As you know, I took a blogging hiatus because of a glut of school work that required completion. A dozen British novels glared at me from the shelf, as well as that dour and complicated foreign policy textbook. The only way out was through, and the only way through was to kick my blog to the side for awhile.
The great news is, I have finally, 13 years and 5 children later, graduated from college! My degree is a Bachelor's in Liberal Studies through the University of Iowa, with an emphasis in Communications, Humanities, and Natural Science.
My darling husband, you ever awe me with your flexibility, generosity, and truly unfailing support. Thank you. Thank you for everything.
My hubby Alex enabled this to happen, because anyone with any children at all knows that academic pursuits are extremely challenging when even just one little one lives in the home. Not only do children require love and attention, but they also make all sorts of messes. Alex should seriously have his name on this degree too.
I have been asked the questions, "What next? What will I do with this degree?" Now I will spend lots of time googling at my precious Bethany, being with the family, and picking up again where we left off in our homeschooling life. What a blessing!
Another change happened in the last six weeks which has been far more important in the grand scheme of things for our family. After a long process of discernment, we made the decision to convert to Catholicism. In my husband's case, this is a return to the church into which he was born. I admittedly felt thankful to be "on hiatus" with this blog because I didn't want to write about this until I had a chance to communicate with people and make the transition.
There's so much I want to say about it. I don't even know where to start. For now, I'll stick with this observation, which is that the more we practice Catholicism, the more we "become Catholic," the deeper and deeper it gets. My spiritual life is greatly intensified. I pray that my blogging efforts will be inclusive and wholesome, and not promote strife in regards to the perceived and actual differences between Catholic and non-Catholic Christianity.
As one who who was raised Catholic and later converted to American Baptist (Now a strong practicing and worshiping Christian) I am fascinated by the process that takes one into the Catholic church. Soon after my conversion I met a woman who'd switched from Southern Baptist to Catholicism. I couldn't believe it then and still want to understand people's motivations in that direction when given the choice. I admit that even after 10 years of Catholic school (St. Lawrence Martyr and Bishop Montgomery) I felt that my faith was a mystery to me. The more history I study and having proofread my sister's masters thesis on Catholic Christianity the more I've come to understand about the faith but the personal journey-not so much.
ReplyDeleteI know from my experience that making my own choices about my faith was a lot harder than just believing and worshiping how I was raised to. It is also so much more fulfilling. I suppose that would be true for a person choosing any faith.
The story of your faith journey is anxiously awaited.
Big changes this summer! Congratulations on graduating from college. Hooray!
ReplyDeleteJoining the Catholic church? A big decision. No worries about us being in different rooms. We are still in the same house. We'll meet in the hallway as C.S. Lewis so aptly put it.