I was sitting in Eucharistic Adoration one day asking God what He wanted me to do next in my life. I was in my late 30's, married, and we hadn’t been able to conceive a child. I had just reached a point in my career where I felt satisfied and happy after many years of struggle. My ministry endeavors were finally sustaining and fruitful and I had a sense of balance in my life. I had found and settled into my vocation as a Third Order Secular Franciscan. I had healed from many old wounds and had found a rhythm of health and well-being that worked for me.
Was this all there was? What was next?
God gifted me with many women in waiting for different things in their life: significant others, marriage, a family, a consecrated vocation, or a fulfilling career – and they all struggled with similar spiritual challenges:
How do I wait in faith and hope?
What is God doing during this waiting period of my life?
Will I ever be the fruitful woman I am called to be?
How do I take care of myself, heal, and grow while I am waiting?
How do I find community and companionship during this phase of life?
I realized that I had lived through long periods of waiting for many of these same things, and that I had learned a great deal of wisdom from them. Knowing my spiritual gifts of wisdom, discernment, prayer, knowledge, encouragement, and leadership and reflecting on my unique life experiences and credentials, this ministry was precisely the gift He wanted me to give other women.
And so Women in Waiting | Made for Fruitfulness was born. My prayer is that it is a blessing to all women who are touched by it.
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