Another Year, Another Lent

Good morning! (or good whatever time you happen to read this specific post)

Valentines Day is over, President's Day basically didn't exist because since we had four snow days last week the Provost decided to re-institute school today, and now the season of Lent is starting on Wednesday. Most of you know that I am not Catholic, but going to a Jesuit institution has shown me that there are so many amazing practices and understandings of faith that are practiced in Catholicism. Lent is one of those practices that, even before I came to Georgetown, I decided to adopt into my spiritual life.

For me, Lent is a time to choose something that has become more important to me than God and takes time away from growing in my relationship with Him. I take Lent as a time to recenter and refocus my life on the Lord by removing all the noise around me. Although this is not everyone's interpretation of the time of Lent, that is how I practice it. Also it is easy during Lent to get stuck in attitudes of self-appraisal or being prideful in this practice, so this year especially I am going to focus on the passage in Matthew 6 where Jesus speaks of what not to do when praying and fasting:

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you...When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

Please be praying that I don't take time to delight in the sacrifices that I am making but in the sacrifices God has made for me! So I won't see you on Facebook anymore, but hopefully I will keep up with my blogging throughout the next few months!

Peace, Mackensey

Snowpocalypse 2.0... Get Out While You still can.

I don't know if you watch the weather channel or not (mom and dad I know you do, you can't deny it, but if you haven't DC has been hit with an inordinate amount of snow. I am talkin' crap loads! This past Friday a blizzard hit DC and left us with just over two feet of snow to try and climb through. It has been an interesting week since the past three days of classes have been canceled. DC has a problem with clearing snow from the roads; they seem to not like to do it. Well anyways we are suppose to be hit with another 10-12 inches tonight and tomorrow so we are all bracing for maybe a whole snow week... To be honest the snow is getting quite annoying even though it has brought it's benefits. Check out the pictures I took:
Snow Album

In other news next weekend is our opening weekend of softball season! The Hoyas are traveling down to North Carolina, where hopefully there is not snow on the ground, to play in a tournament at Elon. Hopefully the games go well even though we will not play on dirt until the first game of that tournament, so that shall be interesting. Wish us good luck! I will definitely keep you afoot on the happenings with the Georgetown softball team since that will be my life for the next few months.

Also, unfortunately I won't be going to Uganda this summer because of logistical things. But keep the group that will be going in your prayers and hopefully God will open a door for me for another time!

I think that is all for now.... thanks for reading!

Mackensey

Wow how time flies!

Whew! Soo I think my last post was about Christmas break well fast forward a few weeks past good times relaxing with my parents, taking pictures, working out, etc. Now I am back at school and let me tell you we are in full swing both athletically and academically!

First things first though, I am contemplating/already signed up for a trip to Uganda this summer with NCC, the church that I go to here in DC. The trip would be to northern Uganda, the area affected by the 23 year long war, and we would be building a Village of Hope, which is basically care taking facilities and orphanages for the children of Gulu, Uganda. I have felt God calling me to this devastated country for a few months now and there is no better time than this summer!

Anyways back to school! So last week we started classes again which I was both excited about and dreading at the same time if that is humanly possible. This semester I am interested in ALL my classes which is a very good motivation to do the work because it is enjoyable. I am taking Education and Society, Theories of Personality, Ethics: Moral Psychology, Conflict Transformation and Social Justice, and Intro to Christian Ethics. They will be a lot of work and a lot of reading, but I guess that is what I signed up for with this whole college thing.

Speaking of things I signed up for, Tuesday marked the beginning of softball for this semester as well. Unfortunately that means a repeat of the run test that I trained for all Christmas break. I PASSED! Yes, this was only the second time that I have passed on the first try, but I did and Coach Pat was generous enough to not have anyone else run it again even if they didn't pass. So Wednesday we started practice and it feels so good! I love the feeling, minus the incredible soreness, of being back in softball gear, practicing, and being with my team. I feel like it is going to be an amazing and unforgettable season! (It better be since this is the last time I will be playing with Demetria... but we don't talk about that!)

Chi Alpha has also kicked off full speed ahead with events and meetings! I feel so grateful to have a group of people that I can share with and be challenged by! Chi Alpha is such an important part of my college life at Georgetown so I am so thankful for it! My favorite event so far was the 24-hours of prayer. Starting at 10 pm on Tuesday night there was one person from Chi Alpha praying every hour for 24 hours in St. Williams Chapel on campus, for Georgetown, Haiti, and just letting God speak to them. My hour was on Wednesday night from 5-6. I rarely set aside huge chunks of time to solely spend time with God, but that was a powerful experience and it opened my eyes to what I have been missing! It's hard to explain the feeling of connectedness and closeness I felt to God when I just surrendered a portion of my time to Him to lead me where He wanted me to be! Praise God that we were able to do that!

I think that is all for now because I am exhausted and I have practice again tomorrow! Jenna comes next week which will be fantabulous! :)

peace. Mackensey

P.S. here are some photos I took in Massachusetts

Home sweet home!

Hello blog readers!

Well I finally made it out of Georgetown last Friday. Luckily I made it out a day before a massive snow storm hit that canceled many of my friends flights. I love being home and being able to relax without worrying about school. The Sunday that I came home a huge blizzard hit and coated our driveway with eight inches of snow that my mom and I had to shovel. This was definitely a new experience for me but we had fun with it.

This Tuesday, Heath, Thais, and their little Wheaten terrier Violet came to our house! We have been visiting and eating, of course, the past few days including a standing rib roast dinner with creamed onions, creamed spinach, mashed potatoes and Yorkshire pudding as sides. Last night we went to Caroling on the Commons in downtown Shrewsbury, but the freezing cold weather drove us out of the festivities to Starbucks before the end of the singing. Tonight we are going to the Christmas Eve service and tomorrow Ash, Courtney, Maddie, and Eva come making it a full house! I can't wait for my family to be reunited.

I am having trouble uploading the pictures so you can check out my pictures on facebook or on the link to my mom's blog!

M.C.

Psalm 69

" 1. Save me, O God,
for the floodwaters are up to my neck.
Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire;
I can't find a foothold to stand on.
I am in deep water,
and the floods overwhelm me.
I am exhausted from crying for help;
my throat is parched and dry.
My eyes are swollen with weeping,
waiting for my God to help me.
......
14. Pull me out of the mud;
don't let me sink any deeper!
Rescue me from those who hate me,
and pull me from these deep waters.
Don't let the floods overwhelm me,
or the deep waters swallow me,
or the pit of death devour me."

I love the Holy Spirit's reminders and perfect timing! I praise God for the encouragement and comfort He gives me and his presence in my life even when I don't realize it!! I pray for joy and celebration in my daily life! I know He will bring me out of this tough time.

19 Days until I go home! I can't wait. :)

Mackensey

Happy Thanksgiving!

Readers,

Happy Thanksgiving! This is the first Thanksgiving in 19 years that I spent away from my home, which was very sad and strange. Luckily, I was still with family! I spent this holiday, one of my favorites, with the Pietrangelo family. I felt so blessed that even though I was away from home I had a family welcome me and celebrate with me. Demi also got to come with me because she didn't go home for Thanksgiving either, which was very fun and I am glad she got to hang out with some of my family!

Happy Anniversary to Ashley and Courtney as well! I love you guys and miss you.... i wish we weren't so far apart! I have really noticed how much I miss my family this year! I hate that we are not all together.

I am so thankful for all of my family and friends because honestly I definitely would not have made it through this year without their support and encouragement! And I am just so grateful that they all still stick around even when they have to constantly put up with me. I am also so thankful for the challenges that God has placed in my life this year, because it has truly shown me that God works our weaknesses into His glory! I am so thankful for mine and my family's health! I am so blessed to have all that I have and I never want to take it for granted. I pray that God would show me ways to use the ways He has blessed me to bless and love other people!

Can't wait for Christmas because the whole family will be together!

Here are some pics from my DC Thanksgiving:






Peace. Mackensey

Deep Breath

Does your life ever get so out of control that you need to constantly remind yourself that God is the one in control of your life not you?? Ya my life has been crazy for the past few weeks! I sometimes feel like God gives us these crazy weeks or months to remind us, when we think that we can handle everything, that we are HUMAN! and we need him EVERY day!! Ya I definitely got that message loud and clear! A couple weeks ago I was just in a crappy mood for some reason and I couldn't shake it, but then Jenna came and her contagious happiness and kindness rubbed off on me... We went to Dupont which is definitely our happy place! I can't wait until she goes to school here next year!




So I have shaken off the bad mood but I am sooo stressed! I have so much stuff to get done for next week and before the end of the semester it is insane! But I took a mini-vacation with the girlies this last weekend and headed to New York to visit TINA!! It was a blast and let me tell you it is not a good idea to try and see all of New York in one day! Your feet will hate you eternally.... but we had fun, especially Melissa who had never been to New York before. Our time included Central Park, authentic NY pizza, F.A.O. Schwarz, and FORLINI's the best Italian ever!! Oh ya and I learned that Tina has a bajillion cousins... think My Big Fat Greek Wedding only Italian.... every where we went Tina mentioned her cousin that works there or that does this... crazy Italian family!! :) well I will conclude with some pics from NY (facebook has all of them!):





Peace. Love. THREE WEEKS TILL CHRISTMAS BREAK!

Mackensey