Say what you Believe, Believe what you Say

Beliefs are very important.   Sometimes, though, we don't want to speak out because we don’t want conflict.  Some may believe one thing but say another; they don't want other people knowing what they really believe because they feel like it will change the way others look at them.   The bad part is, it can.

I’m not the kind of person to hide what I believe.  I am pro-life and I would yell that into the sky if someone asked me to.  But I have had some friends who they were pro-life and would never have an abortion.  Unfortunately, each got pregnant twice; both girls had a baby one day and then a few weeks later, no baby.   How do you even ask what happened? You really can’t.  Plus they knew what I stand for so they wouldn't tell me anyway.

Holding on to your beliefs isn't always easy.  Sometime it can get in the way of your friends being themselves.   But it doesn't have to be easy! Things were never easy for Jesus, but he never said “this is too hard so I'm going to hide what I say from everyone.”  Why can’t we be more like Jesus and show our love and make a difference in the world?  But sometimes showing our love means saying things that people may find hard to hear.  One of my favorite Catholic bloggers, Jennifer Fulwiller, wrote about contraception in this post for National Catholic Register; people may not want to hear what she says, but she has the courage to say it.

We didn't fight for the freedom of speech simply to say nothing at all. I just don't understand people who believe something but don't say anything about what is going on around them.  We can't make a difference in our world if we don't say anything.  If we don’t say anything, we really can't do anything about it.  

Depression in Teen Girls

I have had a lot of hard times in the past several years.  In the last 2 years I have suffered from depression; all I could do was think about how bad my life was.  I didn't even think parties were fun, and I love parties!  So you see my mind set was so wrong.  All I wanted to do was stay in my room; I would want to do nothing but just lay there.  The problem was that I couldn't for very long. I couldn't let anyone know that I was down; I felt that I had to fake being happy.  I also spent a lot of time thinking that everywhere I went someone was thinking something bad about me.  This was pretty constant; so for the better part of two years I felt sad and miserable.

Things are different now.   I am 17 years old and I am not DEPRESSED anymore!  Don’t get me wrong, now, I still have my bad days.  But my life does not seem hopeless anymore.

 

I’m sure a lot of teens would love to know how I got out of my depression.   Depression is something you get because of hard times; but it’s your choice how you want to take what happens to you.  It’s always our choice.  But a lot of times we let what the world says get to us when we really should say, oh well! Or, it doesn't matter!  But no!  People with depression take things to heart when they don't need to.    When bad things happen, you should just try to let it go.

A lot of people hide their depression from everyone.  That makes things worse because we are only human; we can't free ourselves from our pain by ourselves.  If we want to be free, we need help from other people.   When you are depressed, sometimes you don't even want to be saved; I know it’s hard to ask for help.  I have been there.  I really get what y'all are thinking--no one will get it.  Well I’m here to tell you that there are so many people that get it.  I have been so much better for telling people!  When I could say it out loud, it made me feel like I needed to change and guess what?  I did!

Depression is all about what you put in your head. Before you can even begin to get better you have to change your mind set.  Now I’m not saying that its easy.  But it is something that needs to be done; if you don't change your mind set you will never change your life! Maybe your depression will fade and seem like it’s gone, but it will come back--maybe when you are married or have kids.  I don’t know about y'all but I knew I needed to find my way through life without my depression following me.

Kids are a Blessing in our Churches!

Today I was sitting in church.  Suddenly, I heard little voices and little feet; I looked behind me and saw some of our little kids running to sit down.  I smiled; I feel like church is so much better when you have little voices trying to sing and pray.  I sometimes feel like kids can be closer to God than us older people.  They have so much faith in everything they do!  That’s not as easy for us sometimes.  Also, they are so care free--no worries, no hard times!  They have such free spirits.  If they do have a hard time it’s because they had fallen; but unlike a lot of us, little kids just get right back up and keep going.  I wish I could do that all the time.

I think we would all be better Christians if were had more faith like kids.  Jesus tells us we should have faith like little children.  Today I was sitting there praying.  Then from behind me I heard a little voice saying "amen!!!" This little girl just yelled amen! In a Catholic Church! And at the right time!  Sometimes we don’t think the kids know what’s going on, but they really can follow along with the service.  I know this other little girl who is only 5 years old who looks up to the sky and talks to God.  Whenever she needs him she just looks up and tells him what she needs! They know better than we do what to do.  It’s pretty amazing!