.fruit.

my beautiful friend nicole had baby number 2 on thursday. i kind of teared up reading and looking at the pictures because i miss her so much and i want so much to be there with her. and i'm so happy for her and she truly glows in her pictures. she's definitely one of my friends that grows more and more beautiful each day. she's also an amazing mother, and it's because she told me one day that she loves being a mother. i think that's really important. if you love what you do, it shows through your actions. some just weren't "made" to be parents, but we're all different and unique, called to serve in many ways. while i was reading her blog, i came across a link she posted for baby gifts. i thought, wow, cute...and then i looked at the owner, and wouldn't you know it, it's nicole's sister-in-law, who i also went to college with. amazing. i love when i stumble across stories of people who are doing what they love. it inspires me to keep on searching for what i love to do and to somehow con someone into paying me to do it. more than anything, it inspires me to keep molding my life into something worth reporting on. although my life feels like it's on hold while i get the school on, there's still much to do. there's so much i still need to live.

catholics have a part of their faith that believes in a purgatory, a prep station so to speak before being able to enter heaven. it's there that any impurities of our bodies are purified by fire. it's there that souls ask for prayers from the living because they cannot pray for themselves to be released. so in a way, we agree to pay their debt. each time you suffer, think of offering it up for someone who cannot speak for themselves. offer it as payment in love. then it doesn't seem so bad.
i'm not trying to push my beliefs on anyone either, i just love sharing my faith. regardless of what you believe, the one truth that ever exists is love. we need to love one another more, and let it spread like wildfire. in which do you gain more? when you love someone who already knows how to love, or when you kill someone with love, breaking down their walls and fears?

we need to keep the love alive.