A Letter To My First Friend at WIU:

Dear Maddie,

I remember getting a Facebook message from you in November of my senior year of high school. You introduced yourself, and then I did the same. I never guessed that this conversation would end up leading us to become best friends, along with being roommates for two years.

I'll never forget the first time we met. I was SO nervous. Even though we had been messaging, I wasn't sure what to expect. After a few awkward moments upon meeting in person, everything turned out just fine. 

Then there was the train ride to visit you right before school started. On my way up, I remember thinking: "what if after spending three days together I can't stand her?" Ya, in no way, shape, or form did that cross my mind once I arrived. 

Two years in a tiny dorm room together teaches you a lot about a person, and you very quickly became my 'Christina Yang'! There were days when we wouldn't see each other, and days when we would hangout and watch a movie together.  There were days that we would do homework together, and there were days when we would make fun of Tyler! ;) 

One of the top things about our friendship is that we are always honest with each other. We shared our biggest accomplishments, and are deepest moments. As is life, we both experienced some major losses and devastations during these years, especially when we lived together..but we both made it through thanks to the support from each other.

And yes, there were even a few days when we couldn't stand each other-but you and I managed to only have a few of those.

Here we are during our last semester at WIU. We are still best friends. Sure, we go through periods where we don't talk much. But that doesn't matter...because as soon as one of us needs the other person, we are there. That's the type of bond that true friends have-the bond that no matter how much has happened, we are always there.

One of the memories that will always hold a special place in my heart is when we did a combined sophomore recital together.  At first it was my idea to do it, and then I was trying to get out of it..so you had to kind of push me into doing it..and thank goodness you did!! Through the process, we both gained an irreplaceable experience, grew so much as musicians, and our friendship grew stronger.

When I look at our friendship, it is very obvious how we have pushed in each other both musically and academically throughout the course of our time here at WIU.  I am very excited for the fact that we both (along with Tyler) get to end our ensemble career at WIU making music together in Wind Ensemble.  And...I can not wait for your senior recital in April!!!

Thank you for everything, my dear! I can't wait to see where we both end up! Your little Shellybell can't wait to come visit when you get a teaching job! :)

Daily Mass

20 (maybe 30) minutes a day.  How hard would it be for you to make that much time in your day to spend time with Jesus?

Last semester, one of my good friends kept telling me how she was going to 7am daily mass.  Every single time that she would tell met that she was going to mass in the morning I would think: "Man, how does she do that. I'm not that disciplined." Sometimes, I would even think: "Dang. She's crazy for going to mass so much."

Finally, during about the eighth week of the semester, after she kept inviting me to go to morning mass with her, I told her: "If you call and make sure I'm up in the morning, I'll go with you."

Guess what? She made sure I was up and ready to go to 7am daily mass the next morning.  Those first few weeks, it was tough to get myself to go.  Slowly but surely I started attending daily mass on a more regular basis. And you know what else? As I continued to make attending daily mass a bigger part of my life, I developed a deeper understanding and appreciation for the mass. 

Just after I started to attend daily mass on a more regular basis, I went on a retreat with my Newman Family.  As we were wrapping up the retreat, the priest leading the retreat challenged us to be more proactive in our prayer life.  I can still hear him saying: "I challenge you to take 15, 20 minutes out of your life every single day to spend more time with Jesus." He didn't just stop with proposing the challenge...he then asked each of us how we thought we could implement that into our lives starting that day. Not two weeks from then.  Not four moths from then. But how could we change our approach to prayer starting that very day.

As the semester went on, I made it a bigger priority to attend daily mass.  And one day, during the final week of classes before finals, as I sat in the chapel at Newman during daily mass, God spoke to me.  He had a message that He wanted me to hear loud and clear.  I remember kneeling down and looking up at the altar as the priest was reciting the various Eucharistic prayers, and during the breaking of the bread, we recited the following words:

"Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. 

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.  

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace." 

BOOM! It hit me! How powerful are those words that we speak each time we prepare to receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ?!?! Just think about those words for a minute...Lamb of God, YOU take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.  Lamb of God, you TAKE AWAY the sins of the world, have mercy on us.  Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, GRANT US PEACE.

God had a message for me that afternoon.  He wanted to remind me that He loves me, that He has a plan for me, and that their is so much beauty found in the mass. 

It was just a simple invitation to attend daily mass from a friend who loves Jesus in an amazing way, and it changed my life.