Sister Amanda
My story is a love story. I grew up in a Catholic home and always knew that there was a God who loved me, however it always seemed like He was busy taking care of other important things and as much as I knew going to Church and praying to Him and following His rules was important, I kind of liked to think of Him as far, far away because I thought if He got too close He might mess up my life and I had a very clear idea of what I wanted my life to look like. My dream was to write books, open my own dance studio, find Prince Charming and live happily ever after.
I very early fell in love with the idea of being in love but high school dating experiences left me mixed up about what love actually was.
After highschool I moved out, got my own apartment, got a job as a legal secretary, opened my own little dance studio, jumped into a life of freedom and seeking my own pleasure, dating anyone who asked me out, all in the hopes of finding that fulfillment my heart was aching for.
Then one day as I was driving to work it dawned on me that I was essentially living the life I had dreamed of and it left me with a sense of disappointment, could this be all there was?
One evening I was so bored I started reading Story of a Soul, St. Therese's Autobiography. Someone had given it to me and at the time I didn't think the life story of a nun would be very interesting, but it was the only book on my shelf I hadn't read yet. In those pages I discovered a girl who was passionately in love and I began to realize that the love I was searching for was not human love but God's love.
I had never known Sisters and had a vague idea that they were strange creatures who were not allowed to smile, couldn't find a husband and loved nothing better than reading Church documents on Friday nights. Clearly I was not in their category. Through a "God-incidence" I got in touch with the Sisters of the Sacred Heart and discovered that Sisters were instead vibrant, courageous, unique women who were especially chosen to give up their own promising futures to serve and love God alone, and I was amazed.
It was a long journey before I realized and surrendered to the idea that God was calling me to be one of them.
The wonderful thing is that being consecrated to God I fall in love all over again each day. My life, although regulated and structured, never gets boring because God is not boring. Each moment God is calling me deeper, higher, closer to Himself and I am always discovering something new about myself and my relationship with Him. I actually did find my Prince Charming and please God I will live happily ever after with Him forever!