My Faith Story

Our favorite "dorm mom" over at Little Catholic Bubble posed this question earlier this week: What is your faith story?

My faith journey began in the typical way for most "cradle Catholics".  My family is Catholic and baptized me as an infant.  My Mom made it a priority to attend Mass each week, pray before dinner, and enroll me in religious education classes.  She prepared me for my first Holy Communion by buying special markers to make the book work fun.   This was a real treat, and a tangible way to know that preparing for this Sacrament was a big deal!

I always felt God's presence as a child and His calling me to Him.  I felt drawn to Him and attempted to know Him better by reading my Bible (always starting with Genesis and ending with Leviticus...!) and praying.  When I was five or six years old, I remember kneeling beside my bed in prayer when my Dad opened my door.  When he saw me in prayer, he immediately became apologetic and closed the door.  I still remember thinking, "Woah.  What just happened here?  What I'm doing must be BIG to have warranted that reaction!"   One summer day in the junior high years, my life-long best friend, Tracey, came over after a week at youth camp.  She was on-fire for the Lord- full of excitement and enthusiasm for her faith.  I'd never seen this before, and wanted what she had!

Despite my religious education and confirmation classes, and later my religion classes at my Catholic high school, I was not well-trained in my theology.  My classes (with one exception!) were watered-down social justice doctrine about how much God loves me and how I should love others.  Over and over and over again.  It left me with a sense of "pet theology".  God is like our dog.  He's there to guard us and guide us and protect us and love us- but He better not dare tell me what to do! 

It wasn't until Mr. Rist's Great Theological Controversies that I realized how BIG God is!  Mr. Rist brought us face to face with one huge crisis after another in the Church's history as she rose up to protect and defend the Lord's identify.  He had us wrestling with doctrine such as the Trinity and Incarnation of Christ.  I was amazed at the complexity of the Lord of Hosts and wanted to know more about Him! 

In college (Texas A&M, WHOOP!), I was blessed with the girls in my dorm.  Several were Catholic and invited me to daily Mass, introduced me to the concept of NFP, and plugged me into our amazing Church.  God also blessed me with dorm "neighbors" who were on-fire Christians attending a different church.  One neighbor in particular, Mary, and her friend, Annie (who always came to visit), made a huge impression on me.  Through their cherished friendship and examples, I came to realize what it meant to have a personal relationship with the Lord.  They taught me the value of reading God's love letters to me in the Word.  They witnessed the importance of purity and obedience.  They became two of my best friends and remain so today. 

When I entered college, I had decided not to date anyone the first semester.  Though I had many offers, I stuck to my plan to figure out where I fit into this enormous university.  After Christmas, I told the Lord, "Ok!  I'm ready to date all these gorgeous college boys now!" 

And no one asked. 

Hmmm...  But during this time, thanks to Mary and Annie's example, God was working on my heart.  He began to show me the importance of purity in a relationship.  Early on in my teenage years, I had committed myself to purity by making a pact to save sex for marriage.  And yet...  Here the Lord was asking me not to go beyond kissing before marriage!  WHAT?  Who would date me?  I was so afraid.  I wrestled with this request of the Lord.  Finally, in exasperation one day, I surrendered.  "OK! I give in!  I'll do it.  But you have to help me!!!" 

What I didn't realize was that through my obedience, the Lord was growing me, as well as changing who I would date.  The next man I dated was an incredible man, who was focused on the Lord.  At the end of our relationship, I could honestly say we were better off having dated than not, for our relationship had brought us closer to the Lord. 

I share this example because it made such an impact on my life.  Through it, I KNEW of God's faithfulness.  I knew of His personal love for me and communication with me.  I knew of the fruit that could come from obedience. 

My junior year, I took a class offered at our Church called, "The Theology of Dating, Relationships and Marriage".  The night of the first class, I met a beautiful sister in Christ.  We instantly had a deep connection and beautiful friendship.  Emily was Methodist, but had been drawn to this class.  She was dating a Catholic man and wanted to learn more about his faith.  That year, we dove into the Catholic faith.  She helped me ask "why" to many things I had taken for granted.  The next year she entered RCIA and asked me to be her sponsor. 

Through my friendships with Emily and my precious Protestant sisters, I faced many questions about my Catholic faith.  This encouraged me to seek answers- answers that always astounded me with their simple yet profound and complete answers.  These answers left me with a hunger to know more and more about the Lord and the beautiful Church He left us.  The more I learn, the more I discover there is to learn and to share with others! 

After graduating from A&M (whoop!), I moved in with my dear friend, Lisa.  We had gone to high school together and were both teachers at Catholic schools. She taught freshmen at our high school and I taught first grade at a local Catholic school.  In these early years of true independence, it was an incredible blessing to share a home with a sister-in-Christ who wanted to serve Him.  We attended Mass together each week and frequently turned off the lights, lay on the living room floor and praised Him through song. 

At the age of 24, I met my amazing husband, JC.  He was the man I'd always dreamed of, who surpassed my hopes and loved me more than I thought possible.  He was a man after God's own heart and it quickly became evident that being with him brought out the best in me and helped me grow in holiness.  Through prayer and discernment, we realized we were stronger together and could "Magnify the Lord" together- thus the name of the blog!  Our Sacrament of Marriage has brought SUCH Grace into our hearts and brought me immeasurably closer to the Lord.  My husband's commitment to the Sacrament of Confession has changed my heart and brought about a very real disgust for sin in my own life and love for what is true, good and beautiful.  

As an adult, I've had my share of suffering.  We had a crisis in our family that stretched me beyond what I thought I could bear.  We've had to wrestle with our infertility and difficulty conceiving.  We've lost three children through failed adoptions.  My husband deployed frequently on our last tour and we spent too much time apart.  My character was viciously assaulted in what I now see clearly was spiritual warfare.  In all these things, I have learned to CLING to HIM.  I am desperately dependent upon Him- for my very breath, for the Grace to continue, for contentment and joy.  Everything depends on Him and without Him, I am nothing.  I have hidden in the shadow of His wings and claimed His promises and victories.  As the amazing book Hinds' Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard taught me, all too often "Sorrow" and "Suffering" are our companions on the journey, but if we accept them, we will be transformed into Grace and Glory. 

And so here I am.  I know I am in the "Grip of Grace" and a very real work in progress.  I trust Him to continue the work He has begun in me, and hope that I can look back on this point in my life as an "infant" stage in my faith journey!  Thank you for joining me at this "rest stop" and reflecting on the journey!   Sorry to write so much, but I had to give proper recognition to the people who influenced me the most: my bridesmaids, husband and parents!