My life as a Providence Associate

Blog author Providence Associate Maureen Baca, standing, participates in table sharing as she and other associates brainstorm ways they can live more gently on Earth.

Since becoming a Providence Associate, I strive to do my work in a spirit of love, mercy and justice.

This mindset shift has changed how I see my consulting clients and my business partners. I now see that we are on life’s journey together, brought together by Providence, often in very unlikely combinations, always for better outcomes.

I am in my fifth year as a Providence Associate, in the second year of a five year recommitment.

An aspect of being a Providence Associate that has deepened my connection to the relationship is the Virtual Providence Circle of which I am a member. Forming new affiliations with others in this circle is enriching. Sharing their individual journeys, most quite different from my own, has become part of what being a Providence Associate means to me.

Maureen Baca, in orange, performs with other Providence Associates a song parody at a social with the sisters during the Providence Associates annual meeting

I see the spirit of Providence bringing me to a new level of awareness of the importance of each day and each hour, of the value of every interaction, of the commitment each of us make as we move forward on this journey that is both very tangible and yet very mystical. I cannot see exactly what lies ahead. But whenever I have concerns about being able to create the necessary results, I remember to trust in and lean on Providence “which so far has never failed us.” I cannot emphasize how much this has meant to me in challenging and uncertain times — just as it must have meant to Saint Mother Theodore.

I recently attended the Providence Associate annual meeting. Like every time I have come home to The Woods it has been a wonderful, spirit-filled experience. The time with the Sisters of Providence, with the other Providence Associates, on the sacred ground of The Woods – I cannot put into words how much this refreshes and feeds my soul. I come with no expectations and leave renewed, knowing that the network that is Providence has filled me again.

I cannot see a time when I will not be part of Providence — it is now simply part of me.