Something Other Than God: How I Passionately Sought Happiness and Accidentally Found It

227 Pages·2014·1.06 MB·English

by  Jennifer Fulwiler

Something other than God
JENNIFER FULWILER
SOMETHING OTHER
THAN GOD
How I Passionately Sought Happiness
and Accidentally Found It
Afterword by
Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan
IGNATIUS PRESS SAN FRANCISCO
Except where otherwise noted, Scripture citations are from the
Second Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible
© 1965, 1966, and 2006 by the Division of Christian Education of the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America
All rights reserved.
Excerpts from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church,
Second Edition © 1994, 1997, 2000 by Libreria Editrice Vaticana—United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved.
Cover detail from The Holy Spirit alabaster window
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome
Photograph © by Agnus Images
Cover design by John Herreid
© 2014 by Jennifer Fulwiler
Afterword © 2016 by Ignatius Press
Softbound edition published by Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 2014
All rights reserved
ISBN 978-1-62164-152-0 (PB)
ISBN 978-1-68149-124-0 (EB)
Library of Congress Control Number 2013917065
Printed in the United States of America
To Papaw, who always believed.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Epilogue
Afterword
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In the six years that I have been working on this book, God has put some
amazing people in my path.
First, of course, is my husband, Joe. He helped shape each draft, watched the
kids while I worked, and wasn’t afraid to write edits like, “This paragraph makes
you seem insane.” Everything in life is more fun with him at my side.
Joe’s mom, Lou Fulwiler, and my parents, Pam and Don Bishop, bent over
backward to help me hit writing deadlines—not to mention the fact that their
examples of selfless love lit the path for me to find my way to God in the first
place.
My wonderful literary agent, Ted Weinstein, is like the personal trainer who
pushes you until you’re collapsed and twitching on the gym floor. It’s never
been so fun to have someone ruin my life. The team at Ignatius Press continually
amazes me with their hard work and dedication, and I am profoundly grateful to
them for believing in this project. It was also an honor and a pleasure to work
with developmental editor Jane Rosenman.
Hallie Lord deserves to have her name somewhere on the cover in recognition
of all the hours she put into helping me with this book (many of them in the form
of listening to my writer drama). I’m also blessed to have good friends like
Nancy Mohn Barnard, Abigail Benjamin, Melanie Casal, Brendan and Cat
Hodge, Lori Keckler, Grace Patton, Frank and Patti Scofield, Dorian Speed, Fr.
Michael Sullivan, and my cousin, Br. Claude Lane, providing me with prayers,
support, and words of wisdom.
I’d still be sketching out Chapter 1 if it weren’t for the loving assistance of
Rachel Hebert, Irma Campos, Delia Stinson, Ellen and Victoria Hebert, Gabi
and Marlena Borrero, Hannah and Katie Villarreal, Annie Scofield, and Abby
Brooks.
I think of Nona Aguilar, Cindy Cavnar, Bert Ghezzi, and Patrick Madrid as
my writing fairy godparents for all the encouragement and opportunities they
sent my way. A special thanks also goes out to Kevin Knight, who helped me
find an audience for my writing.
I am deeply grateful to Raymond Arroyo, Fr. James Martin, Tucker Max, and
Gretchen Rubin, who were kind enough to offer endorsements of this project
early on in the process, as well as to Amy Welborn, Brandon Vogt, Dorian
Speed, Arthur Nielsen, Leila Miller, and Nona Aguilar, who took the time to
read the manuscript and offer invaluable constructive criticism.
Tom Wehner, Dan Burke, Jeanette DeMelo, and the rest of the team at the
National Catholic Register have been endlessly supportive as I’ve needed to take
time off to work on the book or have babies (or, sometimes, both).
I love my blog readers, and am humbled and touched by the support they’ve
given me over the years. I wish I could thank each of them by name.
It is one of our family’s greatest blessings to be surrounded by the vibrant,
faith-filled community of St. William parish, especially Noe Rocha, Fr. Dean
Wilhelm, Fr. Uche Andeh, as well as Fr. Alberto Borruel, Fr. Joel McNeil, and
Fr. Jonathan Raia.
I will always have a special place in my heart for C.S. Lewis, whose writing
had a profound impact on my conversion. The title of this book was inspired by
his point that “all that we call human history. . . [is] the long, terrible story of
man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.”
I thank my children for understanding when mommy spent all that time
staring at her computer screen, and for generally being awesome. Being their
mother is my life’s greatest honor.
And, of course, I thank God, the source of all that is good. He truly never
forgets any of his sheep, even the ones who are most lost.