Dear John,

Your priorities right now are the two young children who depend on you and have much to receive from you over the next years until they enter adulthood themselves. That is your vocation for the foreseeable future, and any thoughts of religious life have to be structured around this reality.

Therefore, I think it would be worth your while to speak with the vocation's director of the religious order you are attracted to, in order to see how you can live their spirituality in your present situation and also to investigate if it is realistic for you to plan on joining at the age you will be when your obligations to your children are fulfilled. I think the outcome of this conversation will help you plan for your future.

God bless,