my story

"I tell my story for love of Your love."
-St. Augustine, of his Confessions

As I study for this exam (which, might I say, is ridiculous to study for -- mastering all of Augustine's major works? ehem.), I keep thinking. And thinking. And thinking. It's like one big day of prayer, just trying to understand what made him tick. I'm being graded on getting inside Augustine's head.

Anyways, the opening quote reminded me of something Sr. Rebecca was talking about yesterday -- the sisters at St. Cecelias are incredible singers, and Rebecca tends to doubt her own signing abilities, to put it mildly. I've never heard her sing, I'm sure she's fantastic, but she begs to differ. Anyways -- she was describing how laborious it was to miss recreation time to practice the hymns over and over and over... and how she went to her superior and even told her that it was no use. She said, though, that after awhile she began to notice something about the sister conducting the choir -- the work and effort she put into making the song beautiful was simply and totally for the glory of God. She wanted the music to be more beautiful so that it would reflect God's beauty more. It made it all worth it.

If only I had that same attitude about life -- put more effort in to make it more beautiful for God. I get so bogged down with making myself presentable, getting grades for grad school, trying to do 6000 things at once... if only I could slow down and make it all good for the simple Goodness of God. Maybe that will be my goal this summer... to pull an Augustine and do my work "for the love of Your love."

It's kind of why I started blogging this Christmas -- a big part of it was that journaling helps clear and sort my thoughts, another was to document my life, but a third was that I wanted to share my experiences so that others could learn from them, too... but to erase all of that and simply "tell my story for love of Your love"... how humbling. What motivation to make that story -- that life -- more beautiful! :)

The top picture is of Sr. Maris Stella -- a dear friend of mine from high school... the day she made her first vows. She's such an amazing girl -- and Sr. Rebecca says she's absolutely thriving at St. Cecelias. We all knew she would. :)

The second picture is Sr. Rebecca (on the left)... also amazing, beautiful, fun, smart... and now a bride of Christ :) The third picture is her right after receiving her postulant garb (pre-habit attire).

So why is it that I keep procrastinating with nun stories? Study, Bridgette... "for the love of God!" (ha. sorry. couldn't resist.)