Finding Faith: Sharing Stories of Encounter and Questions

E33. Lauren Johnson: Finding Jesus and Spiritual Motherhood

July 22, 2021 Jessy Bennett Season 3 Episode 3
Finding Faith: Sharing Stories of Encounter and Questions
E33. Lauren Johnson: Finding Jesus and Spiritual Motherhood
Show Notes

Lauren Johnson shares her story of finding Jesus at a young age, but falling away during her middle and high school age years.  In the midst of a difficult marriage, Lauren felt drawn back to faith and longed for the peace she knew when she was younger.

As she began to search for a church to call home, her (at the time) husband's grandmother offered to take her to a Catholic mass at any parish she chose. The silence, the beauty and the purpose all helped to ease Lauren's heart.  Eventually Lauren went through RCIA and joined the Catholic Church.

Lauren shares her questions when joining the Church as well as the struggles she has faced in practicing her faith. One such cross she speaks of has been the cross of infertility. Lauren shares how difficult that has been but also the blessing of discovering what spiritual motherhood means. Far from a consolation prize, spiritual motherhood is a gift.

Below are resources Lauren has shared with me on the topic of spiritual motherhood should you desire to learn more about that topic.

     Essays on Woman, by Edith Stein (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross)
     The Eternal Woman, by Gertrud von le Fort
     The Priesthood of the Heart: Woman’s Unique Vocation, by Jo Croissant (this has           
               NOTHING to do with women priests)
     True Devotion to Mary, by St. Louis de Montfort
     The Privilege of Being a Woman, by Alice von Hildebrand
     This article: https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/editorial-musings-the-charism-of-infertility/
     This book: https://tanbooks.com/vocation/catholic-women-books/the-anti-mary-exposed-rescuing-the-culture-from-toxic-femininity/?gclid=CjwKCAjwwqaGBhBKEiwAMk-FtEG5-M3bpOtBSa7SbMIUV3Asqa9IPdjQVafmcZW-OWpyNwfvS5P-txoCvZMQAvD_BwE 

(From Lauren): This one is not a Catholic author, but listening to many of her recorded presentations have been very impactful on me. This is one of her books, but I found she is much more profound for me when I hear her actually speaking the words:

     Let Me Be A Woman, by Elisabeth Elliot

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If you have questions, need someone to journey with or would be interested in sharing your story please reach out to me at: findingfaith123@gmail.com.

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