The East Texas Catholic community welcomes you and would love to know the story of how you landed in the Diocese of Tyler. We believe sharing your story will inspire others and will give God glory by sharing how He is working in your life.
We would also like to use your story to produce a book to give to Bishop Strickland to fill his heart with hope for the future of the Church. This book of stories will also serve as a historical document for the Diocese of Tyler.
In addition to your story, we have a professional photographer, Mark Tanner, who is available to capture our beautiful faces for the book.
To organize your thoughts, the outline below may help. You don’t have to follow the order or the exact prompts. Please feel free to be as detailed as you would like. Include dates and experiences before, during and after your arrival in Texas.
A rough draft is all we need. We want to make this easy for you. After all, you have had a lot going on! Your submission will be edited, with your permission, to have some unity in format. If you would like to share but want to remain anonymous, just let us know. We won’t print anything without your permission.
Submit your story to Celeste Spitz in digital format. This can be done by email, on a thumb drive, or through the website TruthForSouls.com. We will provide you with a copy of the final draft for your review. Again, rough drafts are all we need!
Thank you so much for participating in this collection. May God bless you and your families and enrich your faith through our beautiful Catholic community here in East Texas.
Contact us with any questions or to submit your story below:
Rebecca Cali, MD
Publisher
Celeste V. Spitz
Editor
Outline
- Begin with a short paragraph about you and your family.
- Where are you from?
- What was your home like?
- Were you and your family member working, retired, students, etc.
2. What was the situation in your community and parish during the time you first had thoughts about relocating?
- What factors impacted your decision?
- Were restrictions or regulations of the state a factor?
- What was your previous parish life like and were you active in the parish?
3. Describe the point at which you made a definite decision to move.
- Was there a specific incident that was the tipping point?
- Was it a result of prayer- perhaps a novena to St Joseph? Special devotions?
- Did you hear about or do research about other places to live besides Tyler?
4. How did Tyler or East Texas enter as a possible relocation place?
- Did you know about the Bishop here?
- Did you have friends or family in the area?
- Employment opportunities?
5. The moving process.
- What was your experience selling your home and finding a new home.
- Did you quit a job (how was that?). Did you have to find a new job?
- How did you get your belongings to Texas?
- What was the experience when you actually left your former home?
6. Settling in Texas. Describe the process of assimilating into your new community and parish.
- Did you and your family members feel welcome right away or did it take time?
- Do you find daily life very different than where you came from?
- Have you gotten involved in the parish? Do you see yourself in a specific role?
7. Looking Back.
- As you look back, do you see how God worked in your life to guide and direct you to this point?
- Did you have any experiences during this process that you would consider miracles?
- Has it turned out to meet your expectations, your hopes? Or has the experience been just different than what you expected.
- Has this experienced increased your faith?
- Anything else you would like to add?
Truth for Souls 