tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post3383133066893553367..comments2023-09-22T06:56:46.508-05:00Comments on Adoro te Devote: The Terror of MotherhoodAdorohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02853244433854822731noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post-91958094566461689082008-07-25T11:41:00.000-05:002008-07-25T11:41:00.000-05:00I'm sorry to get to this post so late.I was 5 and ...I'm sorry to get to this post so late.<BR/><BR/>I was 5 and Protestant and said no when God asked me to be a nun with the excuse that I was not Catholic and would not be. For a long time I forgot about that. As I grew up I knew I wanted to be and would be a good stay-at-home mom.And I spent years praying about my husband-to-be and children and myself. Eventually I became Catholic. I met a man who is precisely the help-mate I need. We were dating. I went on a retreat with Benedictine sisters. I KNEW that that life was exactly what I thought it was and that I would be happy as a cloistered nun. I was also granted the grace to see the pitfalls I would face on that path. I had such a desire to share the experience with the man I was dating. The director agreed with me that God was leading me to consider marriage. I married that man as a service to his soul and to God and to my own soul. I am a very blessed mother now. I still have a longing at times for the religious life, but I also have the peace of knowing that I am exactly where I am supposed to be doing exctly what I am supposed to be doing.<BR/><BR/>It is about service and living the joy and peace of God. You find them only when you seek God himself via service not when you look for them or what to do. <BR/><BR/>"Turn your eyes upon Jesus look full in His wonderful face and the things of the Earth will grow strangely dime in the light of His glory and grace"<BR/><BR/>Remember that Peter and all of us fall when we look at ourselves instead of God.<BR/><BR/>I hope this helps.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post-24160585321619340002008-07-14T18:29:00.000-05:002008-07-14T18:29:00.000-05:00Adoro, you said that you "realize how much I need ...Adoro, you said that you "realize how much I need a Spiritual Director as I move on with my own vocational discernment." Absolutely, because with this sort of direction, a person can really flounder indefinitely. So I pray that you'll find a spiritual director soon who will be able to assist you on this part of your faith/love journey.<BR/><BR/>You also noted that you realized "that I love my solitude, yet it doesn't fulfill me." Right you are about that -- it's not the solitude that fulfills us, rather, it's the Solitary One who alone can fulfill us...<BR/><BR/>In response to your question "How can we find where we really belong?" -- for some of us, we learn only through trial and error and over a long period of time. It took me many, many years to discover where I really belong, and I shed many tears of frustration and even pain over not knowing, and that in spite of all my best efforts to know. I pray for your peace and strength as you continue to search, learn, explore and discover where God is calling you, where He wants you to be. When the time is right, He will show you and you will know...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post-10546162395475185652008-07-14T16:47:00.000-05:002008-07-14T16:47:00.000-05:00I don't think it's that uncommon to have mixed fee...I don't think it's that uncommon to have mixed feelings about motherhood. I never felt very warm and fuzzy about babies when I was a girl. I was married at 21, had our first child at 23. The whole time I was pregnant, I was very cerebral about the whole thing. The self-talk went like this: "You shouldn't expect love at first sight. This whole relationship is going to take time. You're going to have to really work at loving a child." So I was totally unprepared for the first time I really held my son, after the nurses had done their things and left me alone with him for a few minutes. To my surprise I discovered that he was the most beautiful baby in the world and I loved him with all my heart. God gives us what we need when we need it.Melody Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00442985285647041700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post-40354306937072205962008-07-13T06:23:00.000-05:002008-07-13T06:23:00.000-05:00It's not just dysfunctional families. I have a sol...It's not just dysfunctional families. I have a solid family, which is probably why I have no problem with the idea of motherhood. I just never felt called to be one. <BR/><BR/>Everyone always said I should be a nun, because I wasn't very social, didn't take an interest in guys as dating material, didn't take much interest in what I wore, loved to study, etc. But apparently nuns don't feel this way. In fact, you have to convince them that you're social enough. Worse than a sorority.<BR/><BR/>We need to reinvent monasticism if we wanna get in. I say we start a union for hermits, canonesses, and so forth. We could all live in the same building or something. :)Bansheehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12594214770417497135noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post-83689205896714482432008-07-12T16:24:00.000-05:002008-07-12T16:24:00.000-05:00Adoro, I really think you need to refocus the voca...Adoro, I really think you need to refocus the vocation decision. It's not about where we'll find fullfillment. It's about where we're called to serve. LOVING SERVICE is the ultimate call. When you discover where you're called to serve, there you will find fullfillment.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post-41891237910602511002008-07-12T08:14:00.000-05:002008-07-12T08:14:00.000-05:00rhonda ~ I nearly took this post down even right a...rhonda ~ I nearly took this post down even right after I hit the "publish" button. Your comment reminds me why I write. Thank you, and prayers coming your way. <BR/><BR/>Dan G. ~ I would love to do something like that, but unfortunately I can't afford it. And I only see that kind of retreat come around every so often...and NEVER at a time I have the freedom to get away from work. When God says it's time, I know He'll send me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post-13256914882620233762008-07-12T05:50:00.000-05:002008-07-12T05:50:00.000-05:00Have you (both Adoro and commenter Rhonda) conside...Have you (both Adoro and commenter Rhonda) considered doing a retreat in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola? Either the full 30 days or an abbreviated version, like 8 days?<BR/><BR/>That might seem like an odd suggestion, but my own experience of such an 8-day retreat, as well as what I know of others' experience of it, is that God uses it to do remarkable deep healing,as well as leading with regard to vocation. You wouldn't believe what he will bring to the surface in you-- until you experience it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post-43527431964225609572008-07-11T21:59:00.000-05:002008-07-11T21:59:00.000-05:00I think the Holy Spirit meant me to read this blog...I think the Holy Spirit meant me to read this blog at this very moment. This is something I have been struggling with for a while and I had just thought about it again. I was reading your post and it was like you were writing my thoughts. I have such a hard time expressing them, though. I think the same way as you: I would love to be a mother, but I couldn't even be in the room when my sister gave birth. I occasionally feel called to marriage, but I haven't met a man I think I could be around for long periods of time. I don't feel called to the religious life because I couldn't stand being around all those women ALL the time. I love my solitude, yet I hate it at the same time. I was a t a friend's house tonight and all I could think was to leave as soon as possible. I have no idea what to do with my life. I'm 28: I think it's about time I figure this out. (Thank you for helping me finally put this in writing! I think I'll post this on my blog!)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post-78024507868670077252008-07-11T05:56:00.000-05:002008-07-11T05:56:00.000-05:00Blind trust/faith in God is one of the most diffic...Blind trust/faith in God is one of the most difficult ministries to which we are called. <BR/><BR/>Logic tells us to veer toward that which can be sensed. Faith tells us to trust no matter what the outcome or road traveled. <BR/><BR/>And sometimes, we are not to belong to the world - we are set apart from the world, yet challenged to live in it.<BR/><BR/>My prayers are with you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15170815.post-3332683085997465162008-07-11T00:38:00.000-05:002008-07-11T00:38:00.000-05:00Perhaps you are called to sacrifice fulfilment.Perhaps you are called to sacrifice fulfilment.Hidden Onehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06042188431683942338noreply@blogger.com