Two Fridays in a Row!

Last Friday was the 5th Annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast!

No. I am not Catholic, but I went because Mr. Morrison bought at table for the Fellows to attend the event. It was a great experience.

Here are a few highlights:
1). Waking up at 4:30 am to get to the hotel at 6:00 am.
2). [and the highlight of the morning] President George W. Bush was one of the speakers! It was incredible! He is so engaging with the audience and is a fantastic speaker!

Then today...I went to Borders and bought a book called "Read All About It" and then stood in a line for 3 hours. What is so special about this book? It was written by Laura and Jenna Bush. Why did I stand in a line for 3 hours? Well, Jenna and Mrs. Bush were at Borders signing the books! So I got to meet both of them! That was so cool!

So two Fridays in a row I got to see members of the Bush family! I like the Bush family! They are great!

Here are a few pictures!

Left: President George W. Bush and (right) his beautiful and classy wife, Mrs. Laura Bush!




Left: The super cute and very personable Jenna Bush!

____ Days Till...

The Final Countdown...Not that I'm counting days or anything... ;)

2 Days till Sunday (church and which may include soccer, a nap, and a concert on the mall)

3 Days till my second to last class day.

4 Days till our trip up to Philadelphia!

5 Days till the last recording session.

6 Days till goodbye lunch with Bethanie and the Faith & Family Summit.

9 Days till we go sailing in Annapolis!!

10 Days till my last class day :(

11 Days till my last internship day and last day in the office.

12 Days till my last field study.

13 Days till I see my family and the Allen's! Till my commissioning ceremony!!

15 Days till I leave DC! And go stay with Liz and Sarah!!

18 Days till I catch a train!

19 Days till I arrive home and I get to see Paul!!

20 Days till Bible study at my house and Jae and I have a sleep over!

Have you ever thought about what protects your heart?

It amazes me how movies, conversations with people, things we see outside and even lines from songs can get your mind reeling and how they can get you to think on a deeper than the surface level. A line from a song I was listening to this morning got me thinking about some things and I thought I'd share with you my thoughts.

"Have you ever thought about what protects our hearts? Just a cage of rib bones and some other various parts. So it's fairly simple to cut right through the mess, And to stop the muscle that makes us confess."

What stood out to me was in the first line...''what protects your heart?" Of course we know the obvious answer to this, the technical medical answer. But let's look deeper. This question is like a 5-layered dip, you really have to dig into it to get all the good stuff!

- What is protecting your physical heart? "...just a cage of rib bones and some various parts..." We are all human and our physical hearts don't just take care of themselves. We have to exercise and eat the right types of food. Are you doing that? Are you actively working to see that your physical heart is in top shape and functioning at top notch? Are you taking the time to be sure your physical heart, the one that helps to keep you alive, is healthy?

- What is protecting your emotional heart? " ...the muscle that makes us easily confess..." Emotions are vital to human interaction. But when our emotions are the ones that guide us, help us see the world around us, determine if our day is a good one or a bad one or if they are what leads us to behave the way we do, then there's a problem. Are we constantly looking for praise, affirmation or acceptance of people to fill the emotional emptiness? Do we allow a negative word or look to make us depressed or bring us down? Are we allowing the Holy Spirit to be the protector of this area? Are we protecting our emotions under the promise that we were bought with a price and that we are redeemed children of the Most High? Or are we allowing our hearts to be protected by words and thoughts that are lies and cause us to not see ourselves through the eyes of Christ?

- What is protecting your spiritual heart? "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13
What is protecting your spiritual heart? Are the things of this world; money, fame, success, position, status, possessions, etc.; to fill, satisfy and protect your heart? The earthly heart may be insured by earthly things, but does this spiritual heart have eternal insurance? Are we allowing the protective materials to be the blood of Jesus Christ? Are we letting Him fill ever empty space and satisfy every desire, every dream and every passion? Is He our joy in tough times? Is He our strength when we are weak? Through Him are we able to love unconditionally the person we can't stand to be around? What is protecting your spiritual heart?

All of these "hearts" are related, connected and work together. We have to know which heart is the most important and which one deserves the highest rung on the ladder of priorities. If we allow Christ to be the keeper of our spiritual heart and we let him be our heart's protector, then we have a 100% guarantee 'protection policy' through the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is the only one through whom we can have complete satisfaction.

Once the status of our spiritual heart is set in place, then our emotions will follow. They won't be the leading force behind our actions, motives and responses, Christ will.

"Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body." I Corinthians 6:19-20
Our bodies are God's temple. It is in this body that our physical heart resides. Therefore since we want to honor God and we want our 'temples' to bring glory to Him, we will work to ensure we take care of our body and our physical heart.

It all connects!

I wish I could say that I gave the right answer to these questions...but I'd be lying if I said that I did. This one line from a song made me stop and think about my heart's protection. Is my heart being truly protected? Am I doing my best to ensure it's protection?

"Have you ever thought about what protects your heart...?"