R
RavenousWolf
Guest
I am in desperate need of your prayer.
Ever since I was a little kid I’ve wanted to make God happy with my actions… of course I’ve failed here and there, but He has always managed to show His unfailing love and mercy to me, and is always calling me back to Him.
Throughout my years in high school I worried about not knowing how God wished me to serve Him… I was certain He was calling me, but I didn’t know what He was calling me to! I considered the priesthood and wondered if God could be calling to give me life so completely to Him…
I began college in fall of 2006 and entered the degree plan for Biomedical Engineering. It was working out fine, and I breezed through freshmen classes, but when I worked at a hospital over the summer I realized that research and work in a conventional lab was definitely not what I was being called to… I resolved to continue with my major and simply find a job that was more suited to me than my degree after graduation.
Well last year I began to take more mainstream Biomedical Engineering courses… occasionally they were engaging and interesting, but most of the time I found myself wondering what I was doing there…
And then last fall, it was almost like an epiphany, I just knew! After spending a few days at my church getting to know some religious brothers and sisters, I knew that I was to serve the Lord as a priest in His Holy Catholic Church. I didn’t know when I would need to enter seminary or if I would stay in college to get my degree first, but it didn’t matter b/c I knew in the end what the Lord had in store for my life! It was a glorious feeling and for about a month I lived as though one day I would be a priest. It was amazing how just that belief led me to become a holier person!
Well, needless to say after a month or so I wasn’t so convinced. After talking to a few friends and family members, I realized I wasn’t quite ready to write off having a wife and kids and such (because families can be pretty amazing, right?!). So I began to discern about changing my major…
This semester I enrolled myself in a schedule composed of only core curriculum classes. I knew that if I was ever going to be serious about changing my major, I would need to do something drastic. Well, I’ve been taking sociology and psychology and anthropology and a few others, and have really enjoyed delving into the social sciences… but I never took the time to research what I could do with a degree in any of those other majors.
Recently I was doing some reading of spiritual books and came across the term religious sociologist. It sounded pretty interesting to me, and I figured I could look into that… so I went to the career counselor and took the first step to changing my major. I had so many questions and my head was about to explode, but I just didn’t know what to do. I felt so abandoned and alone and confused… should I switch from a major in which I am basically guaranteed a job and a secure living to one in which I would have to find a job myself? It’s a lot to think about and I don’t like thinking that far into the future!
Well, I’m in major need of prayers for clarity and wisdom and understanding and trust. I still haven’t decided if I’m changing my major and registration is exactly two weeks away! I’m scared to death to move either way, and I’m having the hardest time trusting that God will be with me no matter what.
I want so badly to live my life completely for God and be able to spread His love to all of His creation, but the path to such a career is not so clear cut as the path for a biomedical engineer! Will I even be able to find a job as a religious sociologist? Will I earn enough money to have a stable income for my Catholic-sized family? Will such a job take me far away from everyone and everything I know and love? So many questions and so many more I can’t even seem to voice!
I know that if I do change my major to sociology I will need to attend grad school… where I would hopefully be able to study the effect of culture on religion and vice versa as well as theology. Do any of you know in what occupations such a religious sociologist would be needed?!? I know I’d probably end up writing a lot of books, but more than anything I want to see my work have a clear outcome and benefit to our society… perhaps I could work on restructuring the Catholic education system? Any ideas or knowledge/encouragement that you could provide me would be greatly appreciated!
God bless you all during this Easter Octave, and please, please pray for me in my search for the will of God in my life!
Ever since I was a little kid I’ve wanted to make God happy with my actions… of course I’ve failed here and there, but He has always managed to show His unfailing love and mercy to me, and is always calling me back to Him.
Throughout my years in high school I worried about not knowing how God wished me to serve Him… I was certain He was calling me, but I didn’t know what He was calling me to! I considered the priesthood and wondered if God could be calling to give me life so completely to Him…
I began college in fall of 2006 and entered the degree plan for Biomedical Engineering. It was working out fine, and I breezed through freshmen classes, but when I worked at a hospital over the summer I realized that research and work in a conventional lab was definitely not what I was being called to… I resolved to continue with my major and simply find a job that was more suited to me than my degree after graduation.
Well last year I began to take more mainstream Biomedical Engineering courses… occasionally they were engaging and interesting, but most of the time I found myself wondering what I was doing there…
And then last fall, it was almost like an epiphany, I just knew! After spending a few days at my church getting to know some religious brothers and sisters, I knew that I was to serve the Lord as a priest in His Holy Catholic Church. I didn’t know when I would need to enter seminary or if I would stay in college to get my degree first, but it didn’t matter b/c I knew in the end what the Lord had in store for my life! It was a glorious feeling and for about a month I lived as though one day I would be a priest. It was amazing how just that belief led me to become a holier person!
Well, needless to say after a month or so I wasn’t so convinced. After talking to a few friends and family members, I realized I wasn’t quite ready to write off having a wife and kids and such (because families can be pretty amazing, right?!). So I began to discern about changing my major…
This semester I enrolled myself in a schedule composed of only core curriculum classes. I knew that if I was ever going to be serious about changing my major, I would need to do something drastic. Well, I’ve been taking sociology and psychology and anthropology and a few others, and have really enjoyed delving into the social sciences… but I never took the time to research what I could do with a degree in any of those other majors.
Recently I was doing some reading of spiritual books and came across the term religious sociologist. It sounded pretty interesting to me, and I figured I could look into that… so I went to the career counselor and took the first step to changing my major. I had so many questions and my head was about to explode, but I just didn’t know what to do. I felt so abandoned and alone and confused… should I switch from a major in which I am basically guaranteed a job and a secure living to one in which I would have to find a job myself? It’s a lot to think about and I don’t like thinking that far into the future!
Well, I’m in major need of prayers for clarity and wisdom and understanding and trust. I still haven’t decided if I’m changing my major and registration is exactly two weeks away! I’m scared to death to move either way, and I’m having the hardest time trusting that God will be with me no matter what.
I want so badly to live my life completely for God and be able to spread His love to all of His creation, but the path to such a career is not so clear cut as the path for a biomedical engineer! Will I even be able to find a job as a religious sociologist? Will I earn enough money to have a stable income for my Catholic-sized family? Will such a job take me far away from everyone and everything I know and love? So many questions and so many more I can’t even seem to voice!
I know that if I do change my major to sociology I will need to attend grad school… where I would hopefully be able to study the effect of culture on religion and vice versa as well as theology. Do any of you know in what occupations such a religious sociologist would be needed?!? I know I’d probably end up writing a lot of books, but more than anything I want to see my work have a clear outcome and benefit to our society… perhaps I could work on restructuring the Catholic education system? Any ideas or knowledge/encouragement that you could provide me would be greatly appreciated!
God bless you all during this Easter Octave, and please, please pray for me in my search for the will of God in my life!