To Better the World of Men Around Us

This weekend, I got to go to Atlanta, GA for a conference for my fraternity. I won't go into details, but here is the lesson that I took from the weekend:

My duty as a Catholic is not to be exclusive. What good would I be if I secluded myself to a group of people who held all of the same beliefs and values as I did? I'm not saying that I'm right about everything. In fact, that is one of the benefits of stepping outside of my own comfort zone to be around people that hold different views than I. I am fortunate to learn from them; similarly, I believe them to be fortunate to receive that same benefit. I believe that we all become more well-rounded people when we listen to and are exposed to different world views. They challenge the views that we hold; and if we value those ideals, we will hold strong to them; if someone presents a new view, we can then make a well-informed decision.

So there's my lesson from the weekend. Outside of that, it was so much fun to be able to have a weekend with my fraternity brothers from around the country. Also, I got to share 26 hours in the car with my friend and brother, Tim Dulle. We don't exactly get a ton of time to just hang out together, so it was a really great opportunity for us to talk about a bunch of stuff together (not to mention listening to Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the Tru Lovs multiple times). When we arrived in Atlanta, one of the guys from Catholic University of America had just won $500 dollars on a Georgia scratch lotto ticket...which led to a free pizza dinner. That was kind of random, and I don't really have much else to say on the matter. That was good pizza.

Retreat on the Rock

What a weekend. The anticipation has been building over the past couple of months. The other retreat leaders and I have been preparing since November and this experience was just a homerun. I will fill you in on what details I can.

First off, I was really excited to do my talk for this retreat. It wasn't one that I had chosen as a preference, which leads me to the simple conclusion that it was completely out of my hands, and in the hands of someone else. That's right, my friend the Big Man. I accepted the challenge of giving the talk on Christian Values. I don't mean to brag, that's not my style, but I knocked this thing out of the park (sticking with the baseball references). It just felt so good. I was confident. My delivery was great. Everything went according to plan.

The next awesome part of the retreat for me as a leader was this: I got to witness a group of five all but complete strangers develop into a group of five people bound by a friendship that has been enhanced by the sharing of their lives and the prayers which were shared. Just awesome. I wish I could go into detail. But if you want to know more about the powerful experience that is Retreat on the Rock...SIGN UP!

Only six hours of sleep over the weekend...but I wouldn't trade what happened this weekend for anything.

Trust in the YMCA

I volunteered for the first of hopefully many times at the YMCA this past weekend. My roommate Josh and I drove over together, not 100% sure of what exactly was going to be expected of us. We knew we were going to be working with mentally handicapped children in the pool, but that was the extent of our knowledge.

When we arrived, the pool was in complete chaos. Funny, because there were only about twenty people there. We got changed and jumped in. At first, every kid already had someone working with them, so Josh and I were just wandering around the pool with mostly nothing to do. Then, in walked Kelly. Kelly is a ten year old boy who is full of life. We started having so much fun that I never even thought to ask him, his dad, or the head volunteers what his handicap was. We raced through the pool from one end to the other. The first time, we both used noodles, but then his dad told me that he didn't need a noodle. I smile at Kelly, "You've been holding out on me." I told him that I wanted a rematch. We raced back to the other end of the pool without the aid of a noodle. He beat me again! Kelly loves racing.

The next thing that we did was I tried to teach him how to do a canon ball. It was harder than I expected. I got him to get up on the pool deck, but then he just slid into the water rather than jumping. I got out and showed him how to do it. We then went over to the stairs so that he would have something on which to balance when he was getting ready to jump. He jumped! I was so excited. Here, I had only been with this kid for about an hour, and already I got to see him leap bravely into a new experience. And even better, he wanted to do it again. So I challenged him to step away from the stairs. He came. He trusted me to hold his hand while I was down in the water so that he could balance on my hand.

Here is the lesson that I took from this experience. How often are we able to put our complete trust in God? Would I have been as excited had Kelly just grasped the rail of the stairs and walked in? Definitely not. But he trusted. And he did it without hesitation. If anybody thinks that there is nothing we can learn from children, and that we are always the teachers because we're older - WRONGO! I would argue that we learn more from them than they do from us. Thank you Kelly.

Oh, by the way, the woman in the pool...not me. And the little girl jumping in...not Kelly. It all happened in the moment so I was not able to capture a picture for myself, but I wanted to give you a clear idea. And, since pictures are worth 1,000 words, I wasn't 100% up for typing out a 1,000-word description of a kid jumping into the pool.

Peace in the Midst of Chaos

The spring semester is off and running. One week down, fourteen more to go. With classes, work, fraternity business, trying to keep up with my family back home, and all of the other obligations of everyday life, it is not hard to feel completely overwhelmed. In addition to all of the craziness that is going on in my own life, I look to the news and see the problems that are going on around the world and I want to try to keep up with those too and pray for them. I see all of the world issues and one word comes to my mind - perspective.

Now, I haven't read all there is to know about every single world event, but it doesn't take a lot to realize how tremendously blessed I am (and we all are) to be living in America. We have our problems, there is no doubt about that. And I know that even people in America don't always enjoy the same luxuries as I do, in fact there are plenty that don't, but that is where my moment of peace came in. Last night, I got back to my house at 11pm, in from the bitter cold winter weather, stepping into a climate controlled environment in which I could enjoy warmth from that cold. Already, I am part of a very fortunate group of people who can enjoy that luxury.

Secondly, I hadn't eaten dinner so I went to the freezer. Oven - 400 degrees. Timer - 15 minutes. Frozen pizza to satisfy my hunger - perspective. I had come home with many complaints on my mindn about all the work I had to do during the day, all the work that was still left to do, and the fact that I hadn't gotten to eat dinner until 11pm was making me even more stressed. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. How many people in this country, in the world, cannot just go to their freezer in their climate controlled home, and have a warm meal in 15 minutes? This is no small number. It didn't take long after that for me to drop to my knees, praising God for everything that I take for granted, for the very air I breathe.

I won't say that this realization completely settled my mind for the rest of the night. I still had a ton of reading left to do. But I am becoming more and more aware of the struggles of those around me. I mean, I have done some service here and there just because it has felt like a good experience and it was the right thing to do, but no there is an ever-developing reason behind it. "To whom much is given, much is expected." If what is expected of me is a small fraction of that which has been given to me, then this world is in for a treat. Ah yea!

Praying for Life

This weekend was pretty awesome. Saturday morning, I joined up with the FOCUS group from the University of Missouri - Kansas City, and we went and prayed at the Planned Parenthood in Overland Park. It was really powerful. We prayed for everyone you could possibly think of who is involved in an abortion: obviously, the mother and the father, the doctors, all those associated with Planned Parenthood, and the leaders of our country, that they would see the injustice that has been going on legally for the past 38 years.

Saturday continued on a great streak. I was invited to a guys' night over at the FOCUS Missionaries' house. We had some of "Grandma Manion's" spaghetti with bacon; and then we grilled hamburgers in the frigid winter night. A select group, "the best of the best of the best, sir! ...with honors" braved the cold by the side of a fire pit in the front yard. We swapped stories of close encounters with death, funny stories, and random stuff that just makes life so great.

There are some pretty special relationships developing for me through FOCUS. In fact, I am very strongly considering joining the discipleship program in which I would challenge my own faith in ways that I never have before; and, later down the road, I will lead a Bible study and begin to, as they call it, "spiritually multiply" when I will bascially reach out to other leaders whom I would also like to have join the discipleship program.

Lots of exciting things are happening in my life. The best of which I would say is being provoked by my involvement in FOCUS. I still have a lot to learn, and a lot of growth to endure, but I am striving to put God at the center of my life every day and so far the results are nothing less than spectacular.

Adventure of a Lifetime

So I took a week off here because, well, I was in Jamaica. There are just a couple of thoughts that I came away with from the experience that I would like to talk about.

The first is that this vacation with my entire family was awesome! I met a handful of really cool people down there who were all pleasantly surprised when we told them that all six kids had come together with our parents. Unfortunately, a lot of the Jamaican natives were very surprised that we were all from the same two, happily married parents. Not to say that we have it right here as far as marriage goes, but broken families are an even bigger problem in Jamaica than they are here. One of the many blessings that I too often take for granted.

The next thing that was on my mind for the entire week was this: We were at a resort, nothing even close to the REAL Jamaica. I attribute my recognition of this to my service trip to Belize in the spring of 2010. I found it very difficult that literally right outside the walls of the resort (which were barb wire fences by the way) was the real, poverty-striken Jamaica. I imagine that this is a common realization for a lot of tourists who go to visit a resort, not just in Jamaica, but in any country whose main industry is tourism. There is a very positive result of this industry however, and that is the genuine kindness of the people. One thing that I took notice of was how complimentary the men were of all the women. That has always been a challenge of mine - letting the wonderful women around me know their true identity, that they are princesses of Christ, rather than the much more degrading image that society seems to have engrained into the minds of millions.

Now onto a list of some really cool stuff that I got to do down there: We went snorkeling, I learned how to sail, I played sand volleyball with some really intense Russians, I won two stage competitions during the nightly shows that they put on, and got to spend a lot of quality hours with my family. One of the coolest things that happened during our stay was how many people gave all of us compliments on how great of a family we have. I have never seen or heard both of my parents beam and speak with more pride in my life. I can't say enough how blessed I am to have grown up in a home that has stuck together. It has, by no means, been easy all of the time, but finding strength in God's help we have made it through those rough times and it is so worth it to all of us.

Moving on to the final event of my Christmas break, FOCUS Conference. Wow. What a way to end my final weekend before classes start back up. I have never felt more confident and excited about my faith, or at least for a while. I attribute all that I am to Him. What more can I say?

In short, I couldn't have asked for a better start to the new year. If the first two weeks remains a common theme throughout the remainder of the year, this will be a year filled with more blessings and abundance than ever before. One thing that I have really come to learn though over this break is that because His blessings are so abundant and overflowing, we must always have a giving heart. If we hoard our gifts, there will be no room for Him to continue to provide them. If we keep on giving them out and sharing them with others, they will continue to flow into our lives. This can be hard because it takes a lot of trust and we all like to have our sense of security, but it is an incredible life lesson and if everyone practiced this attitude (paying it forward in a sense), gosh, I just know that the results would be unspeakably incredible.

So...all of my pictures and videos are on my brother's computer so...I will get them as soon as I can so that you enjoy some of the visuals from the awesome times.

Christmas Magic

There was a ton of awesome things that went down in the past week. Unfortunately, New Year's wasn't one of the memorable nights...I didn't get off of work until 12:30am. On a positive note, I the restaurant was only a block away from where they did a huge fireworks show in downtown Denver. I was running because I was working as a valet. Felt like I was in a war! Barely made it out with my life.

The day before New Year's Eve was great. There is an ice rink in downtown Denver that is free admission but you have to rent skates. Unless you own a pair! Check! It was perfect. There was a really slow snowfall that just made the whole experience magical. I love skating. I love snow. Put the two together with a great mix selection of music. Awesome. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if we could have kicked all of the little kids off the ice, got a couple of nets, sticks, and a puck and thrown down an amateur Outdoor Winter Classic. Maybe next year. Sidenote, the Civic Center is awesome every year!

Sunday was our annual post-Christmas family Christmas party. It's really interesting how the dynamics have changed. Maybe it's all of the big gatherings that naturally happen during the holidays that just wear out an introvert like myself. I can certainly hold my own in social situations, but I much more enjoy smaller get-togethers - impossible when both of my parents are from families of eleven children; and their children have children. If my math is correct (counting on my fingers and toes) I think there are fifteen great-grandchildren on top of an estimated fifty grandchildren. Not all of them were present, but a good number made at least an appearance.

Top story of the week: I was listening to KLOVE and they were talking about New Year's resolutions. In place of the usual "I'm going to get in better shape" or the like, they made a suggestion to pray about and choose a word on which to focus in 2011. That was a few days before December 31st. Well, on my drive down to work on January 1st, after I had thought about it for a few days, the word that came to me was "Service." Later that night, I got the opportunity to utilize my word. I was really upset because I was expecting to get off work at around 10pm; long story short, I didn't get off until about 10:45. In the grand scheme, not a huge deal. Beside the point. Anyway, about 2 minutes after I got on the interstate, I saw a car on the shoulder with its emergency flashers on. I was in the far left lane, and didn't decide to stop until I had already passed him. I was able to get over and parked on the shoulder about 100 yards ahead of him.

I ran back and asked him if I could help. As you may have guessed, he needed my assistance. He had a flat tire and was having trouble getting the spare out from underneath the car. In his defense, I had a lot of trouble myself as there was very little light to work with, it being 11 o'clock at night and all. I had to get under the car and guide the tool while he pushed it through the hole to hook it up to lower the tire. That alone took us 20 minutes because it was such a small space and, again, not a ton of light to work with. Our second obstacle came when we began working with the jack. The tire was so flat that the jack was too tall to fit under a strong contact point. I had to get the jack from my dad's car and put it under the axle (not an ideal spot). We used that one to lift the car up a couple of inches in order to get the other jack into a more stable position. Success! I included a picture of my shirt as a metaphor for how dirty and adverse this situation became. The rest of the process went along smoothly and we successfully switched out the good for the bad. Great teamwork between complete strangers. So awesome. A little icing on the cake, after the tire was back on, he got in his car, and the battery was dead. This was a much easier fix. I grabbed my jumper cables, hooked it up, and she was up and running in a matter of seconds. No problem. The man thanked me, "God bless you." He offered me his business card, saying that if I ever needed anything.

As I reflected on the occurrence on the drive home, I realized that all we had done together, there was no way he would have been able to do on his own. And it was COLD! So many people had to have driven past him without a second thought. I'm not gloating or self-righteous, but that is one of the problems in this world. I am guilty of it many times myself. We all ignore other people and the problems that they endure. After all, we have our own problems, right? Here's the thing: We all want other people to help us, whether or not some of us will admit it or not - guilty - well that's a different story. That's an important life lesson. People need to help each other out, and be humble enough to admit when they need help. None of us can do it on our own.

It was not until I was pulling into my cul-de-sac (which is an altogether too complex word to spell) that I realized the connection between my recent experience and the word I had chosen just 10 hours prior to define my 2011. Shivers up my spine. And it wasn't because of the cold, I had the heat on the entire drive home. In addition, the homilee at Mass the next day was about the Holy Spirit working in our lives. "There are no coincidences." There is not a doubt in my mind that my helping that man with his car was the work of the Holy Spirit; there was a reason that I chose my word to be service. I'm sure that my helping with that man's car was the first of many opportunities for me to serve the people around me - strangers or friends, no matter.