Katie, GIVEN ’19

How would you describe your experience of the 2019 GIVEN Forum?

I have already been describing it to friends and colleagues by saying that profound, inspiring, and transformational are all understatements for the GIVEN Forum. It was a formation that is truly allowing my heart and soul to unfold as never before. Before the forum I felt like a flower bud – able to recognize and share my own beauty to a certain extent, while staying closed, safe from the pain that could come if I opened up in uncertain circumstances. Through the forum and in the time following it, I feel myself blossoming – I am able to open up, to share my gifts, to talk about the way God is present and active in my life, and to love even when there is a risk of being hurt – all because of the way God worked in my heart leading up to and during the GIVEN forum.

Action Plan:

Via Vitæ – Discernment as a Way of Life I would like to create a community of young adult Catholic women, journeying together to intentionally cultivate the gift/art/skill of discernment in everyday life. I would like to equip women with this beautiful and invaluable gift/art/skill so that they can grow in attentiveness and attunement to God’s presence and work in their lives. This community will be for any young woman, regardless of the vocation she may or may not be considering because discernment is helpful for everyone. However, I would also love for it to be an opportunity to hear the beautiful discernment stories from Catholic women living out all sorts of God-given missions. Hearing stories can be such a powerful and formative experience that it may shift preconceptions and open space for the Holy Spirit to work.