My time in College Station comes to a close...

My lease on my apartment is up, my finals are OVER (thank the sweet baby Jesus!), I have said my goodbyes and now it's time for SUMMER! WHOOP! I am sooo excited about this summer! Throughout May and June, I will be working as much as possible mowing lawns with Cooke Bros. Lawn Service and hopefully find another part time job! I will also be making several trips back to College Station to visit my friends, to attend a court date for a speeding ticket (stupid cops, who have nothing better to do than set speed traps and pull over as many poor college students as possible!), and to attend my friend Chris' Wedding! In July, I will work for the first week of the month and then on July 9th, I will be traveling to Sydney, Australia to Volunteer at World Youth Day where I get to meet and hang out with millions of my fellow Catholic brothas and sistas as well as see Pope Benedict XVI and attend his Papal addresses and Masses.....YEAHHHH! After my trip of a lifetime to Sydney, I will work a bit more, spend time with family and friends, and then start my new journey at seminary where I will begin my Priestly Formation! If you are free at all this summer, call me up, we should hang out! I will probably not be here next summer, so let's make it happen this go around!

.............Cookie out...........................................

And So It Begins...

And so it begins..... My life up until now has been a GREAT one! I have had experiences that some people never have the chance to experience at all in their lifetime. I have the most AWESOME family any guy could ask for, I have the best friends in the entire world, and I have God walking with me hand in hand, step by step, stumble by stumble in this JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE! By the grace and love of God, I have finally found my vocation in life and finally understand why God put me on this earth! It has been a difficult journey, but it has been a journey that I wouldn't have changed for the world! After much prayer and reflection, I have decided to apply for entrance into the Seminary in hopes of one day being ordained a Catholic Priest! I began to feel this quiet call from God about 4 years ago and over time, that quiet call became louder and more persistent. As you can well imagine, my initial thought and answer to God was “absolutely NOT!” A call like that is both daunting and uncommon; therefore, I avoided God’s call for me like the plague. However, God works in mysterious ways and He is not one to ever give up, even when we push Him away. After a while I began to dialogue with him in prayer and I began a discernment journey that grew deeper and deeper as time went on. After more than four years of discerning and continuous debate with God, I guess you could say He finally won - He revealed to me why I’m here on this earth – why I exist. In order for me to become the man I was created to be, I believe the path to Priesthood is the path that I must now follow. So my new answer to God became a faith filled YES! I believe God is calling me to come and follow Him in this way and I just can’t say no to Him anymore. In 21 years of life, I have never been surer about anything than I am now. My faith is where I have achieved my greatest happiness and I want nothing else in my life than to help lead others to that same happiness in Christ! I believe that our world needs a deeper relationship with Christ and I want to give of myself to help in anyway that I can. Believe me, I have thought about and understand the tremendous personal sacrifices that I will be making to follow this path and I am more than ready to accept these sacrifices. I have begun the application process to enter the Seminary and if it is God’s will, I will be entering Seminary in the Fall to further explore this new direction in my life. This will end my long pursuit of attending Texas A&M University and I will complete my undergraduate education at one of the seminary colleges for the Diocese of Austin, either in Dallas or Louisiana . I will always remain a Fightin’ Texas Aggie at heart! WHOOP! This is going to be a long process and I am surely going to be tested in ways that I have never experienced before, but I believe I am more than ready for the challenges that I will face. I can’t do this alone, so I’m asking for your love, support, and prayers throughout this new journey that I am about to embark on. OHH GOD IS GOOD! Cookie out.........