N
NovemberFourth
Guest
Hi all. 
Itâs been quite a while since I have posted in here, so I thought I should let you know how my discernment process is progressing.
I started actively discerning in August 2008. I found it impossible - for me at least - to hear God above the ânoiseâ in my life so I left my job and my country and went to work and live abroad for a while.
For me this was totally the right decision. I strengthened and deepened my relationship with God rapidly. After a while I felt I needed to return to the UK in order to communicate more frequently with - and visit - the orders I was interested in.
I was very, very worried about returning home during a recession and finding a job. But I prayed on it and it was made very easy for me to return home. God also blessed me with a job within the Catholic church!
For a while this wonderful job complicated things a little for me. My work bought me into pastoral contact with the public and it is a very real - if small - ministry. I found myself wondering if God had put me here because this was where he felt I could be happiest. If this job was part of my vocation.
I then had a period of see-saw days. Sometimes the light seemed to go out on my need to enter an order, other times it burned more brightly than ever - overall I was confused and uncertain and wondered if I would ever be sure - one way or another.
In the early stages of my discernment it was a slow process of elimination. I first realised I was not called to the married state. Then I considered remaining single and possibly joining a third order. I looked into this, but it just didnât seem to be âenoughâ it didnât demand âenoughâ commitment from me, and it just didnât âfitâ. I also briefly looked into Secular Institutes and it was at this point everything changed.
I once asked a Good Shepherd Sister: âHow do you know when you have discerned enough?â She replied: âYou just knowâ. At the time I thought I would never be blessed with that total certainty - much as I wished I would be. I was convinced my discernment would be slow and methodological as I had - like most here - had quite a few struggles.
But last week, I got that lightning bolt. And I thank God and the Holy Spirit for it. Out of nowhere came a total certainty and an aching desire to offer myself totally to the Lord.
Iâm overjoyed to say the feeling has remained with me and I am working with it.:extrahappy:
I am now seeking a Dominican Order in the UK where I can continue to discern and hopefully enter candidacy I hope I can find one that I can call âhomeâ! Thank you everyone for all your support please remember me in your prayers.
Sorry for the long post
Itâs been quite a while since I have posted in here, so I thought I should let you know how my discernment process is progressing.
I started actively discerning in August 2008. I found it impossible - for me at least - to hear God above the ânoiseâ in my life so I left my job and my country and went to work and live abroad for a while.
For me this was totally the right decision. I strengthened and deepened my relationship with God rapidly. After a while I felt I needed to return to the UK in order to communicate more frequently with - and visit - the orders I was interested in.
I was very, very worried about returning home during a recession and finding a job. But I prayed on it and it was made very easy for me to return home. God also blessed me with a job within the Catholic church!
For a while this wonderful job complicated things a little for me. My work bought me into pastoral contact with the public and it is a very real - if small - ministry. I found myself wondering if God had put me here because this was where he felt I could be happiest. If this job was part of my vocation.I then had a period of see-saw days. Sometimes the light seemed to go out on my need to enter an order, other times it burned more brightly than ever - overall I was confused and uncertain and wondered if I would ever be sure - one way or another.
In the early stages of my discernment it was a slow process of elimination. I first realised I was not called to the married state. Then I considered remaining single and possibly joining a third order. I looked into this, but it just didnât seem to be âenoughâ it didnât demand âenoughâ commitment from me, and it just didnât âfitâ. I also briefly looked into Secular Institutes and it was at this point everything changed.
I once asked a Good Shepherd Sister: âHow do you know when you have discerned enough?â She replied: âYou just knowâ. At the time I thought I would never be blessed with that total certainty - much as I wished I would be. I was convinced my discernment would be slow and methodological as I had - like most here - had quite a few struggles.
But last week, I got that lightning bolt. And I thank God and the Holy Spirit for it. Out of nowhere came a total certainty and an aching desire to offer myself totally to the Lord.
Iâm overjoyed to say the feeling has remained with me and I am working with it.:extrahappy:
I am now seeking a Dominican Order in the UK where I can continue to discern and hopefully enter candidacy I hope I can find one that I can call âhomeâ! Thank you everyone for all your support please remember me in your prayers.
Sorry for the long post
