Last Day of the Mission Trip!

The mission trip ended with a great day at Holy Family. I got to spend

the day with an amazing young man who had two types of cancer, yet you

couldn't tell at all. He was funny and making all of us laugh all day

long.

After Holy Family we cleaned up the monestary and had a volleyball

tournament. Rob Moloney's family won! Congratulations to them!

We ended our night with an incredible talk by Marvin Williams. He

talked about being fearless and how with God, we should fear less in

life.

Finally, we ended the week with mass. It was a great way to end to the

week and very special also. If you don't know, Father Nick got

ordained 8 weeks ago. The priests first blessing is supposed to be at

a special event or occasion. He chose the last mass to give his first

blessing. I know I am honored, to be a part of his history as a

priest.

This has been an amazing mission trip and I thank all of you who have

been praying for us this week.

God Bless all of you,

Lyndsey Sweet

Mission trip Adoration, a love hate relationship

Adoration is an amazing thing. I mean sitting in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ is amazing. It doesn't get much better than that right? And its great. I feel his love. I know he is there and I know he is listening. I love being able to pray or sing or just sit still. But at the same time I hate it. When I am alone with my thoughts usually I am okay, but during adoration, especially tonight, I was thinking about so many things. I was praying for some intentions and for my mission trip family and for all the people we served this week. And then I got to thinking about our theme of being fearless. And we've been telling these teens to be fearless and let go of their fears. And when they asked what my fears were at the time I said small stuff like storms and driving next to eighteen wheelers. But I can finally give them, and you, the honest answer.
I am afraid of change, and being alone, and of the unknown. If you don't know I like to know what's going in my life and I like to have things planned. And right now so much change has happened in my life over the last few weeks. I lost my childhood home and I feel like I have no home. Sure I have my apartment and my parents' beautiful new home, but neither of those feels like my home. I don't like that feeling. Then Danny graduated and moved away.And even though we had our own things, he was always right there just a walk across the street for the last 3 years. I took that for granted and I'm afraid because  I can't call him at 3am to see who is knocking on our door or to take care of me when I'm sad or to make me laugh. I'm scared that he could end up halfway across the country. I know in less than a year he will be stuck with me (bless his heart) but so much happened so fast it freaked me out little today. And I know I'm not alone, I have my roommates, my friends, my Saint Peters family, and someone named God who is ever present, but it's still difficult and I'm still afraid.
So I prayed and continue to pray that I find peace and realize that change can be okay and that I'm not alone. That no matter what God is with me and that my true friends and my family will never let me be truly alone.

hump day of the mission trip!

The teens continued to work hard at their various work sites. They continued to show their fearlessness in all that we do and are so proud of them!
After a hard day at work, we all enjoyed chickfila for dinner at Kennywood. Teens and adults had a blast at the amusement park. Many teens conquered their fear of heights and roller coasters by going on the many rides and attractions!
Today is our last work day and we ask for your continued prayers as we finish our last jobs. The youth have been tremendous in their work ethic and their love of God. We are very proud!
Thank you and God Bless,
Lyndsey

day four fearless love

Today was the second day of work and no one was hurt!! Praise God! Teens went everywhere from soup kitchens to food banks and doing everything from packing boxes to serving meals to starting and finishing a retaining wall and much much more. These teens are rock stars. They work at their sites all day then come back to the monastery to do odds and ends jobs!! We are blessed and these teens are being fearless in so many ways!
Mass again was beautiful, where so many teens helped with the mass whether it be as a musician or reader to server and Eucharistic ministers. It is great to see these teens so involved!
Tonight's program was given by our fearless  leader, Lisa Sheppard!!! We started off with some fun music with Billy followed by some songs that read more like prayers to calm the mood!
Lisa talked about how much we work and get out of our comfort zones on so many levels and interact with people within the Life Teen program that we don't normally speak to. So she gave the teens helpful hints in order to keep this mission trip spirit alive after we leave Pittsburgh. First off find your needs. Do we need to be on the computer or phone checking Facebook five times a day? No we don't. The only thing we NEED to live fearlessly is JESUS!! His love  brings us to perfection. The second thing was to take risks. Not anything reckless, rather go out and tell people about Jesus and pray for people and ask to be prayed for. Those are risks. And finally, realizing Christ in you is hope and glory.
With these three things the teens were challenged to keep the mission trip alive, back in Greenville.

Lisa ended with a quote by Mother Teresa I want to share with you:
"People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.  Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.  Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.  Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.  Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.  Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten.  Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.  Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway."

Thank you for your prayers.
God Bless,
Lyndsey

Day three mission trip

Today was our first day working with our families to serve the city of Pittsburgh. My family members were rock stars! They kept on working no matter the weather or how tired they were. I couldn't be prouder of the teens Kim and I get to work with!

What was even more fascinating, was the conversations our teens had with the two ladies we helped. The first had lived in the house had family built over a hundred years ago. She invited us into her home and showed us pictures of her family dating back to the civil war. She herself had lived in that house for 65 years. The second lady was 82 and has also spent her whole life at this home as well. She shared stories about her life and her family, which the kids found fascinating. We really enjoyed our day.


That night we went to mass and had family dinners. Chris Padgett was our speaker. In his own way, filled with humor, sarcasm, and honesty shared his eight basics to a functioning family. Those 8 things are: freedom, respect, wise choices, commitment, self-control, communication, dreaming together, and believe in one another. It was definitely a great night.

I want to close out with this song Chris sang to us last night:
"Lord be patient with me,
Christ be patient with me,
I know I'm not patient with myself."

Thank you for continuing to pray for us...
Peace,
Lyndsey

Mission trip day two

Today we went to Sand Castle to have some fun before the work week started. No matter if it was the lazy river or the giant yellow and orange slides fun was had by all! 

Jimmy Mitchell was our guest speaker for the night. He is a missionary in the music industry and works as the president of a record label for Catholic artists to produce their music. He also goes to various places using music and fascinating life stories to spread the message that beauty will save the world. He told us that we have to be fearless and become the generation that uses beauty to light up this dark world we live in. 

I couldn't sleep last night, so I decided to open my Catholic Youth Bible. It has a section in it that helps people pray for certain topics they are struggling with or want to focus on. So I looked up suggestions for fear. One that I found most helpful was one in the book of Jeremiah. They pray it section focused on Jer 37.11-21. You can look up that story, but I want to share the prayer it gave for overcoming your fears.

It says "Lord, give me the courage I need to be faithful to you. Let my love for you and for other people be so great that my fears will never be able to keep me from doing what is right. Amen!" 

So when you have fear, yet want to be fearless, pray this prayer. 

Thank you for praying for us, and please continue. 

God Bless, 

Lyndsey 

mission trip day 1: are you living fearlessly?

Today started quite early with 120 eager teens and adults! We tried something new where we played a song about being FEARLESS in each car. The teens were assigned a song and the van that played their song were their vans for the first portion of the ride. We pulled out at 7:28am and the ride went smoothly! I enjoyed the experience because I got to know some teens that I haven't got to spend time with and get to know. We had tons of fun including listening to Taylor Swift. Which if you know me is a big deal! Our pod of vans and drivers were superb!
After we arrived at the monetary, we got our room assignments. I am on the top floor with no a.c. I guess it's gonna be me who is fearless this week! I just hope the weather stays semi cool. But Johanna was so kind to loan me another fan so I have one at my feet, one at my head, and the one the room comes with on the wall. Not my ideal sleeping arrangements, but it's not about me and my comfort, it's about serving our Lord and the people of Pittsburgh! Then new had some yummy pizza for dinner! The teens seemed to love it!
After dinner was the nightly program. We the adults sang "when the saints go marching in" as the teens entered the beautiful room that Wendy Murphy put together. The teens sat down and we began the night with the first day of a 9 day novena to JP II. It was beautiful to see these teens lift something or someone up in prayer. Then after we had our first speaker. I am proud to say I know this man quite well and he has been like a father to me throughout my college career. He has helped me with my faith and with guidance on which professors to take (or not take) at ECU among many other things. Joe Hughes gave a wonderful talk about being fearless in our lives.

I'm not going to go into major detail because it means something to be here and hear it yourself, but I just wanted to touch on a few things that jumped out at me or seemed to affect me personally. The first was that you have to be fearless in forgiving those who have hurt you the most. If you don't forgive that person it's not hurting them in the slightest, it's hurting you and your past is controlling your present and future. You have to be fearless and confront your feelings so you can be at peace.
The second thing I want to touch on is how much time we spend on our electronic devices in a week. Joe said between tablet, computer, and tv, he spends 2 days out of each week on those devices. And if a history teacher (who are notorious for despising fancy electronics) is on his for 2 days how long are we as the younger generation on ours? For school and work that's obviously different, but how much time for fun do we use these devices? I know I am probably guilty of at least 3 if not more, days.  We have to learn to live fearlessly because living fearlessly means living with people. My favorite quote of the night was you have to use things and love people. Not love things and use people.

We have to plan for the future, learn from the past, and live in the present.

God Bless,
Lyndsey Sweet

Ephesians 5:25

I don’t want this to become some mushy gushy oh my gosh I love my fiancé blog post. I mean I do love him, but I want to focus more on the Christ filled portion of our relationship. It’s important for both of us to love God first, then each other our family and friends. We met at church, we got to know each other at church, and we fell in love all in the church. So for the both of us, it’s important to go to church and to pray and to be involved in our church.

For the past three years Danny and I have gotten the pleasure to work with the Saint Peter’s Life Teen and to get to know some pretty awesome teens and adults. We learned so much as adults watching the love of these teens in their lives and their communities, as well as the way our fellow adults live their lives and lives with their spouses. They have been great role models to us.

As it says in Ephesians 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” Christ so loved the church, and he loved us so much that he gave up his live for us, and for her, the church. Although this verse specifies husbands, it’s true the other way around. Wives should love their husbands just as Jesus loved the church. We see this in marriages throughout our church and they have been the best role models, and Ephesians 5:25 has been the best advice we have gotten so far in the marriage process. I plan on loving Danny just as much as he loves me, just as Christ loved the church.

I think that’s what’s missing in today’s relationships, whether they are married couples, engaged couples, or dating relationships. I read this article today that said 15 ways to make your relationship/marriage last longer. It said stuff like trust your husband/wife, do your own thing, laugh, etc. But there were a few that bothered me, and comments that bothered me even more…For example, one said to boost your husband/wife. Compliment them when you can, so they know they are appreciated. It isn’t the advice that bothers me; it was the comments I read after that piece of advice. They said comments like “well if I boost them, I’d be lying.” Now how can you be in a marriage, let alone a relationship if you can’t find one single nice thing to compliment your spouse on in a single day? If you cannot tell your friends something nice that your husband/wife did how can you be in a good faith relationship? Something simple, such as I really appreciate when he does the dishes for me. It allows me to relax after a long day at work/home/school/whatever the case may be. That one comment to a friend that he may overhear can boost his attitude and confidence and love for you because he knows you appreciate him and what he does for you. Love your husband/wife just as much as Christ loved the church. Show him you appreciate him. Show him you love him. And love him with all your heart.

Another piece of advice in that column was about entering a marriage with the thought of divorce in the back of your head. In a society where there is a 50% divorce rate, I cannot help but think people go into marriages saying well if he does such and such I’m going to divorce him, there will be someone else for me. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes divorce is absolutely necessary, but not at a 50% rate. You must go into your marriage even a relationship with all that you have. Don’t play around, don’t say “what if” and most importantly don’t go in saying well if this doesn’t work out there will be someone better. Who says that if they are truly in love? How can you love your spouse with the love Jesus had for the church if you are in the back of your head thinking there are other options. I can’t pretend I have marriage experience because I don’t. I still have 340 some days to go until I am a wife. But from seeing comments and posts like the article I read earlier, I am confident that I will enter my marriage totally committed to Danny, and love him as much as Jesus loved the Church. I want Christ and the church to be a constant in our marriage just as much, if not more than it was in our dating relationship. I know our lives will not be perfect, and we will have fights, but if we can always have God in our lives, I know that everything will be okay.

God Bless!

Lyndsey

crazy crazy summer

This summer has been so crazy I can't believe its almost the end of July!

I've been working at the Greenville Museum of Art all summer for internship credit for school. It's an old house turned museum that has it's constant problems but is also been a blast! I have done so much from answering the phone and making copies, to putting up an exhibit, to creating spreadsheets and power points, to staring at computers for 14 hours in a day to giving tours to my current project.
The museum recently acquired pieces of North Carolina pottery and my job is to create descriptions for the pieces. I focused mainly on the potters themselves since so many of the families are intertwined and often need two or three pieces of paper to create a family tree. I would probably be the only one who could interpret these family trees so I try to make it more comprehendible in the descriptions I enter into the program. I only have 9 hours left so I'll be done soon! It's been such a great experience!

In June we went to Tommy and Heather's wedding where we had such a good time! It was so much fun and they are so happy together! I know y'all have had a rough start and Heather I am so sorry again about your dad. He was a great man! I wish yall nothing but the best!

As many of you know, my family also moved out of the house my parents spent the last 21 years in, and I've spent my whole life in. I still can not listen to the song "the house that built me" because it reminds me so much of my old home. But my parents are so happy at the new house and I have to admit it is beautiful! The tears still flow and I miss the house, but I'm glad a new family gets to experience the house that built me into the woman I am today.

Danny and I have been busy making wedding plans and most of the big stuff is out of the way. The two things we don't have is a DJ and someone to do my hair...so if yall have ideas let me know! I can't wait to see all my family and friends, and have them witness me promising to spend the rest of my life with my best friend!!! Only 337 days to go!!!!

Early Saturday morning we will head out to Pittsburgh for Mission Trip 2013! The theme is "Be Fearless" I am so excited to spend the week with some amazing teens and fellow adults and see the faith of God be spread among the people of Pittsburg...all  I can say is Pittsburgh watch out and expect miracles! Over 150 fearless people will be heading your way early Saturday morning!!!

Hope yall have had a great summer so far too!
God Bless
Lyndsey