15 Jan What is a Calling?
As children we all grow up imagining ourselves as something other than who we are. We allow ourselves to reach deep into the world of pretend and we dream about being Teachers, Doctors, Nurses, Police Officers, Fire Men, Pilots, Actresses, and so much more. Life seems so limitless because the world seems so BIG. We believe with pure hearts and childlike faith that we can be anything we want to be if we just work hard and wish it into existence. As we grow up we come to realize that those same dreams require so much more then believing or dreaming. We come to understand that we must stay the course and pursue what we want to become without hesitation. We also come to realize that sacrifice becomes key to whether or not we will achieve our dream.
For many, the goals are set and the journey before us becomes a lifelong quest. In this quest we venture into the unknown and we make lifelong decisions sometimes without thinking things through. We find ourselves in this rat race struggling to keep up with the demands we have allowed ourselves and others to place on our shoulders. Convinced that we are doing what’s right, we never stop and ask ourselves the million-dollar question: What Have I Been Called to do? Unfortunately for many individuals, life will continue without the answer to this life changing question.
For me this question came when I was the least interested in its answer. I was doing everything a “stay at home” wife and mother does day in and day out. Although at times I felt something was missing in my life I never really felt an urgency to find out what it was. Then last year while I was at an event in Montana in my hotel room I watched on Netflix the movie, “The Letters”…the life story of Mother Teresa. In this movie about this amazing woman, Mother Teresa shares how she was on a train going on retreat when she hears a voice telling her “she had a calling within her call”. I remember being so struck by this appeal and for the first time, really asking myself that million-dollar question, “What have I been Called to do”?
Needless to say, that question began an unbelievable awakening in me. For the weeks that followed as I traveled to South Dakota, Alabama, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and then to Alabama again, I found that this question was the only one I could think about morning, noon and night. The more I thought about it the more I found myself dreaming and hoping for a response from the “Great I AM”. Then on November 30, 2016, I went to Mass to begin a 9-day novena and felt I needed to go to Confession to be able to enter into a state of calming grace when the answer came forth so clear. I remember as I entered into the confessional, I asked Father to bless me and then I began to paint the picture of my life for him. I shared with him my pain, my sadness, my fears, my guilt, my disappointments, my loneliness, and my yearning to find out what my calling was. I will NEVER forget that experience because Father said to me, without knowing anything about my journey, he said, “all your suffering comes from the calling in your life”. Then he said, “Just as Mother Teresa suffered in her calling so will you for those God has called you to defend”. Your calling will be one of Healing and Deliverance. God is calling you to help women see the Gifts they represent in His Eyes. Many women are walking around not understanding how much He loves them. God wants you to tell them that He would do anything for them. He wants them to know that, He sees past their MISTAKES and BELIEVES they are worth LOVING! He told me women are hurting from their past choices; Abortion, Adoption, Adultery, Divorce, Domestic Violence, Human Trafficking, Infertility, Rape, and Prostitution.
Needless to say, I cried so hard in that confessional! It was that ugly cry that comes from the deepest part of your being and leaves you with boogers in your hair! I knew God had met me where I was and revealed to me the answer to that amazing question, “What have I been Called to do”? I realized for the first time that from my mother’s womb I had been called to help women find happiness in their brokenness and help them understand they can become whole again. I also realized that on my journey to my “calling” I stopped and became a wife and a mother.
To every season there is a time and place under Heaven. I challenge you today, in this season of your life to ask the ” Great I AM” to reveal to you, your calling and to help you awaken into that calling! I promise you, you will find complete utter happiness!
Yvonne Florczak Seeman