Spending some time with Jesus!

A couple of years ago when I first was renewed in my faith I wanted to be as close to God as possible. At the time I was not Catholic but attending the Catholic church.  I knew that having a personal relationship with Jesus was so important to growing in my faith, but those Catholic people kept talking about the Sacraments. They talked all of the time about the Eucharist or communion and how integral it is to our faith. I kept thinking you are missing it people!! The most important thing is having a personal relationship with Christ. Then I realized something....  I was on fire in my faith for about a year, then I became the leader of a CRHP group, which is an incredibly spiritual women's retreat.  After becoming the director of this group my faith took off and grew like I could have never imagined.  I always attributed it to being part of this group. But I noticed something, the exact time, almost to the day, that I became the director I also became Catholic and took the Eucharist for the first time! Even though I did not truly understand that this was the body and blood of my Lord He was converting my life through it.  What better way to create a lasting and meaningful relationship with Christ then to be present with Him in the Eucharist! It all made so much sense. The Catholics weren't missing the point! They knew all along that Jesus is the answer to everything and that is why they give Him such reverence in the Eucharist!!

 The following year I started working with the teens and I was introduced to Adoration for the first time with beautiful praise and worship music. Adoration is when Jesus is fully present body, blood, soul and divinity through the Eucharist. I fell in love with spending time with Jesus in Adoration.  I remember one of my first experiences I knew Adoration was coming and I got so excited to see Jesus. I was kneeling on a hard gym floor and singing. As I sang my hands began to raise palms up just about at my waist level. Then I felt someone holding my hands and I knew it was Jesus there spending time with me. After that I was hooked!! I can say that Adoration is one of my absolute favorite things to do! At each retreat I can't wait for that moment. To me it feels like that moment when you go to the airport to pick up a dear friend or family member. You wait at the baggage claim and watch every person who walks in thinking "Are they here yet?" Then the person you love walks in and you run to great them. That is how I feel kneeling when the priest walks in with the monstrance. I just can't wait to see my sweet friend. Then I usually begin balling uncontrollably! :) The teens always laugh at me. It looks like I have some serious issue going on. Nope, I just love Him so much that it brings me to tears EVERY time!Sometimes I even feel a bit of jealousy of the priest. He gets to hold my Lord and carry Him in for everyone to share.

I could write for hours about amazing Adoration experiences. I have seen hearts converted, teens fall to their knees in tears, others go unconscious, and I have felt how amazing He is during every experience of Adoration. Most recently I took a group of teens to DCYC which is a huge Catholic youth conference in Waco. I would venture to say that it is one of the most spiritual places on Earth. The Holy Spirit is so ALIVE during this weekend.  Adoration on Saturday night is always the pinnacle of the weekend. The teens kneel and pray with so much love during this time.  We had a friend of a teen come with us who was not Catholic. We did not explain to her what was happening. She had such a moving experience that it scared her. She asked if she could go back to the hotel for the night and we agreed. The next morning she told me last night was amazing. She said I didn't know what was going on. I was praying then suddenly I felt myself drawn out of my body towards that Gold Thing (The Gold Thing was our Lord in the beautiful Monstrance, but she didn't know that). She said she saw herself on a shore and Jesus was drawing her near to Him.Then she asked me are they going to bring that Gold Thing out again today? I had to giggle if only she knew Who was in that Gold Thing. :)  I explained to her that she was in the presence of Christ last night and explained what Adoration is. After that she went home and told her parents that she wanted to become Catholic. I was amazed how God could work in her life when she didn't even understand what was happening at the time. Adoration is absolutely amazing! There are countless documented and undocumented miracles that have occurred in the presence of Christ during Adoration. If you are having any troubles or need prayer go to Him in Adoration and you will feel such a connection to Him.

Also talk to your kids about the Eucharist and explain to them what is happening each week at Mass. I tell my kids "Here comes the best part" (I got that from my sweet friend April). We go to a church that still uses the bells during Mass, which I love. The bells are meant to signify that Christ is present now in the Eucharist. In my church after the bells ring it is not uncommon to hear my three year old YELL "Mommy Jesus is here!!!" While I love her enthusiasm I would rather it weren't so loud!

Take your kids to see Jesus in the Eucharist as well. All churches have a Tabernacle that you can visit anytime. Sometimes when we go to church during the week I will take my kids through the back of the church to see Jesus. They kneel and talk to him for a few minutes. Then we light a candle. They just love it!! It is such a great teachable moment. I get a chance to explain to them why we genuflect and kneel, because we love Him so much! We need to show Him that we have reverence and love for Him. I pray that my kids have a similar experience of love and connection with our Lord. If you are looking for a better connection with Him go spend some time with Jesus in the Eucharist! You won't regret it!

Why do Catholics have to go to confession?

The answer is we don't have to we GET to!
 We actually call the Sacrament of Reconciliation a celebration. We get to rejoin ourselves with Christ and His love and Grace every time our sins are washed away. So what comes to mind when you think of confession? A dark, scary, wooden confessional with a condemning priest on the other side of a screen that slams closed on the person confessing? That is what we see in the movies. This could not be further from the truth. What do we actually see when we walk into confession?  Two chairs and a smiling priest who is so glad that you chose to come and be reunited with Christ today.  Most of the time we do not go behind a screen in fact I never have before. If I did, then I would miss out on the beautiful look of love and compassion in the priests eyes as I share my most difficult stumbles in life. We still have that option available for people who prefer to remain anonymous but I constantly urge people to go face to face. I have seen confession take place in an empty room, near a river and even in a teepee once at a teen retreat. :) It can take place anywhere as long as the priest is open and willing to hear your confession.

So why confess?  We all know that Jesus is loving and forgiving. There is no sin that He will not forgive, if we come to Him with an honest heart and ask for forgiveness. But how often do you forgive yourself? Is there something from your past that resurfaces periodically and leaves a horrible guilty feeling in the pit of your stomach? We have a much more difficult time forgiving ourselves then Christ does. He WANTS to forgive us. He wants that pain and guilt to vanish forever. I know before going to reconciliation for the first time I would ask for forgiveness to God in prayer over and over for the same sin, but I could never forgive myself.

During the Sacrament of Reconciliation Christ washes away all of our sin and pain. This leaves our heart open to receive the Grace and Love of God.  Sin is very binding and clouds our relationship with God. It is nearly impossible to hear His soft voice and follow Him when wrapped in sin. For this reason nearly every retreat I have ever been to begins with reconciliation. Afterwards we are wide open to recieve God's grace for the rest of the retreat.

This is one of my favorite parts of each retreat. I love to share my views on reconciliation with teens, adults and children.  The teens are always so scared their first time. Many of them have not gone to reconciliation since they were in second grade. They walk in apprehensive and nervous. They come out so full of life that they are practically floating with joy and grace. It is obvious the trasnformation that takes place in the confessional.  At our Confirmation retreat last weekend I witnessed a 15 year-old boy walk out of the confessional and yell "That was amazing! God MUST be real!" After that first real experience many teens become reconciliatoin advocates. They actually begin to look forward to confession. When the time comes they run to the front of the line to be first.  It just makes my day!

We need to teach our teens and young children about this celebration! We need to show them that it is not scary or condemning in anyway. It is quite the opposite!! I had so much fun teaching second grade this year because I had three little sweet Catholic girls in my class. They had their first reconciliation and Eucharist this year. I was able to share my faith with them in the corner of the playground. It was our own little top secret bible study. :) They were all so scared by the thought of confession. I explained to them how wonderful it is. Then they could not wait for it to be their first reconciliation day! They all came back so happy and wanted to go again.

St. Faustina was a Catholic Nun who was visited by Christ over a three year period. Her mission was to share with the world God's unending Mercy and Love. Her diary chronicles these visits, and oh my, is it spiritual! In one of her visits Christ speaks to her about reconciliation. These are His words:

"When you go to confession, know this, that I myself am waiting for you in the confessional; I am only hidden by the priest, but I myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of Mercy. Tell souls that from this fount of mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great there is no limit to my generosity"

I love the idea of Christ waiting for us, but we just can't see Him. I picture Him with a beautiful smile on His face and full of love and kindness as we reunite ourselves to Him.

So what is our goal as parents? Go to confession often the more you go the better you will feel! Matthew Kelly in his book "Rediscover Catholicisim" relates confession to a car wash analogy. Think about when you first have your car washed and detailed. It smells so pretty and everything is clean. Your car may have looked like a homelss person was living out of it last week but not anymore! Now it is perfect and clean.  So then your son leaves his shoes in the back. You say "nope we are keeping this car clean take them in the house".  Next your daughter leaves a doll in the car and you instruct her too to keep your beautiful car clean. You are not letting this car look like a homeless person lived here again! After that you accidentally leave a Target bag in the back, then a Sonic cup, then your kids each leave an item or two. By next week you have forgotten that you were trying to keep the car clean at all. Before long it is full of strange items again.

The same is true with reconciliation when we first walk out of the confessional we are squeaky clean and ready to take on the world! I am not letting sin get in my life, no sir! Then I might say something I don't mean, have a negative thought here or there. Then before you know it sin has crept back into our lives.  That is why we must go often especially if you are struggling with something. If I have a problem the first thing I do is take it to God in reconciliation. That is the way to tackle those big problems.

We also need to be open about confession with our kids. That doesn't mean you have to tell them WHAT you confessed just let them know that you go often because you choose to. Let them see how it effects your faith. Encourage them with love to go often as well.  Please don't force them, that will only create resentment. 

This is my view of reconciliation coming from a previous Protestant prospective. I hope it helps you to reconcile with God soon and often! Happy Confessing!!!

I Wanna Live Like That

I have had several questions lately about how to keep up your faith and teach it to the kiddos. Music is probably my number one prayer and the way that I connect most to God. Lately the song "I Wanna Live Like That" by Sidewalk Prophets has struck a cord with me. Listen to the song here so that you understand where I am coming from.


I do want to live like that. I want everyone around me to see God shining through. I want every decision and every step I take to point directly to Him. I think at work and church I do a pretty good job of this. At home it is a bit harder. It seems to be more difficult to share God's love with those closest to us. I think we get a bit complacent and much more easily frustrated with those we love the most.  So my big goal is to show my kids and husband what it means to "Live Like That" everyday!!

So back to the question. How do I keep my faith alive and rocking everyday. Sadly, I have seen so many people who were alive in their faith start to dwindle over time. The world is a dark and scary place and it doesn't give us a lot of time to be great Christians. Instead we are highly distracted by TV, movies, music, books, etc that pull us away from who God created us to be.  Here are a few of the things that I do to keep up the faith and show my kids just how important my relationship with God is to me.

1. Listen to Christian music- I used to be a Texas Country and ghetto rap lover! Yep it is true. My husband and I fell in love because we both loved Pat Green AND believed Tupac was still alive! For the past five years though I mainly stick to Christian music. It fills me with joy and reminds me how much God loves me everyday. It is also the way that I hear God speak to me most often. I feel like He gives me exactly what I need to hear when I need to hear it. Now don't get me wrong I still like to listen to my Texas Country every now and then. It reminds me how much my husband loves me and that is a good thing too! :)

2. Relevant Radio-  I live in Austin and we have the huge blessing of Relevant Radio a Catholic Radio station. I cannot BEGIN to tell you how much I have learned about my faith through this radio station!!!!!  I could argue theology with the best of them just from what Relevant Radio has taught me. This is two fold: one it is a constant reminder of my faith everyday while I am cooking, driving, etc. Two, it is teaching me more and more about my faith. Father Rocky once said "Learn you faith..If you learn it you will love it. If you love it you will never leave it!" I totally agree!!!!

3. Surround yourself with believers- In our church we found a true home for the first time. I wasn't even Catholic when we started attending but was welcomed with open arms. Suddenly we had hundreds of friends who believed just as we did. The closeness of the relationships formed were unlike anything I had every experienced. There is something extremely different about a Christian friendship. It is great to be able to share your faith and ideals with friends!

4. Get Involved!!- Find a ministry at church that you can get involved with. I have been known to be TOO involved, but that is another topic. It could be children's ministry, youth ministry or some type of service ministry. Just make sure it is spiritual and that you will leave feeling full filled. We are all called to serve in different ways. On the music video it shows working with homeless people. That gives me a bit of guilt because I do not do a lot of service ministry. But, I have to remind myself that this okay. My ministry is to witness and I like it that way!

5. Bible Study- The best way to stay involved in your faith is to study God's word!  I find that I am better about this if I have a group of people to study with. I have been involved in several studies over the past few years. One of my favorites was the "The Bible Adventure Timeline" by Jeff Cavens. He teaches you all of the narrative stories of the bible in chronological order. I learned so much from this study!! It changed my way of thinking about the faith. 

But, what keeps me going week to week is my wonderful mommy group! I have a group of women that I meet with each Thursday. We are all moms of young kids. We bring our kids and they run, play and scream while we have the most meaningful, spiritual conversations! It is madness and I love it! These women know me on a level that no one else does. This summer has been hard for us to coordinate our schedules and I can see a difference in my spirituality without them. I have come to need this group!

Any type of group like this is great to join whether it is a bible study at church, mom's group, Life group, couples group just find someone you can share your faith with. I promise it will make a difference!

6. Last but certainly not least Pray, Pray, Pray!- St. Paul said to pray unceasingly. You may think I have no time for that!!! Make it part of your daily life and it is easier to make time. Pray while you wash dishes, take a shower, drive the kids to school, etc. Pray in little moments that make you crazy: when someone cuts you off on the highway, when the kids just won't listen, if your husband does something that makes you cringe, etc. Ask for God's help in all of these little matters. It will make them a lot easier to handle. On the flip side you can say a little "thank you" prayer when good things happen! Just keep the lines of communication open!

All of these little things will add up to a life lived for Christ and your kids will see this!!!!  Then they will start to ask questions and voila the door has been opened to share your faith!!!

Spiritual Birthday Party!

A couple of days ago I blogged about having a baptism celebration and what that would mean to our kiddos click here if you haven't read it yet.
Today we celebrated Olivia's baptism. It was so much fun! She just loved hearing the story of her first baptism and learning what it means to be baptized. We started by reading the story of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus in their little bible. If you are looking for a great preschool bible I highly recommend this one. We have read it cover to cover several times and it includes all of the main narratives of the bible in a way that little ones can understand.

After that we looked back through the pictures from her baptism. We talked about the party and all of the friends and family that came to celebrate with her. Then we talked about the sacrament itself and how the Holy Spirit came down on her just like in the story of Jesus and John the Baptist. She thought that was really cool. :) I think so too! We talked about the significance of wearing white during a baptism and the baptismal candle. Then I told her I had a surprise for her.

   I pulled out a box that held the beautiful baptismal gown that both girls were baptized in. It also had her baptismal candle and a letter from her God Mother Jennifer. She desperately wanted to try on the baptismal gown. I could not explain to her that she was only 3 months old when it fit her. The dress is so long it looks like it would fit her now.

I wanted them to have an understanding of the sacrament of baptism before their little brother Eli is baptized so we reenacted a baptism with none other than Repunzel. She seemed to be the doll that could take water the best. We said the baptismal promises and the girls loudly answered "I Do" to each question. Then Olivia poured water over her head.

We finished the party with a cookie. I think that was their favorite part. Ella is already talking about her baptism party in March. It was great fun, but more than that it reinforced  for the girls just how special it is to be baptized.

Thanks to Catholic Icing for letting us join her linky party!!! She has great ideas for fun spiritual activities for kids. Check it out!

Catholic Icing

Dad's Corner

So my wife started this blog, and already...I am all over the internet.  I think it is only fair that I introduce myself and my relationship with God.

First of all, I am a proud husband and proud father.  My wife and my family (Mom, Dad, in-laws, sister, etc.) have been pivotal in introducing and guiding me towards a faith-filled life.  Wives...this is the point at which you should be reading and say to yourself..."how did she get him to write a post?"  Well it was easy.  She started this blog two days ago and already has 250+  views.  Now, this tells me that there is an audience out there that is yearning for some evangelizing.  Ok, lets not scare people with that verb.  How about this...there are people out there interested in Christ...furthermore, interested in good ole' Catholic/Christian traditions that may help them with guiding their children.

So why would I write a post?  Well, here is a little bit about me.  I am that type of person that works hard...often physical labor outdoors in Texas (oh the heat!).  I don't believe in going to the doctor until you just can't stand the pain anymore.  I think that you can most times judge someone within the first twenty seconds of meeting them based on how they introduce themselves and how respectful they comply with your introduction.  I think that men should open doors for women and that for the most part...parents these days have become complacent or bored with the idea of raising our children to be respectful.  I have to credit my mom and dad.  Wow what a job!  The respect of others and self they taught me is a lost art (not one that cannot be achieved).  Why go into this???

Because I do not fit the mold of a father or man that should be sensitive to express the importance, or endorse for that matter, the significance of raising your children in a good Catholic environment.  By first sight, I probably would not meet your standards as a "God loving man."  I am pretty rough around the edges.

What I would hope to achieve from this post is this.  MOMS...we husbands, whether we tell you or not, want to embrace your spiritual leadership.  Yes, I am very aware of scripture (forgive my misquoting/paraphrasing)...the man is the spiritual leader.  As this may be true,  we do also like to follow!  Especially when it comes to the "oh so" uncomfortable topics of the Church's teaching.  Just my two cents.  Moms, remember, sometimes we fathers too want to be involved in the spiritual upbringing of our children...sometimes we just don't know how we fit in; what we are comfortable with (i.e. open prayer, praying together, etc.)  I hope and pray for all you mothers out there.  Do not lose sight...as you lead, spiritually, your husbands will follow...and you will be able to share in RAISING OUR (your) CATHOLIC KIDS.

Hello Mommies

I am so excited to launch a blog for Moms who are interested in raising kids after God's heart. My name is Megan and I live in Austin, TX. I am married to an amazing man named Chad. We have two little girls and a little fella on the way. He should be here any time! I was a second grade teacher with a passion for teaching kids to love another and strive to do the right thing. With our third little one on the way I get to be a stay at home mom again. My life revolves around my faith and my family.  There is nothing I love more in the world than sharing my faith with kiddos and teens. I have a passion for youth ministry and have seen so many lives changed by the Holy Spirit.

I am glad you decided to stop by my little blog. Around here I will share my ideas for parenting, discipline, faith and raising kids and teens who know and love God. Also some spiritual advice for growing in your faith as a Christian mom as well. Come back and see me!