Nurture Personal Faith
Parish Life
My comfort:
I've always been a member of St. Peter's Parish in Milk River. It is a comfort for me to walk through those doors and know that I will be greeted by the same familiar faces that I have always known. So when I started trying to go to new churches in the city instead, I found that I didn't enjoy the mass as much. I was too distracted by the unfamiliarity of a new congregation. With that being said, I try my best to get home every weekend for church, but there are a few weekends where I slip up and it doesn't happen. It is an area of my personal faith that I know I need to work on bettering myself in. When I am home for church, I love the sense of community that I am surrounded by. I like helping the little old ladies with their coffee, I like sitting with my Grandma to hold her hymn book. At that church, peace of mind and prayer come easily.
However, I was finding that I hadn't been praying as much as I would like to because I spend so much time at the school. To fill that void, one area of my personal faith that I started exploring was to start stretching before bed every night while thinking about all the GOOD of that day. As I stretch I thank God for all of the positive things that have went right for me that day. I noticed that I was waking up happier and rejuvenated within a few days of this routine and now it has stuck!
I've always been a member of St. Peter's Parish in Milk River. It is a comfort for me to walk through those doors and know that I will be greeted by the same familiar faces that I have always known. So when I started trying to go to new churches in the city instead, I found that I didn't enjoy the mass as much. I was too distracted by the unfamiliarity of a new congregation. With that being said, I try my best to get home every weekend for church, but there are a few weekends where I slip up and it doesn't happen. It is an area of my personal faith that I know I need to work on bettering myself in. When I am home for church, I love the sense of community that I am surrounded by. I like helping the little old ladies with their coffee, I like sitting with my Grandma to hold her hymn book. At that church, peace of mind and prayer come easily.
However, I was finding that I hadn't been praying as much as I would like to because I spend so much time at the school. To fill that void, one area of my personal faith that I started exploring was to start stretching before bed every night while thinking about all the GOOD of that day. As I stretch I thank God for all of the positive things that have went right for me that day. I noticed that I was waking up happier and rejuvenated within a few days of this routine and now it has stuck!
Staff Retreat Day
We had our staff retreat day down at the Elk's Park in the river bottom. We were blessed with a gorgeous, sunny day full of laughter, bonding, and of course praying together as a staff. I was thankful for the opportunity to have a change in pace from the crazy-busy schedule that has been happening since starting school. I remember saying at one point "this is the least stressed-out I've felt all month" which really speaks to the calming effect that I had after dedicating some real energy into re-connecting with the Lord. Our day consisted of a small morning ceremony and breakfast, and then a guided walk along the river-bottom with various spots to stop and reflect with bible passages, stories, and prompting questions. Some of activities included things such as looking at mirrors to 'reflect on yourself', connecting with nature, and writing words on river rocks and then tossing them into the river to "let them go". It is hard to explain, but there truly was something just so calming and serene about the whole day! I have always been a person who feels more connected to God when I am out in nature (which I have been lacking lately due to spending most of my time inside the school!) I think that my highlight of the day was when I was sitting alone on the beach rubbing some smooth rocks and simply talking to God when suddenly the sun came out in full force to beam down on my face. I couldn't help but to smile and know that my prayers were being heard in that moment. It was a beautiful day that was greatly needed in order to remind me to slow down and simply talk to God when I feel the stress building up. It was just the kind of spiritual day that I needed at that time!
Here is a PowerPoint that one of the staff members made to summarize our retreat day, and below are some of the pictures of me throughout the journey of that day.
Here is a PowerPoint that one of the staff members made to summarize our retreat day, and below are some of the pictures of me throughout the journey of that day.
Professional Growth Plan (faith goal)
Below is my Faith Goal from the Professional Growth Plan this year. I think that this website proves that I have met this goal.
SWATCA Session
At SWATCA this year I decided to attend Carl Fakeley's session called "Heaven, hell, and purgatory: Understanding the afterlife from a Catholic Perspective". We had some great talks about purgatory and what we think purgatory entails. There were lots of good discussion over sin and judgement, and we talked our way through some
imagined scenarios.
imagined scenarios.
Staff Prayers
We often pray together as a staff in our staff meetings or at special occasions. I really enjoy being a part of such a strong faith community and joining together for those prayers and intentions. Our staff is very supportive of one another. If a staff member is going through anything difficult we always email the staff asking for everyone to join in prayer for our loved ones.
There was one morning in particular where I was able to feel the overwhelming power of prayer and staff community: we were meeting in the gathering space for a quick morning prayer and we had all joined hands to ask for special intentions. When it came around to me I was suddenly overwhelmed with grief because my grandmother had passed away the day before and I hadn't told any of my staff members yet. Upon tearing up during my intention the whole circle of staff surrounded me with hugs and support and we said a special prayer for my surviving Grandpa and for our family. It was a powerful moment with my staff members and that is one prayer that I will always remember and cherish as it really touched my heart.
There was one morning in particular where I was able to feel the overwhelming power of prayer and staff community: we were meeting in the gathering space for a quick morning prayer and we had all joined hands to ask for special intentions. When it came around to me I was suddenly overwhelmed with grief because my grandmother had passed away the day before and I hadn't told any of my staff members yet. Upon tearing up during my intention the whole circle of staff surrounded me with hugs and support and we said a special prayer for my surviving Grandpa and for our family. It was a powerful moment with my staff members and that is one prayer that I will always remember and cherish as it really touched my heart.
Faith Mentorship Cohort
I had the chance to develop my own faith during our four Faith Mentorship sessions. These sessions
were 3 hour long sessions held on October 15th, December 3rd,
January 15th, and March 4th. Between these four meetings,
the teachers had the chance to hear some interesting viewpoints, to meet other
teachers in our field, and to develop as a faith community. We got to hear some
very valuable insight about the struggles of being a Catholic Educator by both
our Superintendent and one of our Parish Priests. We were also given many prayer resources,
faith-based books, and some real-life examples of how to better ourselves as
Catholics but also how to incorporate rich religion into all aspects of our
classrooms. One session that particularly influenced my “creative spark” was
the session where we were shown pictures of different prayer table ideas. Up
until that point I hadn’t used my prayer table very often yet and I just had
very basic symbols on it. After that session, however, I realized how flexible
and symbolic the table can be each week. The kids are now very engaged in
changing out our prayer table symbols and so they actually pay attention to the
prayer table!
Tweeting and Reading
One way that I often get a "quick fix" of some religious insight is by going on my twitter to read short bible passages from pages such as the Pope (@Pontifex), Bible Scripture (@Scripture_Truth), and The Gospel Daily (@The_Gospels). I find that many of them instantly speak to me or that I can relate to them in some way. I also often open up my YOUCAT book that I got from Faith Mentorship and flip through a few pages in there as well. I also have 2 really awesome children's bibles that I will sometimes pull out and just read for fun before settling down to sleep.
Preparing lessons
Because I myself did not grow up in a Catholic School, the curriculum is very new to me and i don't have a pool of resources to pull from. Because of those factors, I find that I dedicate a lot of time towards finding resources for Religion class and in trying to make the Religion curriculum "come alive". It typically takes a lot of research and browsing through resources on my behalf before I am satisfied that the message has been conveyed. This process of searching for meaning and resources is almost like a "check" to make sure that I am reflecting on my own knowledge and faith as well. I always actively participate in the prayer activities with the kids and I find that the I am often educating myself more than I am educating them. I would say that being a Religion teacher has helped me to nurture my own faith more significantly than any other factor this year.
Listening to Worship Music
Often after a long day I turn on worship music while I am working, and it is amazing how often I find myself stopping what I am working on to listen to the words because they seem to be speaking right to me. I am somebody who really connects well to music and so listening to the messages in the songs has proven to be a very therapeutic form of praying for me.