Your T-Shirt Made Me Smile

I attend a Catholic college in picturesque New England, and as I have recently found, there is some religious competition among the girls. Mass attendance, interaction with the religious personnel, proper dress, and acts of evangelization are the main areas open for judgment. Personally, I am in inwardly faithful person and would rather live my faith the way I see fit. This has worked for me and I plan on sticking with it. However, I don't go to Mass every day, I run in spandex, and I'm not posting scripture verses all over my dorm, so I have been viewed as not "Catholic" enough. Due to this, I have been left out of certain activities and judged for the way I dress. I didn't want it to get to me but tonight I was beginning to question myself, wondering about my prayer life, my actions, my clothes and so on. I was getting rather confused with this line of thinking so I prayed and sent a text to the people who know best -- my parents. They helped me through, assuring me that I should keep doing what I'm doing and do it with a smile, not minding what others may think. Taking their uplifting advice I found a few friends and headed out for ice cream. I treated myself to an ice-cream sandwich and sat down to enjoy my wonderful life with God. Amidst this moment a man walked by with a shirt that said, "If you have haters you must be doing something right". I couldn’t help but smile and thank God for his simple ways of letting me know He is with me.

Never Thought This Would Happen

As I put on my spandex and singlet this morning, I turned around and looked in the mirror and smiled real big. Never did I think I would see the day where I was waking up, putting on a college uniform, and heading to another state to run in my first Division II Varsity Cross Country race. Just four years ago I was nervous about joining the high school team but I did and I loved it. After high school ended, I was determined not to run in college. But God had a different plan. His plan is better than anything I could imagine. The best part is that it is still unfolding. :)