Jennifer Kern grew up a dyed-in-the-wool Calvinist. She even considered carrying tulips down the aisle at her wedding in honor of John Calvin’s 5 point T.U.L.I.P. doctrine! Her husband felt called to ministry, and began taking classes at a Reformed seminary. One night, while watching a Catholic family on a sitcom, Jenni did an online search to see if what she was watching was a caricature of Catholicism, and came across Catholic Answers. Meanwhile, her husband was studying Church history, and beginning to question the fruits of the Reformation. They connected with a nearby Ordinariate priest, and ended up entering the Catholic Church on Divine Mercy Sunday during the Jubilee Year of Mercy.
Jenni mentions how helpful a Coming Home Network retreat was for her as a recent convert – you can find more about these retreats at chnetwork.org/retreats.
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So enjoyable to listen to this. Thank you for sharing your story. You expressed such love for the Lord. It was contagious! Welcome!
Thank you for your kind words and warm welcome! I STAND IN AWE of His grace and still have to pinch myself that He would pour out His grace and bring us home!!! God bless you and your family!
Dear Jenni, Thank you for sharing your journey. Thank you for your strong, pure faith, following the Master even when the Way is dark and unknown. May you always find delight in His Church and conquer any and all temptations of Evil, through that same deep faith!
Susan, thank you for your beautiful encouraging words to me! Felt them in my soul 😉 May His warm delight and joy fill your heart as you share Him with those He brings to you
Hello Jenni.
Very touched by your journey to the Catholic Church. Protestant converts are a huge inspiration for me, coming from a very obvious love for Christ and depth of knowledge of His word in Scripture. For this reason I love The Journey Home.
When you spoke about being distracted from your prayer by having to bathe your young child, my immediate thought was that you should read “Story of a soul” by St. Therese of Lisieux. By her awareness of her own insignificance she transformed the banal and mundane tasks of everyday life in the convent into small prayers. Every thought word and deed became a holy moment. These “little ways” were her elevator to great sanctity. Every action, like bathing your child, can become a holy event, just by willing it so. Welcome home.
Oh, Mike!! Thank you! I LOVE St Therese and have been wanting to read this very book! Will definitely pick it up! Praise God! And thank you so much for your warm welcome. Oh how I love His Church and all my dear brothers and sisters here! God bless you and your family 😉
Hi Jenni,
Your story touched me very deeply, thank you so much for sharing your heartfelt journey. God used your story to speak to me. A revert to the Catholic Church, I am now very passionate about my faith and have been helping with RCIA and Bible Studies. I have been struggling with babysitting my grandchildren, wanting to spend all my time “doing the LORD’s work.” Your story about bathing the children and taking care of your sick husband instead of praying and going to Adoration were confirmation of what I believe the LORD is asking of me.
God bless you on your journey! You are wonderfully articulate and sincere – I would encourage you to keep sharing your faith, we need young people with the vitality and love of Jesus that you emanate.
Hi Pamela,
Wow, I am so humbled and thankful that God is using what He has been teaching me (I am so hard-headed..He has to teach me and reteach me every single day it seems…) to help you in your journey as well! How beautiful to know that you and I are true sisters in Christ!!
Let me share with you a part of a prayer adapted from St Theresa of Calcutta that I was given recently: “….As you hide yourself behind the unattractive disguise of these loud, demanding, distracted and disabled people (children), may I glimpse You and believe, ‘Jesus, dearest one, how sweet it is to see you today.’ Help me appreciate the dignity of this vocation. Give me strength so I don’t respond unkindly, or with irritable fatigue when the everyday-ness of my duties tempt me to despair.” Please pray for me, Pamela as I struggle to see and serve Jesus in the sweet faces of my family and I will be praying for you as well. God bless you!
Thank you for sharing your story! Like a couple others have mentioned, the part that you shared about bathing your son touched me. As a new mom, in a new town, and becoming a new Catholic this Easter…there has been a lot of change in my life and I have felt like I have so little to give to God. I forgot that He values my work of caring for my little family, and that it’s not just work outside of the home that is valuable. It seems obvious now, but your reminder was just what I needed to hear. :)Thank you and God Bless!