The One Where He Makes My Crooked Paths Straight

Hey friends.

I'm finally breaking my fast from blogging for well over 7 months! I haven't refrained from writing because I've been lazy (well, not totally...). It's not because I've been extremely busy, or had a family emergency, or because I have spent the last 7 months in the hospital (thank you Jesus). I haven't blogged in 7 months because, well, I just didn't have any insightful thoughts to share with you. I value you, and the time you take to read what I have to say. You mean so much to me, and I don't want to waste your time. But the Holy Spirit knuckle-sandwiched my brain with some thoughts tonight.

Before I created this blog, my dear cousin Allison inspired me with the idea of surrendering to Jesus. If you haven't figured it out yet (or you forgot), I am terrible with trust. It got to a point in my junior year of high school that I was refused to car pool with one particular mom because of her driving habits. So this idea of surrendering everything to someone I didn't know very well was extremely unnerving. It took time for me to build up trust in Him. I chose to give Him the reigns and He used people and situations in my life to show me I could rely on Him to fulfill his promises. I'm still working on it, and I probably always will be, but it will always be true that the God of the Universe died on the cross for me. He put stars in the sky for me. He molded my fingers, and gave me my freckles, and He is always for me.

Okay. Back to the story. So Allison really caught my heart with this trust thing. Trusting that He'd have a plan that would ultimately fulfill the deepest desires of my heart (which honestly I don't even know. I like ice cream, is that a deep desire? sometimes...). Day by day, I gave God a little more room to work in my life and trusted that He'd show me the way.

Boom. God freakin blew my mind.

So senior year, you have to "figure your life out" (or so they tell you) in a matter of months, while teachers still pile on the school work, and expect you to produce your best work, as well as juggle SATs and college essays. In the midst of all the stress, God was there. I asked Him to be. I continually prayed "thy will be done, Jesus" and asked Him to make His will for my college choice "blatantly obvious" for me. Those were my favorite words to pray because I knew He'd come through and make it super easy for me to tell which path to take.

Did He ever.

I think it started with my mom. One evening, she asked me if I'd ever looked into The Catholic University of America. Then, teachers started talking about programs and events there. I'd hear people mention Catholic in the hallways of school. Someone I hardly know even asked me about it one time in a Chick fil A. I'm not kidding you when I say that Jesus made it obvious, and I'm not exaggerating when I say I heard about Catholic at least 2 times every day for about two months.

It was insane.

After the application process, I continued to pray those two phrases, thy will be done, and blatantly obvious. I applied to quite a few schools and the only school I wasn't waitlisted or denied was Catholic. This might be something many would expect I'd be ashamed of, but denials from certain colleges didn't quite add up, and there was an incredible peace in the midst of it all. I knew where I belong. I received a half tuition scholarship from Catholic and an invitation to join the honors college. Slowly, my parents started to fall in love with the idea of a smaller liberal arts college, and with Catholic's business school. He made it blatantly obvious to me, so may His will be perfectly done in me.

Fast forward to now. It's currently 2:38 am on Wednesday, August 26, 2015. I move in to The Catholic University of America tomorrow, Thursday, August 27, 2015 at 8 am. I was packing for a while, and doing well too, but I had to write this out. I had to document how amazing the Lord is, in this moment. He was there for me. He is here for me. He will be here for me.

He was there for you. He is here for you. He will be here for you.

I hope with all my heart that you know that, too. God is good, and He will always fulfill his promises to you.

May God bless you and keep you always.

I love you and I'll see you in the Eucharist,

Cass