A Rosary a Day (or Night)

There was an earthquake the other day. I was trying to pray a Rosary before bed but falling asleep towards the end, and so I kept losing my place on the beads. I decided to put it away and finish it in the morning--there was  only one decade to go. So I put my Rosary on the chair by my bed and fell asleep to the peaceful sensation of a heart full of prayer.

I woke up to my mom's frantic voice and the ground was shaking. First thing I saw was the Guadalupe statue right next to my bed. Not a coincidence. After that I scrambled out of bed, almost fell on my face trying to get to the door, and the earthquake finally stopped. I realized there had been a reason to save one decade for later, because I was going to need that peace again in a few hours.

There hasn't been another earthquake since then, but we're expecting one.
I know to keep praying and I'll be safe. And even if I'm falling over with sleepiness, I need to at least pray a few decades of the Rosary before bed. Not only do I feel safe, but they also keep the nightmares away that I used to get all the time. You should try it, too.

Thoughts on Faith and Writing

O.L.O. Guadalupe

I have a statue of Mother Mary of Guadalupe by my bed right now. I used to have all sorts of bad dreams--and reading about them in my journal, they were definitely spiritual attacks. It came to the point where I was afraid to go to sleep because of these nightmares, so I would wander around every day like a zombie dreading bedtime.

I find that when I let my mind drift too much into my writing, and stop putting my all into praying with all my heart--when I let worldly things get in the way of what's really important--I am more vulnerable to bad dreams and losing myself. I become a mess. Writing is just as much a part of me as breathing. It's a God-given gift, but lately I've been trying to find the balance between writing and spirituality. I think recently I found that balance. I blogged about it here, if you're interested, and plan to transfer that blog post to this site soon.

When I drift from my prayer life and focus too much on my writing, that's when I get the nightmares and sort of lose myself. It helped me realize something: I need to have time for both. I need to dedicate myself to both. Hence two blogs, hence two genres I enjoy reading (YA and really deep spiritual stuff.)

There are times I have to remind myself that the pen is mightier than the sword--but the Cross is mightier than both.

My writing is nothing without God.
My writing is nothing without prayer.

It's a struggle to keep myself on track with my prayer life, especially when I start writing again. But it's necessary, because I won't get very far on my own. I can't. If I move away from my spiritual life, I'll keep having bad dreams, lose myself, and throw away a precious gift.

Jesus deserves better than that.