One year ago, the words “Kimberly, be sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit” were spoken over me—and nothing has ever been the same.

I’ve put off writing anything about my first year as a Catholic because it feels so – so big, you know? And it really is. In very Christian-ese fashion: I can’t begin to total the growth, the spiritual formation, and the ways Christ has made himself known to me in new & unexpected places. I think, though, that my real reflection this Easter season is the opposite of that. 

When I think back on the last year—big things and all—I think about how quiet everything has become.

My conversion was not an easy one. I went kicking and screaming, begging God to lead me anywhere but the Catholic Church; every free moment, every quiet hour I had was spent listening to podcasts, watching debates, reading articles and books and forum discussions and Twitter threads, trying to decipher what God’s will was and where the truth lay. I didn’t give official notice to my parish that I would be received last Easter until less than a month before the day it would happen—because I was just that terrified.

It was exhausting. And then—it was over.

This year has been, primarily, one of great Rest. The decision is over; the searching is finished. I’ve been able to rest in a way I hadn’t for the previous two-and-a-half years (and, considering even the non-Catholic wrestlings of my faith journey, far longer than that.) I’ve never once regretted any of my journey, nor any ounce of my decision. It’s been a year of quietly treasuring up all of the things of my Church in my heart.

I know it can be difficult to really get it when someone has “found peace/joy/rest” in a decision you don’t share or even necessarily understand; that’s okay. I just wanted to share the answer I’ve been giving more frequently as people ask, “So, how has it been being Catholic?”

It’s been so peaceful and full of joy, friends. 🙂

Christ is risen! Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!