Thanksgiving 2014

Happy Thanksgiving! and Happy Turkey-day....as my friend Tommy says:)

I know you're all busy doing family things, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm extremely thankful for all of you!!!!! 

Have a blessed day:)

Writing About Roses...

Roses are red, 

they smell really sweet.

But thorns they do have,

and that's not so neat.

I took this picture of a rose while my mom was sick…someone had sent it to us with a "get well soon card." I took the picture out of bordom and never really even thought about it. It was just another picture…nothing special. But today, that changed.

I was going through the pictures on my phone today, looking for a certain picture for my blog, when I came across this picture. I totally had forgotten about it…it wasn't anything special, just another picture, one of thousands (literally) of pictures of flowers that I have taken. For some reason, it caught my eye, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. While I was at mass this morning, God helped me realize something that I hadn't thought of before: Life is like a rose, beautiful, delicate, and amazing, but along with its wonderful scent and beautiful petals, are thorns. Now I'm sure I don't have to tell you that thorns really hurt to touch, kind of like some things in life…some things in life just hurt. I found a really cool poem (at the beginning of this post) that I thought that it was a cool way to remember that life just isn't perfect…nothing is, except God.

You're probably like, "Yeah, duh! Life isn't perfect!" and you're correct. But the reason I brought this up is because I never really thought of suffering this way. Suffering is beautiful and amazing, and sometimes you just have to get past the thorns to see the rose. This really made me think about all the suffering and sadness that me and my family went through when my mom was sick…always worried and wondering what the next day would bring. But like I said before, suffering is beautiful… sometimes we just have to make it through the thorns before we get to the roses in our lives.

We still can't forget, though, that getting past the thorns and to the rose doesn't necessarily mean that we won't suffer again…if anything, it only means that we will suffer again, because no one's life is ever perfect. Even the happiest people who seem to have perfect lives, have their thorns. 

During the hard times in our lives, we have to remember to put our trust in God. He is always there for us, and the suffering that you're going through, as awful as it may seem, is all part of God's divine plan for us. He knows what is best for us, even when we think something is exactly opposite of the "best for us." He has a reason for everything. Your suffering might just be an "awakening" for you, helping you to realize something you hadn't really noticed before…like when my mom was really sick, I realized the importance of family, and how we are never promised another day. Thats just an example, though…suffering can show us so much more!

One more thing I wanted to mention was Jesus' suffering on the cross. His "thorns" were coming to earth to suffer and die for our sins…for our lives! He died so that each and every one of us could live! Now, thats pretty cool! A speaker at a retreat said something once that I will never forget. He said that while Jesus was on the cross, He thought about each one of us individually, and He whispered our name…thats how much He loves us. God loves us so much that He sent His only Son to suffer and die for us. So when you're going through any sort of suffering, just think of that. Think about how much suffering Jesus went through for us, and try to imitate Him. And it always helps to say a prayer for help through a hard time…and I also want you to know that I'm specifically praying for each one of you reading this, and for you to have strength as you go through whatever hard time you might be going through:)

Anyways, I want to finish with an inspirational quote, that I thought was fitting for the subject of this post:)

"Although the life of a person is in a land full of thorns and weeds, there is always a space in which the good seed can grow. You have to trust God."

- Pope Francis

Love and Prayers,

Madison ♥

Schoenstatt Camp

Last week, I went to Schoenstatt Camp in Lamar, Tx! (Never heard of Schoenstatt? Thats ok! You can check out their website here.) It was an awesome, and very unforgettable experience! I had so much fun getting to hang out with so many amazing catholic teenage girls!

I'm in a group called the "Roses Ablaze," and my group and I had the wonderful privilege of being able to make our Covenant of Love to Mary together!

Here are some pics:)

It was a 7and a 1/2-ish hour drive, so we stopped to get some treats:) ICEES!!!!!! 

The property that we were on is GORGEOUS!!! You can see the ocean from just about everywhere, and there are tons of flowers! It's sooooooo pretty!

THE SHRINE!!!!

Isn't the shrine soooooooooooo soooooooo soooooo adorable?!?! It looks like it came out of a fairytale book!!!!

The inside of the shrine is absolutely beautiful! 

Inside of me and Claire's room, we found a little carving of the shrine on the wall…..well, it wasn't a carving, it was actually a natural carving from the wood! Isn't that amazing?!?!

Me and my friends! We're the Roses Ablaze!!!!!

(top: Claire; middle left: Marcy; middle right: Veronica (Roni); bottom left: Cassidy; bottom right: Me!)

Random pic of flowers…yeah I took it! In case you haven't noticed, I LOVE photography, especially nature, and more specifically, trees and flowers! I saw the beautiful white flowers and just had to take a pic:)

Dear Jesus,

Thank-you for such a wonderful week at camp with my amazing friends! Thank you for all of the blessings that you give to me, especially for this opportunity to get to go to such an awesome camp, where I got to grow closer to You, and Your Blessed Mother, Mary! I love you:)

-Madison

The Hardest Thing I've Ever Experienced

(Here is another idea from the "list" ☺)

The hardest thing I have ever experienced was having my mom in the hospital...it was sad, scary, and difficult. But our Lord truly gave me and my siblings the grace, courage, and strength to get through our hard time! God is Good...All the time! And all the time...God is Good!

There's No Greater Love Than This…

Found this on Pinterest and had to share it…

So true.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! 

I hope you all have a hap-hap-happy thanksgiving!!!!