Lauren Enk

Greetings, y'all!

Our dear Clare has just graciously invited me to become a contributor to The Catholic Young Woman, and I was delighted to accept, and so I must introduce myself to the lovely community here.

Although I've lived in many different places in my time, I was born and raised mostly in the deep South, where great Southern cooking and a wonderful family make up for things like 110 degree heat index, monster mosquitoes, and hurricanes. I was homeschooled through high school, which was, indeed, an incredible blessing. I fell in love with G. K. Chesterton, and his works changed my perspective on life. (I can hardly write anything without quoting him!) At this point, having passed through good and bad times over the years with GKC by my side, I can't imagine what my world would be like without him, without his colossal wonder and courageous love of the Truth to back me up as I face each day.

Currently, I'm a rising sophomore at Christendom College, a small Catholic Liberal Arts college in Virginia. I absolutely love the classes, the professors, and the other students there. For me, Christendom has been a tremendous blessing that enables me to grow in my faith and the pursuit of wisdom, develop deep friendships, and seek God through my experiences there, both social and scholastic.

This past year I discovered that I have a true passion for writing and am so grateful for the opportunity this blog and my own provide for me to scribble away some of my thoughts. When I'm in school, I'd much rather work on an essay than on anything else, and I'm involved with the student newspaper there, The Rambler. At my blog, God's Spies, I regularly post articles, opinion pieces and meditations (and lately, movie reviews!).

To give you a bit of an idea about the way I look at things, here are a few quotes which I think summarize my philosophy.

The first is (surprise, surprise!) a GKC quote:

"There is one secret of life: the secret of constant astonishment." Chesterton's profound sense of wonder at the miracle of the universe and every being in it, extending to deep gratitude toward its Creator, is, I think, the path to true holiness and happiness--the mystic's approach, as he would say.

"I know that the experiences of our lives, when we let God use them, become the mysterious and perfect preparation for the work He will give us to do." --Corrie ten Boom, Dutch Christian Holocaust survivor.

If there is one thing God has taught me in the short time I have lived, it is this: never, ever doubt His Divine Providence. He has a plan, and no matter how difficult it can be for us to see it when we're suffering, when we look back we will see that He has guided us and used even our mistakes and failures for the fulfillment of His perfect Will.

God bless! I humbly ask for your prayers that my participation in this blog will bear good fruit and help you and I to grow together in the love of God and in becoming true women of faith!

Yours in Christ,

Lauren

~* Read Lauren's posts *~

~* View Lauren's personal blog *~