Dear Sara,

Impulsive is what we do without thinking. So, it may well be impulsive to date if you know you have a vocation!

Now, as regards a vocation, and for that matter everything related to our Christian life, we have to make sure we think not only with our mind but also and especially with our faith. In other words to let what we know by faith influence our decisions. And we should also make sure we use our common sense.

Some people discover their vocation before they start dating, and I think we all understand that if you have a vocation to give your heart totally to Christ, and then you start dating (in other words offering your heart to someone else) there is not much common sense in that. At the very least it sets you up for confusion and heart, both of yourself and the person you date.

There are some people who do not have the perception of their vocation before they start dating first, and then God leads them to discover it later. But as soon as the vocation is there as a good possibility something has to give, either the dating or the vocation. Of course this does not mean severing all friendships or social interaction, but it does mean no longer acting as if you had not yet given your heart definitively.

God bless.