Have you ever had a moment where you were vividly reminded that God was there, present with you? For me it wasn’t a booming voice or words someone else spoke to me. It was a picture on a wall.

The summer before my junior year of high school, my parents announced that they felt like God was asking us to move to Steubenville, Ohio. If you’ve never been there, it’s a very small town on the border of Ohio and West Virginia. We were currently living in Raleigh, North Carolina, and I was excited about the opportunities available there to strengthen my musical theatre skills. Steubenville had no big theatres or performance centers. It had exactly one public high school. To say I was upset would be the biggest understatement of the century. However, my parents trusted this call and we moved.

My summer consisted of the following schedule: waking up, eating breakfast, deep cleaning our new house, ripping off wallpaper, painting everything in sight, eating dinner, and then going to bed. The next day was exactly the same. I was miserable, lonely, and couldn’t understand why God would isolate me from everyone and everything I loved. One day in Mass, I was asking God this question and begging for some kind of explanation. I looked up, and for the first time, noticed The Divine Mercy image on the church wall. Underneath it read, “Jesus, I trust in You.” I immediately started sobbing. It was as though Jesus touched my heart and reminded me that He was there, that He had not abandoned me, and that He had a plan.

The silence and the stillness are the hardest to get through. You wonder if the Lord is truly there, and if so, what the heck He is planning. I’ve been in a season of waiting for a long time and I often fail to see the fruit of my suffering. I fully trust that the Lord will bring all things together for my good, but how long must I wait, Lord? Looking back, God brought so many blessings from that move to Ohio. Because of that move, I was able to get a full tuition scholarship to my college and graduate with almost no student loan debt. Because of that move, I grew up in a community rooted in the Catholic faith and was exposed to amazing conferences and peers who were on fire for Christ. The Lord brought me to a slower, quieter town so that I could see Him clearly. He brought me away from what I thought was my dream, to a place where I would have even more of an opportunity to grow. I firmly believe that time molded me into the person I am today.

We are currently being forced to slow down, to stay in place, and to wait. We are in the quiet of our homes away from the hustle and bustle of the world. For many, that brings up extreme anxiety and uneasiness. We like to be in control, and there’s nothing wrong with having a plan and control over your schedule. But what if the Lord’s plan is greater? What if this brief wreck in our plans is exactly what we need to find the Lord again? To see Him clearly. To feel Him. Use this time of stillness and quiet to reconnect with your Father. He is desperately waiting for you to look up from your tasks and seek Him. 

I promise that if you search for Him, you will find Him. 

He is always here.