Throwing It All Out There

[InPersonaChriste]

I love God and I always will. But I think it is unhealthy for me to be so concentrated on my vocation that i am not living out my *real* vocation right now. I am living as a single person, still in school. I desperately need to get some things done and I feel that I have to wait until I go for a live-in and then I can finish my school and really put things into perspective.

I feel that this is wrong for me. I see the beauty in all vocations, yet I am not living to the fullest everyday. This week I decided to continue on God's path, maybe he does not want me to go to the convent this year. Maybe he is trying to tell me something. I think that discerning my vocation is important, but I am already a serious thinker and getting into discernment has made me too concentrated on one thing; religious life. But I should really be concentrating on Jesus, I am actually perfectly fine with the thought that I may be called to something different, but for now I really have to live out my single life and to do what I have dreamed of doing; which is becoming a paramedic, saving lives. Wow thats sort of scary now that I said it.

This conclusion has been really building up on me. I have been discerning for so long that I was scared of giving it up, like Jesus would be mad at me. Obviously living for Jesus is my vocation, I don't have to figure out anything but that. I just want to live in the moment, to enjoy my family. Jesus is NOT mad at me, and thankfully [b]I am not mad at myself. [/b]Because I am not giving up my vocation, I am trying to live it out!

So for all of you who are impatient, please take it upon yourself to offer up your suffering and to live for Jesus, in a convent or not!

Knowledge or rambling of the day?

[faithcecelia]

God bless you IPC. A big turning point for me was when I realised that God was asking me to put His will first in my life - even above my desire to be in Carmel (I was in Q at the time). I could never have imagined then that I would have to go through all I have, but after saying 'yes' to God I knew I could not change it to a 'no'. I think your decision shows real maturity - both personally and spiritually - and I wish you all the best as you continue to discern His will for your life.

[Lisa]

Sometimes, particularly on VS, I think it can be easy to see religious life as the end goal, rather than greater love of Christ. Refocusing on that is a very wise decision, one that I think we call all learn from. He has made you for a specific purpose- to love Him and His people. How you can do that is your vocation, and He'll call you wherever you need to be- on His time.

I agree with Faith, this post shows a lot of maturity and growth. That purification is needed to truly give ourselves to Him.

[HopefulBride]

[quote name='InPersonaChriste' timestamp='1321292299' post='2336201']
I love God and I always will. But I think it is unhealthy for me to be so concentrated on my vocation that i am not living out my *real* vocation right now. I am living as a single person, still in school. I desperately need to get some things done and I feel that I have to wait until I go for a live-in and then I can finish my school and really put things into perspective.

I feel that this is wrong for me. I see the beauty in all vocations, yet I am not living to the fullest everyday. This week I decided to continue on God's path, maybe he does not want me to go to the convent this year. Maybe he is trying to tell me something. I think that discerning my vocation is important, but I am already a serious thinker and getting into discernment has made me too concentrated on one thing; religious life. But I should really be concentrating on Jesus, I am actually perfectly fine with the thought that I may be called to something different, but for now I really have to live out my single life and to do what I have dreamed of doing; which is becoming a paramedic, saving lives. Wow thats sort of scary now that I said it.

This conclusion has been really building up on me. I have been discerning for so long that I was scared of giving it up, like Jesus would be mad at me. Obviously living for Jesus is my vocation, I don't have to figure out anything but that. I just want to live in the moment, to enjoy my family. Jesus is NOT mad at me, and thankfully [b]I am not mad at myself. [/b]Because I am not giving up my vocation, I am trying to live it out!

So for all of you who are impatient, please take it upon yourself to offer up your suffering and to live for Jesus, in a convent or not!

Knowledge or rambling of the day?
[/quote]

I am on my phone so I can't give props. But props to this post. Verrrry nature and definitely true

[Strictlyinkblot]

What you're saying is so true. I don't want to be getting on with everyday things, going to work, paying the bills etc but its where God wants me to be right now. Otherwise he'd arrange for me to enter sooner. So I just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other and holding on to my rosary beads. Its like what St. Paul said about running the race well. While the destination is important (for me, Carmel) so is the running itself. And when (if) I get there a whole new race will start.

[FutureCarmeliteClaire]

That is so the truth. I can get so caught up in my "big" life vocation that I forget about my vocation in the here and now... Good post.

[LaPetiteSoeur]

Since many on VS are young and discerning, we tend to get carried away in the vocation world. It becomes a "god" of sorts, just waiting and obsessing over the day when we'll finally be in the convent (or seminary, or monastery, etc). My friend and I have talked about this; she had the same problem with waiting and waiting for marriage. It is wonderful to know one's vocation, or to be discerning it, but it becomes a bad thing if it takes over our lives.

IPS, you've matured so much in the little time you've been here, and I'm sure this move to focus on your current vocation (as a student and daughter) will help all aspects of your life! Wherever you are now, where any of us are right now, [i]is where God wants us to be[/i]. We wouldn't be there if it wasn't His will! Even if where we are is a challenge, it will strengthen our faith and love of Christ, and lead us to a deeper relationship with Him.

[i<3LSOP]

Yes! I totally as Claire said, "Get caught up in my "big" life vocation" but I feel that I really need to enjoy NOW!

[faithcecelia]

[quote name='LaPetiteSoeur' timestamp='1321307306' post='2336287']
Since many on VS are young and discerning, we tend to get carried away in the vocation world. It becomes a "god" of sorts, just waiting and obsessing over the day when we'll finally be in the convent (or seminary, or monastery, etc). My friend and I have talked about this; she had the same problem with waiting and waiting for marriage. It is wonderful to know one's vocation, or to be discerning it, but it becomes a bad thing if it takes over our lives.

IPS, you've matured so much in the little time you've been here, and I'm sure this move to focus on your current vocation (as a student and daughter) will help all aspects of your life! Wherever you are now, where any of us are right now, [i]is where God wants us to be[/i]. We wouldn't be there if it wasn't His will! Even if where we are is a challenge, it will strengthen our faith and love of Christ, and lead us to a deeper relationship with Him.
[/quote]


Yes I agree with most of this. In my case I was a convert dating a converting and I wanted nothing more than to marry him and raise a family of good Catholic children. God had other plans which, with His perfect timing, He revealed to me just as was about to get engaged. I was absolutely, 100% sure that marriage and children were my vocation. I was wrong but I think it was [i]because[/i] I has seriously discerned both single life and lay consecrated life that I was able to be completely sure I was called to religious life. You cannot know what you are giving up until you have experienced it. This is why I worry when I heat 12yr olds claiming to be sure of their vocation - I would hate to see them turn away the man who could make them happy just because they are dead set on religious life.

[FutureCarmeliteClaire]

[quote name='faithcecelia' timestamp='1321308935' post='2336298']

This is why I worry when I heat 12yr olds claiming to be sure of their vocation - I would hate to see them turn away the man who could make them happy just because they are dead set on religious life.
[/quote]
That is not the case for all young people who say that they know their vocation - at all. Everyone is different in the way or time God chooses to reveal their vocation. Period. St. Therese KNEW when she was very, very young, and so have countless other people. I would NOT turn a man away because of being "dead set on religious life", I have several guy friends who know I am in a sense "taken" and some are even discerning the priesthood. By being friends and both discerning our vocation we can have a friendship that in the future could be open to a relationship if things turned out differently. Just because one person realizes their calling at an older age does not mean that everyone does, some people don't for a LONG time. Some people know as children. No one should judge another's vocation by their age or by their own experiences because everyone is different.

[savvy]

I can relate to this because I feel like I am stuck right now, not knowing what direction my life is heading. I always had a sense of mission. I knew I was born to do something big. I always though it was getting a great career, making a lot of money, etc etc. But, every time I planned it seemed like my life was moving in another direction.

I do know that I have a vocation to the religious life. It's just that right now I feel like things are not moving as fast as they should.

[InPersonaChriste]

[quote name='savvy' timestamp='1321313457' post='2336318']
I can relate to this because I feel like I am stuck right now, not knowing what direction my life is heading. I always had a sense of mission. I knew I was born to do something big. I always though it was getting a great career, making a lot of money, etc etc. But, every time I planned it seemed like my life was moving in another direction.

I do know that I have a vocation to the religious life. It's just that right now I feel like things are not moving as fast as they should.
[/quote]

Everyone is called to be a Saint Savvy, but their are many different ways of doing it. As long as you are trying to do God's will he will give you what you need.

[MarieLynn]

At 16 I was sure that I had a vocation to the Religious Life, and that was what God wanted of me. I spent a year as an Aspirant, entered at 17, went to the Novitiate at 18 and after making my Final Vows, began to have doubts that this was the life that I felt I had been called to. My Superior felt that I had had what she called 'a temporary vocation', and that I was needed in the world to serve God rather than in Religious Life.

After leaving, it was difficult, to say the least, but a few years later I met and married the man I love who is the father of my children. I thank God for those years I spent as a Religious, but I also give thanks for the many happy years I have had as a nurse, married woman, mother and grandmother (yeah I'm old, well older than most of you).

My point is, let God lead you where He will. His plans for me were as a Religious, and then as a married woman and a mother. Just let him do the leading - He will let you know in his own time where He wants you. Sometimes He takes his time, sometimes He will let you know almost immediately. Just be patient - all will be revealed in His time.

[Feankie]

[i]but I also give thanks for the many happy years I have had as a nurse, married woman, mother and grandmother (yeah I'm old, well older than most of you).[/i]

Another one! I was beginning to think I was the only one married with children and grandchildren And you've got a career in the medical field as well. I'm not even going to ask who's older )) Unlike you, I didn't enter religious life when I was younger, even though I wanted to so very badly. I put it off (pressure from parents) so many times, then met my husband, and the rest is history. I wonder quite a bit just how my life would have been different if I'd entered. The pluses and the minuses. But I can tell you this, I can't imagine my life without my children and most especially my grandchildren. God has a wonderful way of gracing you with what you need right when you need it. .

[linnie]

[quote name='Francis Clare' timestamp='1321365743' post='2336506']
[i]but I also give thanks for the many happy years I have had as a nurse, married woman, mother and grandmother (yeah I'm old, well older than most of you).[/i]

Another one! I was beginning to think I was the only one married with children and grandchildren And you've got a career in the medical field as well. I'm not even going to ask who's older )) Unlike you, I didn't enter religious life when I was younger, even though I wanted to so very badly. I put it off (pressure from parents) so many times, then met my husband, and the rest is history. I wonder quite a bit just how my life would have been different if I'd entered. The pluses and the minuses. But I can tell you this, I can't imagine my life without my children and most especially my grandchildren. God has a wonderful way of gracing you with what you need right when you need it. .
[/quote]

I could have written this......