“Jolynda, share your ‘why’ with us—why do you do what you do?” asked a colleague at a recent conference. Big question! In that moment it was hard to easily sum up the path of my calling, but I immediately knew it started simply. At 12, I met this little old lady. I couldn’t understand a word she said with her heavy accent. But she was holiness, mercy, and grace. I know her as inspiration, and you may know her as Mother Teresa of Calcutta. I knew instantly I wanted the grace she exuded, and so I started my path.
Like everyone’s, my path has been at times muddled and confusing. Remembering my “why” reminds me the paths laid out by the Lord can be meandering, joyful, and scary; His paths are often filled with grace, but not without tears and challenges.
As I recalled the specific calling to religious education that I live, I remembered the many other calls I answer: mother, wife, friend, and daughter. So often we tend to align divine calling with work done for and with the kingdom of God directly. The truth is, divine calling comes in many forms, and we answer our calls in many ways. As we experience and embrace our faith, we come to understand God’s intent for our lives. The Lord calls each of us continually, and often in order to embrace our call, we must take a leap of faith and trust God’s timing and ability to equip us to live out our calling, our “why.”
