. I had been to a couple masses before, but I never went because I wanted to, so I usually did not pay attention. This time I did and I felt inspired! I still struggled with that darkness for many months and it often overtook my will to attend mass or be faithful, but now everything has changed! My recent faith experiences have been too wonderful and numerous to squeeze into the end of a post, so they will be the topic of the next couple posts!

I am so excited to share my journey back to faith and to a new faith with you!

Life is a journey, not a destination ~St. Therese of Lisieux

Pax,
Kay