Have you ever come to a point in your life where you feel as though you have lived a million different versions of your life? I have come to that place. I look back on the last nearly 35 years of my life and I’m kind of in awe at how God has led me to this place. Like many other people, I have had tremendous highs and crushing lows – spoiler alert: I plan to cover both in this Catholic mom blog. But before I go much further, I thought that I would share what my Catholic mom journey is. I’m sure that there will be many things that are relatable and many that are not, but my goal is to come to a better place of understanding. Understanding of faith; understanding of direction and, most of all, a better understanding of my relationship with God.
The Start of My Catholic Mom Journey
It would be easy for me to sit and say that, at my core, I always knew that I would lean into my Catholic faith. The reality is, I’ve run from my Catholic faith for a very long time. In some ways, I catch myself in ways that I still do. Having a bit of grace for myself helps. I was a cradle Catholic. I went to a Catholic school from kindergarten right through high school graduation. I was an altar server and even a lector at one point growing up. Then, one day when I realized it was now on me to take myself to church, I simply stopped going. It was years before I stepped foot in a mass for church again.
The true start of coming back to my faith really started when I began to date Joe Huber. I had known Joe when we were kids and during our adult years, we found each other again. I’ll drone on about our love story in another blog but for purposes of this one, Joe is what helped me come back to my faith, even though he may not know to what extent. I met Joe during a time when both of our lives were really quite a mess. Joe was in the throes of struggling with an addiction to alcohol and I was doing everything that I could to hold onto the relationship that was growing with him. We would go on to have two wonderful little boys, Joey and Frankie. Throughout those early years, however, one of the things that always kept me in awe with Joe is that as bad as his addiction would get, he always somehow had his faith. Although he didn’t know it, it is something that would ultimately inspire me and it’s part of what inspires me to start this blog now. Call it a form of Catholic mom self-care.
Joe and I both grew up in Northern New Jersey. In 2017, we made the decision to move to central New Jersey due to a job opportunity that I had. This move is something that would change our lives tremendously in great ways. First and foremost, Joe found the strength to get sober which is something that I am incredibly grateful for in so many ways. Shortly after we moved, we went for a ride around our new neighborhood. Just a few streets over, we drove past a Catholic church that took my breath away. Although I was stunned by this church, it would take quite some time before I gained the courage to enter it. Over time, Joe and I both found the courage to walk into that church, albeit at separate times. When we finally came to a point where we attended mass as a family, we knew that we had made the right decision and the rest was history. There is much more to this story which I will share over time, but that covers the bare basics.
The Ebbs and Flows of My Catholic Mom Journey
MY Catholic mom journey has ebbed and flowed throughout the years. One of thing, dear friend, that I don’t want you to think is that I am a perfect Catholic. I am perfectly flawed in every single way. I don’t have it altogether in the least and many days, I often feel as though I’m one step away from falling off the edge. I’m still learning about my relationship with God. There are still questions that I have and that I pray about quite often. However, there has always been something inside of me that I believe God is calling to. I do believe that he has given me a gift when it comes to writing. Writing is something that I have enjoyed for as long as I can remember. Maybe now is the right time to use that talent and do something that God was calling me to do all this time.
There is so much more I plan to cover in this blog. I hope that it is something that every mother will be able to relate to and, ultimately, find strength in to know that you are not alone in motherhood. Through the God, the Blessed Virgin Mary and with the support of other mothers, all things are possible.
