My vocation story

[karin]

My Vocation Story

My name is Karin ****** and I am 14. I was born April 9th, 1990 in Dallas, Texas. I have 8 brothers and sisters - 3 sisters, 5 brothers. Three of them are already in heaven. My oldest sister is 23, married with one baby and one due in July. My oldest brother is 21. I have a brother that died when I was 5 months old when he was 3. I am the oldest of the middle set. I have a 12 year old brother, a 10 year old sister and a 2 year old brother. (My mom had 2 miscarriages in between my little sister and my baby brother.) I have been homeschooled all my life and Catholic since I was 4. When I was 4 my parents converted to Catholicism. I was baptized in the Catholic Church on April 2nd, 1994. We lived in Lufkin, Texas at the time. I was homeschooled so Mom taught me all my religious education at home. Because we were converts, she wanted to make sure that we would be able to defend our new faith. After my parents became Catholic they started going to daily Mass at the Dominican Monastery of the Infant Jesus in Lufkin. We would go to the early Mass with the nuns. Some of my earliest memories are of going to Mass with the nuns and seeing them and speaking to them. That is when I first thought of being a nun. I remember talking to my mom when I was about 5 and saying to her “Mom, when I grow up I want to be a nun and a nurse and a missionary and a mommy”, those were my goals. When I was 6, my family moved to *******, Texas which is about an hour away from Dallas. We moved because my Dad does balloons (makes balloon sculptures) and the business was better in Dallas. We started going to church at Saint Ann’s in *******. There I met my best friend Denise, and I started going to CCD classes the next year, so I could receive my first communion. I didn’t start going to classes until the second year we lived in *******. We always went to daily Mass, and I still wanted to be a nun, but I didn’t really think about it seriously.
So in the spring of 1998 I received my first confession and first communion. I had a wonderful CCD teacher to prepare me for the sacraments. I remember being so excited, so ready to receive Jesus. After I received my first communion, I continued to go to daily Mass and attend CCD classes. Though actually my mother had her own religious education at home for me, too (she still does). I read a lot of saint stories, especially ones about Saint Therese of the Little Child Jesus. I was really into her, she inspired me too be a nun. I always thought it was amazing how she entered so young. So I still wanted to be a nun, especially after reading about Saint Therese.
When I turned 10, I joined Girl Scouts. At Girls Scouts, I kind of pushed away my vocation because none of the girls were Catholic, so it would have been weird to be a nun. So I rebelled against my vocation and started thinking of “cooler” ambitions. Like I am good at singing and acting so I started saying that is what I wanted to do. This went on for about two years.
When I turned 12, I quit Girl Scouts because I just didn’t like them. That year I started 7th grade and God started working on me and my vocation again. I had a wonderful 7th grade CCD teacher. In the spring of 7th grade right before I turned 13, I went to a Youth 2000 Retreat. At the retreat, they do this thing where the priest carries Jesus around the room and everyone is praying and everyone gets to touch their face to the robe of the priest that is carrying Jesus. It is an amazing, beautiful experience. After I had had my turn, I was kneeling and praying and I asked God “What do you want me to do with my life?” I felt like I heard Him say, “I want you to go into youth ministry”. Now this is where I think God has a sense of humor. I think he was just easing me away slowly from the ideas of being worldly. So I said “Ok, ok, God if that is what you want, then that is what I will do. I mean, it wasn’t in my plans, but okay.” So I went away from that ready to be a youth minister for God.
That summer I was talking to my mom and I said “Mom, I want to do something, be in some group or something like when I was in Girl Scouts, but I want something Catholic.” So she looked on the computer to see if she could find any information on some Catholic girls group around the Dallas area. She searched on the internet and found this girls group called Challenge Club. She contacted some people in Dallas who had a group and got information and told me about it. The Challenge Club is a group for girls ages 10-16, where you learn about your faith and do apostolic projects. It is a group started by Regnum Christi. There is a large group in Dallas. It is headed by women who are consecrated. They have consecrated their lives to God and their work is to go all over the world and start Challenge Clubs and help the individual clubs in different towns. So the Consecrated from Dallas came out to ******* and talked to us about Challenge and told us what we would have to do to start a group. I decided I that I liked the club and I started my own group at my church.
Being a part of the Challenge Club was another big step in my vocation. While I was a part of it I went to a lot of retreats and get-togethers with other clubs in the Dallas area. My best friend, Denise was my co-team leader. She helped me a lot with running the club. While running the club every week I (and Denise) would have to prepare a talk to give and an activity to go along with it. An example of that would be a talk on being an Apostle of Christ. Then I would make up an activity to correspond to the talk. It was really hard to do and I could never have done it without Denise. All the while I would go to retreats and see the Consecrated. The Consecrated to me were really wonderful. I thought they were great. They were holy women who loved God and had devoted their lives to Him. I began to feel like God was calling me to be a Consecrated. I prayed about it and talked to God. I thought being consecrated kind of fit in with what God had told me to do at the Youth 2000 retreat. Because it was a kind of youth ministry, helping the young girls form their souls for Christ. So I talked to God and I said “Ok, I see how You were being sneaky at the Youth 2000 retreat, You didn’t mention doing the youth ministry that I wouldn’t be married. But I am ok, I will do it for You because I want to do your will. It’s not like I have to be a nun or something and have live away from everyone or wear a habit. I still get normal clothes and a cell phone and stuff.” So I was set. I was going to devote my life to God and be a Consecrated. I loved Christ a lot and I just wanted to please Him. See, God was being funny again, and nice, easing me into the thought of being a nun. Because I am very stubborn by nature, God just was making it easier on me.
That year, while I was doing the Challenge Club, I was preparing for confirmation. Now it came time for me to pick my confirmation saint. So we were going through saints in CCD and my mom was making me read a bunch of saint books. So I could find out all about different saints and I could make a well-formed decision on what saint to pick. So I read about tons of saints and learned a lot about different ones. I don’t remember when I first read about Saint Martin De Porres, but I remember the first time I saw his story I knew that was the one I wanted. It was a small, very short and not very informative story. I think I read it in a book called 57 Saints. I couldn’t tell you why, it’s just I felt like God was saying “Pick this one. I want you to have this one”. So I picked it. I knew nothing about my saint. People would ask me what saint I wanted and I told them “Saint Martin De Porres” and they would ask me why and I couldn’t tell them. Usually when a girl picks a boy saint they usually have a really good reason. But I couldn’t explain to anyone and it sounded like I didn’t care when I said “because I think this is the one God wants me to have”. I didn’t learn anymore about him even before my confirmation. I just learned a few facts to get through my interview with my priest, Father Joseph *****. My confirmation was wonderful and I added the name Martin to my name.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s go back a little, I turned 14 in April ‘04. Also, I went to my second Youth 2000 retreat. While I was there, they were carrying Jesus around the room and I was praying again. I asked God what He wanted me to do with my life. I don’t know why I asked but, I guess I was feeling unsure of what He wanted me to do. So I asked and I heard Him say, inside my head “ I want you to be a Dominican nun”. I said, “Yes God.” I mean I told Him I would do it because I would do anything He ever asked me to do.
The first place I thought of being a nun was the Monastery in Lufkin, which I used to go to Mass with the nuns. I thought that was where God wanted me. I talked to Father Joseph (my spiritual director) for the first time about my vocation and he encouraged me. So over the summer and fall I got more confident about my vocation and started telling people that I wanted to be a nun and I was proud of it. Also, in the fall I found this website called phatmass.com. It is a Catholic website. The phat stands for – Preaching Holy Apostolic Truths. They have a forum on there and there are over a 1000 Catholic people on there. I started posting all the time. On Phatmass there were a lot of other young Catholic girls who wanted to be nuns. They really encouraged me and made me feel like it was cool to want to be a nun. So I was really happy about my vocation by December and just longing to be a bride of Christ. My prayer life was pretty good. I liked going to Mass and praying and all, but I mean it’s not something I did for fun. Then, at the beginning of December ‘04 my dad left my family and went to live in his own apartment because he had a girlfriend. I was pretty upset about it all. I didn’t know what to do. So I just clung to Christ. I started to pray a lot and stay at the church whenever I could for as long as I could. My spiritual life took big steps in the past two months. I also started finding out about Saint Martin De Porres, reading books about him and just finding stuff out. I realized in my learning why God wanted me to pick Saint Martin De Porres. I found all these similarities… like his Father abandoned him and he had to live without a dad and he had to grow up quickly. He also was a Dominican, which is what I want to be. He also had major humility, which is something I really need more of, so we were a match made in heaven. Praying and mass became my favorite things to do. All I wanted to do was be in the church and pray and go to mass. It was how I could cope with my dad leaving and the pain.
I looked on the website for the Monastery of the Child Jesus, because I had been thinking about my vocation a lot. So I looked on the website and found out that you had to be 20 to be a nun there and you had to have at least 2 years of college. I prayed a lot about that, I said to God “Well, this is really a disappointment for me, Jesus, because I wanted to be your bride so badly as soon as possible. But if it is Your will I will do it happily. I think God was testing me to see if I would do whatever He asked me and how I would react to not getting my way.
Then, about two weeks ago I posted on phat mass on a thread for people who wanted to be Dominicans. I posted on the thread. The thread on phat mass was for a Monastery in Lockport, Louisiana. The nun (her name is Sister Mary Imelda of the Holy Eucharist) would get on the thread and check to see if anyone had posted so that she could contact possible people who wanted to join their monastery. She contacted me last Monday and it was an answer to prayer. We talked all week on Instant Messenger. She told me of the possibility of being able to enter the Monastery when I am 16. I just feel like God is opening all sorts of doors for me. I have never in my life been as happy as I am right now. I am so in love with God and ready to do His will. I am scheduled for my aspirancy at the monastery on August 15th, the Feast of the Assumption. Until then I will just wait and pray and anticipate. I know that it might not be my calling to go there, but right now that is where God is pointing me. I have never been this excited about my vocation or anything else in my life, so if He tells me to do something else I will, but right now I will do this because this is what He is telling me to do.

[karin]

there it is guys. The patr where there are stars is just like my last name and the town i live in. It is not that i dont trust y'all but anyone could read this.

[Dudette]

Wow, that is truly amazing Karin. Thanks for posting that!

I sure am praying for you!

Edited February 11, 2005 by Dudette

[karin]

thank you so much i need prayers. alot of people are challenging my vocation and i need to be strong.

[theculturewarrior]

[Ash Wednesday]

[wopsim]

great story!!!! thanks for sharing it! (see, i posted something!! you happy now )

[karin]

hey y'all if you read my story post so that i know you read it please

[corban711]

i read it and asked Our Lady to keep you close to her Immaculate Heart and that you will submit as a child in her arms, trusting her wherever she decides to carry you.

[daugher-of-Mary]

oh Karin, that was just beautiful! Continued prayers for you. May God bless you and Mary keep you ever close to her Heart. If God wills it, perhaps we will meet in Lockport this summer and become "sister aspirants."

[Karinsbestfriend]

[JazzforJesus]

thats awesome, thanks for sharing.'

Praying

[kateri05]

God bless you and the Dominican SIsters in LA. May the Holy Spirit guide and protect you both and may the Blessed MOther alwasy draw you closer to her Son

[jp2_rules]

that was awesome! so are the Dominicans. i'll be sure to pray for you!
God bless,
chris

[journeyman]

Thank you Karin. I'll pray that you continue to see God's hand guiding your life

[Carnanc]

wow amazing story

[FightingforGod]

thats beautiful, and very inspirational!