My Faith Story

I have to say that my faith story is probably pretty vanilla compared to so many of you out there, but since every person has a story, I thought I would share mine.

I grew up in a marginally Catholic household, and while we went to Mass every Sunday (except when we were on vacation) and we always said the meal prayer before family dinners, that was the extent of my catechesis from my parents.

I went to PRE (parish religious education) up until 5th grade, and I learned the fluffy basics of my Catholic faith. That said, I have always felt close to God, and my parents did a wonderful job of modeling that love for me both in their marriage and in their parenting style. I remember telling my PRE teacher that I get goosebumps when I feel God particularly close to me, and I have always called them my "Holy Spirit" bumps. :)I actually still get these, and they are most frequent when my spiritual life is on track.

When I went to junior high, I made friends with the Student Venture crowd which is a part of Campus Crusade for Christ. I loved my friends, and they were a very solid group, and I was never tempted to drink or smoke, and we were all committed to saving ourselves for marriage. However, they all went to the huge nondenominational mega-church, and they loved going to youth group etc. I found myself a bit jealous of their cool, fun, church, but instead of being pulled away from the Catholic Church, the Holy Spirit sparked a curiosity in me to understand what made being Catholic different. From this point on, I devoured any book I could get my hands on that discussed Catholic apologetics. I was hooked, and I loved that the deeper I dug, the more sense it made, and I fell in love with the beauty of my Catholic faith.

I still remained close friends with all my Student Venture friends, and I felt that God had given me an opportunity to evangelize as the lone Catholic among my protestant friends.

When I was 16, I prepared for my confirmation, and it was something that I took very seriously. I remember being deeply saddened by my classmates who were only going through the motions or were simply obeying their parents' wishes. I wanted them to see the incredible meaning behind what they were doing! We were preparing to be marked by the Holy Spirit forever! We were making a commitment to be a part of the Body of Christ for the rest of our lives!

As I grew in my faith, I remember coming to the realization that the majority of Catholics weren't educated in their faith, and my mother was one of them. I remember being so on fire about the Eucharist, and I attempted a discussion with her about John 6 and how it seemed so obvious what Christ meant when he said, "For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink"
And I will never forget how my mom looked at me... She was offended!

She was raised Methodist, and she became Catholic for the unity of our family (which I am very grateful for), but also because she believes that "it really isn't that different." I have had many many conversations about this with her, and she maintains that her faith is personal etc. She also maintains that the priest who conducted her RCIA program told her that it was up to her what she thought about the Eucharist, and that many Catholics don't believe in the true presence... My heart aches that she was led so astray...

However, I forged ahead in my path to understanding, and I came to accept and understand all of the Church's more difficult ethical and moral teachings including the teaching on contraception. I remember being in high school reading the defense of the Church's teaching, and I could feel my stomach turning and twisting as my pride struggled to die to God's plan. I grew up thinking that things like condoms and the pill were just something people did, and I assumed that I would too. Thankfully, I was never on contraceptives because I was still committed to saving myself for marriage, and I never had an acne problem! ;)

Also in high school, I got more involved with my church's youth group, and I became friends with an incredibly solid group of Catholic young people. We went to World Youth Day in Toronto and got involved in a society for young adult Catholics after graduation from high school!

In college, I started dating my wonderful husband, Bill, who was one of those wonderful Catholic friends all throughout high school. He is the man of my dreams, and I was in awe of his wonderful faith and his commitment to being authentically Catholic. I felt/feel so lucky to have a man that I didn't have to convince about using NFP or attending Mass EVERY Sunday or even daily Mass! We dated throughout college weathering the challenges of growing up together and fighting to remain in the world but not of the world.

We got married in July of 2007, and we were blessed with a beautiful honeymoon baby girl in April of 2008. Then our second little girl was born 17 months later in September of 2009. We are so blessed, and God has really molded my heart over the last 3 years, and He is teaching me to trust His way. And it seems that every time I think that I have gained a spirit of true docility, God seems to throw us a curve ball to keep us on our toes. I am a work in progress, and I am striving every day to grow in holiness.