Beth’s Story: The Trinity and I

To describe my first impression of God I would have to begin in my house when I was five or six years old. I had done something really bad and I went to the back of the clothes closet and hid. I was feeling sad and probably guilty, but I didn’t know that word at the time. I remember crying out to God and that prayer giving me a sense of peace, a peace that came over me along with a certainty that there was a God.

I always knew from the beginning as far as I can remember that there was a God. My parents and family taught me, especially Mom. We, Mom and my family would kneel and pray the rosary in the evenings. I knew God was real and God gave me faith at baptism. Catholics have infant baptism and sacraments throughout their lives that support their faith.

I’ve had many experiences of God since then. Our doctor called me and wanted to know if I was sitting down. I told him I was. He told me I had colon cancer. I wasn’t afraid – I knew God was going to take care of me. We went to see the doctor and my husband went with me. When the doctor said that there would have to be surgery but it didn’t phase me, I think because of my faith in God’s protection. My husband asked me if I realized what the doctor had said to me. Shortly thereafter I did realize the seriousness of it. Then I might have felt scared. But still I felt confident in God’s grace and power. I never had to undergo radiation and I’ve been clear of cancer since 1990.

God has continued to work in my life and my heart. I think back to St. Francis Catholic Church and I know that God worked through Father Gale White. He chose me and my husband to help lead a healing weekend. We were part of the team and we shared a lot of our faith walk stories with the participants. We did that because we thought the people on the weekend could relate. The Holy Spirit worked mightily on those weekends. We had also gone to the Marriage Encounter Weekend [where we learned to communicate a lot better and this helped our marriage tremendously.] My husband and I also worked with couples on a marriage preparation program to see if they were open about issues such as sex, children, work, religion, etc. before they got married. We were also on a team that presented a weekend for single young adults. We participated in a parish renewal weekend. We were on the parish council and served as a couple as presidents of the council. I was also on the school board. On all of those weekends I definitely encountered God the Father, the Holy Spirit and Jesus. My husband and I experienced intimacy with the people and the couples in our church, especially with the couples that opened up on those weekends. One of the weekends dealt with problems in the church.

The story of how I came to Jesus Christ is a long one. I entered the convent of a teaching order to become a nun and was there for six and a half years. I took first vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and during that time I remember that I encountered Jesus in the Stations of The Cross. At that time I was having doubts about whether I should stay in the convent. There I encountered Jesus crucified and the savior of our souls. I read the gospels and prayed while in the convent. Even though I had been happy there, as I shared with the Mother Superior that I was leaving the convent, she said she felt my sadness. I think God had something else for me to do. Mother Superior told me “God has many mansions” and that supported my decision to leave.

My profession was teaching and in many of my lesson plans, as I was delivering them to the children, the Holy Spirit enlightened me and led me in ways I could never have done on my own as I was teaching. The last part of my professional life I was a librarian. I had lots of supports from the parents. I instituted a book parade where the children would dress up as characters in the book they were portraying and teachers used utility carts as kind of floats to do the same. I think that was due to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

I’ve been physically hurting for years and have had both knees and a hip replaced and also my left shoulder. If I didn’t have faith, I couldn’t have suffered through all that pain with patience and acceptance.

God is three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When you encounter one, you encounter all three. My husband and I did a Bible study and I encountered Jesus there as well as getting to know my husband more and more and his faith.

Through the sacraments of the Catholic faith I’ve received many gifts – forgiveness of sins – becoming a soldier of Christ and gifts as well through confession. Many graces have been received in the sacrament of matrimony. My husband and I have had lots of up and downs. I have angel figurines and crucifixes in my home to remind me of God’s presence. We’ve been so blessed. My husband and I read spiritual books and share. I know the Holy Spirit is with us at those times because there is so much that we learn about each other and about God. We used to camp out a lot and that reminded us of God in nature – the mountains, oceans, flowers, animals, rain, snow and the people we met.

I believe, love, and trust the three persons of God.

Beth - 10-18-23