in Katie-Rose's words:

I spent most of my teenage and young adult life thinking God's plan for me would be different. I was 13 years old when I first began to think about becoming a religious sister. As I was growing in my faith in high school and college, I couldn't imagine a more ideal way to live out a prayerful life in service to Christ and His Church. 

After years of idealizing, I took action. In September 2023, after two years serving as a missionary to college students with FOCUS, I left everything (except for a suitcase filled with long skirts and warm sweaters) to live with three other women who were also discerning to become religious sisters. For 8 months, we would serve alongside the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal in Atlantic City, NJ, praying the same schedule as them, living in community, serving the poor in the city, and being formed spiritually as the sisters are formed. 

It was everything I could have dreamed of, being a missionary with the sisters and living a pseudo-religious life, and yet I was not experiencing peace and joy as I had expected. I expected God's plan to be that I enter with the community right after the missionary year. I was fully ready to give my 100% and say "yes" to my Vocation, God's mission for me.

(Note: God's plan is usually wildly different than our own.)

In February, despite having 3 more months in the missionary program, I decided to take a step back from religious discernment. The sisters we so good in walking with me on this path of discernment, and they helped me realize that no matter what God's plan was for me, it was meant to encompass full peace and joy. I finished out the missionary year in May 2024 and moved to Plantation, FL, where my parents had recently relocated from our home in Alpharetta, GA, to live with my grandma. I spent the summer praying in desperation, grieving the loss of what I thought for years would be my Vocation, wondering if religious life wasn't my Vocation, what (or who) was?

And then in October 2024, everything changed.

I went on a young adult retreat in Alabama at the beginning of the month, and on this retreat, I became truly convicted that if God meant me to be happy, then He would provide for me. God had a good plan for me, and even if it took me 5 years to meet someone, He would fulfill His promise to me. But this required trust in Him, and trust in His Mother, Mary - to whom I had entrusted my Vocation during a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Guadalupe in the summer of 2022. I was still ready to give my 100% full yes to my Vocation, and I wasn't going to compromise. It became clear to me on this retreat that God was still leading me in a direction towards peace and joy, even if I didn't know where I was going, and that His Mother was walking right beside me.

The day after the retreat, I went to a Theology on Tap event. It was there that I first saw Greg. I nudged my friend Christina and said, "That guy over there in the glasses is really cute! I hope he comes up and talks to me!" But that night was not the night, and Greg and I left without making acquaintance. 

That same week, I saw that Greg had liked my profile on Catholic Match, so I excitedly messaged him. Unfortunately, he didn't look at his messages and after a week of agony, I decided I should take action once again - this time, by letting go of my expectations and praying to surrender my story through Mary to Jesus. If I was meant to be with this Greg guy, then Jesus would have to make us meet in person! Whenever or wherever that was to be, I was willing to just let go and let God move the pieces of the puzzle. (Note: this is the first time in my life, I think, that I fully let go of control and gave it to God.)

On October 26, 2024, I went to a Ball that the local Catholic Singles group was having. I did not expect anything to happen that night - I was just there to get dressed up and dance the night away with two of my friends. And who do I see from across the room? Greg! Oh my heart leapt up in my chest! But I refused to walk up to him - I wanted to be the lady and have him to come up to me! 

But it wasn't until an hour before the dance ended that we happened to be a few feet from each other on the dance floor. A salsa song came on, and suddenly, we were pushed together! Finally! And as my heart raced and my feet stumbled to follow what I thought was dancing salsa, Greg introduced himself. We talked and danced until the night ended, and then went with our friends to a taqueria to continue the night. We talked for hours over mozzarella sticks and margaritas, and when we were about to part ways, he asked me if he could take me out on a proper date. 

The whole time we talked on that first night, I couldn't believe God had just plopped this seemingly perfect man in front of me. I can say confidently that after that first week (we saw each other about 5 more times within those first 7 days of knowing each other), I knew that this was it. Greg would be God's answer to my prayers. And when, after that first week, I became anxious and worried about whatever the future might hold, I surrendered Greg to Mary and entrusted him to my Mother. Whatever would come of our relationship would be for God's glory. 

Eight months later, Greg and I renewed our Marian consecration in front of a Basilica dedicated to her. He told me how I was his offering of roses to Mary, and then knelt down on one knee and proposed to marry me. How much God has done in our lives in this short time, and how blessed I am to have Greg alongside me in this journey towards heaven. 

I haven't felt such peace and joy as I do now, and that's how I know that Greg is my Vocation.