A Discernment Journey

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Three years ago I began to journey with a Juneau-ite who was interested in exploring Associate membership in our congregation.  He filled out the initial questionnaire and downloaded the Associate Handbook.  We began meeting on a regular basis to go over the material in each of the chapters. After we finished working with the Handbook I asked him if he would like to begin the application process, but he wasn't ready for that step.

Since I am the only Dominican of Sinsinawa he knew I made it a point to introduce him to anyone from our congregation who visited Juneau--at this point he has met 3-4 others.  

We continued to meet periodically and had good conversations about the church, his faith life, and spirituality in general. During these conversations he never again brought up the subject of Associate membership, so one day I asked him where he was with a decision. He said he needed more time but to continue to check in with him, so this is what I have been doing.

He still has not made a decision whether or not to continue with the process but he values our time together. I have done what I could: now it is up to him and to where God is leading him.  He knows that I will support him in his decision and he knows I continue to pray for him. Though I didn't think his discernment would take this long I also realize that discernment doesn't have a time-line and taking this extra time can be a blessing for both of us.

Are you in a discernment process now before making an important decision in your own life?
Are you concerned about a time-line for your discernment?

Marie Lucek, OP
Juneau, AK

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