Danielle Kuboushek, GIVEN ’16

“GIVEN was so influential on my view of how I personally could contribute to the Church and the good of others. I left with a sense of purpose, knowing that the Kingdom of God depended on what I could offer, however small. I also left with a sense of community.”           – Danielle Kuboushek

Please share a little about yourself – feel free to include a fun fact!

I’ve been married to my husband Brandon since 2011 and we have three children: Silas (6), Theodore (4), and Felicity (20 months). I’m from a suburb of Chicago and Brandon grew up on a farm in Iowa. We met at a FOCUS Conference in Orlando, Florida. I love to read, decorate our home, plan events, and spend time with friends and family. Fun fact – my husband and I went to Rome on our honeymoon and were able receive the Sposi Novelli blessing given by the Pope!

Describe your professional work / ministry / family life. How were you led to this? What are you passionate about?

I spend most of my time with our three children but also have a “hobby job” working part-time at our parish as the Faith Formation Coordinator. In this role I am able to pair my passion for the faith with my passions for people and event planning. I run Baptism prep, young family ministry, the Young Adult Network, retreats, and other events. It is such a joy to serve my parish community in this way and it was through a GIVEN connection that I discovered this job opportunity! I am passionate about the faith, saints, and living a life of holiness – and I absolutely love sharing our beautiful faith with others.

“I am passionate about the faith, saints, and living a life of holiness – and I absolutely love sharing our beautiful faith with others.”

In my free time I have been able to plan a few large Catholic events, such as serving as the Event Logistics Chair for the FemCatholic Conference in March of 2019. It has been beautiful to see how the Holy Spirit has led me to many event-planning opportunities, how closely my God-given gifts and abilities align to planning and executing these events, and how opportunities to use these gifts to spread the Good News have been appearing in my life.

What are the personal strengths that you’ve been given and how do you utilize them?

It has been made clear to me that my purpose is to help other people find their purpose. I love connecting people to the resources they need to live a more fulfilling, faithful life – and encouraging their faith journey by asking deep questions. I also have the strengths of being detail and logistics-oriented, an extrovert, and I love working with other people to accomplish a goal. Utilizing these gifts has been a blessing in event coordination, as I am able to work on a team to plan an event that makes people feel encouraged and inspired.

“I love connecting people to the resources they need to live a more fulfilling, faithful life – and encouraging their faith journey by asking deep questions.”

What women inspire you, and why?

My “Catholic mom friends” inspire me! There is a group of us who dedicate most of our time to our families right now and get together often, both with kids in tow and also for nights out. Every one of these women works tirelessly for their children, but they are also discerning the gifts they have and are using them outside of their homes. It is amazing to have friends who are truly serving their communities and putting their faith into action as well. They inspire me to find ways to incorporate our faith into our family life, raise my children to love Jesus, and live a life of holiness in the ordinary, day-to-day, unseen acts of love.

“My “Catholic mom friends” inspire me! … They inspire me to find ways to incorporate our faith into our family life, raise my children to love Jesus, and live a life of holiness in the ordinary, day-to-day, unseen acts of love.”

What is the best advice/encouragement you’ve received about vocational discernment?

The best encouragement about discernment that I’ve received is that it is ongoing! Even though I’m married with children, discernment hasn’t ended! I constantly need to run to the Lord in prayerful discernment about decisions that affect my husband and children. This is encouraging to me because we are never done working on ourselves and our relationship with the Lord – and therefore it’s ok to not know what tomorrow will bring. Even when you know your Vocation, even when you are sure your life fulfills God’s will for it, there are still more questions, more growing, more trusting in the Lord.

“Even though I’m married with children, discernment hasn’t ended! I constantly need to run to the Lord in prayerful discernment about decisions that affect my husband and children.”

Prayer is essential for everyone, but especially for women who are active in the life and mission of the Church. Do you have any favorite devotions or prayers?

In the past year, I have been moved to say the rosary every day. It has really become a place of peace for me, armor for my day, and the day feels incomplete if I haven’t finished the rosary. I have to admit that life with three young children doesn’t allow for much quiet time, so typically it is broken up across the entire day, saying a decade or two when I find a couple free moments. Another prayer which is a favorite of mine is the complete Serenity Prayer – it has pulled me through many hard times and my husband and I said it every day for the first year of our marriage.

What were your key takeaways from the 2016 GIVEN Forum?

GIVEN was so influential on my view of how I personally could contribute to the Church and the good of others. I left with a sense of purpose, knowing that the Kingdom of God depended on what I could offer, however small. I also left with a sense of community. It was so amazing to see both women religious and lay women coming together for the glory of God and reflecting on His will for our lives. There are also a handful of women in particular who I met at GIVEN which have been sources of guidance, support, and friendship in my life.

“It was so amazing to see both women religious and lay women coming together for the glory of God and reflecting on His will for our lives.”

What was your GIVEN action plan? Describe its mission, audience, and impact.

My action plan was to host a small group in my home for Advent faith-sharing. Its mission was to connect women who dedicate most of their time to their children, to provide a place for conversation about our faith journeys, and to witness to our children about the role of God and His Church in our lives. We used Lectio Divina to pray with the Gospel for the following weekend, shared how the words impacted us, and did a liturgical craft with the kids.

“My action plan was to host a small group in my home for Advent faith-sharing. Its mission was to connect women who dedicate most of their time to their children, to provide a place for conversation about our faith journeys, and to witness to our children about the role of God and His Church in our lives.”

The fruits of this action plan are still being reaped today as this group of women still meets regularly, but we have grown big enough that I now host it at our parish. It provides a space to think deeply about where God is working in each of our lives and support one another on our journeys, with a foundation of faith and prayer.