Posted on Thursday, 8th February 2007 by Maritzia
I can’t remember what movie or TV show that line was on, but it really struck me when I heard it. It so exactly describes my relationship with my husband and his with me. I’ve tried in my adult life to follow my intuition and the path laid out for me. It’s not easy when you’re an obsessive over-thinker/worrier. But sometimes things are so clear that even someone like me can see it and know it’s time to move.
Both Mark and I spent our adult lives believing that we were meant to be alone, that was our destiny. We followed our individual paths, went the way we were led, and while we were lonely at times, we were content with our lives as they were.
My path at the time was toward religious life in the Catholic Church. At the age of 30 I entered a community but left before making vows. It just wasn’t the right fit. I drifted for a while, got some desperately needed therapy *laughs*, pursued a fairly successful treatment for my fibromyalgia, and eventually, as I approached my 40s, I again sought religious life. I found the perfect community for my. They lived a close community life, which is what I sought, had retained some of the traditional practices of religious life, worked with the elderly, at least here in the states. I seemed to fit in with them perfectly, and was all set to enter.
Then they asked me to wait for a year while they worked out some internal issues at the convent. I was at a bit of a loss, because I had already shipped my mother off to live with my brother, had divested myself of a lot of the material junk that we tend to surround ourselves with, had withdrawn from ministries at church. So I looked around for something to keep me amused while waiting for the year to pass.
I found EverQuest. I began playing on New Years Day. Believe me, that’ll keep you busy *laughs*. I was active in the game and active on the message boards for the server. I enjoyed myself, but I still kept my strong connection with the convent I was entering. Everything was going well. Then one day I posted something on the message board about missing EQ and the forums when I entered the convent. A couple of days later, I got an e-mail from a cute little gnome that I met on the message boards. And that was that.
He e-mailed me because he was interested in my decision to enter religious life, what it would be like, why I was interested, did I have any doubts. He had a huge number of questions. So I answered them and asked some of my own. Thereby began the most voluminous correspondence of my life. For almost two weeks, we kept the internet hot with our e-mails. We discussed everything under the sun, life, religion, sprirituality, family, past experiences, everything. I shared more with him than I did any other individual in my life, before or since. We clicked, there’s no other way to describe it.
Next thing you know, we were phone callings as well as e-mailing. Then I was flying out to meet him, and suddenly, 3 months later, my belongings were all packed up and I was moving across the country so we could be together. That was almost 5 years ago. As I said, I’m not one to jump without thoroughly investigating every detail, worrying and obsessing over every move. But when you know something is right, you know it’s right.
Over the years, I often pondered why God would put this strong attraction to religious life in me and never let it be fulfilled. I was always delayed and put off by one thing or another happening in my life. Well, now I know. The one thing that attracted Mark and caused him to e-mail me in the first place was my attraction to religious life. Because I followed the path before and kept at it even when I was constantly disappointed and delayed, I came to the path’s culmination.
We don’t always know where the path is leading us. We might think we know, but we really don’t. All we can do is follow the path and trust that in the end, we’ll know the reasons. I found my reason, and he’s all I never knew I always wanted.
Posted in Personal, Religion/Spirituality | Comments (3)
February 11th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
That is a beautiful post! I am so glad that God had plans for you. :O)
Me, I met my husband because I missed a plane. I was shopping.
Here from the Carnival of Blogging Chicks.
February 11th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
What a wonderful story. I believe God is a game master. Think on it. At any place in your story, another path could have taken you away from your love.
March 7th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
What a sweet story ….
Mama Kelly
PS I met my hubby at a party in my teens only to have us each move to different states … years alter he moved back “to claim me” LOL