A Good Friday

Ever wonder why we call Good Friday "good"? For a nonbeliever, calling a day like today "good" is absurd. But, for a believer, it makes perfect sense why we call today "good". Our lives would be much different if Jesus didn't do what He did today. Now that's crazy to think about.

Besides today being good because of what Jesus did for us, today is good for another reason for me. As all of you know I have been thinking a great deal about graduate school. You also know that I have been going back-and-forth, back-and-forth for a very long time. Today, I am feeling very happy and content with a decision that I have made. Hopefully this decision will last longer than a couple of days. As of right now, I am feeling very called to get my doctorate. This might be crazy to some people but it seems so right for me. I do indeed feel called to this. I am called to do something great. I am called to do something unlike the majority of people. I am called to make a difference in a very special way. When looking at the grand scheme of things, my dream is to open my own practice, a big practice, for families, spouses, and their children. I imagine having this large practice, maybe we should call it a company or something, that really serves those "little chruches," the domestic church - the family. This sounds so wonderful to me. And yet some may wonder how on earth I will do all of this. How on earth will I have my own practice while being a wife and a mother (God willing)? I ask this myself. The things is, we can't figure it all out. We can only plan for the future so much. The rest we have to leave up to God. If God is calling me to this, and if He is calling me to be a wife and a mother, then He will make it happen. I may not understand how, but He does and He will come through for fulfillment. If God is calling you to something, and even though you may not understand it or you may not know how it will all work out, you need to answer that call. He will work all of the kinks out. So this is exactly what I am doing. I am answering the call and letting Him work all of the knots out.

You may be wondering how I have come to this conclusion and how I am at peace with it. My answer is prayer. I don't know if you have ever heard of St. Gianna but she has been quite the inspiration for me. I don't know a whole lot about her myself but what I do know of her has given me strength and courage. St. Gianna was a medical doctor and a wonderful wife and mother. She was a very prolific woman, so much so that she gave her life for the sake of her baby a few days after birth. St. Gianna was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2004. Because she was a wife, mother, and a doctor, I felt that she was the one to pray to for my own situation. In her I have found much strength, courage, and drive. I feel at peace, I think, because of her. Maybe she has given me the grace and peace to accept this call in my life. St. Gianna has been a model and influence for me thus far, and I can imagine that she will continue to be so. So, on this Good Friday, I feel very at peace and content. I feel that my calling is a great one, and I am so excited about it. I feel much strength and desire. Thank you, St. Gianna.