Author Archives: Annie Asmussen

Pray with Boldness

By | July 21, 2012

“Lord, break my heart for what breaks Yours.” Praying boldly is hard knowing that you might be led somewhere out of your control and to places you didn’t expect or feel like going. Saying, ”I will go wherever you send me” or “I surrender” takes a lot of courage. I still have a hard time boldly praying these prayers. If we really want to give it all, that is what we are called to do in the Christian life. So slowly, I have begun to pray, ”Humble me so that others might be exalted” and “I surrender”

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I Can Forgive Because I’m Forgiven

By | July 11, 2012

Trusting that I have been forgiven through the power of the cross, I am able to forgive. There is great freedom in forgiveness. A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to forgive someone. It’s hard to forgive someone when what they did still hurts and affects my life even years later. The pain years ago made me very angry and turned my life upside down. I didn’t feel like forgiving, but then again, who feels like doing hard things? Who wants to experience the crosses in our lives? Jesus

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God Redeems, Restores, and Transforms

By | May 23, 2012

2012-05_LT-Transformed

My embrace with the Father was restored in Adoration at the Life Teen Women’s Retreat a few weeks ago. At the beginning of my missionary formation year, I realized how tainted my relationship with the Father was. As we reflected on the Father’s love through the parable of the prodigal son, we placed ourselves in the parable as the son and let ourselves be embraced by the Father in a time of quiet reflection. Except, I wouldn’t let the Father even touch me. Having been through a lot of pain

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Seeing God

By | May 10, 2012

I have been praying to be able to simply look at the face of Christ, so the psalm from the third Sunday of Lent, “Lord, let your face shine upon us and we shall be saved” (Psalm 4:2), really meant something to me. Reading scripture, the popes, the saints, the liturgy – I feel like they all points towards this mysterious and real encounter with the face of Christ. For a while, I didn’t even know where to begin. God is beyond this world, not comprehensible to the human mind…

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Divine Mercy

By | May 8, 2012

On this past Divine Mercy Sunday, I imagined the blood and water flowing out of Christ’s side and over me like a waterfall of mercy. After Christ won for us salvation on the cross, the soldiers pierced his side, and flowing forth came blood and water. Jews during that time would immediately connect the blood and water flowing out of his side to the blood and water from animal sacrifices that flowed out of the temple into the Kidron Valley. The blood of animal sacrifices were used to purify

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“I Know!”

By | April 18, 2012

Some teens think they know everything…. I used to be that way. Ask my mom. :) As I have gotten older, I realize how right my mom is. I should have never argued. My Mom and I When I became a missionary, I began to question God the same way I did with my mom in high school. It was a losing battle between my will and God’s, reality sunk in, and my eyes were opened… God is always right! I should just surrender. I am small: only a tiny dot on a satellite map. In the span of eternity, I am a speck

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Look at What’s Crippling You

By | April 13, 2012

Sometimes I feel unworthy and think, “Who am I to witness after all the times I have sinned and betrayed God?” When these thoughts come, the shame cripples me in fear. It’s very subtle and creeps in most of the time without me even realizing it. The effects of sin – shame, isolation, and fear paralyze us and keep us from moving forward towards God. That’s just what the devil wants. If we don’t feel worthy, good enough, or knowledgeable enough, then we won’t spread the gospel: we’ll turn in on

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Popular and Lonely

By | March 2, 2012

This weekend, I heard a teen say, “I have a ton of friends, but I am lonely.” Even the popular are lonely! St Augustine’s words are still true today, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” Fame does not satisfy (ex: Whitney Houston), money does not satisfy, and neither do a lot of friends or relationships. Why are people who have everything materially still unhappy? When I met the materially poor in Haiti, Africa, and Mexico, I was always struck by their joy despite their poverty.

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Single This Valentine’s Day? Rejoice!

By | February 13, 2012

Seeing the “happy” couples around Valentine’s Day, I used to think, “I wish I had someone special!” This year is different for me: I am happy with being single, and it’s awesome! The society we live in makes us feel like our worth is found in relationships, in material things, or in what we successfully accomplish. However, thankfully we are worth a lot more than that.  The truth is simple, yet so hard to believe sometimes. My worth does not come from what anyone else thinks of me,

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Be Quiet!: God Speaks and Heals in the Silence

By | February 7, 2012

Turning off my cell phone was difficult. So was not listening to music, not having conversations (except 1 hour a day with a spiritual director), internet, and everything for eight days . . . but it was so worth it because I was able to pray in a way I never have before. I asked God more questions than I ever have in my life. And I heard him speak in the silence of my heart during my eight-day silent retreat. The first few days of the retreat, the silence hurt because I was forced to think about

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