Conversion to Vocation ~ from a Nun at St. Emma part 8

O Lord, show me what your will is in my life and help me to do it.

I continued to work at various jobs, at one point I had three part-time jobs and one weekend off a month, which I spent at the monastery.

I loved being a teacher, working at the nursing home, and also working with the mentally and physically handicap in their homes.  But I knew that I wasn't called to stay working in this way for life.

I have always tried to figure out what God was trying to teach me in this part of my. I started to think this way since I started my first job as a hostess at King's Family Restaurant when I was 18.

I just kept working and praying that God would find some way to make this work because I couldn't do this on my own, and that is what God was teaching me at this point in my life.

I remember someone coming up to me after Mass one day and said that I have too much faith in God and that he didn't want me to be devastated when God doesn’t answer my prayers. Now I know where he was coming from and that he didn't want to see me hurt, but I took it as a wonderful comment.  This meant that he could see what I couldn’t; I have struggled with my faith in God and still continue to “work” on it.

Conversion to Vocation ~ from a Nun at St. Emma part 6

I spent the first part of the week walking and praying. They were having their first Auction /Flea Market. I made the “mistake” of asking if they needed any help. I seemed to kind of fit in with them. I observed how they interacted both in prayer and at work. The day of the Auction I was asked to be at the welcome tent, I had only been there for 4 days at this point, did I mention that I was lost a lot of the time and they wanted me to direct other people....

The Lord works in strange ways. 

This was the first week that I was with out an ankle air cast, I thought that this time of rest and prayer would also help my ankle. I was walking up to the welcome tent carring a hot dog and drink when my ankle slipped off of the sidewalk...yes the same ankle. I hobbled back to my room with an ice pack. Just to let you know I didn't spill a thing.

Conversion to Vocation ~ from a Nun at St. Emma part 5

At this point in my life I stopped looking for an order to join. After all I did spend a long time looking and exploring communities. I spent my 21^st birthday picking cherries in Wisconsin with the Franciscans. Now how many people can say that? I then felt the need to find out where God wanted to be. I spent the weekend at the Passionist in Pittsburgh, so I could spend some quality time in prayer. I wanted to figure out if I should go on to be a Teacher or a Physical therapist.  The easiest way for me to make the decision was whatever program I got into the first. I ended up being accepted into the Teaching program at the University of Pittsburgh first so I went on to get my teaching degree.

After going to school, working at a nursing home, and student teaching, I found that I had a week off!

I asked about going back to the Passionaist again but they were full. A priest friend of mine said that he knew another Mother Mary Anne, but she was at St. Emma Monastery. Both of the Superiors had the same name. The only thing that I needed to know was if I could take a bus there.

 I arrived on Monday morning just getting of the midnight shift at the nursing home, the cab driver stated that he was concerned about me when he dropped me off, he just happened to be the same one that took me back to the bus station. 

Conversion to Vocation ~ from a Nun at St. Emma part 4

  I became very involved with the undergrad program offered by the Catholic Campus ministers, run by the Fathers of the Oratory. When I say “very involved” at one point one the Fathers stated that I was here at the Newman Center more than the Fathers who lived upstairs. I kept the thought of becoming a religious in the back of my mind and heart. I had a wonderful relationship with a young man from CMU. I was keeping all of my options open. While we were dating I just keep feeling like I was taking away time that I should be giving to the Lord. After a while we ended the relationship and He is happily married with children. I learned a lot about myself during that time, I became aware of the Love one could have for another, but I still felt called to give myself completely to the service of the church as a religious. I started looking into orders, I looked for 6 years.

Conversion to Vocation ~ from a Nun at St. Emma part 3

 I just sat there and pondered where that came from.  I thought that how funny it would be if at this same time next year I would be Catholic and looking into joining an order. I tried to put it out of my head and focused on becoming a medical missionary. But the thought kept coming up, It still gave me greatest sense of peace about what I was going to do with my life.  Everyone asks the famous question, what are you planning to do with your life. The one thought that kept popping up was that I was to join a religious order but I couldn't say that to anyone. The greatest problem with this was that I wasn't catholic and had never met a religious or had even talked to a priest.  So when the RCIA program was announced at the cookout, I knew that I had to join.  

Conversion to Vocation ~ from a Nun at St. Emma part 2

 I went to the University of Pittsburgh for my undergraduate degree of Biology. There was only one other person from my graduating class that was going to go to Pitt, main campus in Oakland. She just happened to be Catholic. I went to the Wednesday night cookout during orientation and heard about the RCIA meetings the next week. I just showed up on the door step and asked about converting. 

 I remember that one day while doing laundry the summer before going to Pitt, I was reading a spiritual book by a nun in the basement doing laundry (it was cooler down there)  and then the thought/ image came to my mind about being a religious sister.  

Conversion to Vocation ~ from a Nun at St. Emma part 1

My vocation story starts when I was interested in converting to Catholicism, in my senior year of High School.  I had a friend who was Catholic but hated everything about it, and would complain to me about what went on in the Church and other religious traditions. I wasn't raised in a particular church. I did end up attending the Methodist Church with my mother and step dad when visiting them on weekends. I became very involved in the youth program and went on a mission trip down to Appalachia, and loved it. As I became more and more involved with the Methodist Church I felt like there was something missing. God and thus religion had been around longer than John Wesley and where was the history. So I was listing to what my friend was saying and thinking there is something more in her Church. So I became very interested in the Catholic Church.