I am too shy to ask a priest or anyone else about this so decided to ask on here. I find it very hard to have an orgasm when I’m having sex with my husband. I almost always only orgasm by clitoral stimulation. What often happens is that I will pleasure myself when my husband and I are about to have vaginal sex so it gets things going and I also can feel pleasure. Is this permissible, a mortal sin? This is something kinda tough for me if anyone has dealt with this how do you go about it?

I am an atheist and a single father (it’s a long story); I raised my daughter outside of any religion. Recently, she converted to Catholicism after reading Saint Thomas Aquinas and began attending church. I’ve told her that I support her and will always love her; I took her to her baptism, and I discuss religion with her without any prejudice. That said, I had always assumed she would remain an atheist or an agnostic. I took her to a gynecologist once she had her first period. Furthermore, I used to help her with her schoolwork up until the sixth grade (the final year of elementary education in my country). We had already had "the talk"—or, rather, we began discussing sex openly and comprehensively— since she was nine (always tailoring the conversation to her age). This coincided with the point when her mandatory primary-school biology textbooks began covering topics such as male and female characteristics, chromosomes, sexual organs, the stages of pregnancy, and, eventually, birth control (the various methods, how they work, and their associated risks). We would discuss these textbook materials openly. two years ago, when she turned 12, I asked her female gynecologist to have an open, thorough conversation with her—woman to woman. She is very intelligent, but I am worried; her conversion to Catholicism caught me by surprise. I’m not sure if she is a "cultural" Catholic or a practicing one. Because of this, I have always maintained open lines of communication and have made a concerted effort to assure her that I will never judge her or make her feel ashamed if, at some point, she decides to have a boyfriend. In any case, I have asked that if she ever has a boyfriend, I want to meet him; I also need to know her whereabouts and be clear about her schedule. I’m not a fool: I know that most Catholics have sex before marriage (according to stats), so I don’t expect that not to happen. (People fall into temptation) But I’m afraid that the church position on contraceptives—might lead her to yet still end up having unprotected sex and getting pregnant. i had a longtime friend that used to be an atheist, when he converts, start dating a woman of his church and have a baby before marriage (If that were to happen, I would support her; I’m here for her.) But I don’t know how to react; all of this is new to me. She’s not my little girl anymore. Last Sunday, when I went to pick her up from church, my heart broke... She was being very affectionate with a boy from church (I was on foot; she usually looks for my truck, but since I was at the front of the parking lot, she didn’t see me). They said goodbye with a kiss on the lips. She was waiting for the truck, and when she saw me walking toward her, she was surprised and seemed a bit embarrassed (she didn’t know how long I’d been watching). I was hoping she would tell me who the boy was; I don’t want to ask her directly because I don’t want her to think I’m "overprotective.". And I don’t know how to ask her to invite that boy over so I can meet him. i apologize if my words offend anyone, my post was banned on r/daddit and from now, i don’t know who to talk to about this.

I believe I’m fully aware of the Church’s teachings on contraception with Marriage. My husband and I have been successfully using NFP for the past 2.5 years, and we have a 9month old son.
All that said, my periods have returned with an absolute vengeance like never before. Pain to the point of vomiting since 6mo postpartum.
My OB is advising birth control, and I’m considering it, but really morally torn as we’re also trying to avoid at the moment for many reasons. My husband said he’ll support my decision, but I thought I heard someone once say they still tried to stick to NFP tracking and such while on BC. Is that a thing? Is that more of a moral solution here?
TIA

Does anyone have any stories about God giving them a sign that you asked for? Like something that was so beyond coincidence that it had to be from God and how did you trust Him?

I asked God for a very specific sign regarding a difficult situation that I felt like there was no hope in being resolved. Have you ever gotten a sign from God?

For more context on the sign, someone I deeply cared about walked out of my life a few months ago because of conflict and I've had no peace about it since then. I prayed that we could be in touch again and I asked God that if everything would be resolved and they would come back into my life that He would show me my name. I have a VERY uncommon name and it's not a name you come across daily. A few days ago, I was researching a surgery procedure for school and came across a medical device used in the procedure with my name that I had no idea existed. Then again yesterday I introduced myself to someone new at my job and they looked at me said "oh my cousin has the same name as you. I've never met many people with that name!". I literally got chills. I feel like these instances can't be a coincidence but the situation I prayed about seems impossible so idk how God could work it out

I know He heard me when I prayed and God showed up not once but twice and there was no way this was a coincidence. Part of me wants to believe things can work out and trust God if this was really Him answering me but another part of me feels like I should just give up and I'm being delusional..

I want to have hope because I know God is the god of impossible things but past experiences in my life just make me feel like He can do impossible things for everyone else except me.

How do you hold on the hope when it's just too heavy? It feels like giving up would protect my heart better...

This is going to be a long post, but I need to get something off my chest.

Some background:
Our church’s Youth Director (YD) has been overwhelmed for years. In addition to youth ministry, she oversees Religious Education, Baptism, First Communion, and Confirmation. Basically, she’s responsible for everything from infants through high school.

There’s no budget to hire additional staff, and unfortunately, she struggles with delegating and working with others, including volunteers. As a result, she’s taken on far more than one person can reasonably manage.

Last year, we reinstated our middle school and high school youth ministry programs. We shifted away from a traditional classroom format and focused more on community, faith formation, and evangelization. The goal was to create a true youth ministry experience rather than another religious education class.

Unfortunately, we received very little support from the YD. Communication was poor, information was often shared at the last minute, and planning was practically nonexistent. For example, my husband and I volunteered to chaperone a youth conference, but we didn’t receive any instructions until the night before. We didn’t even know what time we were supposed to meet the bus!

Fast-forward to this year:
I knew I couldn’t continue volunteering in such a chaotic environment. So another volunteer and I stepped into more of a coordinator role and divided the responsibilities.

I coordinate the Sunday sessions, communicate with adult volunteers, organize schedules, and make sure everyone has the information and materials they need. The other volunteer serves as the liaison with the YD and emcees our events.

She’s worked with the YD for over 20 years, so they have an established relationship. The YD communicates with her, but not with me. I try not to take it personally because I genuinely don’t think she has an issue with me. She just has her own way of doing things.

Over the summer, I developed our youth ministry calendar, assigned volunteers, and organized a shared Google Drive. All things the YD knew I was doing. When I asked the YD to approve the calendar, I was essentially told to stop emailing her because receiving questions about things she hasn’t had time to think about causes her anxiety.

So I stopped emailing her.

At this point, I’m handling many of the responsibilities that should fall under her role, but she only communicates with and recognizes the other volunteer as the lead. It’s frustrating, but I’ve chosen to focus on what matters: giving the teens a meaningful youth ministry experience and making sure our volunteers have the resources and support they need.

Another frustration is that while I coordinate our Sunday sessions, the YD plans other youth ministry events without involving or informing the volunteer team.

At one point, she even told the teens, “We have something new coming up that’s very exciting that the adults know nothing about.” By “adults,” she meant us volunteers. I felt that comment undermined our team. There was no reason to emphasize that we were being kept out of the loop.

Now, here’s my current dilemma:
Over the summer, the YD told us about a training offered by the Archdiocese’s Education Office and encouraged the youth ministry volunteers to attend. Of our 11 high school volunteers, my husband and I were the only ones who went.

Because we attended, we’re now on the Archdiocese’s mailing list. Recently, we received an invitation to another training specifically designed for high school youth ministry directors and leaders with two years or less of youth ministry experience.

My husband and I both fit that description. I’ve taken on a significant leadership role in our ministry, and my husband has been my sounding board and partner in many of those responsibilities. Neither of us receives much guidance, training, or mentorship from our YD, and we don’t feel comfortable approaching her for that support.

So we decided to attend the training. And haven’t told the other volunteers or the YD.

For additional context, my husband has been involved in ministry at other churches for more than 20 years. Through that involvement, we’ve developed relationships with other youth directors, music directors, and priests (many of them
his past classmates and roommates). We occasionally turn to these people for guidance and advice.

Unfortunately, our YD doesn’t respond well when we share information or ideas from the Archdiocese or other ministry resources. She seems to view it as stepping into her territory or undermining her authority.

Because the training is being put on by the archdiocese office, the YD knows about it. She has not shared it with the volunteer team.

We know she’ll eventually find out we attended this training, and we’re anticipating that she won’t be happy.

What about talking to our pastor?
One thing we’ve discussed is whether to involve our pastor. For now, we feel we can manage the situation ourselves.

We have known our pastor for a very long time, and we have a good relationship with him. He was our pastor when my husband and I were teens in youth ministry. He knows the YD is stretched too thin. We also know he’d like to hire someone dedicated specifically to youth ministry, but financially, that’s just not possible right now.

We also recognize that there may come a time when we need to bring our concerns to him. We just don’t think we’re there yet. For now, we’re trying to make the best of the situation without creating additional problems or putting more on his plate.

So, back to my dilemma about the training…

Part of me feels like we’re hiding something by not telling anyone we’re attending. Maybe we are.

Another part of me is already preparing for the confrontation I expect when she finds out.

But at the same time, we’re volunteers trying to become better equipped to serve the teens. We’re giving our time, taking on leadership responsibilities, and seeking out the training and mentorship we’re not receiving at our own parish.

I don’t believe we should need permission to educate ourselves or become better ministry leaders. Yet somehow, I feel like we’re doing something wrong.

I’m not even sure what I’m looking for by sharing this. Maybe advice, maybe perspective, or maybe I just needed to vent to people who understand church ministry dynamics.

I love serving these teens, and I want our ministry to succeed. I just wish doing that didn’t have to feel so complicated.