tasha0381-blog

[tasha0381-blog]

The beginning of my journey

I’ve kept a journal, diary, or blog of some type for most of my life. I have clear memories of being in 2nd grade and writing my seven year old woes in various diaries I was gifted with. In my early and mid twenties, my high school friends and I were all on a blogging site where we waxed poetic about our daily dramas. I wrote a lot of blog entries on that site for a few years before most of us moved over to Myspace. 

I thought I was a pretty decent writer, but, looking back now, I’m not so sure. I had a lot to say and my friends read what I wrote, but I wonder if any of it was inspirational or even worth reading. That got me thinking about what I want for this blog. Do I want a place to record my thoughts and experiences as I explore Catholicism? Do I want to write witty posts that make others laugh? Do I want to have conversations and friendly debates with others who may find this blog in the infinite space that is the internet? Right now, I’m really not sure. 

There are things about Mass and the Catholic faith that are familiar and comfortable because of my private school education from Kindergarten to 8th grade. I’m still not sure how my parents were able to afford the tuition or what sacrifices they had to make to send me there. My family wasn’t Catholic, but my parents wanted my siblings and me to have a good educational foundation. I was one of six kids who wasn’t Catholic in a private Catholic school. It was an experience. 

As I got older, I explored several different belief systems. I was generic Christian, Pagan, Polytheistic, and Atheist, before feeling called back to Christianity. I’ve been to several different churches over the last decade. I always felt like there was something I was missing. This is not a slam against any of the churches I attended. I learned a lot from every single church I went to. 

Just before my daughter turned one, my boyfriend (now husband) and I made the decision that I would stay home as he was working nights with lots of overtime and I was working days part-time. Our daughter wasn’t sleeping as much during the day at almost a year old and he was not getting adequate sleep for the hours of work he was putting in. 

That was when I started to feel called to Catholicism. I found a great blog online written by an Atheist who’d converted, along with her husband, to Catholicism and went on to have six children. I started at the beginning of her blog and devoured her posts for hours. This was someone who wrestled with some of the same questions I had, and still have, and who studied Catholicism long and hard before converting. That blog is no longer available, or, at least, not anywhere I can find, but she does have two books out now and I’ve read them both. 

At that time, my boyfriend and I were not interested in getting married and I knew that would be an issue if I decided to convert, so I continued to explore Christianity, but put Catholicism on hold for the time being. 

My husband and I have been married for about a year and a half now, after being together for ten years. Recently, I’ve felt the call to the Catholic church again. There are still obstacles, and I have some issues I’m wrestling with, but I’ve started attending Mass and it feels amazing. There are parts I don’t remember, parts that are a bit different from my elementary school days, and parts that are very comforting in their familiarity. I’m not sure where my journey will take me. I’ve spoken with the Faith Formation Coordinator about starting the RCIA classes later this Fall. I have a lovely stack of books to read, provided by the Faith Formation lady, friends who are Catholic that I’m talking to, and lots of resources online that I’m looking into while I get (re)started on my journey. 

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading! I hope you come back.