The joy of conversion, Christian community, and the Catholic faith
There at dawn all the shelling ceased for the first time since coming here, and an amazing, peaceful, stillness came and lasted for several minutes, with the twitter of a bird in the distance the only living sound.
Later, at sunrise, the same thing happened and lasted for almost an hour and the morning has been comparatively quiet.
I believe God has called me to pass the faith down to the next generation and to help young mothers find the joy in their vocation as wife and mother. I have been blessed with the opportunity to speak about Jesus on TV, radio, mom’s clubs, and churches and through the books and Bible studies I have written.
When I was a child, I loved going to the Protestant church in our small New England town. I especially loved going on the first Sunday of the month when we received Communion. Our church taught that Communion was only a symbol of Jesus’ Body and Blood. I never understood what it all meant, but I somehow knew it was special. Over the years, my family drifted away from church, and I attended only sporadically. But when I did go, I still loved to receive Communion. I didn’t know why. I just followed my heart.
When you open your heart and your journaling to the Holy Spirit, the floodgates of Heaven open. You will feel a downpour of wisdom, charity (love), understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.
The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in you as the first fruits of eternal glory. You become alive in the Spirit. Scientific research has shown that when you keep a journal regularly, your mind will be brighter, your recall sharper, your senses quicker, your self-discipline stronger, your communication clearer, your healing deeper, your creativity freer, your outlook brighter, your laughter louder, your stress calmer, your compassion greater, and your confidence higher.
Remember, no one is looking over your shoulder critiquing what or how you write. Get lost in the experience of expressing yourself on paper in God’s presence as he takes you through the puddles and over the rapids of the living river of your faith story.
You don’t have to spend hours every day journaling. I don’t. Sometimes all I can manage to do is a weekly update. But when I try to remember all the graces and blessings of the last few days, I know something important is missing. I’ve forgotten many irreplaceable moments because I did not take the time to journal.
A journal of any kind is a way of writing about your life, as opposed to other things you might write: vacation dreams, career plans, business strategies, bucket lists, or health and fitness goals. Scientific research finds that journaling can enhance your life in remarkable ways that benefit your mind, emotions, relationships, confidence, creativity, communication, and self-discipline. A journal is written by you for your own benefit.
When you call on the power of the Holy Spirit, however, you add a spiritual dimension to your journaling. The results bring so much more than self-improvements or an enhanced lifestyle. All of the advantages of journaling can be yours, but the Holy Spirit can add a mystical dimension to them that unifies your spirit with the Holy Spirit.
We have to be able to tell our story of how we met the Lord, and how our relationship with him is changing our lives. Like all evangelists, new or old, we are called to speak the truth of the faith as revealed in our experience and relationship with Jesus Christ—yes, that scary, vulnerable, stepping out in faith to share what God has done in our lives and how he transformed our hearts.
The departure of my wife and me from the Protestant tradition was a reflection of God’s leading hand and presence in our lives. Unknown to us at the time, each spiritual step we took prepared us in some new way for our ultimate destination of the Catholic Church. Before discussing six key points that convinced us to journey across the Tiber, I think it is important to examine some of the most personal influences that affected our course.