by Grant Hawkins
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As I’ve mentioned in earlier blog posts, I went on a Mission trip in Toledo for the Catholic Heart Work Camp. On the trip there was a big room that everyone met up in. This was the room that we met in the morning for mass and in the evening for various activities. One night the activity was Eucharistic Adoration. Other nights consisted of various skits, games, and a dance rave party. But Adoration stuck out to me.
They passed out rosaries and had many priests hearing confessions. The most interesting thing they had was stations set up everywhere. The stations had adults sitting down that you could go over and talk to you. Most of the time I sat in my chair with a rosary and didn’t move. I thought that I wasn’t talking/listening to God very well, so I searched for Matt, my Youth Minister. After failing to find him with repeated scans over the crowd I figured I’d just stay put. Everyone else in my row had left so I was literally all alone. I still felt on edge and uncomfortable (maybe it was just the plastic chair) so I looked once more for Matt. No, I didn’t find him but I did find my friend. She, too, was all alone. I thought I would go over and ask her if she’d help me find Matt. I walked over and asked her and she looked at me strangely. I asked what was wrong and she turned and pointed to Matt who was not 10 feet behind her. No one was talking to him but for some reason I couldn’t walk over and talk to him. So I just sat down next to her. She asked me what was wrong and I gave her a blank look. I talked to her for maybe 5 minutes and then more people asked to join us. Eventually we were surrounded by 4 more people. We were all silently praying and she finally got fed up and basically dragged me towards Matt. I sat down next to Matt and he asked me what I wanted to pray/talk about. I told him I wanted to learn how to have a conversation with God. And immediately I just fell apart. I didn’t know what to say to Matt I just sat there listening to him speak. At the end of this I sat back down in my plastic chair and talked to God. This time it felt good.
After this experience I realized it’s so much easier doing something with someone by your side. When it comes to your relationship with God it’s like that, you can’t go at it alone. With the help of others it’s so much easier. Although it may seem that God is far away He’s always there in the people around you. If you need reassurance of this: every time I say “Matt” or refer to Matt in the story replace it with God. Try it:
They passed out rosaries and had many priests hearing confessions. The most interesting thing they had was stations set up everywhere. The stations had adults sitting down that you could go over and talk to you. Most of the time I sat in my chair with a rosary and didn’t move. I thought that I wasn’t talking/listening to God very well, so I searched for God. After failing to find him with repeated scans over the crowd I figured I’d just stay put. Everyone else in my row had left so I was literally all alone. I still felt on edge and uncomfortable (maybe it was just the plastic chair) so I looked once more for God. No, I didn’t find him but I did find my friend. She, too, was all alone. I thought I would go over and ask her if she’d help me find God. I walked over and asked her and she looked at me strangely. I asked what was wrong and she turned and pointed to God who was not 10 feet away. No one was talking to him but for some reason I couldn’t walk over and talk to him. So I just sat down next to her. She asked me what was wrong and I gave her a blank look. I talked to her for maybe 5 minutes and then more people asked to join us. Eventually we were surrounded by 4 more people. We were all silently praying and she finally got fed up and basically dragged me towards God. I sat down next to God and he asked me what I wanted to pray/talk about. I told him I wanted to learn how to have a conversation with Him. And immediately I just fell apart. I didn’t know what to say to God I just sat there listening to him speak.
Although it may seem hard to find God in everyday life he’s always right next to you.
They passed out rosaries and had many priests hearing confessions. The most interesting thing they had was stations set up everywhere. The stations had adults sitting down that you could go over and talk to you. Most of the time I sat in my chair with a rosary and didn’t move. I thought that I wasn’t talking/listening to God very well, so I searched for Matt, my Youth Minister. After failing to find him with repeated scans over the crowd I figured I’d just stay put. Everyone else in my row had left so I was literally all alone. I still felt on edge and uncomfortable (maybe it was just the plastic chair) so I looked once more for Matt. No, I didn’t find him but I did find my friend. She, too, was all alone. I thought I would go over and ask her if she’d help me find Matt. I walked over and asked her and she looked at me strangely. I asked what was wrong and she turned and pointed to Matt who was not 10 feet behind her. No one was talking to him but for some reason I couldn’t walk over and talk to him. So I just sat down next to her. She asked me what was wrong and I gave her a blank look. I talked to her for maybe 5 minutes and then more people asked to join us. Eventually we were surrounded by 4 more people. We were all silently praying and she finally got fed up and basically dragged me towards Matt. I sat down next to Matt and he asked me what I wanted to pray/talk about. I told him I wanted to learn how to have a conversation with God. And immediately I just fell apart. I didn’t know what to say to Matt I just sat there listening to him speak. At the end of this I sat back down in my plastic chair and talked to God. This time it felt good.
After this experience I realized it’s so much easier doing something with someone by your side. When it comes to your relationship with God it’s like that, you can’t go at it alone. With the help of others it’s so much easier. Although it may seem that God is far away He’s always there in the people around you. If you need reassurance of this: every time I say “Matt” or refer to Matt in the story replace it with God. Try it:
They passed out rosaries and had many priests hearing confessions. The most interesting thing they had was stations set up everywhere. The stations had adults sitting down that you could go over and talk to you. Most of the time I sat in my chair with a rosary and didn’t move. I thought that I wasn’t talking/listening to God very well, so I searched for God. After failing to find him with repeated scans over the crowd I figured I’d just stay put. Everyone else in my row had left so I was literally all alone. I still felt on edge and uncomfortable (maybe it was just the plastic chair) so I looked once more for God. No, I didn’t find him but I did find my friend. She, too, was all alone. I thought I would go over and ask her if she’d help me find God. I walked over and asked her and she looked at me strangely. I asked what was wrong and she turned and pointed to God who was not 10 feet away. No one was talking to him but for some reason I couldn’t walk over and talk to him. So I just sat down next to her. She asked me what was wrong and I gave her a blank look. I talked to her for maybe 5 minutes and then more people asked to join us. Eventually we were surrounded by 4 more people. We were all silently praying and she finally got fed up and basically dragged me towards God. I sat down next to God and he asked me what I wanted to pray/talk about. I told him I wanted to learn how to have a conversation with Him. And immediately I just fell apart. I didn’t know what to say to God I just sat there listening to him speak.
Although it may seem hard to find God in everyday life he’s always right next to you.