A mother’s journey of faith

They say, “God laughs when we make plans,” and Magdalena Rodriguez had a plan for all four of her children. They were to finish high school, go to college and get married in that order. She is very proud of all four of her children, but when they were growing up there were times, she shared, “when your children are just out of your control, and God and Mary are the only ones who can take care of them.” 

Magdalena said her husband and children’s father, Juan Manuel, was far too lenient and preferred she be the one to discipline them. She grew up in a quiet little town in Mexico where she met Juan when she was five years old. She knew him as her brother’s friend. He was from Robstown and his family frequently came to visit as their families were very close. When they married, they moved to Corpus Christi, where they had one boy, Johnny and three girls, Amy, Paulette and Jessica. 

According to this somewhat shy, soft-spoken, now 79-year-old woman, raising her children was much easier when they were little. She was a stay-at-home mom, who sewed most of their clothes, made sure they were fed, nurtured, cleaned and loved. They attended elementary school at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Academy, and she remembers those early years as the safe years, “when they all lived in a bubble.” 

When the family moved to Flour Bluff and the children started attending a public school that bubble burst. She worried because they were being introduced to the ‘real world,’ a world that was a big shock for her, as well. “What am I going to do,” she wondered? 

Looking back now, she remembers that her children’s teenage years were hardest on her. They were standard teenagers during the 1990s, the era of grunge music and heavy metal rock bands. Her children didn’t want hand sewn clothes anymore. They wanted jeans and store-bought dresses. For four years she worked part-time at Sears, helping supplement the family’s income even though Juan Manuel had an excellent job as an aircraft mechanic on the base. 

When schools began allowing teenagers to go home for lunch, her girls started bringing friends and boys to their house. Magdalena decided she needed to quit her job so she could keep a watchful eye on them. Her girls liked the boys, and they were invited to many parties, but she didn’t always let them go. She would call the parent of the teenager who was supposed to be having the party. “I was very careful, I didn’t know anybody,” she said. “Life had been simpler in Mexico, where everybody knew everyone else.” 

She made sure the children attended CCD at St. Paul the Apostle and kept tabs on them through a deacon from the church who would call and let her know if one of them skipped a class. She was worried that her son wouldn’t finish high school. Sometimes she would get a call from the school telling her that one or even more of her children were in trouble.  “I thought they were being wild and rebellious and if they didn't respond right; I would get very upset,” she said. 

She prayed and spoke with their pastor, Father Mark Chamberlin, now Monsignor, and she got more involved in the community around her. She said, “somehow, God gave me the strength to be hard on them.”     

The first hiccup in Magdalena’s plan was after her son Johnny, having barely finished high school, announced he was joining the Air Force. To her, he was still just a little boy. “He had never been by himself,” she said. But he was adamant “and the day he left, it was like, we were all at a funeral.” Now, she realizes that it was probably the best thing for him. After serving 24 years, he is now retired and lives in North Carolina with his wife and daughter. “That was prayer and God taking care of us,” Magdalena said.

Paulette Guajardo was different from all her other children on many levels. Where most of her children moved away, she remained close to her parents. Her first job in telemarketing taught her about sales. Her mother was amazed that after attending Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and earning a bachelor’s degree in business, her 24-year-old daughter had the courage to start her own business, Allstate Insurance. “Paulette was something else! She was going 100 miles a minute.” Paulette is now a Councilwoman for the City of Corpus Christi and serves on several boards. She also sits on the Citizens Review Committee at Child Protective Services and volunteers her time at Incarnate Word Academy, where her son, Jude Victor attends middle school. 

“I just love it. It’s just part of who I am. Never did I dream, I would be serving the City of Corpus Christi, but then again, you know, our dreams are irrelevant, it’s what God wants that really matters.” Paulette said. 

Magdalena remembers her own father as an active business-oriented man who loved the community. “He would hand out awards at the schools, and he loved to give to charities. I guess that’s where she got it from.” 

Her eldest daughter Amy went to college in San Antonio, graduated, got a good job and married. “She was very responsible after she went away to college,” Magdalena remembers. “But not Jessica, she was the wild one. She never wanted to go back to school.” 

“Eventually she did go back when she realized the importance of getting a degree,” Guajardo said, speaking for her sister. “Now she’s a teacher and she’s always at school,” she said, exchanging smiles with her mother.

“I mothered them like my own mother did with me and with God’s grace, they came out fine,” said Magdalena, who is now a parishioner at St. John the Baptist Parish. She is a Guadalupana, an adoration coordinator, member of a Spanish faith formation group called Caminando en la fe (walking in faith) and visits residents at Villa South. She continues to learn about her Catholic faith through her “great teacher, Father Rodolfo D. Vásquez.” and she and her husband have been married for over 50 years. They now have how two grandchildren.

Magdalena is grateful to her daughter. “Paulette has made me a big part of her life and activities. I have stepped out of my comfort zone and had worked with her for 15 years at her Allstate Insurance,” she said. Magdalena and Juan Manuel live just down the street from the Guajardo’s, so Magdalena gets to see her grandson, Jude Victor, frequently. He is in seventh grade at Incarnate Word Academy. 

Paulette says her mom influenced her on how she raises him. Like her mother, she is harder on him than her husband is. 

For Magdalena the Catholic faith is the “pillar” of family life. She is very proud of each and every one of her children. “The four of them are completely different – they all have different talents,” she said. “My best advice to struggling mothers is to pray and trust in God.” He always has a plan.