Dive In; Moving Forward

I texted a friend of mine the other day asking his advice to people getting ready for another school year. His response? “Jesus loves you. But, if you mess up this year, He’s going to love you a lot less.”

So there’s that. It’s completely false and in no way based in the reality of God, but you know that…

As we wrap up Dive In and as we wrap up this summer of trying to grow in our faith and of coming to know the truth of God’s love for us a little bit more, the question is: what now?

Read the rest: Moving Forward

I wrote this blog as part of a series for Lighthouse Catholic Media's Youth Program. The Blogs were called Dive In, and you can find all of the blogs that we wrote this summer here: Lighthouse Catholic Youth Blog

Dive In; Where My Feet Are

Note: I realize I haven't written on here in a while-for that I apologize. I have been doing some writing this summer over here at lighthouse catholic youth, and I love the project we've been working on. Check out the lighthouse blog: click here. This post is my most recent one there, released today. 

For the next two weeks, these are the events that I have planned: a barbecue, a bonfire, a game night, a trip to an amusement park, a Bible study, a softball tournament, a birthday party, another Bible study (I am a youth minister), a Pittsburgh Pirates’ game, another game night (like I said, I am a youth minister), an 8-hour drive, a round of golf, and a cross-country flight. Maybe your schedule in the summer looks like that: endless events, all of them fun, one after another. Maybe, like a friend I talked to recently, your summer looks a heck of a lot more open than that. Whatever our situation, one of the most difficult things for us modern day people seems to be pausing to be present wherever we are.  

The other day, for the first time in what seems like months, I had a day with literally no obligations....

Read the rest of this post on being present where we are by following this link: Where My Feet Are.

Dive In; Those Glorious Nuptials

Recently I was at a wonderful, beautiful wedding with some of the people I find most dear in the world. You, our dear readers, might recognize the groom as the one who writes some of these posts. This wedding week and weekend was filled with everything you'd want: sunshine, friends, good food, great conversations, classic jokes, reunions of people who'd been apart for far too long, and everything else you might think of when you think of a wedding. 

Read the rest of this post!

I am writing this summer for Lighthouse Catholic Media's Youth Department as a part of a Summer Project called Dive In, where we will be discussing various ways to actively grow in the faith over the summer instead of burning out or just going through the motions. Subscribe over at lighthousecatholicyouth.com to get updates everytime a new one of these posts goes up!

Note: This post originally went up on Lighthouse Catholic Media over 1 week ago, but I have been out of town and hadn't had a chance to link to it on here! 

Dive In; That One Moment

I spent the last week being involved with a Steubenville Youth Conference. If you haven’t heard of these, I’m sure you’ve heard of something similar: a whole bunch of people coming together for a time of fun and fellowship centered around the faith.

I am certain this isn’t true for everyone, but in many cases the conversion moment in life (that one moment when all of a sudden things clicked and the Lord became real and present) happens at an event just like this. Maybe this happened for you at a conference, maybe a mission trip, or maybe it was some other experience where everything not of God became less important and life started to make sense....

Read the rest of this post here!


I am writing this summer for Lighthouse Catholic Media's Youth Department as a part of a Summer Project called Dive In, where we will be discussing various ways to actively grow in the faith over the summer instead of burning out or just going through the motions. Subscribe over at lighthousecatholicyouth.com to get updates every time a new one of these posts goes up!

Sweet, Sweet Summer

This summer, I am very excited to be taking part in a series over at lighthousecatholicyouth.com to talk about the experience of living one's faith during the summer. Most of us who have been living the journey of faith have had some good experiences in our summers and probably some not so good moments. The goal with this project is simple: grow in our spiritual lives through the everyday activities of summer. Since I'm going to be writing over there, I probably won't do as much blogging here; hit up lighthouse catholic youth and give them a follow to stay up to date! 

Without further ado, I would like to share with you the first post of this series from my good friend JW Beatovich which introduces what we are doing! Check it out and leave us some comments; we look forward to journeying with you this summer in our faith! Here it is: Dive In