Navigating Your Vocation One Step at a Time

Kara Davis will become a Pre-Postulant with Daughters of Charity this August. She is currently completing her Master's in speech pathology at Eastern Illinois University. This summer she is going to walk the Camino de Compostela in Spain. This post was originally published on the Archdiocese of Indianapolis Vocations website.

Navigating Your Vocation One Step at a Time
by Kara Davis

"I feel God calling me to religious life, but I don't know many Sisters. Where do I begin?"

Those were the panicked thoughts that raced through my head when I began seriously discerning religious life during college. God had been whispering to my heart for several years, but like any self-consumed teenager, I chose to ignore Him. However, God never abandoned my vocation, and as I prepared for graduation and making the next good step in my life, I knew I had to actually spend some genuine time in discernment. So, like any good student, I got on Google and started to research.

I read about local Nun Runs, where discerners traveled together to visit a variety of religious communities. During these busy weekends, women were able to pray with Sisters and learn about several different charisms, apostolates, and ways to experience community life. I chose to participate in the Indianapolis Nun Run, and it opened my eyes to the variety of ways I could be called to religious life. In addition, I was able to meet other women my age who were also discerning religious life.

This experience did not suddenly clarify my vocation, directing me straight to a particular community, but it did serve a purpose. I saw a variety of women answering God's call to holiness as religious Sisters and nuns, and I was finally able to visualize myself doing the same thing. I discovered that I shared the same deep desire to offer my life to Christ.

My experience on the Indianapolis Nun Run gave me the confidence to continue on the road of discernment. Through prayer, service and building relationships with Sisters, I eventually responded to God's call. I applied, and was accepted to the Daughters of Charity as a Pre-Postulant.

Discernment may feel like a race, but if you take the time to embrace the journey, God's whispers will powerfully resonate within you, guiding the next good step.

"Every vocation, every path to which Christ calls us, ultimately leads to fulfillment and happiness, because it leads to God, to sharing in God's own life." [Blessed Pope John Paul II]