Guard Your Heart

     Someone recently described me as a, "very relational person." This slightly offbeat description puzzled me. He even went so far as to say that I "wear my heart on my sleeve" in a sense. I didn't like that statement. I've always been warned against this practice for the simple reason that it opens up the opportunity for all types of hurt to come in. Upon further reflection however, I've realized that I have indeed been "wearing my heart on my sleeve" for the majority of my life.

     I've struggled with the practice of keeping love at the center of all my actions while still guarding my heart in the process. I didn't understand how it was possible to be truly kind and loving while still holding back parts of your heart in an effort to stay protected. To be completely honest, I still don't entirely comprehend it.

     However, I have come to recognize the extreme importance of guarding one's heart. God warns us about this relentlessly throughout scripture. Proverbs 4:23 states, "Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life." I feel like we as women (especially Catholic women) constantly hear about the duty we have to protect our purity. Even more often, we hear the dangers that could arise if we fail to do so. We commonly ignore the truth that the consequences of recklessly opening the gates to our heart (in other ways besides physical intimacy) can be just as detrimental. 

     I wish I could write an entire post on ways to put this practice of guarding instead of just "giving away" into action. But, like I mentioned, I'm not sure how to do this myself. I'm confident that through prayer and reflection, God will reveal to all of us how to best do this in accordance with the circumstances of our lives.

     In the meantime, I recommend checking out this post, "Emotional Chastity " written by Tess over at "The Catholic Young Woman." She writes an awesome article about guarding one's heart in terms of guy-girl friendships. It's incredibly eye-opening and is sure to change your perspective on a few aspects of this frequently talked about topic.

Finals Frenzy

     The month of April has not been good to me in terms of my humble little blog. Poor Splendid Surprises have been lacking lately due to my absolutely crazy schedule. I promise we'll make a comeback!
     I'm sure most of you, like myself, are experiencing the stress of finals right now. If you read my previous post you saw how I was less than impressed with my academic performance this year. That realization plus the fact that the semester is coming to a close has sent me into a whirlwind of negative energy and minor panic attacks.
     During a little study break today, I came across this gem of wisdom from a fellow blogger at College Prep. Carly writes a great article about how we often times allow our exam grades to seriously impact the way we view ourselves. I've read what seems like hundreds of editorials about this exact same phenomenon but have never felt it directly applied to me. The way Carly writes really made me realize that I do this way too frequently and it does have a visible impact on the way I think and behave. 
     Perhaps we should have a different mindset as we approach our final exams this year. I don't think we should necessarily be as concerned with making an "A." We should instead be focusing on the ways that "Finals Week 2013" can become a long lasting learning experience. The information we are attempting to memorize should instead be thoroughly understood. Our study habits shouldn't cause us to fall ill from lack of sleep but instead be tailored toward our specific learning styles and time constraints. I strongly believe that if we make this our first priority, a successful grade will be an inevitable result.
     If you have a moment, go take a look at Carly's post, "Exam Grades". It's full of information that every student should hear around this time. My prayer for all of you is that you are equipped with the determination to study hard and the confidence to perform well on every exam. Hang in there, the end is near! 

Neglecting

     My dearest followers, I must offer my most sincere heartfelt apologies for being MIA for the past two weeks! To say my life has been busy lately would be an understatement. What I'm about to share with you all is something that's not easy for me to do, but must be done. 
     I'm a pretty stubborn person. I will pull every trick in the book to try and convince myself that I'm not, but deep down I know the truth. That being said, admitting that I messed up without offering any excuse is something I consider close to impossible. I'm aware of this flaw and can sincerely say I've been trying to work on it. 
     This past semester at UH has been one of the biggest blessings of my life. I got very caught up in the excitement and joy that surrounded me, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. However, in the process I neglected certain other areas of my life. I'm not saying I had some huge mess up... I'm not failing out of school and my family didn't disown me. But, regardless, I feel that I did not put 100% of myself into my responsibilities this semester. Could I have put more effort into my relationship with my family? Most definitely. Could I have been more diligent in regards to my school work? You bet. Could I have dived more deeply into my faith? For sure. 
     Some people will try to tell me that I shouldn't be stressing so much. I even had one person tell me, "You don't need to put that much work into your family. You're living away from them for a reason." Well, with all due respect, I don't think that way. I have neglected many of my responsibilities for the past few months - I have not given them the time and effort that I personally believe they deserve. 
     But, what's done is done. For me, accepting that I messed up is a HUGE step in the right direction. I need to remember that I am called to live the way Jesus did, offering every single one of my actions for the glory of God. If I truly lived that way, I wouldn't even think to put anything less than 100% of my effort into all of my duties. That's my new goal.

Beautiful Quotes

Live As Unleavened Bread

     Alleluia, He is Risen! Happy Easter to all of you! I hope you all were able to have a relaxing weekend filled with joy. This is the first year that my family has not participated in "traditional" Easter celebrations involving candy and a fluffy pastel bunny. Instead of attending morning mass, my family decided to go to the 5:00pm mass. I love 5:00pm mass, but I always associate it with a "regular Sunday," not Easter Sunday. I felt like Easter was missing something. There was no mention of dying eggs, hiding candy, or buying a new floral dress. Easter was missing its sparkle. In my eyes, Easter was missing what made it special, the show!
     I was assigned to lector the 2nd reading, so I was practicing it in the back minutes before mass started. I thought to myself, "Well, at least the reading will be exciting!" I assumed it would be some beautifully written excerpt from scripture that joyfully proclaimed the resurrection of our Lord. Imagine my surprise when I was faced with nine lines talking about bread. Yeah, bread. As in, the stuff they serve at a restaurant before you get your real food. You have got to be kidding me.
     I walked down from the ambo after reading what I interpreted to be a super lame 2nd reading and waited for the gospel. My pouty mood was made a bit better after hearing the gospel and I was so ready to hear the homily that was to follow. You should have seen the look on my face when Fr. Tom walked up to the front of the altar and started talking about none other than the 2nd reading... the bread. "Fr. Tom, what are you doing?!" I thought to myself as he began to preach about the qualities of yeast and how it scientifically makes dough rise and blah blah blah.
     Then, he said something that caught my attention. Most of us know where yeast comes from now. It's a product of fermentation which happens when we leave things lying out. (It develops on fruits and vegetables that have started to rot). In Jesus' time however, bakers didn't know this exactly. They did know however, that if they added a bit of the old batch of dough to the new batch, it would cause the bread to rise. (The yeast had developed in the old batch that had been left lying out and caused the bread to rise when added to the new batch of dough).
     The 2nd reading instructs us to celebrate the sacrifice of Christ with unleavened bread. What a great party food right? Yeah, no, so gross. But, it makes sense! Leavened bread, although fluffy and delicious, gets its "sparkle" and "show" from the addition of old and yucky bacteria. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead! I don't want to celebrate such a joyous occasion by eating the old stuff, I want everything new! That, my dear friends, is the meaning of this very odd reading.
     Jesus, through His death and resurrection, has brought us a new way of life. He has given us a life free from the captivity of sin and death. Forget about our old lives, our old batches of dough. We should embrace this new life! It may not have the same "sparkle" and "show" of an Easter egg hunt, a new floral dress, or a fluffy loaf of bread... but, it is so much better.