If you read part one of this blog, I shared Fr. Mike Schmitz’s four steps for Discernment. I am now going to use these same four steps to share my story. Enjoy!    Is this a Good Door?  When I was a student at Franciscan University, I remember talking to a friend who was also discerning religious life about how when the devil knows you aren’t going to choose mortal sin, he likes to trick us with another good that we are not called to. We are torn between two options that are

For the young adults in our GAP (Grow and Prepare) Program, the staff offer talks to learn different life skills. I give a talk each semester called “Discernment 101.” Here it is below. The Hook I begin my talk with an opening activity to get the audience involved and teach about trust in God. I get a brave volunteer and put out a chair in front of the audience. I ask the volunteer to sit down in the chair. Then for part 2, a bit harder this time, I ask them to close their e

I work at Catholic Familyland in Ohio, where families come for a week-long summer family vacation, stay in cabins or tent camp, and have a retreat pilgrimage for the whole family. There is time to play in sports tournaments, participate in Eucharistic adoration and family rosaries, and listen to great speakers for the different age groups. I run the Children’s Ministry, which consists of 10 classrooms for the different kids ages 4-12. I coordinate the different religious orde

Have you ever met someone who had a different view on life that you wished you could adopt? I’m talking about a view where they seem to...

Listen as Jamie discusses with her coworkers why they work for a Catholic homeschool curriculum provider and why homeschooling is a good...

A humorous telling of the different homeschooling parents Jamie encounters in her work and the saint that each is paired with. Click here

Here Jamie explains how to teach reading by building words in a tactile way, especially for those struggling readers. Click here

Here Jamie explains how to teach reading in a tactile way in the home, pulling from her Montessori experience. Click here

Listen as Jamie and her coworkers discuss this beautiful religious education program that's spreading across the nation. Click here

Listen as Jamie explains finding her calling to marry one particular man. Vocation Journey: The Fourth Sign Part 4 of 4 Click here

Listen as Jamie explains making the decision to leave the cloister and return home. Vocation Journey: The Third Sign Part 3 of 4 Click here

Listen as Jamie explains her making the decision to become an extern for the cloistered Dominicans nuns. Vocation Journey: The Second...

Listen as Jamie explains the beginning of her vocational journey and her first cloister visit Vocation Journey: The First Sign Part 1 of...

I sat in my first job interview after leaving the convent. I remember clearly being asked, “What’s your five year plan?” by the financial...

Wait, she left? When people discover you’ve discerned out of religious life, and they see you for the first time, this about sums up the...

Vocation Story part 7 It's now been about two and a half years since I left my monastery. Yes, it's still my monastery and my sisters,...

Originally Posted Nov 24, 2017 | An Extroverted Millennial Enters the Cloister “At this time the disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who...

Originally Posted Nov 4, 2018 | An Extroverted Millennial Enters the Cloister Life in My Monastery My call to the monastic, contemplative...

Originally Posted Nov 29, 2017 | An Extroverted Millennial Enters the Cloister Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it...

\Originally Posted Oct 7, 2018 | An Extroverted Millennial Enters the Cloister What’s a Cloistered Nun? A cloistered nun takes the vows...