"Get Thee Behind Me..."

"Get thee behind me, Satan!"
Matthew 16:21-27

I wrote a small portion of this blog post on Sunday, and it took me almost a week to start it again. x)

Anyway, the reading for Sunday the 28th of August was about how Jesus talked to his disciples about him having to go to Jerusalem to suffer under the hands of the elders, chief priests and the scribes and also be killed. Now, this didn't sit to well with Peter. He said to Jesus,

"God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you."

Jesus' reply is one of the most shocking in this reading...

"Get thee behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as Human beings do."

Then he goes on to talk about how if we wish to follow him we must deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow him.

To me it seems as if he is saying to Peter "Stop telling me what to do but follow me."

Now think about it, we resist just as much as Peter did. If we were standing there before Jesus, the Christ, our Savior, the son of God, and he tells us he is going off willingly to die, wouldn't you be shocked and dumbstruck? You would say "Lord no! You are God's son, nothing like that could happen to you, and I won't let anything happen to you!" Unfortunately when we say this we stand in the way of God's plans. If Jesus did not die for us, who would have? Who would have stepped up to save our fellow man from sin?  

Jesus also accuses Peter of thinking as Humans, not as God. We think of safety, God thinks entirely of Love. Our mission is to spread the word with no fear of the consequences. Public humiliation, mockery, imprisonment and even death. But if this is what must happen if we are to spread the word, how would we feel if someone who does not fully understand what we are doing stands in front of us and says "No, you can't, you would get hurt..." It's not about us! It's about Him.
You have to ask, how do I love? How you answer that will shape your entire life.

"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" He did not say "Accept the cross if it comes" he says to Take it Up. To consciously and freely walk the path of suffering love if we are to be his followers. Take it up, actively!
You are meant to be a bearer of the divine love into the world, that is your mission. It takes a million forms but that it's basic purpose, and this will always involve suffering, because it means the path of self denial.

"What path are we walking? The path of self protection, or the path of Self emptying, self forgetting love? Everything else will depend upon that question."

May the Peace and Grace of Christ Jesus remain always with you.
~Katherine

"Upon This Rock..."

"But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God."
Matthew 16:15-16


My blog today is about the scripture passage in Matthew, 16:13-20. This passage, I have discovered, is so conflicted between the Christian denominations. I myself ran into this conflict with my friend Colin.
Back in March he and I talked about it. Recall, if you will, the part of the passage here...

"Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matt 16:16-18)

According to my friend, Jesus was saying that he himself was the rock and that the church was built on him. 

However, this cannot be so. I have done so much research on this, I'm finding it quite hard to put into words!

So let me begin...I italicized the important words in the passage that I am going to be deciphering.

Four times in Galatians and four times in 1 Corinthians we have the Aramaic form of Simon's new name preserved for us. In out English Bibles it comes out as Cephas...That's not Greek, that's a transliteration(which means to represent letters or words written in one alphabet using the corresponding letters of another) of the Aramaic word Kepha.

Well what does Kepha mean? Why is it important? It means rock, the same as Petra. It doesn't mean little stone or pebble. What Jesus said to Simon was this "You are Kepha, and on this Kepha I will build my Church."

Does that make sense? 

Now I found an argument against this...

"If kepha means the same as petra, why don’t we read in the Greek, ‘You are Petra, and on this petra I will build my Church’? Why, for Simon’s new name, does Matthew use a Greek word, Petros, which means something quite different from petra?" 

The reason is that he had no choice. In Greek and Aramaic there are different grammatical structures. In Aramaic you can use Kepha in both places in Matthew 16:18. In Greek you encounter a problem arising from the fact that nouns take differing gender endings. You have masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns. The Greek word petra is feminine. You can use it in the second half of Matt 16:18 without trouble. But you can't use it as Simon's new name, because you can't give a man a feminine name(at least back then you couldn't. ;P) You have to change the ending of the noun to make it masculine. When you do that you get Petros, which was an already-existing word meaning rock. It's a rather imperfect rendering of the Aramiac...You lose part of the play on words. In English, we have 'Peter' and 'rock,' you lose all of it but really, that's the best you can do in Greek.

I took both Latin and Italian so I understand the whole grammatical situations. It makes so much sense to me.

However, those who have not taken another language don't understand this concept.

But if they really and truly wanted to understand the whole truth about this passage you would think one would go as far as looking up this bit of information. It is small, but small things make big differences.

Now, it is not only the translation that proves our belief, but also the interpretation and understanding of the structure of this verse. I would probably end up rambling for 3 pages before actually getting out what I'm trying to say so I found someone who described it very well...

"Look at the way Matthew 16:15-19 is structured. After Peter gives a confession about the identity of Jesus, the Lord does the same in return for Peter. Jesus does not say, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are an insignificant pebble and on this rock I will build my Church(That part is just great! Don't you agree?). . . . I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven." Jesus is giving Peter a three-fold blessing, including the gift of the keys to the kingdom, not undermining his authority. To say that Jesus is downplaying Peter flies in the face of the context. Jesus is installing Peter as a form of chief steward or prime minister under the King of Kings by giving him the keys to the kingdom. "
- Karl Keating

There, plain and simple yet quite thorough. Every time I am able to understand a verse in the Bible as much as there is knowledge of it, I become so happy! When I discovered these interpretations, guided to me by the grace of the Holy Spirit, I was crying tears of joy. I had the perfect refute to my friends accusations! =]

Ok, I got that cleared out of my system! Now let me talk a little bit about the Keys Jesus gave Peter. Our priest at Saint Aloysius did a very good job covering this, let me see if I can remember what he said, put into my own words of course!

In Matthew 16:19 Jesus says this;

"And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven."

First off, notice the word "Keys" is italicized and underlined. This word is connected with the other two words that are italicized. Why? Because Jesus gave Peter two keys. One key for binding; the ability to grant forgiveness, and one key for loosing; the ability to withhold forgiveness.(If I am remembering Fathers homily correctly...Might be vice-versa.)

Sound familiar at all? Since then, men known as priests have been given the ability and responsibility to forgive and withhold forgiveness of our sins confessed to them.

This is what I have to say about this past Sunday's reading. It is my favorite for two reasons. One: Because it shows us that Jesus passed on his authority to Peter and all the Pope's that were to follow. He made sure to take care of us through all generations. Number two: Because I get to show protestants the Truth about Peter and all the Popes.

May the Grace of God remain always with you!
God Bless,

~Katherine

The First Wedding and 2011 Renaissance Faire.

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 
John 2:1-2


August 13th came along. Us four girls woke up early to head over to the church to get ready since we were all bridesmaids. We got to the church and met up with the other bridesmaid and the bride herself. It was rather chaotic since we were running a little late and we needed to take pictures at 11:30. We were finally ready at 11:45 and we rushed about like ninja's making sure to avoid my brother and his groomsmen since they weren't allowed to see the bride. After the pictures of us and the bride and the bride with her parents, we four bridesmaids found John and had our pictures taken with the family. It was a very beautiful moment!
At 12:30 the bridesmaids went back into our little preparation room for last minute cleaning. Then all the bridal party(except the bride) met outside the main church area(haha oh my goodness I can't think of the name of that area.) and wait for 1 o'clock to come. We all got in place, the music started and we all headed down the isle.
Once we were all by the Alter I watched John's face as Vannessa appeared in her beautiful wedding gown. His face lit up in the biggest smile! I won't talk you through the whole ceremony because that would be rather boring for you so I'll just fast-forward to when the ceremony was over. They gathered the wedding party together for pictures in the Church and then we all drove to a park not too far from where we were having the reception, at Saint Patrick's church. 
The picture taking was pretty funny because the bride and groom gave us all really cool looking sunglasses which we wore through most of the pictures; Bride and groom included. ;) It'll make for a very entertaining moment when they're old and they look through their wedding pictures!
After that we headed to the reception hall and there was food and speeches and dancing and shear merriment! =) At one point, when my brother and his new wife preformed a choreographed first dance I did start bawling my eyes out. Mostly because I was reminded of how goofy my brother is, and all the great times we've had just goofing off.
So yeah, the bride and groom left at 10, we started cleaning and left at about 12:30 and didn't get home until about 1 o'clock AM! It was crazy and tiring but well worth it!

The next day was Sunday the 14th and I had planned to go to an event called the Renaissance Faire with some friends at around 12 after Church. After finding out the day before that half of them were not coming I discovered I would be left with Colin...Again. I didn't want that so I recruited my tow sisters, Marie and Anne and also our cousin Kasey. After Sunday mass we all rushed to the bathrooms and got dressed in our makeshift Renaissance costumes (EVERYONE at the event dresses up, it's so much fun!). Before taking off I found out Colin had also recruited 2 friends. When we got there I found out it was the friend of his I met and hung out with at Creation Fest, Claire. She's a pretty interesting girl. 3 years younger than me but she tries to act older, especially around Colin. She imitates everything he does, which, at times, gets rather annoying. It was hard enough dealing with one immature person...lol. The other friend of theirs was my sister Anne's age but she looked way older so she just talked with Colin and Claire.
I was rather disappointed in Colin that day. I invited him(and a bunch of others, mind you.) to this event and he acted more immature than normal. I don't know, just making little remarks here and there that would tick me off a bit, especially in front of my sisters.
Anyway, after watching a VERY cool acrobatic show held by a group called the Cavallo Equestrians(Soooo amazing!) We met up with Sarah, our old music coordinator at Church. She hung with us the rest of the day and I just kind of ignored Colin. At 4 there was the Jousting Tournament held by the same group. It was pretty sweet, though a little disappointing compared to 2 years ago the first time I went. I think one reason would be that near the end one of the guys hurt his hand as he and another were riding past each other as they do for jousting. It was rather sad but I did get to pet one of the horses that was ridden by the more good-looking rider. ;D
Anyway, at 5:30 Colin and the other two left and the rest of us stayed until it was over at 6.
All in all I had fun, I really enjoy that kind of stuff, it really gives my imagination a swift kick to the rear and now I want to start writing again.The problem is I have no time anymore. I worked almost everyday this past week, and on my off day, Tuesday and Friday I was too tired to do anything. (Ok so on Tuesday I did go hiking up Mt. Peak with my brothers James and Peter but then I was too tired to do anything else...)

Well, I guess I'm all caught up now! Yesterday I did have to work at the Farmers Market, but there's not much to talk about other than I worked 10 hours in 80 degree weather. x)

Now that I am all caught up, I think I'm going to do this blog a little different. I was thinking of, from now on, only writing about Sundays. After hearing the Gospel and Father's homily today I discovered I really want to share my own opinions on the readings. And this would help since I haven't really talked about my opinions on this amazing Faith we share.

So! Starting next blog it will only be on the Sunday's readings, and maybe whatever other religious things I did that week. I might do one tonight if I'm not too tired(I work today) since it is my favorite and the post widely conflicted reading I have ever known.


God Bless and keep you!
~Katie

What to expect next:
Sunday the 21st of Auguts Gospel reading. "Upon this Rock I will build my Church."

Where I left off.

 Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O LORD. 

Psalm 25:6, 7

I decided I should start my blog posts with a Bible verse from now on, because I haven't really talked too much about my religious life. But if you haven't noticed, the pictures I've been posting with my blogs kind of portray my feelings.
Once I am all caught up with the recent events I will talk about some of my many realizations and discoveries in my faith. =)So, let me begin! I left off talking about my new job and I will begin thus the same way. The weekend I got my job, the 6th, was both exciting, exhausting and angering. Exciting in 2 ways. 1) I was scheduled to work at the Farmers Market from 7am to 4pm. Number 2) because my brother, James, who was in Ethiopia for a year, was coming home. It was exhausting because of how long I worked, 10 hours! That's the most I've ever worked for a paying job! It was angering in 2 ways also. 1) Because I had to work on the day my family was picking up my brother from the train station. I wanted to go so badly! And number 2) I rushed toward home as soon as I got off work, only to discover that Saturday mass started at 5, in less than 15 minutes. So(After seeing my family drive past me, frustrating!!) I turned the car around and headed to Church. Lucky for me I brought an extra shirt otherwise I'd be going to church feeling seriously dirty. Anyway, after that I got home and was really expecting a happy and lighthearted attitude, something refreshing from the work atmosphere(I found out my boss is a LOT like my dad...which isn't exactly a good thing...). I was wrong. For some reason my dad was in the worst mood. After we ate a quick dinner we sat around together and talked about everything. I was so tired I was falling asleep on the couch. All of a sudden my dad wanted us to do the dishes. Now we have(or had) a rule in the house that if you worked more than 8 hours at a PAYING job you got out of most chores. I reminded my dad of this but he dismissed it. Well...Let me just say I wasn't happy. I asked my mom who said I didn't have to, but than I got my mom yelled at by my dad, who in turn made me do dishes. Now you must be asking "Why didn't you just do the dishes and save the household the yelling?" I wish I could have, I really wish so. Looking back on the day I feel so foolish. But honestly, it is unfair when you have 4 other kids to do dishes for the easiest dinner in the world(Pizza) forcing the only working kid to do it as well. 
I gave up at first and did some of the dishes but my temper got the better of me(As you may have noticed this is my ultimate weakness. I am trying so hard to just let things go but lately it's been so hard!) and I stormed out of the kitchen, up to my room, got ready for bed and went to sleep. That was such a horrible night.
However, the next day was rather nice. August 7th was my mom's 50th birthday. Thankfully when I woke up my dad and two younger sisters were out shopping. I woke up to find my mom floating in our pool on one of two kayaks!
I went on the porch and talked with her a bit, enjoying her very delighted and happy attitude and then went down and talked with her. When my dad came home I just ignored his rude behavior and was obedient. The rest of the day was very nice, we went to the lake where we all got to try out my mom (and dad's) new kayak. It makes me very happy to see how happy she is when she is out on the water. =)
Later we had her open some gifts. A couple of the gifts were humorous, like the very large sunglasses, the tiara(AHH! I didn't like that one) and the jiggling-giggling baby doll...Haha!!
Over all it was a great and refreshing day. =)
The next day, August 8th, I had work which really occupied all of my day, and sadly it was a slow day so there isn't much to talk about. I didn't have work on August 9th until 6 to 9 so I really just used that day to relax.

On the 10th it was my friend Colin's birthday so I sent him a quick text...."So the other day I was walking down the road when I saw a frog sitting on a log and then the frog said Hi and started singing in an opera voice and then this crow comes because he's annoyed with the frog but he got shot down with an arrow by an indian who was hiding on the top of a powerline who was the frogs friend and then a llama walks down the road but it really wasnt a llama because it unzipped what appeared to be a llama and revealed a bunch of capuchin monkeys with machine guns who chased after the indian down the road and then I looked back and the frog was gone.............Oh yeah.....Happy Birthday too!"

 Apparently that made his day so it made mine as well. I noticed he seemed upset but I didn't want to comment on it unless he brought it up...which he didn't. So I ignored it and my mom convinced me to go to the lake with my her for kayaking at 12:30. 
That was very fun! We went all around the lake and then went on a walk around the lake as well. Walking was 1.5 miles, so I'm guessing kayaking was at least 1 mile. On the walk there were SO many huckleberries! I'm surprised people to sell them...*shrug*
On the way back we stopped by Safeway to grab lunch. As we were passing some sandwiches I remembered a very funny day that Colin and I experience after volunteering at Creation Fest. So I took a picture and sent it to him. Again, it brightened his day. We got to talking and I discovered his two siblings and mom were away in Colorado for a couple weeks and his dad was always at work. So, I kept him company by text. It gave me something to do as well since I had no work. =P
The rest of the day was pretty normal, fooled around during dishes and choked on some water, watched Batman: The Dark Night and then headed to bed.
On August 11th I worked from 12 to 8 which is closing, but I found out I was closing alone. At first I thought it'd be hard/kind of scary but I really enjoyed the silence.
August 12th was a bit crazy. I started work at 7:30 and opened the store with a couple of others as well as help unload a freight that was delivering our order for the weekend. I didn't get off until 2 then I headed home only to leave an hour or so later to go to Saint Andrew's church (A church about 20 minutes away) for my brother John's wedding rehearsal. 
As we rehearsed, reality set in. In only less than 24 hours my older brother, the goofball of the family, was getting married! Everyone in the wedding party was there, I could tell both he and his fiance Vannessa were seriously stressed and tired. We did our best and after two tries we had it down. After that we all headed to our house for the rehearsal dinner. We made a lot of food, but to my mom's disappointment only about half of the party came. Oh well...we had too much on our minds to really care. (Though I know that Vannessa was upset with her Maid of Honor for not coming.) Finally everyone left and we all got ready for the big day...............
Which will be coming in my next post! Thanks for the patience with me. ;)

God Bless!
~Katie

Nonreligious but very beautiful. I love the innocence of this picture.

Again with the putting off!

What is with me? Hmm? I said I would write more again the next day but obviously not.
Sheesh! So where was I? Well, let me think.
After Creation Fest things just mellowed down. On the 24th we went to my brother John's new house. It's right by a river so we spent the day swimming and roasting marshmallows 'round a fire. Even my dad came later, which is a first! It was very pleasant but I was so pumped up from the previous days that I really was kind of bored. That same night I watch the stars for a moment before bed. Space is, to me, among God's greatest creations. We have no idea how large it is, it goes on forever! Everything is sooo big and beautiful, yet powerful and dangerous. I love space, truly I do! But it's the creepy sci-fi junk that seriously freaks me out. Aliens? Pheh! If there are aliens then leave them be. They haven't bothered us! ;) (Yuuuuk! I can't stand even thinking of it! Gives me the chills, seriously!)
25th? Meh, I did nothing...Again!
Anyway, on the 26th I went to my brother's house again and helped out with some wedding programs that needed to be cut out and glued and such. We got about 100 programs done that night and the boys tied bows on bubbles...Haha! On the 27th we got news that my other brother(James) who was in Ethiopia landed in New York! One step closer to home. =) Later on I went up Mt. Peak with my neighbor and a friend from school(Who also knew my neighbor) it was very nice to go with a couple of girls for once. ;P Also found out that a job that I got an interview at said they were not hiring...which kind of ruined the day.
But on the 28th I had a lot of fun! I went up Mt. Peak again with 4 friends(1 of which was Colin and the others I knew from school) It was so much fun! I love going with groups! I was also invited to join Colin at a friend of ours house for a sort of adult bible study. I had been invited before but was leery of going just because I would be the only Catholic there and I wasn't sure what they would be talking about. However, after much chatting on a Catholic forum (Best darn Catholic question answering site EVER! http://forums.catholic.com/ ) and much prayer and a lot of Bible reading on my own time I felt I was ready so I said sure, why not?
So at 7 I met with them at our friends' house. His dad was the leader of the "fellowship" and his mom helped. So the topic for the day was "Unanswered Prayers". There were only a couple of people there, Colin and his older brother, a girl I didn't know and Mike. Anyway, the discussion began with the verse from the Bible "Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in My name." John 15
So the leader, Jerry, started on it like this "Is it true that God answers ALL of our prayers?" and he went on to give examples prayers for good weather, or prayers for a sports team to win, or prayers that something would be done to someone you dislike.
Their groups answer was something along the lines "It's the way you pray. You need the right faith, you need the right motive, you need earnestness,  and perseverance otherwise the prayer goes off to Limbo."
Interesting. Very interesting. I basically sat back and listened to how they discussed everything.(I was kind of taking notes for if we(My parish) ever starts a Young Adult group.)
At one point toward the end of the talk when Jerry posed the question to us again "Does God not answer some questions?" I finally got up the courage to say what WE, Catholics, believe.
"God answers ALL questions, but not always in the way we want them to be answered." This seemed to satisfy them for a bit and they seemed to take note, but then they just went on talking about motives and perseverance and such.
Oh well, plant a seed, right? =)
After 45 minutes of talking we played a game called "Catch Phrase" for about half an hour(I came to hate that game. I'm sooo bad at describing things!) and then we sat around a fire talking about everything from video games and movies to randomness. It was actually rather pleasant.
On the 29th I was so depressed. I have no idea what came over me. I went of Mt. Peak again with Colin and a friend of ours from school, but we finished in about 30 minutes and when I got home I wanted to do something more. Finally at around 8 I took off in my car and just drove around, I was so depressed! I sat in the parking lot of a soccer field for an hour listening to music and watching a kid kick a soccer ball around, who was soon joined by 2 others to play.
Finally I drove home to discover my little sister had not told my parents where I went so I had to face them. It wasn't too bad but it did not help with my mood.
So I got on facebook and was pleasantly surprised that Colin and the other friend were online and we began to talk. Within 15 minutes I was feeling better. =) I went to bed at around 10, but not before reading the Bible. I really wish I talked more about my experience with reading the Holy Book, because I'm finally in Galatians!! =) Almost done!
Anyway, on the 30th we finally went and did something! We all woke up early and got ready to go to the Ride4Us event that was taking place not too far away. It is a Pro-Life event where all the money goes to buying ultrasounds for pregnant women and doctor offices. Basically you can ride, walk, run or have fun. Half of my family did the 5k walk(3 miles) and me and my two younger sisters did the 10k(6 miles) walk. It was great! The area was beautiful and the sun was shining. After we finished the walk and lunch we volunteered with the Toddler Tent. I was really looking forward to playing with the tiny kids, but I was put in charge of a bouncy house. Gosh! Those kids are crazy on those things!! I'm surprised none of them snapped their necks! =S
Anyway yeah, I then went to Saturday night mass, but on the way home I stopped by a produce stand to turn in my application. I heard they were hiring so I thought why not? I got there and was told to come back in Tuesday for an interview. Yeah, that fast! I thought it was weird too. Soo that was pretty much that day. Overall it was great! =)
On the 31st I woke up relatively early and got ready to go to another event called the Scottish Highland Games. Lots of music and food but all Scottish! Bagpipes are so cool...Haha.
Anyway, I met up with Colin there, but was rather depressed when I discovered the other people I invited to come as well couldn't or didn't make it. We ran into two other friends...Lame. Plus, it rained. That really dampened everything! But I guess it was alright, I got to do something, haha. At around 5:30 the event was ending so Colin and I left and went our separate ways. I had to head to Red Robin for my brother's Finace's sort of bachlorette dinner. It was just a bunch of us bridesmaids talking and such. The only cool part was that I drove all the way home, on a 70mph road! x)
On the 1st I just chilled. I didn't want to think of what tomorrow might bring(Since I was going back to the produce stand for an interview) so I laid in bed and read the Bible. Later on at about 6 o'clock my mom and I went on a bike ride into town and back. Overall it was 6 miles, and only took 40 minutes! (Which is good timing for us. =P)
Now...for the day that changed my life!! Dun dun duuuuuuun!
I woke up at about 7:45 and got ready for the interview. It's a produce stand so I didn't really have to dress up or anything. I left and got there at 10 and met with the lady who I was told was going to interview me. After a couple of minutes of waiting she took me in the back and interviewed me. It wasn't bad, they were very desperate. However, in the interview she asked me some simple math questions and I froze up back. While I was doing one problem I said a quick prayer, and after I answered she said now I had to pass a sort of test. I was to go into the store for about 15-30 minutes and memorize as many prices as I could.
WHAT?? As I walked around I was more praying than memorizing. x) I think my prayers were answered(in a different way than I wanted) because it wasn't for a whole hour when she finally took me back and "tested" me. It was really really busy over there at the time so she had to stop halfway and go back in. In the meantime I went back in and memorized more. A half hour passed when she finally said I passed and that now she needed to talk to the owner who was in charge of everything. She told me I could stay or go home because he would be there in a couple of minutes. I said I'd stay.
Argh....I waited around another hour watching the chaos. The owner never even arrived. The lady was desperate though, I watched her go about with only 2 other workers. She finally stopped and turned to me "Can you work right now?" I said yes. "Ok good, you're hired. Come over here and watch me do this."
So I was hired on the spot. I HAVE A JOB!!!
For the next hour or two I stood by her while she did the register. It wasn't too bad and she was really nice about it. At about 2:30 after Tilling out (Or Z-ing out as they called it) I was able to go home. I was to work the next day from 8am to 2pm.
Thus my working life has begun again!!
I have a bit more to tell you but this blog post is already long enough as it is. So, I will continue again when I get the chance! I must leave for work now, haha.

God Bless!
~Katie.

                                                     
(Jesus working with his earthly father, Joseph.)

I always put this off!

Oh come on! I know I can do better than this...
Geesh, now I have to cover 3 weeks worth of happenings in 30 minutes!!

So I left off on the 13th.

Using my trust facebook statuses, here we goooooo!

July 14th: Not much to say here. I was bored all day, kind of depressed too. SO I'll just skip! ;)

July 15th: After a failed attempt to make rice crispys with my mom (Don't ever use old marshmallows!!) I went up Mt. Peak with Colin, Anne and lil Peter. It was very fun, but note to self: lil brothers and somewhat immature guys together = chaos! He was telling Peter about guys stuff, like Guns before girls and such. Talking about cars and guns and all that crazy stuff. So, I wanted to get my revenge so I poured my remaining bottle of water(1/4 of the bottle) on his head. Baaaad idea! My little brother defended his new-found friend by dumping his own bottle on MY head. So...We both went home wet. It was actually really funny. ;)

July 16th: Didn't do much that day, the sky was cloudy so I stayed inside. Toward evening my sisters and I got on facebook and exchanged some really funny pictures. ;D It was quite amusing!

July 17th: Nothing done that day...Saddness!!

July 18th: At about 2 Colin and I trekked up Mt. Peak (After a failed attempt to recruit more people...) and then  we had pizza and Starbucks on the way home, just to waste some of the day. It was nice.

July 19th: At 12 I went up Mt. Peak with a couple of other friends from school, it was a nice change. ;P Here's the funny thing. One of them was talking about how they wished they could make it to an event that was happening in a neighboring town called Creation Fest, but she had work. I realized everyone I knew was volunteering and I felt sad that I couldn't go either. (Creation Fest = a big gathering of Christians to worship God through music and concerts and just fun stuff. I had never been before but heard great things about it)
So, I went home and was on facebook at 3 and I got an email from a church friend saying she knew someone who needed volunteers at a vendor. Her question: Would I like to? My Answer: HECK YES!(Please excuse my use of the word heck.) So after some exchanging of emails over a 4 hour period and then some phone calls, it was decided I was to work the next day at a vendor for the organization called "Invisible Children".
(By then it was too late to finish The Fellowship of the Ring that I was in the process of watching, haha!!)

July 20th -23rd: Oh boy, I will write about this and then go to bed because WARNING, there is a LOT.
So, the 20th I got to Safeway at 12 because I was to meet my volunteer partner there. She was half an hour late so we got to our stand finally at around 2:00. (There was a half hour line for parking once we got there. x) ) so we introduced each other, set up and the doors opened at 4:00. At about 4:20 or so Colin came over(he was just done volunteering) and just talked with me. Haha, he even brought me a doughnut...
That day I stood for a solid 10 hours!! I did get a couple of half hour breaks to get lunch and such(which I spent with friends instead) and after some convincing of my partner we packed up at 10(with the help from Colin and a friend of his, Claire) and after my partner left I hung around with friends for half an hour.
I had to pack all the merchandise into my car because that volunteer wasn't coming back in the morning but I was. Sooo yeah, I finally got home at 11, was forced to eat a dinner because I hadn't eaten all day, and then went to bed!
I got to the vendors at 8:30 on the 21st and met my next volunteer partner(who was also half an hour late) at 9:30 when the doors opened. I liked him though, he was very outgoing and did a lot of the work. x)
He was also very flexible and I was able to leave at 4:30 to hang out with my friends the rest of the day. That day was GREAT! So yeah, I went home at 10:30.
On the 22nd I got to the vendors again at 8:30 and set up while I waited for my next volunteer partner(yes, another). Though she was late it wasn't her fault because the "guards" mistook her for a customer. xP
I really enjoyed working with her too! She had so much experience. Anyway, I got out at 1:30 and met up with my friends to hang out. I kept going back to the vendor to work half an hour shifts while I let my partner look around and get lunch. But anyway, at around 9:30 I was finally done for the day and met up with my friends. Apparently Colin was in trouble by his parents, who had been gone all week, for not doing a couple of things right. So we comforted him before he left(apparently his mom was seriously ticked!) and then he left at 10:20 and I left at 10:24(yes, I remember the exact time.)
On the 23rd I got to the vendor at 8:30 again and HUZZAH! I got the same partner. ;) Unfortunately I was only able to work until 12:30 due to the fact that I had to get home for my dads birthday. I met Colin on the way out who told me he actually hadn't gotten in trouble yet because his parents were asleep when he got home the night before. Sooo, I was off home and he was off to his doom. On our way out we ran into a friend who was wearing a kilt and playing the bagpipes!(This guy is hilarious!!) so he played a song before Colin left, and then a tribute to him as he was leaving. I left soon after.
I spent two hours at home just sleeping and the rest doing nothing. Sad, I know. So I decided I was going to spend the last day at Creation Fest, well, at Creation Fest! I ate dinner with my family and then wrapped my dads gifts and at 7:30 I met Colin at Safeway. We wandered a Street Fair before going to Creation Fest at 8(At the street fair we got mistaken as a couple...That was quite awkward). At the festival we wandered around with some of his friends from his church and my friends from my Church. At 9 the final concert, Skillet, came on. It. Was. EPIC! I'll have to post the video for it here in my next post.
Anyway, so the day ended with VERY loud music but with also a grand memory engraved in my brain. =) It was just such an amazing experience!

Now, I know I rushed it a whole lot(I skipped a bunch of detail from Creation Fest sadly), but I really need to go to bed! And I shall tell you why tomorrow. ;)

Good night and God Bless!
~Katie

(The Skillet concert! <3)

Challenging

Just a small blog.
For the past 2 weeks I have been going to daily Mass. It is a very relaxing way to start out my day. Our new priest is very inspirational and I love listening to his homilies. But there's something I've noticed about this week...Everday morning so far, right as Father is preparing the Meal, the sun shines brilliantly and just really illuminates the Mass. It has happened everyday so far. =)
I think God is trying to cheer me up and give me hope. I've been having trouble trying to figure out what to do about the fact that my friends, the ones from college, are Presbyterian. I want to hang out with them so much and go to their Bible Studies and Youth Group, but I know what they teach isn't the Truth and it really frustrates me. I need Catholic teens to hang with but I don't know where to go to look for them.
 I want to show them(my friends) all the Truth but I realize that that is nearly impossible. Their church is really big, with lots of people and little kids. (All the more reason to try and convert them. Those kids are our next generation)
It really gets me down when all I can do is just "plant the seeds" of the Truth...I can't fully convert them in a day/week/month/year. It would take so long...
I guess I just need to really wait and be patient for our own Parish to start activities for the kids. I will definitely be willing to volunteer as a leader! I have so many ideas now...I just hope we can get some of the people back that left because of our old priest.

All I can do is pray and trust in the Lord to do what needs to be done...

"Our Father, who art in  Heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, They will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven..."

God Bless and Peace be with you!
~Katherine

Church...<3

Finally Freedom Rings! (Part 3)

Just gonna get right back to where I was!
July 6th we took some time off from all the crazy holiday stuff and went to a beach we usually go to every year. I'm not fond of beaches at all, and that day I just really missed our beautiful forest back home. Here we were on a very beautifully sunny day and I was at one of my least favorite places. Don't get me wrong, I love the beach, but only the ones with the vast ocean in front of you with the high rocky cliffs. Not this beach...it's tiny and public and everyone and their dogs go there, haha. Anyway, I was just very happy to go back home that night, the countryside is the life for me, everything smells clean, looks clean and feels clean. As my facebook status said "Hooooome sweet home!"

July 7th I really didn't do anything. I was getting really depressed about the job searching I had started. Nothing was coming from all the applications I had put out and no one was calling me. I was going back and asking about them, but still, nothing happened. So yeah, that day I prayed to God to help me with job hunting. Also, I believe it was the same day, I finally got into the New Testament! I felt so at home reading those familiar verses. That made my night! (I am currently just finishing up on John.)

July 8th this day was exactly what I was praying for! I went out as planned and checked in at the places I had put my applications in at, one of which was a clothing store I was really hoping to get a job at. It was my first stop so I was nervous. All I planned on doing was talking to the hiring manager about my application, which was exactly what I got...Plus more. We talked a little bit and then he asked me to follow him to his Office. There he gave me a quick interview! I was so excited, I think I did really good, considering it was unplanned and I was unprepared. He said he would call me within the coming week, so I've had my fingers crossed the whole time. Pray for me! (It's Wednesday and I'm going to call Thursday, even though he said he would call...Why do I have a bad feeling about this?)

July 9th - ?

July 10th very refreshing, our new priest is just so good at what he does, I find myself leaning forward to listen to his homily, instead of going off in my own little world and not paying attention to mass at all. I could feel hope rising in me, God was working his wonders in our lives, slowly but quite surely. And to express my joy, I get to share an experience I have not had for quite a few years. After mass I built up the courage to talk to Father about something I had wanted to do. A couple weeks ago after going to confession I noticed our Parish flower garden was very overgrown, if my memory served me correctly it had been way too long since it had been weeded. As a little girl I had always loved playing in the garden, it had a beautiful fountain and a statue of Mary in a little grotto, and a big rock that all the kids loved to climb on. Now the fountain is broken, the Mary statue was surrounded by thorns and moss, and the rock had grass growing just as tall as it.
So, I asked Father if I could weed it. My mom warned me that he may not allow it since he's not quite familiar on what we do and don't do and all. But I decided to ask anyway. To my great relief and joy he said of course and to come by any time. =) I asked my two sisters, Marie and Anne, if they would like to come with me, and then we also got some of our younger cousins to help out! If felt like old times, only...I was the sort of "youth leader". I can definitely see myself doing something like this in the future. Anyway, we got a quarter of the garden done and now we're just waiting for good weather to work on it again. Life is good!

July 11th I didn't do much in the morning, just daily mass. But at 1:30 I went up Mt. Peak with my sister Anne and I invited Colin. It was a very funny experience. She is a very shy person and doesn't really like talking, plus she wasn't use to climbing as fast as us. So at one point, while taking a large drink of water I told her not to drown herself by gulping so fast. Colin laughed because he has never heard that expression. Then, while her mouth was full of water he began to poke fun by turning his voice a pitch higher and said "Don't droooown Anne! Don't drown!" With that, she burst out all the water and laughed. It was really funny! =) I'm glad she came, we don't often hang out together.

July 12th....Absolutely nothing...I'm serious! Nothing done! Morning mass, lounged around all day, read the Bible and then watched a movie that night. Exciting right? Ahhhhh!

July 13th today wasn't too different really. Went to morning mass with my mind wide open, read the Bible, turned in some applications at McD's and Taco Time. Later I was told mom had a book for me from the library. YAY! Excitement! I had been waiting for this.
Last week I got a book from the Library called The Centurion's Wife. It is a really good Christian book, about the days following Jesus' death. The main character is the niece of Pilate, and she is soon betrothed to a Centurion who is given the order to discover a mystery of a missing body. A prophet's body. Can you guess who? Jesus! The outcome was rather obvious but I really enjoyed the whole thing. Anyway, today I got the second book, so far it's just as good! It's really making me wish I had lived in Jesus' time, to see all of his miracles and be with all of his disciples. But I have to remind myself of what Jesus said "Blessed are those you do not see but believe" In the book it talks about how some of the first believers were having trouble believing as well, since they had not seen but how God kept revealing himself to them through little miracles. I've taken note of this, since I will admit that I am having trouble concentrating on my faith. From my lack of job, my dads lack of job, the questions unanswered about my friends and what impact they have on my life...And really where I'm going in life.
I'm trying to open my heart and eyes to God and trust in him to show me what I'm looking for.
I constantly feel that I'm being challenged by my Presbyterian about my faith, even though they themselves have not done anything to challenge me but have invited me to do things with them. Why is it disturbing me so much? Is it the fact that I'm afraid that I can't defend my faith? Or is it that I'm frustrated that they wont accept me as a Catholic. I just want to be friends without worrying about them pestering me and making me doubt what I know for a fact is the truth. Arghhh!

Lord Jesus, let Your prayer of unity for Christians 
become a reality, in Your way
we have absolute confidence 
that you can bring your people together
we give you absolute permission to move
Amen

So! Now I'm all caught up and I hope to post another blog before things get too busy!

God Bless and I hope you are stronger in this faith of ours than I am!
~Katherine

P.S. Some sites that have helped me through my time of distress and a bit of confusion.
http://forums.catholic.com/
http://www.davidmacd.com/catholic/index2.htm

Finally Freedom Rings! (Part 2)

Erm...Oops?
The day after I posted my last blog things got really busy with Independence day and all. And now I have even more to talk about! Oh well, I'll do everything as brief as possible, haha.

So where did I leave off?
Oh yes, the day after my little brother's birthday, the 27th. Not too much happened that day, walked 5 miles and then just waited out the day. Sooo moving on, the 28th! This day is part of the reason for the title of my blog.
So...That evening we headed to my brother's fiance's house. See, her mom has a car...It's her mom's car. (John's   fiance's grandma) and well, they needed to get rid of it fast because they needed the room in their garage.
So that evening my sister and I came home with a car....Did you hear me?? A CAR! WHOOOOO!!!

This is the car, it's a 1997 Saturn SL1, it's in amazing condition for it's age and it is awesome. We named it The Green Bean. ;D

By the time we got home it was too dark for me to drive, I didn't trust myself driving at nigh after not driving at all for 3 months. So instead I cleaned it out and everything! It was very fun. =)
The next morning on the 29th I drove it once only a little ways away, then around our town and then I went out again with my younger sister Marie in tow. It was so cool, I had freedom at last!
But that about sums up that day. On the 30th nothing too much happened. I went out and picked up/turned in some job applications and got discouraged at how many were online now. You never ever hear back from the people when the applications are online. So that evening, to lift my spirits my sisters and I listed to Bagpipe and Irish folk music. ;) Love that kind of music, makes you happy and is easy to dance to!
I believe that night I also picked up the Bible again. I was getting excited because pretty soon I would leave the Old Testament and start on the New Testament, I love reading about the disciples and Jesus. =)

Ahh now for July 1st. That was a rather discouraging and hardening day. I was really excited to take The Green Bean to Mt. Peak and go up with Colin. I had planned to go up at 12 once my family left for Cosco. I got a text from Colin asking if 12:30 would be ok. I said sure, that's only half an hour later, right?
Then he asked to change it to 1:00...I was rather upset by now because I realized my family might be home by then and my sister needed the car. I masked my disappointment and said fine. So, I'm getting ready but I couldn't wait any longer so I left and went to the library first. I waited there 20 minutes before he said he was on his way. By then it was 1:20. So I left and waited at the base for another 10, now 1:30. He got there and we went up, I forgot all about my rising anger and we talked a bunch. (Firs he did have to inspect my car, that made me laugh. ;P)
However, things got a little bumpy about 2/3rd the way up. He said he had to leave because he had a piano lesson. I got rather mad and said he could leave then. He said he would get in trouble by my parents if he left me but I told him I was going to make it to the top with or without him. We walked a little way on and then he said he really had to go, so I said bye and we parted.
I was so furious right then. I knew I wasn't allowed to be up the Peak alone, but I really didn't care and now that I look back on it I realize it was a really bad idea. (Just because it's a wooded trail and who knows what kind of creeper is up there waiting)
Anyway, the reason I was so angry was that he didn't tell me he had to leave and he knows that every time we go up we ALWAYS go to the top, and plus he made me wait an hour and a half. I ran the whole way down and acquired a side ache and my calves cramped up. I swore this would never happen again and I'd never bother asking anyone to come with me ever again.
I got to the bottom a little calmer, still angry, and went to my car. There under the windshield wiper was a dandelion. I just stopped and stared at it a moment and looked around. Was it just because he was feeling guilty for leaving me or was it that plus something else? C'mon, the first thing you'd think was that...well...never mind it sounds stupid.
Anyway my second thought was that he was trying to make up for leaving, so I took the little flower and put it in the car. I got a text from him asking if I had made it down yet, and after leaving and stopping by Safeway(a grocery store) I said "Yes, I did. I was driving."
I hate to admit it, but when I'm angry at someone I show it. I'm trying to work on that.
Anyway, the next text from him just made me all the more angry. He said that "That was good. I got to meet your car! I gave it a flower since it's going to save me a ton of pain. xP" He was referring to the fact that he always had to drive me home after the Peak. I reassured him that he never HAD to.
The next texts were only very brief. The little rat...Why would he even put a flower in the windshield if it wasn't something else? Why would anyone do that because it would save them "pain"? Arghhh!! Why are guys so confusing?
*Sigh of frustration*
Anywho, when I got back at around 3:00 my was home but I left again when my sister told me to fill up the tank. Using that time I decided to text Colin and sort of just talk to give the impression that I was over the whole situation(which I wasn't) I told him that my sister didn't need the car after all and we talked about what I could do instead. I ended up getting myself some ice cream and driving around. Finally he had to go and I went home, my family didn't get back till about 5:00. And then I made a mistake. I told my mom about what happened and she became angry about it saying he should have stayed anyways, like a gentleman. Then, what usually happens after I talk to my mom about anything, she goes and tells everyone. Now half my family doesn't like Colin for this reason. (My mom even told my dad...BIG mistake! He called him an idiot today...) Anyway, it wasn't entirely his fault, half of it was my own selfishness at going up anyway knowing I'd be alone. I was over it all but my mom isn't...Oh well, that's life.
That night I watched a cute movie with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck called "Roman Holiday" really cute movie!
Later on, since I had more time, I watched the first X-men movie(still trying to get over everything). I was really surprised I liked it! I got hooked and watched the rest over the course of the week.
ANYWAY! Rambling!
On the 2nd: The 1 year anniversary of my eldest brother James leaving for Ethiopia! I can't believe it has been a whole year...It was a weird feeling...I haven't heard his voice for a whole year! Everyone else has on the phone, I just never got to talk to him because I was always away or busy. So I'm really excited to see him! (He actually left yesterday for Addis Ababa where he'll stay for 3 days before heading to New York, where he'll stay for 3 weeks before coming home, so excited!!)
That day I went on a walk into town with Marie, but we went at the hottest time of day (2-4) and we got kind of sun burnt, haha. We were hit on a couple of times, once by a bunch of guys in a car ad then by a kid who looked 14. Sheesh, the kids these days just creep me out. =S
On the 3rd it was a Sunday and a very exciting Sunday at that!
We got to meet our new priest, Father Ludvik! He is just so great, he is truly a God-send! I am still thanking God for sending such a kind person. He is so animated and happy and we can understand him clearly! He loves to sing and he loves youth and gardening! I'm bursting at the seams with joy! Do you have any idea how great this will be for our tiny Parish? God Is Good!
Ahh, anyway, after Mass we started getting ready for Independence day by cleaning and went out to see my brother and his fiance's house! It is the cutest place ever, out in the country by a river! SCORE! Haha, after that we went out and bought some fireworks and lit them off that night as we usually do each year.
The 4th of July was probably the best we have had for about 3 years. He were relaxed about everything for the first time. See, we usually invite all the family from both sides of the family and have a big grand old celebration! And usually they are really fun, but ever since our Grandpa died in 2003(give or take a year) nobody seems interest anymore. We've struggled to invite people in the past but people begrudgingly came. So this year we only invited a couple of people. However, here's where out plan came in, people started asking if we were doing anything, we said yes but didn't say anything more, so they asked if they could stop by! Hehe, we got quite a few people coming. ;D
But it was great, we had our cousins over(who we've never really gotten along with) and they were so nice! They brought an archery set and we had a sort of mini tournament. I must admit it wasn't really fair since they've gone to Nationals in tournaments and are really good, but I ignored that and just had fun. I ended up doing pretty good!
So....Here is the most exciting part about the whole Holiday! We were all playing Volleyball and having fun when dad was trying to find mom. I ran off to find her and found her at the street with a whole bunch of people. They were all surrounding my sister Jeanne and her boyfriend. I said dad was calling for mom and they all came over slowly, all with the biggest of smiles on their faces. I saw Jeanne and her boyfriend holding hands and smiling, Jeanne was holding a bouquet of a dozen red roses. I asked what was going on, Jeanne just smiled and stifled a giggle and held out her left hand. There, on her ring finger, was a shiny ring. My eyes widened and I hugged her! SHE'S ENGAGED!! Oh my goodness it was so exciting! And she could stop laughing! They announced it to everyone in the backyard and we celebrated. =)
Over all it was an AMAZING 4th of July and I thank God for blessing my sister with an amazing boyfriend-er...fiance. ;)
Sooo yeah, moving on.
The 5th of July was my little sister, Anne's, 15th birthday. We cleaned up and just celebrated as a family. The sun was shining so bright and warm...But I couldn't go out...Why you ask? Because I was so burnt from 4th of July that I hurt and looked like a lobster. Haha!
Anyway, not much else happened that day, but I thank God for watching over Kellie and keeping her safe all these 15 years! =)

I'm going to stop here now because this blog post is waaaay too long. I'll continue on a second blog!

God Bless!
~Katherine.

Finally Freedom Rings! (Part 1)

Hellooooooooo!
Yikes, so I haven't exactly posted in awhile. Bad habit!
Argh, and now I'm not sure where to start...Way too much! Well, to start off with I will just say that you know that little promise I made to myself about being nicer and such? Man, it sure is a lot easier said than done. I messed up so many times it's not even funny. But I haven't given up! I will keep trying of course...And I've noticed that the more I try the more God challenges me. I stumbled upon a sort of challenge today...But I'll get to that later on. Right now I'll just go down the line of what I've done so far in this new Summer year!

Sooo...Where to begin? Last post was the 16th, so I'll start with the following days, only in very brief detail. (Using facebook status' to remember, haha!)
The day after that I played hide and seek(the only thing I remember from that day lol) with my siblings and discovered that night isn't as dark as it used to be when we were little! I could see much easier than them so I felt like I was cheating.
On the 18th it rained a whole bunch so I couldn't go hiking. So instead I stayed at home and texted Colin while cooking 11 dozen chocolate chip cookies for my dad for fathers day! It was rather amusing, I also watched my little sister Anne play Wii fit and listened to my little brother, Peter, listen to 80's music! Good stuff, no? Oh yeah! And I also sat for 2 hours telling those two a story from a book and one I made up!

On Father's day we, unfortunately we left early from Church(my dad does that so often) so I missed out on saying hi to a friend who just came back from a filming college in California. But it was Father's Day after all so I had to suppress my disappointment and follow along. When we got home, however, my emotions got the better of me and I began to cry. My mom came into my room asking what was wrong and I told her I was having a hard time saying Happy Father's Day to dad. It's a horrible thought and I feel so ashamed for saying it now. But after a long talk with my mom I discovered something about my dad. He isn't like other dads, the kind that play with their kids and such, he is a Provider. He does everything in his power to provide for us, the food on our plates, the roof over our heads and the clothes on our back, whatever it takes. Sure some dads can do that and be happy, but I've learned to accept that difference because of what he has done for us. We have such a nice house and everything and now he is working hard to keep it that way without a job. I still get angry with him, but I'm trying, I really am! God please help me with my impatience with my dad.
Anyway, the rest of Father's Day went very well. He really liked the cookies so I am very glad about that!

So moving on, as of Monday the
20th I began walking/jogging every morning! On our treadmill using a Wii game so it wasn't as fun as out in nature, but oh well, it works! Since then I've walked a total of 16+ miles! =)
On the 21st it was the first day of summer and it was BEAUTIFUL! So I decided to spend it outside. Of course the only way to spend it outside was to go up our Mt. Peak. and the only way to go up Mt. Peak was to go with someone and that someone had to be Colin because everyone else is lazy. =P So yeah, I did that and worked on the garden. It was a great day!
On the 22nd it just rained a lot so I stayed inside and played a computer game I love.(Elder Scrolls: Oblivion if you're curious) Which I beat so now I can just fool around on the game, haha!
On the 23rd I don't think I did anything but I did get to make plans with a friend of my of 10 years so on the 24th I went to the mall with her and got to hang out at her house with her sister and nephew and new puppy! So that was really fun. =)
On the 25th I went up our Mt. peak again with some friends of mine from the church choir and the friend who came back from California for two weeks. It was sooo much fun! I missed hanging out with them so much, I forgot what it was like to be with Catholic friends! Haha, I hope that makes sense.
We climbed all over that mountain, up the front, down halfway the back, up the side and then down the front again! I was so energetic after that, and then I went to bed and slept like a baby. ;D
Anyway, after hanging out with them I realized I had become very lazy with my religious life. I started reading the Bible again that night. I find that the Old Testament is very hard to read. x)
On the 26th was my brother Peter's 10th birthday and also our priests last day at our Church. So we celebrated his birthday by opening gifts and playing around and then we went to Church for a farewell potluck for Father. It was very very good to see so many people there! Not quite everyone was there, but enough to make me very happy. We even got to play a short, halfhearted game of Frisbee. =)
We went home after it was over and had some cousins over for cake and ice cream for Peter.
All in all a very good day!

Starting Monday things started to look a little bleak. I don't really have time to fill you in since it's rather late, so I'll post another blog post tomorrow! =)

Goodnight and God Bless!

~Katherine