The Sun was Starting to Rise

Year 2020 was wild and all kinds of things happened. I graduated from high school and started off on my college experience that fall. I consider this my starting point as to wanting to truly have a personal relationship with God. Up until this point I was doing what those around me expected of me or what I thought they expected of me. The transition into college was harder than I thought and many times found myself doubting on whether or not I was making the right decisions in life. Plus with all the COVID rules it was hard to meet people. The reality is I found myself slipping in my faith again. I had to put in the work to have a relationship with God. One thing about attending a Catholic school is that the religion aspect of life was built into my day. Now I had to find people and make the time to have a relationship with God. My first semester in college there were times I did miss Mass and avoided anything that had to do with God. When the emails came about signing up for Campus Ministry I just skipped right over them. Until it came the day before the applications were due. For some reason I felt the sudden urge when that emailed popped up to fill out the application. Today I know that was the Holy Spirit working in me because being on Campus Ministry was the best experience ever. Instead of writing what I thought was going to please the person reading my application, I wrote the truth. The truth that the journey with God is not perfect, the truth that I am not a perfect person, and the truth that I was struggling with my faith and finding a community. This is one of those times where following God’s will leads to a better life. So, if I could not have a Catholic community at least I could have a Christian community. Through Campus Ministry I met some of the best people and learned what a personal relationship with God can look like. I enjoyed things like weekly Chapel, Cru, Bible Studies, and being apart of the team that planned Praise and Prayer Night. I was getting the Christian aspect of life that I needed, what I did not know was all that was leading me to love the Catholic faith. Through building my personal relationship with God I felt more drawn to the Catholic faith. The more I read the Bible, the more I prayed, the more I learned the Catholic faith was there. Everything was finally starting to fall into place. What I considered to be normal, I was starting to see the why behind doing it. I continue to learn and pray and read the Bible and I continue to fall in love with Catholic traditions and the Mass. I guess one could say I was starting to recognize the reason for the madness. I still have a lot of growing to do and my faith can only grow from here. The Sun was starting to rise and the long winter nights were slowly coming to end all through undergrad. Now I am in gradate school far from home following my dreams. I thank God everyday for leading me to the path I am on.

I would love to talk to anyone about anything. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me.