Be Satisfied with Me

Everyone longs to give themselves completely to someone,
To have a deep soul relationship with another,
To be loved thoroughly and exclusively.
But God, to a Christian, says,
"No, not until you are satisfied, fulfilled and content
With being loved by Me alone,With giving yourself totally and reservedly to Me,
With having an intensely personal and unique relationship
With Me alone.
Discovering that only in Me is your satisfaction to be found,
Will you be capable of the perfect human relationshipThat I have planned for you.
You will never be united with another until you are united
With Me alone,Exclusive of anyone or anything else,
Exclusive of any other desires or longings.

I want you to stop planning,
Stop wishing,
And allow Me to give you the most thrilling plan existing,
One that you cannot imagine.
Please allow Me to bring it to you.
You just keep watching Me, expecting the greatest things.
Keep experiencing the satisfaction that I Am.
Keep listening and learning the things I tell you.
You just wait.
That's all.
Don't be anxious.
Don't worry.
Don't look at the things you think you want;
You just keep looking off and away up to Me,
Or you'll miss what I want to show you.
And then when you are ready,I'll surprise you with a love far more wonderful than any
You could dream of.
You see, until you are ready and until
The one I have for you is ready
(I am working even at this moment to have you both ready at the same time),
Until you are both satisfied exclusively with Me
And the life I prepared for you,
You won't be able to experience the love that
Exemplified your relationship with Me.
And this is the perfect love.

And dear one, I want you to have this most wonderful love,
I want you to see in the flesh a picture of your
Relationship with Me,
And to enjoy materially and concretely
The everlasting union of beauty, perfection and love
That I offer you with Myself.
Know that I love utterly.
I Am God.
Believe it and be satisfied.

~ St. Anthony of Padua

Not Just for Lovers ;)

Earlier this morning I was doing some reading/skimming of a youth ministry books and my thoughts wandered off to Theology of the Body and friendship. Theology of the Body isn't just about dating and marriage, it should affect the core of all relationships. It asks us how we can uphold the dignity of our friends, no matter who they are.

My spiritual director and I once talked about how we can learn to love others by loving God first, but we can also learn how to love God by loving others. Make sense? It is amazing at how we are called to be in relationship with God and with others... relationships are an essential part of our lives! Learning to love our friends for who they are can help prepare us for that big "I do," granted that we are called to that (or aren't already married).

The stages of friendship are so unique... and coming down to Fort Worth I've been able to experience them all anew. It can be difficult to remain patient in friendships and not expect them to blossom overnight, which is something I have learned. When that comfortability does come in a friendship it is a joyous feeling, even simply making yourself at home at someone else's place. I always hope that wherever my home is can be a "home" to others as well, that they would feel comfortable to let themselves in (that is, if I know they're coming!), use the kitchen, and simply kick back and relax. Friends are great blessings and they keep the flow of life running through our bodies, energizing us with joy and laughter and helping us to embrace suffering and pain.

Love is what makes life exciting; life is what makes love exciting.

Some more ramblings

I love my guy friends and I love sharing with them my "guy stories." It's funny to see what advice they give (or don't give) and I don't think guys can even understand other guys! Their responses often include advice to make a move... easy enough for them to say! First of all, I think I'm too nervous that the guy wouldn't feel the same way and then you never know if things could get awkward after that (but that probably depends on who the guy is). Secondly, as I've mentioned before, I don't want to be the pursuer! On the other hand, one friend said it's nice for the guy to know that there can be a "hunt." The word hunt sounds crazy and I don't want to make women out to look like prey, but it has some truth. I'm sure there is a better word for it, but right now it's too late and I probably haven't been thinking clearly for several days! Gotta love that whole vacation thing!

One guy told me that I should just say "hey, I like you, you like me?" and I immediately shot that piece of 'advice' down. Yeah, if only it were that easy.

One last random ramble: I have no idea if anyone reads this blog, but it is posted on my profile on facebook... so at times I wonder if I reveal too much of myself in here!?! Oh well, it's who I am, part of my life, and I don't want to hide away from the world.

The movies make it so easy to "fall" in love and "be" in love... I just watched 'The Holiday' tonight and it was really cute. It actually made me tear up a bit and it put me in a good mood. But seriously... these people fall in love in two weeks! Actually, the characters Iris and Miley don't say they love each other, but have a connection in a week (or less). Nonetheless, it is a cute movie, but I think it can give us wrong expectations!

Last fall, a whole year ago, one of my roommates and I watched several "chick flicks" in a few days. I love those movies but they had me almost pining to be in a relationship! I wanted that "love" that was portrayed in the movies... who doesn't!?!

Ok, lost my train of thought...I don't know what else to say, other than: patience is a virtue!

Inherent differences

Women desire to feel protected by men and men have a desire to feel strong.

All I'm going to say for now.

Dialogue

This is from "Theology of the Body for Teens" written by the Everts and Brian Butler. It is a skewed dialogue on how teens might view the teaching of chastity:

Student: Is it OK for my girlfriend and me to...
Teacher: NO.
Student: Well, what if we just...
Teacher: NO.
Student: but what if we really...
Teacher: NO. NO. NO. Just don't. Be good boys and girls. Hold hands and go to a pumpkin patch together, then play board games with her family, and be home by 7:00 p.m. Otherwise you'll get her pregnant, die of an STD, and go to hell. Class dismissed. Have a fun weekend!

Guard My Heart

We should all be asking others to guard our hearts, even if we don't use those exact words. In books I've read and chastity talks I've gone to I have been told that men should guard the hearts of women. I believe, as a woman, I'm asked to do the same thing. In the past summers I've worked with another woman who is extremely interested in the philosophy of what it means to be a man or a woman and we've had several conversations. We've asked ourselves, and others, what it means when we say we need to guard each other's hearts.

For starters we need to watch what we say and how we act. It is not fair to lead others on when we may not be interested in furthering our friendship and perhaps entering a relationship with them. We need to be modest in all we do; the way we present ourselves in actions and appearance. An argument has been issued that modesty isn't "fair" because why shouldn't a woman be able to dress how she wants to; if a guy lusts after her and has inappropriate thoughts due to the lack of clothing on her body then it must be his fault! That is not a fair argument and it doesn't even make sense. If we love others as we are called to do, then we should will the good of them. This means not drawing attention to one's body, whether female or male, for the sake of another person being tempted to sin. There is a plethora of other ideas that would also argue for modesty, but for the same of time I will not be going into those today.

So, guarding another's heart. There can be many fine lines within this! What's the difference between flirting and personality traits of a person!?! An example would be someone who naturally touches other peoples' arms when talking to them verses a person who is purposefully touching another's arms for the sake of flirting. Confusing, oh, I know!

There can be so many mixed signals between two people and sometimes they are very misleading. To guard another's heart we need our intentions to be clear. We need to know our own intentions with the words and actions we proceed with, but we should try to make them clear to the other person. I.E. don't flirt for the sake of flirting! And maybe if you are a "natural toucher," refrain a bit when talking with a person of the opposite sex so they don't get the wrong impression.

I feel as if I've been babbling on just now! This all flows from my own experiences from recent times. It can be difficult to be a single woman, out of college, who hopes to one day be married and raise a family. Crushes can develop easily, especially from misread signals. Women tend to read into things way too much, often not for our benefit. "He did this, so was he flirting with me?" I suppose only time will tell, and until then I'll trust in God's plan and still be waiting for pursuit.