New Year's Evolutions

If you've been reading my blog for long, you know that I'm not a fan of change. I've recently made some rather large changes in my life and I'm actually beyond excited about them.

The past semester has been extremely difficult and I've had to make some "grown up" decisions that I didn't want to make and didn't feel like I was ready to make, but I made them and I think I'm taking steps in the direction that God is calling me in.

When I look back to New Year's last year, I would NEVER have guessed that I'd be where I am today. So much has happened in the past six months that I never could have dreamed up or planned, but I have tried to seek God's will through all of it. There were times when I felt like God was dropping unidentifiable hints as to what He wanted me to do, and I was fearful of making the "wrong" decision and being punished by Him. (Now more than ever, it sounds ridiculous and irrational.) I learned that God doesn't MAKE us do anything, and He certainly doesn't try to deceive us when we're seeking Him!

Back in October, I started actively discerning God's will for my future. I began to feel more and more strongly that I wasn't called to be in Southwest Florida and I started looking at all my options. I prayed and prayed and asked a thousand people their opinions and complained and laughed and cried and worried about what to do. (Is discernment always so stressful? Maybe when I become holier it will get easier.) A friend told me that I was unable to make the decision because God wasn't asking me to make it just yet, and that I would have the grace to make the decision when the time came to make the decision. On December 12th, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I was offered an incredible opportunity with Fidelity Investments. At that point, God had closed all of the other doors, all of the other decisions were no longer options, so I went through the open door and accepted the position, no stress, only excitement.

Next week, I am moving home to Southlake to begin my finance career at Fidelity in February. (Isn't it crazy/awesome that the company is called Fidelity?! God is so faithful, even when I'm not!)

I know for a fact that I am and always will be a missionary; all Christians are missionaries by virtue of their Baptism. I also know that being a missionary in the corporate world will be a LOT different from being full time and having Missionary as the job title on my business card.

In this experience, I hope to grow and change into the woman that God has made me to be. I want to take chances and be bold in my efforts to make Christ known to those around me. I want to become holy, and make prayer my first priority in everything. I want to grow in the virtues of patience and humility.

As I begin this new journey, please keep me in your prayers. My goal is to start posting more frequent blog posts on my experiences as a "Real World Catholic." These posts will hold me accountable to evangelizing in little ways, and I hope to share with you my failures and my successes. Will you come along for the ride?

Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, Mother of God, pray for us!

P.S. One of the things I've found myself doing recently: when I hear or see someone say (or type) something sarcastic about Mary or use one of Her titles in vain ( Sweet Mother of God! Holy Mother! etc.) I stop to think about how sweet She really is. It makes me forget to be mad at the person who just insulted Her, and remember to think about how lovely she is! It's so fun, you should try it!