NAS: Religous Life

While most of us feel called to marriage, it is important to see the beauty in all vocations! If/when you were discerning religious life, which communities interest(ed) you? What do you see as the positives of that vocation?

Well howdy!! Here I am living the grad life.  I have NCLEX prep class this week but I do have diploma in hand.  I really should write a graduation post but give me a wee bit of time to process it all.

I am actually really excited for this Not Alone Series post because I have always wanted to write something on this topic but have never really known how.  It is a very intimate part of my life and relationship with the Lord that absolutely does not belong on a the interwebs however I think I can pose something.   

So to get to the heart of the story, this past fall I went on a vocation discernment retreat with the Franciscan TOR sisters that minster on campus.  It was because of this extraordinarily blessed retreat that I am confidently pursuing marriage. I went on this retreat because I felt like The Lord was asking me to "date" religious life by going on a retreat with a community.   While there, The Lord first of all showed me that religious life wasn't for me by me realizing the lifestyle felt like an ill fitting coat that looks beautiful but just doesn't fit right.  However, He also completely confirmed it through prayer and clearly through prayer teams.

Because of this experience I had, I strongly encourage others to allow themselves to consider religious life and visit a community.  Don't let it be a scary thing but just a typical Catholic thing.  The Lord will rock your world and whisper on your heart to pursue religious life, He will confirm your calling to married life or maybe just throw you into a beautiful confused state.  I feel like going on this retreat was a gift to my husband and children because I am confident in my discernment and I can be praying for them now in a very real way.

I think it is very appropriate that this topic came up as this school year came to close because going on this retreat and The Lord pursuing me by showing me clearly my vocation was probably one of the most important things that happened to me this year.

This is in no way a exhaustive discussion of the topic but gives a glimpse into a topic that is very important to me.  If we are ever sitting down over a cup of coffee or glass of wine I would be thrilled to show you The Lord's glory and love and tell you the whole story of my discernment. I end by saying if you feel any sort of tug on your heart to consider religious life, do it.  The Lord will hold your heart and take you in an awesome adventure.