Christmas is here!!!

Today is the day! The one we've all waited for all year. Our hearts have recieved our Lord with joy, and all is at peace in the world!

But...

The presents are unwrapped, the family has gone home, and we've already started to take down the decorations.

Christmas is over, right?

WRONG!!!

(And by the way, my family still has decorations up. I'm trying to convince them to keep them up until the Christmas season is actually over).

Today was full of a lot of joy.

Not necessarily the kind of joy where you're happy all the time and everything is perfect and you're skipping in meadows singing happily like a bird.

Sorry, I got carried a bit away there...

No, it was the kind of joy that is always present, that eventually leaves you with an interior peace no matter what happens.

I don't know how long it's going to stick around, but I'm going to enjoy it while I can. The world does tend to have that affect on me, taking away the graces that God gives me.

I have a reputation of being a very joyful and happy person all the time. That's part of who I am, but sometimes I find myself forcing myself to be joyful just so that other people see me with a big smile and think of me a certain way. It's confusing.

Today I did my best to not worry about that.

You never know how many Christmases you have left with your family, and I tried to give everyone in my family a joyful memory to look back on in the years to come.

Not that I'm planning on dying or anything...

But in a way I am.

When you're discerning a religious vocation, especially one to the cloistered life, a part of you can see the pain that lies in store for your family. You want to protect them and make the best of the time you have. 

Part of religious life is dying to yourself, and loving Christ more than anyone else.

But I'm not there yet, so I'm not going to discuss that right now.

Presents are great (my favorite one this year is this adorable St. Therese keychain) . When I was younger, presents was all I cared about. I would lie awake on Chistmas Eve just dreaming about what I would get the next morning, and half the time I was disappointed. The past few years, though, have been different. Jesus has slowly been (and still is) transforming and converting my heart so I can love Him more.

This year I was filled with more love and peace than ever before.

But don't get me wrong, I was only scratching the top.

It's not like I was radiating holiness, not even close.

As we left my grandparents house and I looked across the sky filled with a beautiful sunset, I felt the pure awe of a child, and I heard our Lord say to me "even greater things are to come."

Happy birthday Jesus :)

I hope that through Advent and continuing into the rest of the Christmas season, you grow in love for our amazingly beautiful God.

I'm praying for you all :)

Love,

A Catholic Teen