Thanksgiving!

I am looking forward to heading to the Lou to see all of my family and friends that I have not seen in awhile! I love you and miss you all!

Miss D, You Trippin'

I haven't given a school update in awhile...Things are going relatively well. I am not sure why but this past week I felt a bit overwhelmed I think just due to being tired and maybe doing too much during the week. I overslept two days in a row. I woke up at the time I was supposed to be at school. I guess at least I had the grace to make it there before the first bell rang! Anyways, though busy, no complaints.

My students are great, with the exception of talking too much and being apathetic at times. I am really enjoying getting to know my students and their personalities better. But this is also a challenge. I feel horrible for my students who are always doing the right thing, always respectful, and quiet because they do not receive any of my attention. My attention goes to the outspoken ones, who are usually off task! I have to admit though that I am going to be sad to lose this bunch of students at the semester. I will have a new crew after Christmas. It is strange to think that my first class of students will already be out of my care by December.

There is not a lot to report here, but I thought I would leave you with some one-liners from my students:

After assigning a tedious homework assignment, one student responds:
Miss D, you must be trippin'

After confiscating a hair straightener from one of my students, she asked:
Miss D we gotta get you a new do, can we straighten your hair? This is now a recurring question...daily....

One time I was helping a student at their desk, so I was half bent over helping her, placing my buttocks in the proximity of another girl. She said, Miss D get your butt out of my face (jokingly of course) and so I responded by shaking my butt at her....She then goes, No you didn't...I then proceeded to do it again and said, Oh yes I did! Now I may have crossed the line here...but that's what took place!

I have had several students who have asked me if I was married, dating someone, or had children...when the answer is no, I have had several 15 year old girls offer to set me up with their Chicano or African American friends or even to set me up on e-harmony. It's quite humorous, but it also gives me a great opportunity to teach them some valuable life lessons such as patience and virtue. One girl was convinced that I had a child at the local childcare because the little three year old had blue eyes, brown hair, and my last name!

I am sure there are several more but I will leave you with two of the funniest...

I have one little freshman boy who I think just likes to get a reaction out of me. I have him during the class period where lunch is in the middle. So upon his return one day, I was trying to usher the kids back into the classroom to get started. I told him he needed to step into the room. He responded that he could not. I said you must. He said, Miss D, I gotta let one. I replied, What? He again said, I gotta let one. You don't want me in there. I responded, hurry up and get back in! (I am laughing as I write this down). Then about a day or two later, he comes up to me in front of the class and whispers, ah Miss D...I gotta let one. All that crossed my mind was that he did not just come up to me to tell me this. I lost it, I started laughing. The class then wanted to know what he said. I told them not to worry about it...Then to top it all off, about a week later, I was helping another student near this boy. He says out of the blue, I am sorry for what I am about to do. I then said, Then don't do it. He responded, but I have to. I then said, What are you going to do? He said, I am going to stink up the room.

The final one...One of my students had this putty that makes farting noises as you push it back into the container. After several episodes of him "farting" I confiscated the putty. He then said to me, charming as he tries to be, Okay Miss D, I'll let you have this, but promise me this. You will give this to someone you love, and whenever you see it, you'll think of me!

As my favorite show was once titled, Kids Say the darnedest things!

I'm Only Human!

Well Jenni B and I have a fond liking to Michael Jackson song, Will You Be There. We often tend to dance and sing to it. So on her birthday, we had an evening of enjoying the first fire of the year, eating a hearty meal of meatloaf, then dancing and singing to Will You Be There for our friend Sasha. The night concluding with the birthday song and blowing out of candles. Last time we performed, our outfits were much more professional, so please excuse our make shift attempt of looking like MJ!

Collaborator Meditation

I know I have mentioned the Collaborators several times, but have not really explained it. The Collaborators is a laity movement associated with a religious order based out of Italy. The religous order, known as the Apostles of the Interior life, consists of men and women who have consecrated their lives to Christ. Their apostolate/charism is evangelization and spiritual direction. The Apostles serve several priests, laity, and college students. The order now has a couple houses in the US, Kansas being one of them. These sisters have influenced my life, particularly in regards to my faith and spirituality. I receive spiritual direction from one of them and I have always felt a call to serve others in some form of direction.

Just recently the order decided to form a group of laity that want to carry out the same apostolate. So I decided to join in. I am currently on the path to take promises with this group. This means I will make a life commitment to daily prayer and to apostolate of caring for souls. Currently I carry out this apostolate through spiritual mentorship with a handful of college students and women. I can share more on this later.

This past month at our meeting, I gave a meditation on Meditation. I have posted it below. I wanted to recognize that it is difficult to make time for God in our hectic and worldly lives, but stressing its necessity. This is a prayer asking for an increased desire to better my daily devotion. If you are interested please read!

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A Prayer for an Increased Dedication to Meditation

“Spirit of Light, imprint upon [our] minds, in characters that can never be erased, this truth: that [our] apostolate will be successful only in the measure that [we, ourselves] live that supernatural inner life of which Thou art the sovereign Principle and Jesus Christ the SOURCE.”[1] You have called us each here to grow in your love, particularly through the means of meditation. Though you have intimately called us each to form an interior life, we struggle as a result of the Fall and the world of which we live. Father, please help us to recognize your presence in each moment of our lives. Grant us the courage to be intimate with you so that we may place our trust and entire lives into your hands; and furthermore so that we may care for the souls that you have entrusted to us.

Father many of us struggle to set time aside for you each day. We live busy and hectic lifestyles and though we may think we are doing good as Martha did, you would rather us follow the docility of Mary. Help us to see how we can change our daily routines, just in small measures, so that we can always rest in your presence.

Lord, we recognize that our ultimate goal is happiness and we can only seek this through a personal relationship with you. We also know that the foundation of this relationship must be built upon a rock of prayer...a time of meditation. Help us to change our ways, ultimately striving for a half hour a day. Help us heed the advice of a French bishop who said, “To all [our] occupations,…add a half hour of meditation every morning. Not only will you get through all of your business, but you will find time for still more.”[2] We know your desire for us to have time of meditative prayer, but please grant us the grace to truly deem it necessary. For if we do not have meditation, we shall ask little or nothing of You. Therefore, each day and several times in the day, we must ask You to give us the grace to love You with our whole heart.[3]

Help us to make small progressions towards constant awareness of your presence by helping us open our day with a morning offering, blessing our food, praying for our families and friends, offering sacrifices through the undesirable duties of the day, participating in the Sacraments, and closing our day with an examination of conscience. Lord, help us to make our meditation fruitful by inspiring us with resolutions that will help us grow in virtue. Help us to recognize You in the people we meet in our careers, vocations, and current states of life. Help us each to see that we are striving to set aside a time in our day where we will give you our undivided attention. Help us to remember, that if we are determined “to acquire an interior life, we must take for an ideal, unremitting domination of self and complete control over [our] environment, in order to act in all things solely for the glory of [You].[4]

Jesus, we are constantly reminded by your cross, just how much you love us. May we reciprocate this love through time of meditation. The Catechism teaches us that "Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the converstion of our heart, and strengthen our will to follow [You]. [5]Thus, our Love for you is increased and we will more willingly permit ourselves to be loved by you.

Father, we come before you, each with a unique and personal spirituality. “No matter what [our] condition[s] may be, if [we are] only willing to pray and become faithful to grace, [You] offer [us] every means of returning to an inner life that will restore to [us our] intimacy with [You], and will enable [us] to develop [Your] life in [ourselves].”[6] My we set aside our spiritual wretchedness as we draw closer to you through a renewed dedication to meditation. For we only begin to thoroughly know and feel our own spiritual wretchedness, once we start to leave it behind.[7]

Lord you have granted us a simple means to holiness--simply the means of reflecting on scripture and spiritual writings. As we attempt to better our meditative prayer, may we bear in mind that “Prayer is not another part for us to act, another skill for us to master, another subject to study for an examination: [rather] it is a relationship with [You][8]. Increase our desire to converse with you through scripture and meditation. Help us to push through the dry droughts of prayer in order to always acknowledge your presence.

As we close this prayer this evening, may we call upon the intercession of the Holy Spirit and the saints who have inspired us to experience the fruit of daily and persistent meditation:

Come Holy Spirit, teach us to pray well.
St. Ignatius of Loyola, pray for us!
St. Teresa of Avila, pray for us!
St. John of the Cross, pray for us!
St. Alphonsus Ligouri, pray for us!

Finally, may we learn by heart the words of St. Margaret Mary: “I ever possess, and take with me everywhere, the God of my heart and the Heart of my God.”

Amen.

[1] Soul of the Apostolate, p.3
[2] Soul of the Apostolate, p.33
[3] St. Alphonsus Ligouri
[4] Soul of the Apostolate, p.28
[5] CCC 2708
[6] Soul of the Apostolate, p. 19
[7] Magnificat, September ’07, p. 134, Fr. Jean-Pierre Caussade
[8] Magnificat, November ’07, p.251, Fr. Simon Tugwell

Michelle's Birthday

Last Saturday night we had another Collaborator meeting. My friends Michelle and Maria hosted us. Following the evening some of the girls stayed overnight at Michelle's to celebrate her birthday. The next morning we all went to Mass together and then went to First Watch for her birthday brunch. Yet another great birthday celebration!

Jenni's Surprise Birthday Party!

Sheena was in town for a wedding, and Jenni's birthday just happened to be about a week away, so we decided to surprise Jenni with Sheena's presence and a party for her! So here are some of the pictures. The best part of the evening was not the initial shock Jenni had when she saw everyone there, but the second scream when she realized Sheena was in the crowd! I love surprising people! Happy Birthday Jenni!

Weekend Leisure

Since Friday was the end of the quarter, things at school seemed to wrap themselves up and I did not have to bring much to do this week! Yeehaw!

This weekend was like none other I have experienced in a long time. When I got to school on Friday morning, one of my colleagues said, "Happy hour after school?" And I thought sure why not...we put in a full week and a full quarter of the school year! So three of us went out to O'Dowd's an Irish pub in Zona Rosa (Parkville). Then the excitement of the weekend began...One of the teachers owns a horse named Glory. So she took us out to the farm for an evening of horseback riding...It was a low key affair since there was only one horse and the horse had to take her time getting used to us strangers. But regardless, it was a great evening with the nice breeze, watching the sunset, and riding a horse out on the farm! Following that I headed to an adoration chapel for some time to pray, rest and just be.

Saturday was another unique day. I got up and went to Mass. There were thunderstorms all morning, so what better to do, then to go back home and crawl up and read a book....So I read for awhile, took a nap, watched a movie with my roommate (mom can you believe it? I watched a movie!), then I got ready for the evening. I think it was the first day in a long time that I didn't do anything truly productive! That night I went to a Catholic young adult event titled the Hee-Haw Hoedown. We had some country fixin's, a caller for square dancing, bobbing for apples, and a bonfire...We had a good time.

Sunday, I slept in, went to Mass, worked on a meditation I am going to be giving at the Collaborator meeting, spent a few hours at Loose Park, went running, and now I am home for the evening cleaning, doing laundry, and to do a bit of school work!

I guess I am sharing this to encourage all of you to have a weekend of four "R"s.....resting, recuperating, and retreating! It is certainly rejuvenating!

I hope you all have a great week!
Love, Lauren

A glimpse of October...

Weekend with Missy and Tim...

On the Plaza with Jenni (and Aunt Missy and Uncle Tim)...note the unintended matching outfits with the coincidental pink fountain water...

Fall Festivities....After work I went to Jenni's house to join Sasha and Jenni for homemade pumpkin pie, peach cobbler, and applesauce they made that afternoon from supplies they picked up at the farmer's market. It was the perfect way to welcome the fall season!

Michelle and I at the Divine Wine Fest...

Waxing by Missy

Last weekend, Aunt Missy and Uncle Tim came to visit! I felt quite honored since they took the weekend away from the kiddos and wanted to come see me! Needless to say, we had a great 24 hours together filled with laughter. The laughter began as I shared some stories about my students...especially the stories related to flatulence...then I realized that I had at my place a container of Flarp...a putty that makes farting noises...so we had lots of fun playing tricks with that....this comes into play later...

My time with Missy and Tim included a tour of the city including Downtown, the Plaza area, Brookside, Parkville, my school, and my condo...then we attended Mass together, followed by a trip to the Plaza for dinner at P.F. Chang's.

On our way back from dinner, we reminisced some memories from family vacations in Michigan. We then recalled the evening of facials with all the girls in the family. Missy was once again inspired to wax my eyebrows. I was up for the fun...there is really not much more to say other than she did a great job and I have not laughed as hard as I did in a long time...the video should explain more....

I believe the laughter stems from Aunt Missy thinking she may have accidentally waxed my entire eyebrow and from her need to go quickly go to the bathroom.

So please, watch the video for a good laugh.

Thanks Aunt Missy and Uncle Tim for a great weekend. It was my pleasure to have you!

One-fourth of the way...

As of 2:38 Friday afternoon, I will have survived my first quarter of the school year. It is truly amazing how quickly time is flying. Please stay tuned to the blog, for tomorrow I intend to share with you some entertaining stories from school and life. Love ya all

Glamorous...A Red Carpet Affair

The weekend of September 20, I went to the homecoming football game Friday night, then participated in the homecoming parade with the freshman executive council Saturday morning, and then chaparoned the homecoming dance Saturday evening. So needless to say it was a full weekend. I enjoyed my time getting to see students outside of the classroom. Here are a few pics from the weekend...

Who needs a convertible when you have a dump truck and trailer?

The crew of students....

oh yeah, we won the game!