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SeaStar
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I was thinking yesterday about how Pentecost was a real game changer for the apostles.... they were transformed by the Holy Spirit from a state of fear and anxiety to joyful boldness for the Lord.
And that got me thinking about what my game changers have been as I have grown in faith. One thing I clearly remember was the first time I encountered the idea of "living the liturgical year". There was an article in the local Catholic paper about a family who was doing this; it was Dec. 12 and they were headed to a Mexican restaurant in honor of Our Lady of Guadelupe.
I thought that was just about the coolest and most fun thing I'd heard of in a long time  . and it really changed how I looked at living out my faith all year.
Another game changer for me was when a friend of mine (thanks, Karen T!) gave me the link to this forum. I have learned so much from all of you wonderful ladies here!
One last game changer for me has been teaching my children about the faith... I have learned so much along side them! It has also spurred me to do a lot of reading and research on my own as I prepare myself to teach them and answer their questions.
Have you had a game changer?
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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Kelly
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Thought-provoking question!
For me, it was reading "The Story of the Trapp Family Singers" and seeing how they lived the liturgical year  Even tho I have waxed and waned in my application of the liturgical year to our family life, it totally changed the way I even LOOK at the year! Sorta like eating seasonally vs just buying anything at the grocery, or thinking of the calendar each week from Sunday to Monday as opposed to Monday to Sunday! It was a total paradigm shift!
Kelly in FL
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CrunchyMom
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Becoming Catholic??
I honestly can't remember how it came about, but discovering Mater Amabilis and Michelle Q's first Family Centered conference when my oldest was only 2 was HUGE. Prior to that, we'd never really imagined what homeschooling could be outside of a program like Seton. I met Michelle, Maria Rioux, and Julia Fogassy, heard them speak, and the conference was small enough, I was given the opportunity to chat extensively with each of them It opened up my view of education so much! Julia spoke so much of the beauty of the Catechesis of the Good shepherd, .i stumbled upon these boards in my quest for more information about it. I was never really able to implement it in my home, but here I found such abundance, I know it was Providence at work.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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SeaStar
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| Posted: June 09 2014 at 4:31pm | IP Logged
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I have got to get ahold of that book, Kelly- I can't believe I have never read
it  .
Lindsay, that is so wonderful that you were able to talk to such great mentors. What a blessing!
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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JodieLyn
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The thought, that seems to go along with birth control, is that you only have children when you're ready in whatever way that happens to be, is so pervasive in our culture that I know I didn't even realize that's the way I thought.. not when I realized (before becoming Catholic) that I simply could not use the pill, not when I became Catholic, not when it took over a year to get pregnant with our first child, not when the second child came very quickly after that, not until I unexpectedly got pregnant with our third did the thought occur to me that perhaps.. just perhaps the norm should not be preventing pregnancy until you're ready for another, but that you should perhaps consider the norm to being willing to embrace a pregnancy unless you have sufficient reason to postpone.
So very simple and yet jaw-dropping when you realize how you've been formed by the society around you to not ever consider it. Yes, that thought certainly contributed to us having 10 kids.. but it also banished so much anguish over "making the decision to have a child".. I just didn't have to make that decision, God blessed us with a child when he was ready and it was not near as hard to make the decision to postpone when we had reason, as it had been trying to justify having another child to society (even if it was only in our heads).
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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Kathryn
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My personal Pentecost (as you described: transformed by the Holy Spirit from a state of fear and anxiety to joyful boldness for the Lord) occurred during the 1st year following the birth of our third child. I think I've shared most of the story here but maybe in bits and pieces. Honestly, we had been closed to more children after #2 because of a birth defects in DS (although in the realm of birth defects, they are very minor and non-life limiting). But then his personality just requires sooo much more intense parenting.  When he reached 5, I thought this can't be it! I can't live in fear and I have to be open to God's will. So we opened that door and the Lord took that immediate opportunity (knowing I might move back to fear and close the door ) and chose to bless us with a third baby.
However, at her birth, it was obvious she had an undiagnosed birth defect (different than her brothers) and physically more significant (meaning amputation of her leg was the recommended treatment). Then, when she was only 2 months old, my brother was in a near fatal car accident where the drs wanted to "terminate life support" b/c he would "most likely be in a permanent vegetative state and certainly never walk or live a normal life". This went on for 3 months and since he was divorced and his children were minors, my mom was the decision maker. I begged her NOT to do it. There was a glimmer of hope and she didn't relent even after the tears from his teen-age children to "let him go". Months later (now 6 1/2 years later) he is walking with a limp but living alone, has some memory issues but fully cognitively aware and really just has to be on multiple meds for these and some lung issues.
Then when the baby was at 10 months, DH was dx'd with a partially ruptured appendix and spent 10 days in the hospital and a month off work! 
I was raised in a Christian home and converted when DH and I married and have always had faith, but that particular year, while I obviously had many, many, many difficult moments and "conversations with God", it most certainly cemented my faith journey and deepened it in a way that would never have been possible. So, even though I was so fearful to have another baby and one of my worst fears came true, it has allowed me to STOP living in fear. This child is such an incredible joy to our lives. We cannot imagine our family without her!! And we did keep the door open and had baby #4 (in my 40s!), started homeschooling and truly live a transformed and joyful life for God!
Thanks for letting me share my story. I fully believe the Holy Spirit guided me during those dark days. I had never really thought about it in the context of Pentecost, Melinda. 
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Kathryn in TX
(dd 16, ds 15, dd 8, dd 5)
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SeaStar
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Jodie and Kathryn-
Thanks for sharing your two very beautiful stories!
It makes me realize that there are still areas in my life that are filled with fear and anxiety that I need to turn over to God.... because it gets really old and cramped in the box of fear, and that is not how I want to live.
This year I prayed the Pentecost novena over at praymorenovenas.com and really felt as if the Holy Spirit was asking me to stretch in my faith and let go of my worries.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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3ringcircus
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For me, it happened when I was pretty young. I was engaged to a great guy but he wasn't Catholic, and I knew in my heart that our relationship wouldn't stand the test of time. Still, I kept on because I didn't want to be lonely. I fooled myself into believing he was the right one because we had fun together. One morning, I was chatting with a Christian friend and IDK how the conversation took the turn it did, but she said, "but Christine, how can you marry a man who doesn't accept Jesus as his lord and savior?". I started to shake because I knew she was right. It was a total game-changer moment, and I knew that as hard as it was, I had to break it off. We were broken up by the end of the day.
Since then, I found my husband. He is the Catholic partner I always knew deep in my heart that I needed. And when my faith is shaken, he holds me up. He appreciates that I work for the faith formation of our children. We have built that routine that supports our faith for ourselves and for our family.
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Christine
Mom to my circus of boys: G-1/06, D-1/04, S-4/10
Started HS in Fall'12
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stefoodie
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Great question, Mel!!
Game changers for me:
a. meeting people who homeschooled, ~ 1990 -- never heard of homeschooling before.
b. started homeschooling and meeting Catholics who homeschooled, ~1996 -- only thought of secular homeschooling up to this point.
c. Columbine -- 1999 -- set me on the path to going back to homeschooling after putting child in public school.
d. finding Catholic Charlotte Mason -- 2001 -- kindred spirits!!! this is what homeschooling is about!!!
and then somewhere in the conversations there, hearing/reading the phrase "homeschooling for heaven, not Harvard". totally turned my thinking around.
e. ~2006-2008 - discovering Theology of the Body. JUST. WOW.
- the discussion here on Cormac Burke's Covenanted Happiness.
- the discussion here on Marian Consecration.
- the discussion here on Liturgy of the Hours.
- the discussions here on veiling and wearing skirts. (ok, i know these topics are controversial but i STILL learned a lot and appreciate them having been discussed here.)
You guys are my game changers :)
I am very very grateful.
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stef
mom to five
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JennGM
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Such inspiring responses. I've been pondering this question since you posted, Melinda. I'm a cradle Catholic, and we always lived the Liturgical Year, but I still have had quite a few watershed moments.
--when I started to read my mother's books on the spiritual life and living the Liturgical Year. Cooking for Christ and the pamphlets from Helen McLoughlin and Therese Mueller made me see the how and why outside of my family, and it really started my whole journey on learning more. I tracked down more books by more authors: Newland, Trapp, Weiser, Perkins, Marbach, etc. Each reading brought a deeper awareness and conviction to pray and live this way.
--Cooking for Christ brought me down all sorts of rabbit trails, including my own undergrad thesis. This book wasn't just about a family doing liturgical cooking, but deeper on bringing the liturgy in the domestic church...and that the liturgy needs to be a part of our lives in everything we do, even beyond our family.
--Reading the Church document Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy helped sort and prioritize the Church's view on traditions, personal prayer and liturgy.
--Similar to Christine, I was previously engaged. He was from a good Catholic family and he knew his faith well, but I kept feeling like there wasn't a depth. I didn't want to only talk the faith and defend it, I wanted to live it and live it together as a couple and then family. I didn't want to be the leader, either. I did break off the engagement for this and other reasons, and now have a husband who truly is my faith-partner and leads our family in our living the faith.
--I remember having a little "faith crisis" in my 20s, realizing I had to embrace and live my faith not because it was what my family did, but I had to personally commit.
--I was in my late 20s bemoaning the fact that I would never meet someone or get married. I know the Holy Spirit helped me see that was doing a lot of navel gazing and feeling sorry for myself. I made a decision to step outside of myself and think of others and that made a complete difference. The irony is once I made that commitment and didn't hold marriage as my "end-all-be-all" my husband-to-be came into my life when I wasn't looking.
--And I'm a really, really slow learner in this category, so I have had to have several Pentecosts in this area, but the element of trust in God has really changed my relationship with God. Primary and secondary infertility, miscarriages, high risk pregnancies, open heart surgery, food allergies for my son and other problems have made me learn to not worry and let God be in control. I have had to step back and put aside personal preferences and embrace the medical world on some of these things, something I would rather not.
--The book I Believe in Love continues with this theme of trust. I read it in my 20s and it has been a life changer. Other books carry the same theme and build on it, but it was this one book that will always been meaningful. I wrote quotes on index cards and carry them in my prayerbook to this day.
Thanks for the thought-provoking subject, Melinda.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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SeaStar
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Whoa-- so much to learn here! I can't thank you all enough for sharing your stories. I am writing down titles and looking up old threads and really just marveling how God's hand is in all the details of our lives.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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guitarnan
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Like Jenn, I've been pondering, as well as marveling at the beauty of God's work in each individual life.
My first watershed moment was at a Mass long ago, when I was 9, and I realized that God was calling me to music ministry. My music ministry has changed over time, and when my children were young I had to give it up altogether (for the best of reasons!), but it's always a blessing to be able to share God's love with others through music. We're hoping against hope that God will open a way for at least some of us to join a schola in the not-too-distant future, or to at least learn more about chant via workshops.
My Confirmation (age 12) was another watershed moment. Wow. It's difficult to explain, but I am grateful for God's blessings and graces, particularly on that special day.
Another watershed moment was the day I decided I just had to give up full time work and be with my children more, even if I had to work from home (which I did, and still do) to make that happen. My husband was very willing to make the financial sacrifices that were necessary, and having more time with my children was the first step toward the next watershed moment...
...the day my husband told me that we really, really needed to homeschool our children while we were in Italy. I was not ready to consider this, but the Good Lord made it abundantly clear that I really, really needed to follow His path and surrender my will to His. Our temporary two years of homeschooling has turned into 11 years so far (one more to go...). I was so not ready to homeschool, but within weeks we knew it was absolutely the right choice for our family. It helped in so many ways, particularly when my husband was working a day shift job AND watch standing on the ship (days, mids, eves, 4 days off, which meant "just" the day job). We were able to travel all over Italy on the real days off, visiting churches and ancient Roman sites and participating in some of the Italian Catholic traditions, such as the "live Nativity" (it's more than that - PM me for a detailed explanation) in our own little town. God truly blessed us during those two years - we were close enough to Rome that we could go for the day - and I know my children learned so much about our Holy Faith, the saints and the earliest Christians during that time. We'd have missed so much if my children had been in traditional school.
Homeschooling continues to change our lives, and I'm especially grateful for the watershed day when I stumbled upon 4Real. I don't remember when it was (I guess I could look it up!) but I do know I felt more at home here, and still do, than anywhere else in cyberspace. IRL Catholic friends are great, and I love all of mine, but we all need a safe haven in the zany world of the interwebs, and mine is here.
ETA: Duh, Feb. 7, 2005...it's in my profile.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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DominaCaeli
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I actually wrote a blog post about this a couple years ago, partly to share with my parents, so they would understand why we have chosen the path that we have. (I'm a convert, and they were not thrilled about my conversion at the time...and I think they are even more surprised now at my life, if that's possible! LOL) It's kinda long, so I'll link it rather than cut and paste. Two parts: my conversion story and my decision to homeschool. And I actually wrote it focusing on the series of moments just like you mentioned--even though I *am* a convert, my conversion was really a series of incidents building on each other, and even continuing today (first converting to the Church, then changing my ideas about family life and leaving behind career plans, then deciding to homeschool, then finding the TLM, etc.). It is amazing how God has worked over time in my life!
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Blessings,
Celeste
Joyous Lessons
Mommy to six: three boys (8, 4, newborn) and four girls (7, 5, 2, and 1)
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: What is your game changer?
