Dating Fast

Dun dun dunnnnn

As a first year missionary with FOCUS, a year long dating fast is required for three reasons:
1. To further discern vocations.
2. Radical availability of your time to the mission.
3. To better intentionally see and interact with those around you as brothers and sisters in Christ.

If, in August, someone 'liked' a status of which I wrote "lms for tbh about the dating fast" I would've replied, 
"1. Good. 2. I feel like you are mature enough to be prudent about that. But alright, alright. 3. Duh.

If the same 'like' was given to the same status i'd post now, my answers would be drastically different. You see, I've never dated anyone, ever - not one date, not one time. So, when asked, 'are you nervous for the dating fast?' it was almost laughable. Dating drought is more like it and no, I was definitely not nervous. The second point was the only one I had a slight question about, but the third one has taught me the most. If you know me at all, which you do if you're reading this, you probably know I was basically a boy until sophomore year of college. My friends were boys, I dressed like a boy, I definitely acted like a boy, and I certainly didn't consider myself a boy; but, I definitely did not feel like a girl. You know how guys are always complaining about the "friend zone"? Yeah. My license plate, phone number, and plaque on my house might as well read "bffzone". If I am not President elect of such a place, i'm definitely Speaker of the House. I'd go on, but I think you get it. So, going into the dating fast I thought, 'piece of cake'.

First mistake. 

You see, the longer i'm on a dating fast, the more I think about it - in the best way possible. Not in the joking, hashtagging 'forever alone' sarcastically obnoxious way. Not in the 'well, nothings changing - i'll use the fast as an excuse' way. Not even in the 'yolo, dating fast! not going to shower today (though, I may have said that once)' way. But the more I think about it and pray about it, God is teaching me so much through this fast. As women, it is often surprisingly easy to - o.m.g. - like someone...more than a friend. Gasp! We've made our standards so low for the way we see and treat ourselves, that we've made things surprisingly easy for men to waltz on into our precious hearts. Truth or Truth? Truth: A girl I know and love had a crush on a guy who, drum roll please, gave up his seat on the bus for her. 

Yeah. It's that easy. 

Good news: i'm not the only one in a dating drought. Bad news: our culture is in a dating drought. But why?! If we were the women of character we have the potential to be, we would expect that. Not in a snobbish, entitled kind of way, but in a way that shows dignity and respect to those we are in contact with. We should act in a way that dignifies not ourselves, but those we exist with. We would expect a man to give up a seat on the bus because if the roles were reversed, we would have done the same. The more I ask in prayer to learn about what it means to be a daughter of the King, to be a beloved woman of God, the more i'm convicted of the fact that we women have brought this 'dating drought' upon ourselves. So...that's crappy. But, don't dispair - by the same logic we can evaluate that us women can restore dignity to humanity!

 How do we do this? Stop looking in the mirror and start looking at the cross. That man, that PERFECT man gave His life so that you can love Him and be with Him forever. He loves you, thinks more of you than anyone you'll encounter in your lifetime, and all He wants is for you to love Him in return. So start praying, ladies and gentlemen. Because with the state of the world, the only way we even have hope to change the minds and hearts of our peers is with grace. A LOT of grace. Start reading, reading books by saints, by experts of character. Learn more about Mary, the Mother of God, she got it right, surely she can teach us a little bit. Stop comparing!! PLEASE!! (Don't worry, i'm listening to myself here too) Comparison is the greatest thief of joy. Talents, looks, hugs and excellent comedic timing are all just tools to give Glory to God. If someone has something you wish you had, Praise God and move on! He made you perfectly for Him, REJOICE! 

Thank you to those who have started this fight for dignity, I am so grateful to be a witness to such holy marriages, relationships and friendships. Thank you to my friends who question and hashtag the dating fast, you remind me to pray for new ways to embrace and find joy in it. Thank you, FOCUS and this dating fast, for allowing me the opportunity to learn just a fraction of what it means to be desired, captivated, treasured, adored, and made whole - simply because I was created. 

The four most frequent mental prayers i've been reciting this semester, in no particular order:
1. Grant me great faith, O Lord. 
2. Help me choose joy. 
3. Grant me grace to love. 
4. Thank you.

I still have a semester left, but if it's anything like this semester, i'm in for quite a treat! 

Thank you, Lord, for giving me this opportunity to ready my heart to best serve You. I am Yours and You are mine. 

My New Home

Guys! I've been in Flagstaff for 3 weeks! Say what?! 

Accabelieve it. 

I've been on brain overload trying to remember new people, places and things here in Arizona, I have not loved every minute of it, the transition was a bit rocky to be honest. But, once I found my groove, I haven't been able to sit still! I love all the students, the people and the location of Flagstaff. It's all been very kind to me. I don't want to write very much on account of my last post being rather lengthy - however I wanted to give y'all some pictures! 

How bout that drive in? 

Barehanding with our student missionaries!

Gang signs and er'thang

Bearizona fail... :( 

View from campus

I spy a space ship ... or a football stadium dome... either way.

First roomie craft night! 

Then we went to Six Flags Magic Mountain

And got a little crazy..

Some people can't handle the party

We couldn't leave without this Cali staple 

Julie, myself and Bernadette were in the Jean Jacket club this weekend

Our Living room! 

From the other side of the room

Our sweet fireplace 

What Josh thinks of our fireplace 

Some smokin' ladies promoting all 50 FOCUS missions!

We hiked in Sedona on Labor Day and came across this creek

We didn't go very far once we found it.

My team and a nice little Englishman helped me celebrate my birthday in downtown Flagstaff!

Some super awesome students came along too :) 

But it all started with this monster of a breakfast. Biggest biscuits ever.

We had a party at our house that was busted by the po-po's. Probs cause this was happening on the porch.

So then we carpooled to go cliff jumping .. which was 38 (50) miles away

We jumped from batman

My first Macy's Special! 

Well folks, I think that just about rounds out all the pictures I've taken thus far. Thanks for loving me! 

Welcome Week Wonderfulness

Welcome Week! Dos Dubs! Deuce Dubs! 

Shut the front door! Here we are, Friday of welcome week - 4 more days to go! 
With a little down time, thought i'd let you all in on the happs down here in Flag. 

I moved down here on the 10th of August and was then joined by my parents for a couple days later that week to get me settled in. From there we started team meetings, outings and memories. Starting last week we had a Newman Center Staff Retreat which was by far the best day-long retreat i've ever been on. Every team builder was explained so well, each talk was very clear and the meals were delicious! We got to know each other (the missionaries, student interns, adult staff) so well and made this week way more enjoyable. The day after this retreat, we missionaries had a hard act to follow. We had a retreat with the student missionaries - those we are linking arms and battling for souls with this year - to cast vision and set goals for the year. We even went downtown Flagstaff and asked strangers about Pope Francis! I think I can speak for all of us by saying how impressed and excited watching the students in this activity made us. They have such joy and truly know the love of Christ, they want everyone to know the same. It is so exciting! 

We got the last couple of days last week to hang out with students before freshmen move in. Which. Was. Awesome. A group of us went cliff jumping one day! It was so fun. The next day we decided to throw a party at our house. We met a handful of students at the very last freshmen orientation so we invited them over, along with the interns and student missionaries we had been hanging out with. We ended up with about 30+ students at our house, singing karaoke, smoking cigars and having a good time. Such a good time, in fact, that the police had to put an end to it. Holy rager 2013: Success! 

Then welcome week really went into full throttle. We kicked it off with BBQs and Ice Cream after every mass - we met so many people! It was SO awesome to see so many students at each mass. Made me excited for the year! Met students from Alaska, Hawaii, Arizona, California - even Lebanon and England! So fun. Monday we took about 70 students to hike the Lava Tube Caves (formed from flowing lava from mount Humphreys back in the day), it was beautiful, hilarious and amazing all at the same time. Helped me jump into the Flagstaff life, too! When we returned from the hike, we had a couple hours of chill time before we met back at the Newman for a rousing game of Fugitive...which 200 people showed up to! It was an incredible turn out, especially because it was pouring when we met at 10pm. Tuesday we had a Luau at the Newman, complete with the Hawaiian club doing some beautiful hula dancing, hawaiian bbq and limbo! People stayed and hung out until midnight, with a grand total of (we're thinking) 150 people coming and going throughout the night. Wednesday we continued the awesomeness with Exalt - an hour of adoration, confession and praise and worship before candlelit mass followed by root beer floats. Another successful night of meeting people and Adoring Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Thursday we turned the excitement up again with the first Newman Night getting underway - complete with an 80 year old Priest who doubles as an EXTREMELY entertaining magician! He was hilarious, I couldn't handle it. This brings us to today, Friday, when we will be leaving for California on a bus tonight at midnight to hit up 6 flags magic mountain tomorrow before getting back on the bus tomorrow night! It's going to be exhausting but AWESOME. I'm so excited!  When we get back, we get more BBQ's and ice cream after the masses on Sunday and then a choice between hiking Mt. Humphrey's (Flag's highest peak at about 13k ft) or going to the slide rocks of Sadona and enjoying some natural water slides! I think we know which one i'll be doing :) 

Thank you for all your words of encouragement, prayers and love as I have started my job as a missionary with FOCUS down here in Arizona. They have meant the world to me and I am so grateful! Keep checking back, i'll add some pictures and write another blog introducing you to my team here in the next couple days. Love love! 

Oh, the times we shared!

Guys. It has been a LONG time since I posted on this bad boy. My apologies.

Today I had the pleasure of meeting with Clint's pretty momma and that little Stu too. I met with Lynn to explain further what FOCUS is and what I'll be doing down in Flagstaff, as she is generous in joining my support team. We got to talking and she brought up this gem of a blog and here I am with a little time to spare so - what the hey. Let's write a blog!

I will be leaving Greeley on Thursday evening for the longest time I've spent away since I moved up as a freshman. Most people, from what I've gathered, have been beyond thrilled to jump ship but I can't say I feel the same. Greeley did a lot for me and it'll always have a little piece of my heart. Growing up in the Navy it is the longest place I've lived consecutively with a total of 6 years - yeah. Took me awhile. Oops. I did a lot here, like I said: I made a lot of friends, learned a lot of things, lived a lot of places, had a lot of roommates, had a lot of adventures, but most importantly and most substantially, I met the Lord here. I know, Greeley! Of all places! But isn't that the beauty of it? In one of the smelliest, most bizarre, laughable and (for some) miserable place in Colorado (besides maybe Alamosa, ha) God took ahold of my heart and I couldn't be happier.

The adventure to FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) has been everything you'd expect an adventure to be; exciting, joyous, HARD, confusing, sad, hilariously entertaining, dirty and any and all other adjectives you'd use to describe an adventure. I've been welcomed into all sorts of lives by people who find joy in the most obscure things, like coffee or sharpening knives in front of children to people who are OBSESSED with things like Harry Potter or Harry Styles and I would not have made the leap to FOCUS without a single one of them. You see, I'm not the craziest of people, not the holiest or the most awesome but for some reason people enjoy being my friend. To me, its simply by the grace of God.  He has invited me time and time again to grow and be molded into a woman (which lets get real, has been quite the process), a woman who desires eternity.

He did it through people, people who were bold enough to let Him. So, here's to all of you, my sinful faithful. My new adventure is because of you. I love you and I thank you.

If you'd like to join my monthly support team (yeah, I raise my own salary and it's AWESOME!) visit: www.focus.org/goto/sarra

Or if you'd commit to praying for the students i'll be hanging out with at NAU send me your address and i'll send you my newsletter :)