“How can you be a nun? You’re the most boy-crazy girl I know!”
My good friend first jokingly teased me with this question when we were both still teenagers. I was in the earliest stages of my discernment at the time, and I couldn’t give her a good answer to her question.
That was nearly two decades ago. I like to think that I’ve matured a lot since I was a boy-crazy teenager, and that I’ve come to understand how the complex parts of my personality can all enrich my relationship with God. Over the years, I have become convinced that God used my teenaged feelings to steer me toward my vocation. In fact, being “boy-crazy” actually influenced my first experience of “call” to the Catholic Sisterhood.
I was a teen who deeply desired to please God. I remember praying for guidance regarding my attraction to a certain boy while alone in my bedroom one night. As I prayed, I heard a very intense answer….
[This is the beginning of my latest column for the online newspaper, Global Sisters Report. Continue reading here.]

6 comments
Thanks for this honest and insightful reflection, I especially liked the ” I am much more than boy-crazy: I am people-crazy in love.”
Thanks for the complement and thanks for reading! It wasn’t an easy piece to put out there for the public to read, so your feedback really means a lot…. Blessings!
You made it look easy! By the way, I just discovered your blog and loved the the name – Messy – speaks to the messiness of our lives. Thank you for your openness, looking forward to reading more of your work. Blessings to you as well.
This is great
Beautifully shared. Thank you Julia. I love your reframe from “nun hood” to commitment to Catholic Sisterhood.
Reblogged this on amoiesu and commented:
A beautiful vocation story!
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