Master, to whom shall we go?

I am THE MOST nostalgic person ever. I save old pictures and letters in boxes and look through them on rainy days, remembering fun times with my friends and encouraging words they've given me. I get emotional just looking at my current laptop wallpaper because I love my sweet best friend Cali so much:

Miss you, Cal!

 So anyway, I love nostalgia and memories. There's this app called Timehop that brings up what you posted on social media on this day 1,2,3, or however many years ago, and for people like me, its so much fun. Today on Timehop, one of my favorite Bible verses came up because I had made it my Facebook status 2 years ago when I heard it for the first time:

 

 

When I first heard this verse (John 6:68), I was a freshman at OSU, trying to figure out what college was all about. "How do I be Catholic in college?" was a major question on my mind, along with, "why do I feel so alone without all of my friends?" Being lonely is a rough feeling, and we all experience it at some point--the beginning of this new part of my life was the first time for me, and all I wanted to do was be sad about it. I really missed my best friends from home, and I just wanted to go back to them. I wasn't thinking about loving the Lord, but about the loneliness I was feeling. 

 

To provide some context, John chapter 6 is the Last Supper, more importantly the bread of life discourse. This is when Jesus is telling his disciples that He is the bread of life and by eating His flesh and drinking His blood, we will have eternal life. Many of the disciples found this hard to believe and left, returning to their former way of life (John 6:66). Jesus turns to the twelve and asks if they are going to leave as well, which is when Peter gives the response that so profoundly spoke to my heart two years ago. It made me feel sad for those who had left. They were probably a little sad to be leaving as well...I would be sad if one day I decided to go back to how I was before following Jesus. But I felt as if Jesus was asking me this question as well, which made my heart fill with love and compassion for Him. I realized that there are so many things that I could have done because I felt as if I was alone and being Catholic was "getting harder" because I was getting older. And how many people, when they get to college, stop going to church and stop following Christ because it suddenly takes more responsibility on their part? I knew that Jesus is the Truth and nothing could ever take the place of that. Just like Peter, I realized that there was no beating eternal life, and after everything I had been through with Jesus, there was no way I could leave Him now.

 

When being a Christian gets hard, when I (so foolishly) start to think that I could be having more "fun" doing what I want with no regards to my faith, I think of this verse--where else could I possibly go, what else could I possibly believe in, that is better than what Christ has to offer? Life in Christ will involve suffering, but it also leads to eternal life.

 

Every year around this time, I remember this verse. Just 2 days ago I wrote in on the top of my calendar so I could remember it when school, work, and life start to get busy.

So that's my favorite Bible verse. I hope everyone's school year is off to a great start! Mine sure is! #kakidoesthings

The Best of Summer 2014

Today starts my third year of college! Summer is almost officially over, (it will be over when I go to my first class, which isn't for a few more hours) and I wanted to do a highlight reel of the most exciting things I did this summer.

 

I got into kayaking! It was really fun. I met some nice hipsters and saw some turtles.

I worked at a day camp for 3-6 year olds. They were sourpatch kids if you know what I mean...first they were sour then they were sweet. Then they were sour again, and then they were sweet sometimes. But it was fun...it kept me busy and entertained, that's for sure.

Meagan came home from Europe! I love my best friend more than I can explain, so I was so happy to get to see her this summer.

Collin asked me to be his girlfriend! *swoon.* He left for drum corps, but then he came back and we basically partied all summer. In this picture, we were in Dallas and had just eaten some AWESOME queso.

These pictures are from my New York/New Jersey adventures. My aunt and uncle live right by the beach in New Jersey so my family went to visit. We also spent a day in New York City (bottom right, I'm standing on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building). The best part of this trip though was the FOOD. The "pretzel nugs" (Top right) and pizza (bottom left, in case you don't know what pizza looks like) were out of this world. Not pictured is the AMAZING philly cheesesteak I had in Philadelphia (Oh yeah, we went there too). The cheesesteak was probably my favorite thing we had on the #foodvacation.  

I took a roadtrip to Austin with Collin to visit Cali. Cal has been working at a camp all summer and I missed her a ton! But she was doing big things and I'm so proud of her. On the way home, Collin and I seriously befriended a baby giraffe. As soon as we walked up to his barn he came right to us and let us pet him! And that was before we gave him any food ;) But even after we fed him he still wanted to hang with us and let us take some selfies with him. I also got to visit Brittany in Dallas when she was on her way home from The Pines. This sweet friend is so great. We met last summer when we were both working at the greatest catholic camp in all the land and I am so glad we've stayed friends!

 

Honorable Mentions not pictured: Summer softball, Catholic girls night, causing a scene at Whataburger when I was surprise-reunited with chase, and dancing at Billy Bobs!

 

I'm all moved into my house in Stillwater and so ready for a great year. Its already off to a great start--I love my roommates and my friends and I can't wait to start my job as a research assistant for one of my favorite professors. Hopefully it will be a great year of doing things. Go pokes! Bye summer 2014!

 

Its been two years and I've learned four things in college

I have survived proudly completed two years of college. After moving four hours away from home, two hospital visits, one stray dog, multiple cookie cakes and several nights spent alone in coffee shops discovering myself, I feel like I might possibly be qualified to offer some advice to those of you about to embark on what everyone is telling you is going to be the best time of your life. I can't say weather or not this is really going to be the best time of your life, because I am not yet old enough to look back on it (thank God), so we're in the same boat on that one. But hey, since we're all sitting in this boat, let me tell you what I have learned so far.

Things other blog posts won't tell you about going off to college:

1. It's going to feel weird for the first few weeks.
You can prepare yourself for it all you want. You can imagine what its going to be like, but its a huge change and a long transition, so embrace it as so. Everyone else might seem like they move away from home every day, but don't buy it. They feel just as awkward as you do. This extreme vulnerability that occurs during the first few weeks allows for friendships to form because everyone wants people to feel awkward with. I remember when my parents left after helping me move into my dorm, there was this feeling of "they're gone." It wasn't sad or scary, and I didn't immediately run out and get a tattoo, but it was a weird feeling. I felt independent in my 12x10 dorm room. Be patient and take it all in because its gloriously weird. The "weirdness" (which is really just newness) becomes your life and you get used to it.

2. Please, go to church.
The only reason I say this is because...well I guess there are multiple reasons, the first one being that I care about your soul and I know that Jesus does too. The second one is that it makes me so sad when people stop going to church in college for whatever reason. Since I'm Catholic, I never had to go through the whole "church hopping every Sunday for the first few weeks" thing like other people do, but if that's what you need to do, then I encourage you to do it and find a church that you love. For me personally, Saint John's University Parish became my home freshman year. I study there, I worship there, I take the occasional nap there and frequently raid the fridge there, and I met some really great people there who are some of my favorite faces to see on campus. The church people will hold you accountable and help you discover what it means to be a Christian young adult. They also sometimes offer free meals. You get to take ownership of your faith when you move away....don't be afraid to dive in--You'll be surprised at how present The Lord can be on college campuses.

Women's group!

3. College friendships are different
Your friends really do become your family. My roommate rode with me in an ambulance and held my hand when they were poking me with needles. One of my other friends helped me move everything out of my dorm and make it fit into my VW Beetle. If you have a car, you give people rides to Walmart or pick them up from sketchy situations without judgement because there's this unwritten code among college friends that you just have to have each other's backs....Maybe its not like that for everyone and I just got lucky, but either way, look for people who stick by your side when you need a ride to the hospital because three mouth anesthetics for a filling made you pass out at the dentist. (Thanks, Em!)

Numb life...I can't believe I'm putting this picture online.

 

4. You might not love it right away



I didn't grow up in Oklahoma, and no one in my family went to OSU. It took me a while (my first three semesters) to actually feel some sort of pride in my school. But doesn't that make sense? I had no connection to OSU when I first got there. If this happens to you, don't sweat it. Buy a few spirit shirts and focus on the things you love about your school. It doesn't have to be a sports team. For me it's my major! (I'm a nerd, its fine, go pokes) (But football is cool too)

College is weird. College is fun. Its hard and scary and exciting and awesome. You'll be happy-free-confused-and-lonely-at-the-same time. (Itsmiserableandmagicalohyeah...I just had to finish the lyric) I'm going back for round 3 in a few weeks and I'm really excited!!

Game day outfits are important but game day friends are even more important

Pope John XXIII: Who's that other guy getting cannonized?

Allow me to take a moment to be a Catholic hipster. I've known about Pope John XXIII since last year when I found "Journal of a Soul: Pope John XXIII" at my church and decided that I liked this jolly looking man who was pope in the late 50's/early 60's.


I was really excited when I found out he would be canonized along with the beloved Pope John Paul II on Divine Mercy Sunday because, unlike a regular hipster, I wanted everyone else to know how awesome John XXIII was. As the canonization draws closer, I've heard a few people ask, "Who is Pope John the...(*pause for trying to read Roman numerals*) twenty third?"

He was a humble and simple man, always conscious of his prayer and relationship with Jesus. He wrote beautiful things about purity during his time in the seminary. He helped save around 24,000 Jewish people during World War II.  He opened the Second Vatican Council in 1962:

"Illuminated by the light of this Council, the Church -- we confidently trust
-- will become greater in spiritual riches and gaining the strength of new
energies therefrom, she will look to the future without fear. In fact, by
bringing herself up to date where required, and by the wise organization of
mutual co-operation, the Church will make men, families, and peoples really
turn their minds to heavenly things."

-From Pope John XXII'I's opening speech to the Second Vatican Council

(I would like to take this opportunity to point out that the Church does in fact "keep with the times" and look toward the future. Just because she doesn't change her views on today's hot topics and truth doesn't mean she is "stuck in the past.")

 

As pope, John XXIII traveled freely throughout Rome, not wanting to appear as a "prisoner of the Vatican." He also tried to downplay his role as "ruler" and emphasized his role of servant to the church....He visited a prison, saying, "since you could not come to me, I came to you!" Sounds familiar doesn't it?

Hi Pope Francis!

I have not finished John XXIII's writing yet, but I have read enough to catch a small glimpse of his beautiful and holy heart...you don't need to read much to see it:

 

"In fact, what use would it be for us to possess even all the gold in the world at the price of losing our souls? Keep this truth firmly fixed in your minds and never forget it. We must never feel saddened by the very straightened circumstances in which we live. We must be patient, look above and think of paradise...we shall find our rest there, do you understand?  There we shall suffer no more; we shall receive the reward of our works and our sufferings, if we have borne them with patience."

-From a Letter to his parents, 1901, when he was rector of the Roman seminary. (Journal of a Soul)



This speaks to my heart. I hope it speaks to yours too.
He was very aware of his interior life, as any good and holy person should be. In Journal of A Soul, he makes a list while he is in the seminary of resolutions and goals for himself. He talks about prayer, meditation, not giving in to distractions, devotion to Mary and to the Blessed Sacrament...even being a student:

"As regards to my studies, I will apply myself to them with love and enthusiasm to the best of my powers, taking care to give due attention to all subjects without any distraction, never proffering the excuse that I do not like any of them."

-Journal of a Soul

 

I feel like I need to hang this over my desk and write in on the cover of my notebook. ;)

 

He also wrote about the importance of and his commitment to purity, especially as it pertained to him as a seminarian and future priest. He tried to keep conversations away from topics that would jeopardize his thoughts, and depended on the aid and intercession of God, Mary and his Guardian Angel to help him remain in holy purity. (Pope John XXIII--pray for us that we may follow this example!) 

 

This post is just the tip of the iceberg, but I wanted to raise a little bit of awareness for this awesome, holy, loving man. He reminds me a lot of Pope Francis and JPII. Toward the end of his life, he wrote:

 

"So I must hold myself ready for this last phase of my life, in which restrictions and sacrifices will await me, until the sacrifice of my bodily existence and the opening of eternal life. O Jesus, I am ready to stretch out my hands, now weak and trembling, and allow others to dress me and support me along the way."

Such humility and human dignity.

 

So now you should be DOUBLE excited for April 27th because TWO great men will be canonized! Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II, Pray for us!



http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1165
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/304923/John-XXIII/3724/Assessment



Making a comeback: 20 things I've learned since 1994

Its been a while. I guess I did become one of those people who starts a blog, uses it for a little while, and then abandons ship—or so I thought. I thought Kaki Does Things was pretty much done for until I did something that was so worth blogging about, I couldn’t not blog about it. Something so life-changing and once-in-a-lifetime: I turned twenty. I know that turning 20 was inevitable, but after reflecting on my two awesome decades of being on this earth, I realized that I've learned a thing or two. I wanted to write and post this on my actual birthday, which was March 14^th (Pi day!), but I was so busy having a fabulous spring break that I never really got around to it. But better late than never! And as a shiny new twenty year old, I decided that I’m going to start blogging again. So stay tuned, I have big things in store!
So like I said, I’ve been on this earth for twenty glorious years. 2011 might have been more awkward than glorious, but still glorious in its own short-haired “I’m discovering who I am” type of way.

 

 

Okay, still pretty glorious. Nice phone.

 

 Here is a list I have compiled, in chronological(ish) order, of the 20 greatest things I’ve learned in the past 20 years.

1. The “popular” girls at pre-school may not let you play Spice Girls with them…that’s when you have the best opportunity to do your own thing and totally rock at it. For me, it was learning how to fill up a water gun so I could squirt them.

2. Every extrovert needs an introvert best friend to keep them grounded. I met mine in kindergarten when I was fascinated by how long she could go without talking. I love you Nea.

3. If you want to play soccer with the boys, all you have to do is ask. This translates to adult life too—if you ask for something, people will usually lend a hand.

4. You can start a fire at recess with a magnifying glass and a piece of mulch. Again—I love you Nea.

5. You shouldn’t walk dog while wearing roller blades. Especially if your dog likes to chase birds.

6. Grandma will let you eat what you want, when you want.

7. You’ll never regret reaching out to someone.

8. No matter how badly you want to be the middle school mascot, you should probably be tall enough to wear the costume…wait, no. Be the middle school mascot because it’s so much fun.

9. If you’re too nervous around him to eat anything other than a granola bar for lunch, he’s probably not the one.

10. When you realize he’s not the one, don’t change who you are in order to make him the one. You deserve to eat more than just a granola bar.

11. The weirdest things happen at the back of the marching band bus on the way to football games.

12. Your true friends are the ones who still hang out with you when your hair looks like someone’s mom cut it in the 70’s. (see above)

13. If you actually study the material, you’ll do well on the test. I've learned this and its opposite quite a few times.

14. Everyone sees things differently: I thought 11^th grade physics was the worst thing to ever happen to me, but my teacher loved physics because he loved understanding how God’s world works. Talk about a different perspective. I was still terrible at physics, but it changed the way I saw it.
14a. God is present in everything

15. We can’t read people’s minds, the technology just isn’t there. You’ll never know what people really think about you, so don’t let that stop you from just being as YOU as possible. Who cares what other people think? (again, see above photos.)

16. God is real. I didn’t know where to put this on the list because I learn it every single day.

17. Jesus is truly present in the poor. When we serve them, we serve Him.

18. College is like an alternate universe. It’s weird and its crazy and it’s awesome. Your friends become your family. A Kurig coffee maker is sometimes the fountain of life. You might go to the hospital a few times or bring home a spare dog.  But somehow, these are our glory days.

19. Don’t be afraid to apologize and ask for forgiveness.

20. The best and most exciting place to be is just outside your comfort zone. Even if it makes you feel like this:

I love myself.

 

I feel like I've just written an article in Chicken Soup  for the Teenager's Soul. Hopefully this is more like a chipotle burrito for your soul though. New and exciting things coming soon on my blog that I can't wait to share with you! Happy Friday!

"To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation." -Life of Pi by Yan Martel