Author Archives: Carrie Miller

LifeTeen.com Blog

I Quit Boys

By | February 13, 2013

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My dating fast wasn’t so much about the sacrifice of not going on actual dates, but more about the posture of my heart. When a guy paid me the slightest bit of attention, my heart was ready for wedding bells. I had a crush on a different boy all the time. I was so distracted by guys who weren’t worth my time, and frankly, didn’t even know my name, that I didn’t have enough space in my heart for the One who was already captivated by me — Jesus Christ.

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LifeTeen.com Blog

Occupy This Heart

By | October 9, 2012

I have a huge heart.  Ninety percent of the time, this is hugely inconvenient. It’s inconvenient to cry in a movie that no one else seems to find quite as tear-worthy.  It’s inconvenient to cry when you imagine the gruesome death of the mouse that’s been living in your home when your housemates think you’re crazy for caring so much about the sufferings of a rodent.  It’s inconvenient to feel so much for people you hardly know—to hurt with them and for them, and to embrace their

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Lion and Lamb

By | May 3, 2012

A song we often sing during praise and worship is “How Great is Our God” by Chris Tomlin. A line that really sticks out to me in that song is one that calls Christ “lion and lamb.” After reflecting on this line, I realized that Jesus, by being both lion and lamb, is the perfect example of masculinity. He is strong and bold and brave and mighty and wise like a lion, but He is also kind, gentle, joyful, sweet, tender, and innocent like a lamb. He isn’t cowardly or fearful and too lamb-like,

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Stuck in the Mud

By | April 17, 2012

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Sometimes, I get really annoyed with their constant service, because having grown up in a post-feminist world, I feel like what they’re saying is “You can’t do this, so I have to do it for you.” Truly, though, I know their actions say, “You deserve this. You deserve to know what it means to be treated like the beautiful, beloved daughter of God that you are.” Through them, God continues to gently remind me that life doesn’t have to be so hard. He’s not a big, scary dictator who demands that I serve Him. Rather, He is the lover who came to serve me.

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Living in the Throne Room

By | March 19, 2012

I recently read a reflection about Lent that was centered on Mark 1:15—“‘This is the time of fulfillment.  The kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel.’”  The question was asked, “Who was Jesus talking to?”  Not everyone in the crowd was living an immoral life, surely.  In fact, most of the people Jesus spoke to were Jews, trying their best to live and uphold the faith they believed in.  Therefore, the conversion they had to experience was not a radical one,

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Missionary’s Risk

By | January 12, 2012

For Christmas, I was able to go home for the first time since our formation year at Covecrest began in September. I was so excited to go home and see my family, and it was great. I have a great relationship with my family, so it was truly a blessing to be able to spend two weeks with them. I got to go to midnight Mass on Christmas Eve with my mom at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis, which was celebrated by Archbishop Sheehan. (Definitely the coolest mass I’ve been to in a while!) I got to

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Weird Graces

By | December 21, 2011

Recently, I was really sick.  Like puking-my-brains-out, best-friends-with-the-toilet, up-all-night sick.  And it was the best.  That’s definitely an extremely weird statement for me to make, especially since the last time I threw up was when I was 11, and that’s the only time I remember ever throwing up, before a few weeks ago.  While I wouldn’t want to repeat the experience any time soon, or ever again, I gained a lot of graces from it. I learned how to rely on God in a new way. 

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Invitation to Rest

By | November 9, 2011

During the last week or so of formation, we’ve been reading The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen.  This book has helped open my eyes to the walls I’ve built around my heart—walls I thought I had already knocked down and walls I didn’t even realize I constructed.  The Return of the Prodigal Son focuses on the Rembrandt painting of the same name, and the loving, intimate embrace shared between an old father and his returning son.  For Nouwen, this painting depicts God the Father

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To Bring Souls to Christ

By | October 15, 2011

St. Therese of Liseux once said that her vocation “is to love.”  Vocation is the most intimate part of our relationship with God.  It is what gives meaning to everything we do, so this simple proclamation that one’s vocation is just to love was a huge thunderbolt moment for St. Therese. I recently had my own thunderbolt moment.  As I was praying after Mass one day this week at the Life Teen Training Conference in Atlanta, I realized that my vocation is just as simple as St. Therese’s,

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