As a teenager, I dreamed of becoming a nurse and moved toward that goal in college. I worked at the local hospital, so I knew what I was getting into- and then I met my husband, who whisked me off to beautiful South Korea for the first year of our marriage. As my world experiences grew, so did my dreams.

Moving from the Far East to Great Britain gave me an even broader experience of life, culture, and exquisite desserts. No, not in England, but when we frequently visited France to escape ‘bangers and beans.’ My desire to become a pastry chef and create incredible delicacies to share with others was born.

Landing back stateside after three years and blessed with the first of the five kids to come, that dream never died. I began pastry school between pregnancies, started a catering business, and continued to practice pastry with anyone willing to taste. I had plenty of takers.

In the middle of marriage and parenting, I realized that dreams do not have to be single-focused because being a mom and baking on the side was my heart’s desire, albeit crazy in the middle of the night when I needed more eggs for a failed French buttercream.

“The only real sadness, the only real failure,

the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint.”

Leon Bloy

A saint is anyone in heaven. St. Therese of Lisieux used to say, “You cannot be half a saint. You must become a whole saint or no saint at all.” There lies the challenge for us all.

I was kind of a nurse and sort of a pastry chef, but in fact, I was neither entirely. I was a complete wife and mother and pathetically lacking in being a whole saint. I still am, although I have made some progress. That is what life is all about. We move toward God or away from God every second of every day. There is no spiritual sitting on the fence. Indecision is a decision not to move forward.

While my dreams are a great place to begin spending some time here on earth, they are not the purpose of my life. Our purpose is to grow in holiness, seek the narrow road to heaven, and bring as many others as possible. To not do so is the greatest tragedy.

Oh, Barb, you are so melodramatic. Am I?

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures … when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

Making fine desserts is a momentary pursuit that lasts seconds in my mouth and a short-lived memory that fades. I still carry some of those decadent delights I would love to shed, which stubbornly cling to my belly like gorilla glue. It exists as a transitory pleasure that quickly passes as I seek to fill the endless hankering. It is like trying to fill a black hole. There is nothing on earth that will ever completely satisfy.

“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”St. Augustine of Hippo

It is a worthless quest to waste our lives on things that are not of God. Yet, every day, we encounter those willing to do so. This is tragic. Everything we encounter outside of God is temporary. Our soul is immortal. How many times do we lay it all down and exhaust ourselves to exhaustion for something fleeting? How often do we spend countless hours on trophies made of plastic that gather dust on the shelf and count for nothing in the eternal realm?

Can we still pursue our dreams and become saints? Of course, we can, but it is a thin line at times, and there will always be opportunities courtesy of evil to blur the lines, give into temptation, or set aside your standards, just this once.

We look to St. Therese of Lisieux, whose feast day is October 1st, for practical ways to grow holy and become the whole saint we were meant to be.

1.   “Holiness consists simply in doing God’s will and being just what God wants us to be.”

2.   “Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.”

3.   “What matters in life is not great deeds, but great love.”

The more we practice love in small, simple ways, the greater our love grows. We also mirror Christ and infuse good into the world, thus combating evil. God would never ask of us more than we can give. We must stop being lazy, selling ourselves short, or settling. Too much is at stake now and for eternity.

Happy feast day, dear Therese; thank you for your example.