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I think up to the present moment, Ive never had an experience remotely like your own.

The most difficult tragedy I’ve experienced was the sudden loss of my Dad to a car wreck. I’ve reflected on it for over ten years now. I remember saying during the whole funeral, “ I don’t blame God.” The truth is I didn’t blame God because at the time I had no relationship with God, so there was only apathy to the Lord.

Over the years, especially with becoming a Father, I’ve thought a lot about my Dad and how to be a Dad. I wish my Dad could know my kids, but the truth is that before my Dad died I was a procrastinator and slothful. In some ways, I think my character fundamentally changed because of this tragedy because I’ve had to think about what it means to be a Dad for the past decade.

The whole thing makes me fully understand the notion that God can bring about a greater good out of evil.

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I very much loved being a teacher and I left my career to give myself completely and totally to God as a religious sister. The outcomes unfortunately resulted in me being back out in the world due to abuse in the two different convents that I entered over a period of four years in total. But despite the incredible cruelty that I endured, I have remained active in the Church, especially in my parish due to the incredible support that I receive from my parish family, which included all of our priests. And I have been lead to work at an solid and authentic Catholic school, where I can actually teach the faith as a theology teacher. I can teach the truth without having the fear that I can lose my job, which unfortunately is what is taking place in way too many Catholic schools within my diocese. But I consider myself to be truly blessed because this it seems is where God wants me to be at this point in my life, where I can honestly live my faith so much more deeply as a lay woman than I ever was permitted to live in a religious community.

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