Unexpected Pathways...Responding to the Call

This week's Spectacle of Saints guest blogger is one of the original cohort of Marianist PULSE, fondly called #MP1. Ellen shares how unexpected turns have shaped her life and solidified her calling:

It has been nearly two years since I responded to the call to serve with Marianist PULSE.  Before my call to serve, I was discerning a career in professional sports. 

The same day I accepted a job with a minor league baseball team was also the same day the PULSE application was due. Prior to that day, I had been going back and forth on why I was still feeling called to even put my name in the hat for a brand new program I hardly knew anything about, let alone not being closely related to the career path that I had already been set-up for. I believe we all know what road this story takes and the impact the Marianist family and charism can have on someone.

Fast forward to my acceptance into PULSE: I was matched to serve my year with Mission of Mary Cooperative, an urban farm in East Dayton. Those first few weeks of 90°, hard labor days where a bit rough. I would get frustrated for not being able to keep up, embarrassingly not knowing my vegetables, and having zero energy to ride my bike a mile home every day.  When I would get home to my house community and hear about their days,  I would realize that what I was doing, what we were doing, was making an impact greater than we could imagine.  These were the moments that led me to pray and discern on continuing my work for the common good in my post-PULSE life.  

As the physical frustrations of the job dissolved, I could not help but have deeper

concerns with the work I was doing in East Dayton. These concerns ended up being some key turning points for my call to continue similar work to what I had been doing at Mission of Mary. Concerns surrounding local food access, lack of food education for the younger generation, and trying to wrap my head around the vicious cycle of poverty were some of my main motivators. I was not satisfied and felt I had more to give and learn.

Around April I was approached by a non-profit here in Dayton that was looking at expanding their urban farming and food access initiatives. I immediately talked myself out of it and had quite a bit of self-doubt. There was no way that after less than a year of urban farming I could go off and run a farm on my own. 

With the help of my peers, those thoughts only lasted .2 seconds.  Farmer Ellen was here to stay a little longer. I am currently the Farm Manager for Homefull, a non-profit in Dayton, OH which provides various services to the homeless, all centered around housing, food and jobs. (http://www.homefull.org/) Every day comes with new challenges and excitement as I am still learning the tricks of the trade not only in urban agriculture, but working with our clients.  Some days are longer, some are more exciting than others, but they are all meaningful and continue to give me purpose to come back even more motivated the next day. 

I have recently been asked a few times about what advice I would give current undergrads or current post-grad volunteers when it comes to responding to God’s call.  My advice is simple: Listen.  Listen, and when you have the confidence to do more, that’s faith; listen when others are believing in you, that’s hope; and listen when your heart burns with passion, that’s love. 

#MP1 at their Sending Forth