A thankful post :)

Long time, no write... sorry guys!

In light of our holiday I am going to write post on all the things I am grateful for:

I am incredibly and overwhelmingly grateful for my Catholic faith and all the love God has given me. I am more and more appreciative of my family the longer I am away from them. God has just blessed me with amazing best friends in my sisters and my parents, I just love them! I am so grateful for all the technology that allows me to communicate with friends and family, including this blog. I have learned to be more and more appreciative of silence but also the joy of organized chaos, since I miss it. I am thankful for the beauty of music, God's gift of my musical talent, the opportunity to share music with children, the amazing opportunity to share my faith with my students, etc...

I am just so blessed, I don't deserve this but God is just too good, more loving and generous than I will ever know!

Living life with Purpose!

So, this weekend I had the amazing blessing to be able to hear Matthew Kelly speak at one of his Passion and Purpose events! If you ever have the chance to hear him, GO! He has a great Australian accent :) and.... he is incredibly inspiring and engaging. One thing that stuck in mind after this talk was his encouragement to learn how to say NO. The NO that he wants every person to say is NO to things that will not help you to be the best version of yourself. NO to things that do not follow your deepest desire. How easy is it for all of us to simply say yes to people, activities, things, opportunities, temptations, etc.. that do not help us to become the "best version of ourself" (This is one of Matthew Kelly's favorite phrases!

He spoke about so many ways of creating purpose in our lives (which is what we all want, right?). The movie "Megamind" just came in my head lol... the scene where Megamind has just conquered the good guy but now he is bored out of his mind talking to "this plastic bird toy" who is never fulfilled even though he has everything he wanted. See there is even depth in a silly movie like this. :) We all want to have meaning to everything we do, and there is meaning to be had when we live according to our deepest desires and following the whisper of God in our life.

Criticism is really a chance to grow :)

So, one of my fellow teachers came up to me last week and informed me that one of my band parents had told her that her son was not enjoying band. My fellow teacher wanted to warn me so that I was prepared. Hearing this through another teacher really hurt, but instead of dwelling on it I decided to be proactive. After hearing this comment, I made a much more concerted effort to pay attention and compliment EVERY student in the class and I would make sure that we played A LOT in class. My class is small but incredibly talkative and for the past months it has been almost half of the class time that I constantly am trying to get preteens to stop chatting. I have realized that this talkativeness was in part caused by my lack of clear plans and directions for the class. It just amazes me how being proactive in my lessons can make a night and day difference

So, because of this criticism, I am now focused on making sure my students feel like they are in a band and we have really begun to make music! My band classes on Thursday were SO productive and the kids wanted to keep playing even though class was over and they were telling me how much they loved one of our songs! It made me so so happy! They are playing Do-Re-Mi (no, their teacher is not biased towards musicals.... well maybe ;) :) ) and Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree (this was chosen so that my drummer would have a much more difficult and enjoyable piece to play). 

So, yep, I know feel like a band director and I am slowly becoming excited for the Christmas Program. :) Anxiety is definitely the dominant feeling, but excitement is beginning to grow. :) Slowly but surely! 

Please keep my students and I in your prayers as we prepare for this!! Thank you and God bless! :) 

The next depression... according to 12 and 13 year olds lol

So, on Wednesday I was talking to my junior high students before my elective class that I teach. They had just finished a mock "saint election" that helped them understand how the electoral college worked, with classes being assigned electorates to vote. There were three different parties and St. Thomas More, St. Padre Pio, and st. Ignatius of Loyola were on the ballot in their 3 different parties. We had various posters up in the school with mottoes such as "Listen to your madre, vote for padre", so cute!!

So, I was in Minnesota during their election (Monday and Tuesday) and so I didn't know the result. So, I ask my students "How did the election go?!?" and the response I received was many confused faces and a student saying "Obama won...". I just love that my students assumed that I did not know what happened in the Nation.... just made me chuckle. And as I began class I asked them the question of "What is the Great Depression?" and one student spoke out "you mean the one that is going to start?..." I couldn't help but chuckle. Oh kids, they can say some very entertaining things. :)

God-incidences

I think one of the most significant mindset changes for me that occurred as my faith was and is strengthened is the joy of experiencing God's hand in my life. There are so many things that occur that many people would simply call "coincidences" but that I like to call "God-incidences". All those times that just the perfect song comes on for the moment or the thought that had been going through your head, God just placing people in the perfect spot at the perfect time...

This past weekend I had an AMAZING blessing to visit with a friend from BC and to see my sister Becca, who is a wonderful NET missionary. So, yesterday I spent the entire day with Becca and I had the very uncommon experience of meeting her entire NET team! Girls told me on her team how it is very special and almost unheard of that a family member gets to meet a whole team. Becca and I went to the NET center and randomly ran into each of her NET "brothers" and her team leaders and supervisors as well. It was such a blessing to meet all these amazing people that God has placed in Rebes' life. Another God-incidence is the fact that my friend Sarah just happened to live in Minneapolis and so it just worked out perfectly!

Life is so joy-filled when we can look at each moment and see God's hand in some way, especially those special times that things just happen :)  God is good!

The Gift of Silence

I know, the first thing that you are thinking, "Meghan Gray.... silence... they should not even be in the same sentence, right?" ;)

But in my new experience in the "real world", I have really learned to appreciate the gift of silence that I have. God has blessed me with many times during my day that I can stop and reflect on all the good that He blesses me with, whether it is the sunrise and stunning fall colors on the way to work, the times in my classroom without the crazy kiddos, times in my apartment (since I don't have TV and I have very limited music, I frequently have no sounds which is weird but I am learning to enjoy it), times before and after mass, adoration, just to name a few. In these moments, because there is no "noise", I can clearly reflect on the beauty of life and learn to appreciate all the times with people I love all the more. Also, I can much more clearly see how God is working in my life and as you are reading this, you can see that I have become a much more reflective person lol :)

Now don't get me wrong, I would much prefer a loud house (especially the Gray house with it's lovely music of mom cooking in the kitchen with Kim and I just chatting with her, Becca playing her original songs that we have all heard so many times but never tire of, Jenny playing her guitar at the same time as the piano ;) (happens quite frequently), and Dad coming in after a run with his hands in the air singing "Rocky music" loudly)... I would much prefer these sounds, but God is blessing me with the eyes to look at my current calling and to see all the good in it. As I write this, I am tearing up because I really really miss the amazing place I call home (Where "when you are silent, you can hear the whisper of God...") -- ;) (people who have been to the Gray house know what I am referring to lol!

I know that when God blesses me with a family of my own that I will sometimes look for those moments of silence, so I am taking it all in right now :)

Words to inspire and bring JOY!

Saint Theresa's Prayer
May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that
has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to
sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us..

This is one of my all time FAVORITE prayers! (Thank you to Jean for sharing it with me :) 

Isn't peace what we all desire and strive for? I know I do :) I just think about the feeling when you can completely let go and dances, not caring what anybody thinks about you and just LIVE, what an amazing and empowering feeling that is. To completely let go means that you don't feel out of control anymore because God is in control :) , what a beautiful paradox! 

I am praying this for each of you today on this beautiful Sunday and Feast of St. Jude :)