I didn’t, but my pastor growing up did. He said that he envisioned having a big family, yet he felt this call to the priesthood. He said that when he prayed about it, he told the Lord that if He wanted him to become a priest, he “would have to do something about this girl, because I wouldn’t want any other.”
The girl decided to join the convent!! My pastor said, “That was my sign. Of course, she didn’t stay, but that was my sign!!”
He always said the family he got was many times bigger than any he could have had on his own, just as the Lord promised.
You never know how the boyfriend or girlfriend will handle it, but it might be the thing that lets them go to pursue his or her own call. If not, you wouldn’t want to marry someone who would want you to do anything but whatever God asks. If he or she were feeling the same call, you would want to know it, too, wouldn’t you? Of course you would. Marriage is about being able to share these things and come to joint decisions about them…it may be that in the end, your call will be a joint one, too.
Tell him or her, and ask if he or she has ever felt the same kind of call.
