Advent/Christmas 2002
A Novice Shares Her Story
My family nurtured me with a strong Catholic education and faith, while I was being raised on a small farm near Bankston, Iowa. Prayer, trust, love and forgiveness were values instilled in me as a child. I always felt loved because of those strong family values. My mother had a unique manner of of making my three brothers, my sister, and me fell special. She explained the necessity of forgiving one another before going to sleep at night by referring to Ephesians 4:26-27: If you are angry... the sun must not go down on your wrath; do not give the devil a chance to work on you.
Years later I moved away from home, married, completed a Masters in Education and raised three awesome boys as a single mother. I was living a full life in the world and making choices from my family root values. I often felt conflicted with world and family values and at times would compromise them. However, I never compromised my faith. Even though I confronted crises in my life, I never remember being angry at God.
As time went on, I felt the necessity of having a Spiritual Director to give guidance to my spiritual life. In the early 1990's, God led me to a monk at the New Melleray Abbey in Iowa. In time, I became more aware of God's gentle touch in my life and my spirit was nourished. My prayer life began to grow as I was moved by the Spiti towards daily adoration and participation in weekly Charismatic gatherings. Also, I became involved with parish lecturing, a rosary society, and a youth prayer group.
As I fell more in love with Jesus, he extended an invitation to follow Him even more closely. I had been a nurse for thirty years and a mother for twenty years, and it was never in my plans to join a religious community. However, the invitation of Jesus: "Leave everything behind and come follow me" led to my decision to enter the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration.
Looking back over my life, I am overwhelmed with the awareness of all God's gifts to me, and I can't bow down low enough in thanksgiving to God. Each day at Sancta Clara Monastery brings me a sense of inner harmony - a coming together of mind, heart, and spirit - a joy felt deep within my soul.