Rachael Fetsch Gilboy
Born in 1970 in Texas, graduated from the University of Texas in Arlington with a bachelor’s degree in International Studies in Biology and Psychology; several years of working in international companies; stopped working after her marriage and birth of three children at the age of 34 and began to live her vocation as a mother; member of the Schoenstatt women’s movement.
What experiences have shaped you as a woman?
I once thought my previous jobs shaped me as a woman. My jobs allowed me to travel and have a new sense of freedom and independence. I was able to see the world and experience many cultures. As a single women, I was able to fulfill many of my ambitions to be free and in-control. However, meeting my husband and starting a family has shaped me in ways that were unimaginable. The calling to motherhood has brought a joy that no independence and freedom of any job can compare. In my twenties, I thought owning my own condo, being dressed in fancy suits, heels and a competitive salary was what defined me as a women. In my thirties, I discovered that leaving that all behind and answering the call to motherhood would shape me into the women that God called me to be.
Where in your life have you experienced God?
As a young girl, on Fridays, my mother would take us to help with meals-on-wheels. We would take food to the elderly people in our community. This was such an informative time for me because my mother would teach us that we were not just feeding the people but we were giving them something more than food. I learned to give them love by talking to them and spending a few minutes with them. We would always ask them “how is your day?”. I still remember my favorite person on our route. Her name was Julia and she was pure love. As a child, I often thought she must be a real angel because she was so full of love and joy. Forty years later, when I think of Julia, there is such a joy that fills my heart! I believe she was my first encounter with God.
What do you see as the challenge for women today?
Today, the biggest challenge for women is for them to live the vocation that God has planned for them. Too often, women follow what the world demands of them. Women are stricken with anxiety and depression because of the demands of worldly demands like climbing the corporate ladder or trying to juggle a vocation of being a mom while working outside the home. As a women, it is important to live a life of prayer while following the holy spirit and not following the demands of this world.
What do you want to change through your life in this world?
What I would like to change in this world is help women know more about our Blessed Mother. I would like to help catechize women so they can imitate our Blessed Mother. I would like to help women learn about the virtues and life of the Blessed Mother. I feel my generation was not catechized well and I would like to help women truly understand the peace our lives could have if we just trusted in the Blessed Mother.