Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Get to know us

Veronica and I met shortly after I converted to Catholicism and she was on fire for the Church going into her second year of college at Texas A & M. We asked God to be in the center of our relationship in the beginning and we have done everything possible to keep him there. Over the past ten years we have been so blessed to be on the same page with each other and God’s will for our lives. Prayer and discernment has been how we have made decisions in our lives since we first met, starting with our views on the church, family, and future before we even got serious about dating. During our engagement God asked us to be involved in the Church through bible studies, retreats, and youth ministry and with our ‘yes’ the Holy Spirit worked like crazy bringing us more in love with Jesus, his Church, and each other. We were able to see Jesus transform the lives of many teenagers and the adults helping in the ministry with us.

Months before we got married God asked me to quit my job and open an automotive shop serving our community with honesty and loyalty. Again, with our ‘yes’ he blessed this shop into a business which would support our family through the first six and a half years of our marriage. It was so exciting and peaceful after we got married that we knew God was calling us to be parents and with our ‘yes’ he blessed us with bringing our first son home on our one year anniversary! Now, in our tenth year of marriage God has blessed us with our sixth beautiful child. We knew that from the beginning of our relationship that God wanted Veronica to be at home with our children to focus on their formation and education and with her ‘yes’ we have been able to see God provide for us financially and with an abundance of Grace to give us the strength, patience, and love to grow our family. I have grown so much closer to Veronica seeing her constant sacrifice and servant attitude homeschooling our children and living a life of selflessness focused on what is best for our family.

Over the past ten years we have answered God’s call to serve in different areas of the Church. We have worked in youth ministry with Lifeteen and bible studies, Teams of our Lady, Eucharistic ministers at Mass, sponsoring couples for marriage preparation, ACTS retreats and retreat teams, youth retreats, and being a part of St. Martha’s amazing homeschool group. Through all of this God never stops teaching how to grow closer to him, each other, and our children while we witness his glorious power at transforming the world around us. Our god is an Awesome God and when we say ‘yes’ we get to see the power of the Holy Spirit work in ways that we have never thought possible.


Now God has asked us to serve the Church by being Catholic Missionaries. He is very straight forward about what that means, “sell everything and follow me.” With our ‘yes’ we have already felt the Holy Spirit enter our lives, our home, and our relationships in a new way. We have also seen the Holy Spirit working during the time of our discernment. We BOTH have an incredible peace and both feel the same call from God and it is such a gift to be on the same page with such a life changing call. Preparing to leave, God is reassuring us time and time again. Everything we have tried to sell has sold very quickly with ease, one miraculous example is our house. Obviously a huge step. We felt God telling us to put it on the market over Memorial Day weekend, we didn’t think it was ready to sell, we didn’t want it on the market long because it is very difficult to keep it ‘ready to show’ with all of the kids, but we said ‘yes’. We got together and prayed asking the Holy Spirit to come over us, bring us a buyer, and sell our house quickly because it’s what God wants and we can’t do it alone. Our realtor (my Dad) posted our house online at 2:30 the Saturday of Memorial weekend, we didn’t even have pictures up yet. A Christian couple who works at a local church came and looked at it five hours later…AND BOUGHT IT!! Their realtor was going out of town the next day, if it wasn’t online that day, they wouldn’t have looked at it. They had been praying for the right house for their family…we weren’t ready but God was! We will continue to say ‘yes’ and we are SO EXCITED to see how God will bring the truth to people who have never heard the gospel and provide comfort and love to the poor. We praise God that we get to be a part of this mission!

Our Call to Missions!

      Michael and Veronica with their six children Michael (8), Mariam (7), Kevin (6), Thomas (4), Lydia (1), and Sarah (due in August) have answered God’s call to serve as a Catholic missionary family!
We heard God calling us to a life in missions in January of 2015, and we both heard Him loud and clear. The Holy Spirit has given overwhelming peace to us both. We are blessed with the gift God has given us to both be on the same page hearing God speak to us about the same life changing decision! After much prayer, discernment, seeking His will through scripture, learning more about Family Missions Company and speaking with our Parish priest, we knew that God was calling us…. Sell everything, bring your family to follow me, and spread my kingdom to those who have not had the opportunity to hear the truth. Our kids are excited and we are humbled to see how the Holy Spirit is going to work to spread the gospel throughout the world. We are looking forward to being a part of Intake in September 2015!

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and rely not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path.”

                                                                        -Proverbs 3:5-6