Darlene C Doerr

It was Holy Saturday 1984; I returned home from the Easter Vigil services at my parish. I read the bulletin I had picked up after Mass. There was a job advertisement for a part time bookkeeper. I immediately had this overwhelming feeling that it was a job the Lord wanted me to take. I was 33 years old, married with three small children, and the idea of working close to home was appealing. Seven weeks later, I began working in the parish office. In January 1986, my pastor received a letter from the Archdiocesan CFO announcing that the accounting practices would soon be standardized across all parishes. Seven months later, a Vincentian brother assigned to our parish contacted the CFO to ask about the progress of the new system. He was invited to attend a meeting to learn more. The programmer had the software ready for beta testing, and nine parishes were scheduled to participate. After attending the meeting, the brother returned and asked if I would be willing for our parish to join the beta test. I said yes. He smiled and replied, “Good. I figured you’d say that, so I volunteered us.” After the third day of training, we were instructed to take the computers back to the parish, load our opening balances, and begin using the software for daily accounting. I did exactly that. Two weeks later, I was asked to train all the bookkeepers across the Archdiocese. That became my first official position with the Archdiocese. Over the next 38 years, I held many roles and became widely known for the work I did. On the drive home after my final full day of employment, I told the Lord I felt as though I had left something undone. I had served Him for so long that I felt I should still be serving Him, though I didn’t know how. I heard Him say, “Write a book.” I answered, “Write a book? Lord, I know I should write down the treasures You’ve given me over the years, but I don’t think it’s enough to fill a book.” He replied, “Write a story.” It took several conversations with Him — and nearly two years — before I finally began to write. And now here I am, the author of the series titled Life Is a Gift.