Can you describe your family life? 

My parents were very involved at Nativity and were Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and served as Sacristans. I grew up serving at Mass as a lector, altar server, and choir member, We were all just really involved and church was our main community.  I have one sister, Missy, who is 27. She is married with a baby who’s a year old.

What was your occupation before making the decision to join a religious community? 

I worked as a nurse for almost eight years. I started in pediatrics and then worked seven years in labor and delivery. This past year, I've been working at St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Clearwater as Coordinator of Pastoral and Liturgical Ministries. This has been a season of transition in preparation for entering community life. 

When did you first hear the call to be a sister? Can you describe that journey? 

My calling was a gradual time of the Lord being really gentle with me. When I was a missionary at Camp Covecrest back in 2015, I was with two Sisters of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT), who I had actually met two weeks prior at a retreat. It was funny, because on that retreat, one of the sisters asked me, “Have you ever been open to discern religious life?” And I said, “Absolutely not.” That was my initial reaction to her. Then, at Covecrest, I spent almost every morning with her drinking coffee before the day started, and chatting about life and her vocation. It was the first time that I built a relationship with a member of a religious community. I learned that religious are the Bride of Christ, and what that really meant. I was very attracted to it.  

That's really where the seeds of my vocation were planted. Then, I went on my first “Come and See” event with the Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ in 2020, via Zoom.  I recognized the beauty of the vocation, but I was really scared. However, the Lord kept tugging my heart back to it over and over again. I couldn't quite shake this feeling that this is what I was supposed to do.   

In 2023, I visited with the community in person. That was really the start of me saying, “Okay, Lord. I know this is what you're calling me to.” My discernment story is so long-winded. It just took me a really long time to surrender and allow myself to trust Him.  

How long is the whole process from you entering the community to making your final vows? 

The formation process typically takes about eight years. There are different stages of formation. The first stage is aspirancy, which is the start of the formal discernment process for religious life. Then, we enter postulancy and continue through deeper layers of formation.  

What are you most looking forward to about religious life? 

I'm looking forward to getting to spend a lot of time with the Lord. Our days are so busy. It's hard to have a rhythm of prayer where you literally get to wake up and do a Holy Hour and go to Mass and do Liturgy of the Hours. I'm excited for that change of pace. I'm also really excited for community life. I love the sisters that I'm entering with so I'm excited to enter into community with them. Most of all, I'm just excited to be His. I'm excited to rid myself of all those distractions and really spend time with Him and see how He's going to form me. 

How did your parents and family members respond when you told them you were called to be a sister? 

Overall, my friends and family are supportive and they're excited for me, but it’s a big change. The most common response I heard was, “I'm completely shocked, but I'm also not surprised at all.” I think families have an idea of what your life is going to look like. Typically, that doesn’t include religious life.  So, it's a slow accepting of what the new norm is going to look like, and a grieving process of the plans we had that are going to look a lot different and then having to surrender that. 

Is it hard to leave your friends and family to enter? How are you navigating that? 

It has been very hard. I've been really blessed, and I love the people here a lot. It has definitely been my greatest surrender in saying yes to the call. I heard a quote from St. Catherine of Siena, “I'm going to take care of God's things, and He's going to take care of mine.” That’s really been my prayer. Also, I pray for patience, and to know that just because it's hard doesn't mean it's not the right thing to do. 
I’m just trying to be really intentional with the time that I have with friends and family and spending a lot of time in gratitude, reflecting on the time that I've had with all of them, and how much of a gift that is. 

Did you have any doubts about entering? 

I think if you’re not doubting a little bit, you’re not really taking it seriously. There have been moments when fear creeps in or insecurities creep in, and it's easy to say, “I don't know if I can do this,” or “Is this what the Lord really called me to?” It's really challenging. But overall, I'd say there's just been a resounding peace in my heart that even when those things come, the peace of knowing my call is so much deeper than that. 

There is a natural desire as a woman to want to be a mother and wife. How do you anticipate that spiritual motherhood will be fulfilling? 

I think that the Lord has been really generous to me in that that I've gotten to see glimpses of that already by being involved in youth ministry and by delivering babies for years. I've gotten to see how it brings my heart to life. I love walking with people and getting to journey with people in their seasons of life, which I think is what spiritual motherhood is. I think it's going to be that much deeper and that much sweeter as a religious. 

What would you say to someone who thinks they might be called to enter religious life, but is afraid or unsure? 

First and foremost, it’s important to build a relationship with Jesus. That really is where I think it starts– learning how to trust Him and how to hear His voice. Our voices and the voices of the world can be loud. Having that relationship with the Lord where you can learn to trust Him as those doubts and fears come up is important. I always tell people to build a good spiritual life and a good, consistent prayer life. 

Also, going on a “Come and See” event or reaching out to a community does not mean that they're going to lock you up in the convent forever. Take a step and see where it goes. If you feel this tug for religious life, reach out to a Vocations Director. Even if you're called to marriage, that time of surrender and that time of deeper prayer is only going to benefit you. He knows what's going to make you happy more than you do. So just trust that He's going to lead you to wherever you're supposed to be.