Featuring Our Little Flower: Maggie

Hi everyone!

My name is Maggie May (yes, like the Rod Stewart song), and I moved into Lisieux House in summer 2022. It is the ultimate blessing to walk along the Narrow Way with these incredible ladies, and each day here is truly a gift.

I am a Chicagoan by birth, a Marylander by upbringing, a Georgia Tech engineer by trade, an optimist at heart, and a Catholic at my core. I am the type of person who loves absolutely everything life has to offer. In my free time, you can find me on Duolingo, baking/cooking up a storm, or doing just about any outdoor activity (walking, running, surfing, skiing, cliff jumping, lacrosse...anything goes!).

COVID provided a unique opportunity for me as I started my job out of college remotely. For two years, I gallivanted all over the world and experienced a journey only God could write. I spent some months in the Rocky Mountains, winters in the tropics of Hawaii and Aruba, Lent on mission in Peru, summers in the national parks of the US, and more. Forget the term “digital nomad” as I even had the blessing to be a “digital pilgrim”, working and praying in Fatima, Rome, and Medjugorje this summer. The travels may seem superficial, but they were certainly not in vain -- they were all a part of the Little Way that I have grown to know and love: pursuing holiness in the ordinary and everyday life.

I saw God’s hand through every blessed moment of this journey that somehow brought me to the Lisieux house, so I would love to share some of my story.

I am the type of person who sees God through the way he has perfectly woven my story and my life together. I see a sequence of events and can only reconcile this with God’s perfect plan. Flashback to summer 2021 – I had been traveling for some time and felt an intense desire to go to Alaska. Most of the places I had been prior to this were a little more populated and well-trafficked, so this seemed crazy to most of my friends and family at first. To be fair, I didn’t know a soul and certainly couldn’t locate the north star. The rental car crisis was at its peak, and I also needed a car to safely get around. I took this to prayer and asked Jesus to show me if the Last Frontier was in His Will, and so He did. Through a facebook group for a Catholic podcast, I connected with a young woman named Paige who assured me I should come to Alaska. As we connected, I found a deal on a rental car through a local dealership. I took this as God’s confirmation that this was His Will, so I bought a one-way ticket and packed my bags.

Fast forward a few weeks, and Paige and I became close friends. I extended my trip to stay for the birth and baptism of her baby boy Augustine Jude! Spoiler alert: I am the Godmother for her next child. I also connected and became friends with a wonderful woman through the young adult group at Holy Family Cathedral named Anne-Marie – maybe this is a name you recognize. A few months later after I left Alaska, I planned move to Seattle as I was being summoned to the office, and she was plotting the same.

Anne-Marie called me to let me know that she had heard of an amazing community of young Catholic women called the Lisieux House through a close Dominican priest friend. As someone who has sisters, went to all girls high school, and lived in a sorority house, it sounded perfect. The gravity and sacredness of living with the Blessed Sacrament barely even dawned on me, but I was sold.

As I draw closer to the patron of our house, St. Therese, the Little Way has become the rhythm of my life in these past 8 months living here. In summary, it is striving for the extraordinary in these ordinary moments of every day. However, I hardly believe anything is ordinary because I see God’s extraordinary Will in each aspect of His plan and every detail of my life. Pursuing holy and authentic friendships in Alaska of all places led me to a community that has enriched my life tenfold. After a long time traveling, I have found solace in the Lisieux House and in the Lord through this vibrant community here. Part of me was secretly dreading the move to a city known for its atheism and lack of religion. God recognized this fear and turned it into a rich fruit, and I am forever grateful for this journey!