Where It All Began
I’ve heard the saying that “faith is caught, not taught.” It would have been impossible to be raised by my parents without catching their faith. And I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t aware of God’s presence in my life.
I Turned A Corner
Significant events in my spiritual life have included:
- Receiving the sacraments: Baptism when I was a baby (obviously I don’t remember this one), first Reconciliation and first Communion in second grade, Confirmation freshman year of high school (and the tears that fell when the bishop said “Be sealed with the Holy Spirit”!)
- Attending various retreats with the St. Albert’s Youth Group in high school
- Witnessing the Catholic student association at Vandy grow exponentially beginning my sophomore year when Fr. Baker came
- Bringing the Awakening retreat program to Vandy from Texas A&M and staffing Vandy Awakenings 1-4 my junior and senior years
- Experiencing the first two years of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) on Vandy’s campus
In the fall semester of my junior year, I began treatment for depression. It was, without a doubt, the hardest semester of my life. It was also the semester that FOCUS and Awakening came to Vandy. Coincidence? I don’t think so. In fact, the very first day I started my meds was the Friday of Awakening. I will never understand how I made it through that semester, but I know God put the people and resources I needed into my life at the right time to pull me through the worst of it.
So What Happens Now?
I’ve been a parishioner at St. Albert the Great since it started when I was a baby. I love going to mass on Sundays, and I try to attend daily mass when I can. I’m developing a daily prayer routine and trying to find other ways to grow in my faith. But don’t get the wrong idea; I’m nowhere near perfect! I struggle on a regular basis, but when I fall, I try to get back up again.
The difference between a saint and sinner is, a saint is a sinner who never stopped trying.
Sometimes we all need points of light piercing the darkness. God always finds a way to show me that light when I need it (occasionally with quite the sense of humor), and all I can really hope for is that I can be that light for someone else.
I realized recently that I’ve been talking too much and not listening enough. Too much “this is what I want from You” and not enough “what do You want for me?” So I’m trying to let God tell me where He wants me to go and what He wants me to do, and figuring out how to listen.
A Shift In The Light 