Thursday, March 10, 2011

TICKETS!

Great news.
as of today we have tickets for 15 missioners. 

This is a huge step in the right direction for us.  Steven and I are meeting 
almost every week now to talk next step and plans.


So our next step is fundraising. Fundraising and asking for money is such a hard thing to do
(unless i am asking my dad) :) haha anyways,
it will definitely be a growing experience.

Its a thursday night "thirsty thursday" as many people would call it here in Baton Rouge and while my 
friends and sorority sisters are out drinking, i am working on Honduras paperwork.  *dedication* 

ANYWAYS

if i get accepted to do the mid term mission i will be going to Antigua Guatemala for two weeks
of language school before i go to Honduras from JUNE 2- AUG4  <--- awesome! 

i pray i get accepted. i want it so badly. 

well thats all for now.


ST. MAX KOLBE PRAY FOR ME!


-Danielle 

Saturday, February 26, 2011

THIRST IN PRAYER.



http://www.mcpriests.com/03_I_thirst_PrayerEN.htm

It is true. I stand at the door of your heart, day and night. Even when you are not listening, even when you doubt it could be Me, I am there. I await even the smallest sign of your response, even the least whispered invitation that will allow Me to enter.
And I want you to know that whenever you invite Me, I do come – always, without fail. Silent and unseen I come, but with infinite power and love, and bringing the many gifts of My Spirit. I come with My mercy, with My desire to forgive and heal you, and with a love for you beyond your comprehension – a love every bit as great as the love I have received from the Father ("As much as the Father has loved me, I have loved you…" (Jn. 15:10) I come - longing to console you and give you strength, to lift you up and bind all your wounds. I bring you My light, to dispel your darkness and all your doubts. I come with My power, that I might carry you and all your burdens; with My grace, to touch your heart and transform your life; and My peace I give to still your soul.
I know you through and through. I know everything about you. The very hairs of your head I have numbered. Nothing in your life is unimportant to Me. I have followed you through the years, and I have always loved you – even in your wanderings. I know every one of your problems. I know your needs and your worries. And yes, I know all your sins. But I tell you again that I love you – not for what you have or haven’t done – I love you for you, for the beauty and dignity My Father gave you by creating you in His own image. It is a dignity you have often forgotten, a beauty you have tarnished by sin. But I love you as you are, and I have shed My Blood to win you back. If you only ask Me with faith, My grace will touch all that needs changing in your life, and I will give you the strength to free yourself from sin and all its destructive power.
I know what is in your heart – I know your loneliness and all your hurts – the rejections, the judgments, the humiliations, I carried it all before you. And I carried it all for you, so you might share My strength and victory. I know especially your need for love – how you are thirsting to be loved and cherished. But how often have you thirsted in vain, by seeking that love selfishly, striving to fill the emptiness inside you with passing pleasures – with the even greater emptiness of sin. Do you thirst for love? "Come to Me all you who thirst…" (Jn. 7: 37). I will satisfy you and fill you. Do you thirst to be cherished? I cherish you more than you can imagine – to the point of dying on a cross for you.
I Thirst for You. Yes, that is the only way to even begin to describe My love for you. I THIRST FOR YOU. I thirst to love you and to be loved by you – that is how precious you are to Me. I THIRST FOR YOU. Come to Me, and I will fill your heart and heal your wounds. I will make you a new creation, and give you peace, even in all your trials I THIRST FOR YOU. You must never doubt My mercy, My acceptance of you, My desire to forgive, My longing to bless you and live My life in you. I THIRST FOR YOU. If you feel unimportant in the eyes of the world, that matters not at all. For Me, there is no one any more important in the entire world than you. I THIRST FOR YOU. Open to Me, come to Me, thirst for Me, give me your life – and I will prove to you how important you are to My Heart.
Don’t you realize that My Father already has a perfect plan to transform your life, beginning from this moment? Trust in Me. Ask Me every day to enter and take charge of your life. – and I will. I promise you before My Father in heaven that I will work miracles in your life. Why would I do this? Because I THIRST FOR YOU. All I ask of you is that you entrust yourself to Me completely. I will do all the rest.
Even now I behold the place My Father has prepared for you in My Kingdom. Remember that you are a pilgrim in this life, on a journey home. Sin can never satisfy you, or bring the peace you seek. All that you have sought outside of Me has only left you more empty, so do not cling to the things of this life. Above all, do not run from Me when you fall. Come to Me without delay. When you give Me your sins, you gave Me the joy of being your Savior. There is nothing I cannot forgive and heal; so come now, and unburden your soul.
No matter how far you may wander, no matter how often you forget Me, no matter how many crosses you may bear in this life; there is one thing I want you to always remember, one thing that will never change. I THIRST FOR YOU – just as you are. You don’t need to change to believe in My love, for it will be your belief in My love that will change you. You forget Me, and yet I am seeking you every moment of the day – standing at the door of your heart and knocking. Do you find this hard to believe? Then look at the cross, look at My Heart that was pierced for you. Have you not understood My cross? Then listen again to the words I spoke there – for they tell you clearly why I endured all this for you: "I THIRST…"(Jn 19: 28). Yes, I thirst for you – as the rest of the psalm – verse I was praying says of Me: "I looked for love, and I found none…" (Ps. 69: 20). All your life I have been looking for your love – I have never stopped seeking to love you and be loved by you. You have tried many other things in your search for happiness; why not try opening your heart to Me, right now, more than you ever have before.
Whenever you do open the door of your heart, whenever you come close enough, you will hear Me say to you again and again, not in mere human words but in spirit. "No matter what you have done, I love you for your own sake Come to Me with your misery and your sins, with your troubles and needs, and with all your longing to be loved. I stand at the door of your heart and knock. Open to Me, for I THIRST FOR YOU…"

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

HONDURAS TRIP IS GOING STRONG!!!

so i havent written in my blog in awhile, but that only means i have been so busy!

God is really showing me 'what i am made of' 

As of now we have 10+ people that have signed up for the mission trip. PRAISE GOD! 
its the coolest feeling to know because of my idea that people are going to be able to experience the awesome experience and trip that made me fall so passionately in love in 2008. 

I have had TONS of help from of course Steven Brooksher (my idol) and Kathleen Lee - an amazing Catholic leader in my community.  She has been amazing and this trip would not be coming together like it has been without her help. 

So i am juggling being a full time student; working; and planning this trip but i am doing okay so far. 

I have also had it on my heart lately to not only lead this trip to Honduras, but to do a long term stay for the summer--  AKA - 3 MONTHS LIVING IN STRAIGHT UP POVERTY. 
NO IPHONE-NO MAC- NO 4 RUNNER- NO DAD- NO HOT SHOWERS-

CAN I DO IT?  i'm not sure yet. my heart says yes but then my head is like, "come on Danielle.. really think about this." 

I'm praying like crazy and waiting for my answer. - GOD IF YOU ARE READING THIS-- A ANSWER SOON WOULD BE GREATTTTT!!!! 

I know that by being a long term missionary in Honduras will help my Catholic faith and i will grow so much, but the devil is all over me telling me i cant do it. . . but my heart is burning for it. 


Anyways, the trip is moving along just great and we have started formations and are about to buy plane tickets! eek! 


i will start to write more and more as the trip gets closer! 

Monday, November 1, 2010

Tiger Awakening retreat.

Wow! praise God! the HOLY SPIRIT IS ON THE MOVE.
I feel his presence constantly.

This weekend was so much of what i needed.
Lately, i have been feeling very lost and empty in my faith because i was having trouble growing..This weekend definitely helped me grow and yearn for more and ask more questions.  I definitely feel growth in my faith.

I have been feeling a spiritual call to the life of Mother Teresa so she has really helped me grow as i read about her life and her faith struggles. 


This song is about how God is always with you.
--I know i need you--
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM-6rm1t9vY&feature=player_embedded


I love being a Catholic and am enjoying learning more and more about my faith everyday!!


Honduras trip is on pause until i get my life in order :)


RISE, LET US BE ON OUR WAY

GENESIS 12:1-2


PEACE AND LOVE,
Danielle

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Today was a great day in the Honduras planning process.
We now have potential days and a facebook event page!

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

1 Timothy 4:12

 

 

Monday, October 4, 2010

more than an obsession and greater than an passion.

What happens to you when you help someone?

For me, what happens is that i feel accomplished and worth while.

I am 20 years old and know i was put on this earth to serve others and make people want more from their lives.
With that said, I am not sure how to write a blog or why i even feel compelled to write one, but over the next few months i am on a journey to lead my first mission trip to Honduras and change as many lives as i can. On that journey i want to document it through this blog. I know at times i will fail and at time i will strive, but through everything i am excited to start my journey.

So here we go.



October 4, 2010
DAY 1.

A NOTE I WROTE IN 2009

Let me start by saying ive had a fairly easy life.. all private schools with everything handed to me. I have a over generous father and an amazingly blessed family.
i've never had a job before this summer and ive never had to think of my options so to say.


I went to uhigh on LSU campus and wanted to study photography so with a scholarship to LSU i chose to go to UNO to persue photography, my great passion. Instead of going on a senior trip, i chose to go to Honduras with my youth minister, who is one of my trusted best friends. He convinced me to go to Honduras with him before i adventured off in New Orleans for college.. i sat on the airplane and started to cry thinking what the hell am i doing i should be in the Bahamas with my friends and why am i going to a pointless third world country (no offensive)that speaks spanish i hated spanish, but thats the truth in the way i felt. I went there with a closed mind.. everything changed the day i chose to push myself a little and go outside my "comfort zone." The first days were met and filled with beautiful dark skinned brown hair and eyed children running up to me giving me hugs and kisses who knew nothing about me, but that i came to play with them.. the look in their deep brown eyes to this day warms my heart but also tears me up in side..

I went to a town in the mountains and fell in love with a little girl.. she shook up my world and put me on a high that i 365 ago felt and havent come down from to this day.. i think about her every day and strive to make the world a better place for her to live in.. passionately honduras..

Since i got back june 20 i have felt purpose and focused.. ive never felt so passionate and so thrived by anything before... granted im 19 but this is different.. i want to be the change in these peoples lives.. Gandhi says, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." I want change in these peoples life and i will be it..

Its something about Latins warmth and willingness to give and give what ever they have, that makes me target them and Honduras in general because they are the ones i have grown closest to.

When i talk about Honduras when i think about the friends and the relationships i have made there, it makes me want nothing else than to fully dedicate my life to giving back to them .. it has shown me a true path and set my heart on fire.. how many 19 years can say they know exactly what they want to do in life, give in life, and receive from life..

Everyone thinks i'm crazy. my parents included... they think im a innocent little kid with big dreams that wont be able to be accomplished.. well i might not be able to change honduras, but i want to work towards its betterment. Where there is a will there is a way.. and i have had sooo many signs that this is what i need to be doing and every time i start to doubt myself i get another sign...

--the signs-- When i first came back i was putting everything into perspective calming myself down and trying to think about how i can effect change.. thats when doubt came over me and i thought i needed to forget about it...Thats when i started meeting every other person that goes to UNO which is from Honduras or Latin American..I was amazed.. and even my RA turned out to be from Honduras... that was a slap in the face; it showed me to not give up and re-think my priorities and better yet my major.. i knew i couldnt help anyone with a major in Fine Arts.. i had never met anyone living in the states from honduras.. after then it was a snowball effect; everyone i started to meet was honduran or has tries to honduras.. everywhere i went more signs..my spanish teacher was from honduras.. i went to get a dress at dillards and heard women speaking in spanish and out of my mouth comes "where are yall from" and to this day i dont remember meaning to ask it.. and they said honduras... i sat with the women and talked to them for hours about honduras..

People say thats just going to happen there's alot of hondurans here.. well ive lived in Louisiana since i was 5 and have been to nola all the time and for 18 years never met a single one until all this started happening and i started pray, "Lord show me a sign, that this is what you mean for me and what i'm truly suppose to be doing..and that i'm not going crazy to feel this way."... and now every Honduran on this side of the bayou is in my life..ha

People who arent from honduras and who have never been there dont get it and wont.. They didnt see the unknown in the little deep brown eyes that i saw.. i looked in child after child's eyes wanting to help but knew that at that moment i couldnt. It was the worst feeling i have ever felt and i made a promise to myself never to feel that way ever again..and never to forget that feeling.. I wasnt raised to be a medical or religious missionary.. that wasnt the path i was suppose to take.. I was born into a life of abundance and have chosen for my life otherwise...to make sacrifices and to work along side and with the poorest of the poor... striving to be completely not selfish and put others needs before my own..

In December, right after i got all my xmas presents the chance to go to Honduras arose and i jumped at it; booked my ticket the next day, and was on an airplane.. that wasnt on my parents to do or to pay for list, but they can see that Honduras is something i strive and live for so my parents said okay. They knew that Honduras is what i'm passionate about.. and nothing makes me happier than being around Hondurans who are so amazing and being able to be amongst them in their own elements and environment.

I am now a medicine major at the University of New Orleans. I have a Honduran adventure scheduled for July. Some of my best friends are Honduran and El Salvadoran and i couldn't be happier.. I surround myself with Latins because they bring so much joy into my life that i have never experienced before... I learn more than what good reggaeton to listen to or spanish slang from them.. i learn about Honduras and what are the needs and issues they as teens are facing..being around them i pick up on their lifestyle and culture are well as what makes them tick..

I have a heart as big as the world and cant wait to go to Honduras permanently and practice medicine making no money, but loving making a difference and putting smiles on the faces of these beautiful babies that have been forever ingrained in my mind.. it is more than a desire and past the point of an obsession.. its a yearning to do more and effect change.



Thank you to all my LATINS I LOVE YALL FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART.. YALL ARE MY BROTHERS AND MY SISTERS AND MAKE ME WANT TO BE LATIN BECAUSE YALL ARE TRULY BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE AND AMAZING IN YOUR OWN RIGHT.
AND THANK YOU FOR ALWAYS PUTTING UP WITH MY SPANGLISH AND TEACHING ME WORDS LIKE ZORRA! and tu madre es una zorra :)

AND THANK YOU THANK YOU TO MARIO MUNOZ AND THE MUNOZ FAMILY FOR TAKING ME INTO OUR HOME IN DECEMBER.. TRULY AMAZING FAMILY AND I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL FOR YALL!

and THANK YOU TO STEVEN ... YOU SHOWED ME HONDURAS.. AND I HAVENT LOOKED BACK.. YOU KNOW YOU CHANGED MY LIFE WHEN I WAS A SOPHOMORE IN HIGH SCHOOL AND YOU ARE TRULY MY FAMILY. I LOVE YOU WITH ALL OF MY HEART AND AM WHO I AM TODAY BECAUSE OF YOU.

SI AHUEVOS!!



I stay awake at night reading articles and websites like this
http://www.vidavolunteertravel.org/medical.php
to further myself in my medical pursuits while any other kid is sleeping or out drunk