Pursue Your Dreams

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." - Matthew 7:7

Today I'd like to talk to you about following your dreams! Everyone has dreams they want to pursue...even if they are realistic or not. God has placed certain desires in your heart. This is so you can pursue those longings and take action towards your lifelong goals. He has given everyone of us on earth a mission to fulfill in this life. The question is, do we know what that mission is? Are we aware of our passion and purpose? And if so, how do we go about it?

I don't have all the answers to those questions. As a matter of fact I'm still trying to figure it out myself. But I do know that if we want to be truly happy and live a successful life for the Lord that we must submit ourselves to Him and His Holy Will.

Have you ever heard the phrase, "If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans"...? It is not that our dreams are funny in the least. If you feel called to do something, go for it! But it is in the way you go about it that must be taken into consideration. Making plans to follow a dream without God's help is not only unwise, but it is also really dangerous. The devil could easily influence you to make the wrong decision and, in turn, it could end up costing you your dream. Going to God in prayer and asking Him to make our dreams a reality is definitely how we should start when pursuing a goal.

After praying about it don't expect the answer to come right away, like a poof of magic. Praying is something we do in our time. The answer's come in God's time. Meanwhile, you should be concentrating on how to achieve your goal. As St. Augustine said, "Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as everything depended on you." Putting in the effort, for example, like studying to do well on a test...is what will give you the good grade. You can't expect God to just hand it to you. In order to pursue your dream it will take a lot of effort! But are you willing to go the extra mile to get there?

For example, one of my favorite movies is Rudy. In the movie Rudy wanted to attend the University of Notre Dame for as long as he could remember. Not only did he want to go to school there, but he also wanted to play college football for them too. He was a poor boy, not very well educated, and didn't have the best grades. It was a long shot, but even when everyone around him told him that Notre Dame was out of his league he ended up surprising them all. After a few years of attending Holy Cross he ended up transferring to Notre Dame with the grades he needed to get in! He also played football for them and dressed out for one of the games! That was all he needed. He was just happy to even be in that one football game.

The moral of the story is, don't give up on your dreams when others do. If you feel called by God to do something, then do it! Right now I feel called to pursue my master's degree after I graduate college next year. I know that I need to look into it now because it is so competitive. I'm also really looking forward to attending a Catholic university because right now I do not. I miss the fellowship of other Catholics around me on a daily basis. So, whatever it may be, I am willing to accept God's Will because I know He knows best.

Maybe you still don't know what your lifelong dream is. That's okay. If this is the case just go to God and ask Him. Don't worry. It might take a while but if you trust Him I promise that He will lead you to the right goal in life. Remember, He loves you so much and wants the best out of life for you! Also, you might want to check out some really good books by Matthew Kelly. He offers great advice about passion, purpose, following your dreams, and how to become the best version of yourself. Here is a video I found from one of his conferences called "What's Your Dream?" Enjoy!!

Praying that God will make your dreams a reality! (And please pray for me too, if you can. Thank you so much!) God bless! :)

Desert Days

"Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil." - Matthew 4:1

So for a while now I feel as though I have been walking in the desert. I'm sure many of you have had difficult experiences in your life when you feel overwhelmed by stressful events. This period of your life is when you are out wondering the desert. You might feel alone, but God is there and He is very much present. These desert days may last for a short time in worrisome situations or could even last a long season. You may not know when you'll reach paradise, but you know that at some point you will get there when God is leading your way.

The best part is, is that Jesus can relate to us. He was tempted by the devil out in the desert. Even though we are put through temptations that could lead us down the wrong path...these are learning experiences that will help make us a better person in the long run. God knows your strengths and weaknesses. It even says in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 10:13, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will always provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

For the past week I have been very ill on top of being mistreated by certain people and enduring other chaotic events. Thank God I'm just starting to feel a little bit better after being so sick. But walking in the desert isn't easy. And I'm nowhere near out of it yet!

The desert is a very hot and dry place to be. You have so many elements impacting you all at once...like blazing heat, sandstorms, direct sun, no water, burning/stinging sensations, etc. Even though the desert is only a metaphor for hard patches in our life, the pain can be felt in a very realistic way. Sometimes the devil will trick us out in the desert with mirages of paradise. When we are at our worst we run towards it, only to find the vision vanish before us...because it wasn't real. These illusions are put there to bring us down. That is when we need to be strong and keep our faith in the Lord. We must know that He, too, was tempted and was able to get out of it safely with divine assistance.

So don't let desert periods in your life get your spirits down. There are plenty of things to do in the desert. Praying, fasting, offering up sacrifices to God will help you get through it. When the time comes you will feel more fulfilled to enjoy a happy period of your life with so many blessings and graces from God. Even if you feel alone, know that He is right there with you. At these moments you may see only one set of footprints in the sand...but that is the moment when He carries you. Many saints have gone through so many trials in order to get where they are today, a canonized saint of the Catholic church. In fact, there were even periods in Mother Theresa's life that were very dark and depressing. But on the outside she never let anyone see that because of the beautiful holy woman of God she was.

Even though I'm still out walking in the desert, enduring all of this pain and suffering, I feel for the first time, today, that I've been given a little rain to help me bear the heat of these difficult trails. It's just enough to lift my spirits some. Today I was able to have a great conversion with my good friend Jasmine. When you have a friend that will let you rant about your problems they are truly a good friend. Those kind of friends are perfect little outlets to help us endure the pain. But keeping that in mind, when our friends start walking in the desert we need to be there for them too. I also got a get-well card in the mail today from my friend Christina. That definitely put a smile on my face! :) So like me, when you are tempted...don't give up. Keep your faith in God because He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.