Nice to Meet You!
Mighty Is Her Call is a Catholic Mothers' ministry dedicated to increasing awareness of motherhood as a powerful vocation. By making her life a gift through openness to life, and by her counter-cultural gift of her body, soul, heart, and mind to raising her children, Catholic mothers pour themselves out for others, reflecting Christ’s sacrifice of himself for us. In this way, Catholic mothers are leaders of the Church, showing by their example one uniquely feminine, vital way of bringing the Gospel of love and joy to our hurting world.
Kathryn Rombs - Founder
Kathryn Rombs and her husband Ron are raising their six children in Irving, TX. She homeschooled for eleven years, and loves having children ranging from teenagers to toddlers in her care. She has a passion for applauding mothers for their loving work and building them up in their private ministries of motherhood. Kathryn is also an instructor at the University of Dallas where she teaches philosophy. Learn more about Kathryn by visiting her website.
Jolly Hormillosa - Director of Ministry
Jolly, an East Coast native, pursued an Ivy League education before finding herself called to the mission field of Southeast Asia. The unveiling of God’s plan was realized when she met her Filipino-American husband. Her new mission came into focus - a life-long call to the vocation of family life. Together Jolly and Robb have pursued the sacramental call living in Dallas, Texas for the past 21 years. She finished her B.A. in Theology and English Literature and graduated just months after welcoming the birth of her first son. Jolly has experienced a continual conversion in her marriage and with each child God has given. She has spent a collective of seven years homeschooling her four children in grades ranging from Pre-K through 12th. She is now honored to be Director of Ministry at Mighty Is Her Call. Jolly is passionate about the call to feminine dignity, worth and holiness that comes with answering the call to embrace the genius of Catholic marriage and motherhood.
Susanna VanVickle - Executive Director
I spent the better part of my first twenty-five years as a Catholic foreign missionary. Scattered throughout those formative years were several furloughs at home in Cajun country and a wonderful season at Franciscan University, where I met Mike. I married this godly man who is my best friend in a dusty Mexican mission post, dreaming of raising our own brood with nothing but dirt floors and Jesus. Now, eighteen years later, I find myself in a suburb of the bustling DFW metroplex with 4 all-American boys and a spunky girl to boot. It’s a picture oh-so-different from the one I dreamed up when I began my motherhood journey nursing twin boys in a Mayan village and expecting our third. Like some of you, I struggle to be detached from the past or the future and enter fully into the glorious mission of my own home.
Although I have worn many hats, including homeschool mom, pro-life activist, theology teacher, and dyslexia practitioner - ultimately, I am a card-carrying Catholic mother whose life probably looks a lot like yours. In fact, Mighty is Her Call has given me a connection to a tribe of beautiful Catholic mothers who really get what it means to be in the trenches, clinging to Christ and serving him in our domestic church. I am blessed to share pieces of my journey on our blog, and I love the encouragement I get daily from MIHC posts. I am especially passionate about the Catholic Mothers Retreats we offer! Because I know first-hand the restorative grace God pours out every time we gather as mothers for prayer, sacraments and exhortation, I can’t wait to share our retreats with every mom I meet.
Rebecca Sanford - Retreat Advisor
Some might find this shocking. I do.... I have nine children- seven boys and two girls! Not only that - but I’m the mother-in-law and grandmother of two very special ladies! “You must be a saint!” some exclaim. “Are you crazy?” ask others. Well, no and yes, but I have lived to tell about it and am a better woman for it.
Often, I think people believe that one “has to be a certain way” to be able to do something extraordinary, but building a life, growing a family, and doing something beautiful happens a little at a time.
As a twenty-one-year-old new mom, I was full of idealism and optimism, and I instinctively knew that the call to motherhood was a profound way to live a Christian life. My heart full of love for God, my husband and my son, I wanted to throw myself headlong into my vocation. My romantic notions of what my life would be - think homemade applesauce, a perfectly peaceful and organized version of me wearing Birkenstocks and long flowing skirts, perfect family life, sunshine and rainbows all the time - were altered when the daily and ongoing challenges of motherhood and marriage became real. This idealist had to learn that being a Catholic mother is not about doing and being a certain, perfect way. Rather, being a Catholic mother is about embracing the life God is giving me each day, each hour, and each minute with the very real grace he is giving me. Certainly, I use my unique skills and gifts, but no amount of creativity, flute playing, general athleticism, nursing skills, or applesauce quite covers all the needs. Not even the most skilled plate spinner among us has everything it takes.
Finishing nursing school with a baby and moving around the country multiple times (and even overseas), learning to navigate all the ins and outs of raising children at the various stages of development, weathering illnesses great and small, dealing with personal issues, living away from family, going back to work, and maintaining a marriage relationship have been more difficult than I could have imagined. And frankly, it’s more than I can manage - on my own.
The remarkable thing about being a Christian, and specifically a mother, is that we are called to do and to be more than we alone are capable of doing and being. And why can we do it? We can do it because we are not alone. We have the grace and power of a real, living, and present God who is with us more intimately than we can fathom. As a Catholic, I have grace from the sacraments as well as Christ present to me in my fellow Christians. He is as real and present as the faces of my husband and children and neighbors.
I am excited to be a part of Mighty is Her Call because motherhood is so vitally important to build up strong members of the Church and the world. I value the opportunity to offer excellent mothers’ retreats, so mothers can find respite, encouragement, and grace to be fortified in their mighty vocation. I hope our blog is a place where mothers can connect with one another and find much needed support, inspiration, and community.
Annie Muller - Retreat Coordinator
Annie grew up as a missionary in a Protestant ministry in East Texas. The Holy Spirit brought her to the University of Dallas where she fell in love with literature, her future husband and the Catholic Church. After getting her B.A. in Literature, she married her husband Adam and before she knew it she was a mother to 7 beautiful children. Now that her oldest child is an adult and her youngest is in school, Annie is looking forward to seeing what the Lord has for her in this new season of life. Motherhood is an amazing vocation, one that our culture undervalues, and she longs to see women encouraged and empowered by the truth of this great calling. As a team member of Mighty Is Her Call, she is excited about forming new relationships and a finding a platform to be real and be encouraged. She is very excited to inspire mother’s in this amazing, exhausting, beautiful vocation
Anna Dunikoski - Retreat Speaker
Hello there! I write from Irving, Texas, where I live with my husband and five kids and teach high school history. I was voted “most talkative” in my 8th grade class, and that still describes me well.
My involvement as a speaker and writer in Mighty is Her Call needs a bit of explanation, as the people who love me most would all agree that motherhood has NOT come naturally to me. During my first decade as a mom I worked and tried super hard, but I spent a lot of my time gritting my teeth in frustration and feeling guilty that I wasn’t doing a better job. During the summer of 2013, a clinical depression stopped me in my tracks and turned my world upside down. I wasn’t able to care for my family and was totally broken for about half a year. With a ton of support, God’s saving grace, and my own hard work, however, I not only got better, but set upon a path of unimagined growth, healing, and thriving that continues to this day.
In my time of crisis, I believed that my struggles and failures meant that my whole motherhood was a big mistake. I now believe more than ever that my suffering was actually part of God’s purposeful and redemptive plan, and this has everything to do with why I write and speak for Mighty is Her Call. Every time I am open and honest about my story, I talk to moms who are relieved to hear that they are not alone, and we are both blessed to be speaking from the heart to one another. It’s soul-food. Beyond speaking and writing from the heart, I really want to share with other mothers that our “messes” and failures as moms, as painful as they may be, are, part of God’s plan, too. We are raising kids, but we are still God’s kids, and he’s not done working on us. In this fallen world, it seems that we often grow the most through our own trials and mistakes. So, struggle and strife does not make you a mom-failure. It makes you normal, and one of God’s precious daughters that he’s refining in the fire of motherhood. I’m right there with you.
Anne Tierney - Board of Directors Secretary
Information coming soon!
Katie Cotter - Board of Directors Treasurer
Information coming soon!
