DivineFiliation
Dyslexics of the world untie!
SouthCoast, thought I'd answer you over here to avoid the Catholic sacrament bantering in the other thread...
I think you have received a lot of good feedback and I hope that you can discern which of it is God speaking to you through others and which is not (not that this comment actually helps matters). But I, too, wanted to offer you a few things:
1. Pray. A LOT. It sounds like you are doing this, which is good. God will put up roadblocks for you. And, IMHO, it sounds like he sort of is.
2. There is ABSOLUTELY NO SHAME in having a long engagement. This will allow you and your girlfriend to truly discern if this is God's calling. DO NOT fall prey to the sounds of others (including family members) bothering you with "when is the date?" Just go with your heart and if you aren't sure, there is no reason to add more pressure to the situation.
3. Get yourself a spiritual advisor or mentor (preferably a good priest or devout lay person). This person is not meant to make this decision for you, but help you to discern this yourself.
... I'm going to tell you a little bit of my experience here as well. When my husband proposed to me, I was so excited. I couldn't imagine anything better. I sooooo wanted to be married (he was 25, I was 24). However, we were not in the same place we are now. We were not following God the way we should have been, but were tripping our way through life. All through the course of my life, I have had a nagging feeling that I have missed my call. I have felt drawn to the sisterhood a few times in my life and the last time it was a very strong calling (it was probably the only thing that kept me out of serious trouble in college). For whatever reason, I did not follow this call and actually forgot about it until my husband and I began having problems. I then was questioning our marriage and if it was GOD'S WILL and not my will.
I actually recall a heated arguement 6 months before the wedding between my husband and I. At the breaking point of this arguement he actually told me that if I didn't want to be married, I needed to make that decision NOW (this was probably an arguement over the cake or the tuxedoes or something stupid). The sad part is, is that even though I told him that I still wanted ot be married, I had this dreadfully nagging feeling that I should've taken the out when he left it there.
Then something beautiful happened... we both started following God. We both started listening for calls. God can call us to a lot of different things and places, even as married people. So, even though I might not be a nun, I just realized two days ago that I can become an associate to the sisterhood (which is as close as a married person can be, I think). There are so many ways to implement God into our lives, even as married people. The most beautiful thing that has happened in my life to experience God in my life while my husband, at the same time, is experiencing God in his life too.
Now I don't feel like I've missed my calling but instead reaffirming what I was called to do... which is be a holy person. Every day I try to do this and I can either be married or single to accomplish this.
That being said, I'm not saying, "Go for it." I'm just telling you my story.
I think you have received a lot of good feedback and I hope that you can discern which of it is God speaking to you through others and which is not (not that this comment actually helps matters). But I, too, wanted to offer you a few things:
1. Pray. A LOT. It sounds like you are doing this, which is good. God will put up roadblocks for you. And, IMHO, it sounds like he sort of is.
2. There is ABSOLUTELY NO SHAME in having a long engagement. This will allow you and your girlfriend to truly discern if this is God's calling. DO NOT fall prey to the sounds of others (including family members) bothering you with "when is the date?" Just go with your heart and if you aren't sure, there is no reason to add more pressure to the situation.
3. Get yourself a spiritual advisor or mentor (preferably a good priest or devout lay person). This person is not meant to make this decision for you, but help you to discern this yourself.
... I'm going to tell you a little bit of my experience here as well. When my husband proposed to me, I was so excited. I couldn't imagine anything better. I sooooo wanted to be married (he was 25, I was 24). However, we were not in the same place we are now. We were not following God the way we should have been, but were tripping our way through life. All through the course of my life, I have had a nagging feeling that I have missed my call. I have felt drawn to the sisterhood a few times in my life and the last time it was a very strong calling (it was probably the only thing that kept me out of serious trouble in college). For whatever reason, I did not follow this call and actually forgot about it until my husband and I began having problems. I then was questioning our marriage and if it was GOD'S WILL and not my will.
I actually recall a heated arguement 6 months before the wedding between my husband and I. At the breaking point of this arguement he actually told me that if I didn't want to be married, I needed to make that decision NOW (this was probably an arguement over the cake or the tuxedoes or something stupid). The sad part is, is that even though I told him that I still wanted ot be married, I had this dreadfully nagging feeling that I should've taken the out when he left it there.
Then something beautiful happened... we both started following God. We both started listening for calls. God can call us to a lot of different things and places, even as married people. So, even though I might not be a nun, I just realized two days ago that I can become an associate to the sisterhood (which is as close as a married person can be, I think). There are so many ways to implement God into our lives, even as married people. The most beautiful thing that has happened in my life to experience God in my life while my husband, at the same time, is experiencing God in his life too.
Now I don't feel like I've missed my calling but instead reaffirming what I was called to do... which is be a holy person. Every day I try to do this and I can either be married or single to accomplish this.
That being said, I'm not saying, "Go for it." I'm just telling you my story.
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. I have a very good Catholic counselor that I found thru Catholic Social Services. She's not a "marriage" counselor, but being married to the same man for 40+ years gives her some credibility with me 
