Music really inspires me and often times speaks to my heart about God. No matter what mood I’m in, I can always find a song that matches it or makes me feel better. My sister recently introduced me to a song written by a guy named Kevin Heider who also went to Franciscan University and spent a semester abroad in Austria like many students do. The song is called “God in Austria”. The song basically sums up his experience of the semester and how he found God in Austria. It’s ironic how we can find God in so many different experiences and places in our lives. I can definitely relate to the song because even though I found God in my family and my parish, I feel as though I found Him all over again when I went to Austria. Every year after that semester, I’ve found Him everywhere I’ve gone. For me, it’s like falling in love all over again!
This past week I fell in love all over again…again! The beginning of the week was kind of a struggle for me. My patience was tested by the smallest of things at work, with people but mostly with myself. I found myself at work one night thinking about how crazy my life seemed at that moment when a co-worker approached me and asked if I was ok. He said I had a very intense look on my face. I immediately got more upset with myself because I didn’t realize how much I was allowing all of these little things to well up within me. I realized that my co-worker having to ask me that question meant I was dwelling on them way too much! I took a few minutes, said some prayers and simply asked God to speak to my heart. I needed to understand what was going on within me and why I felt as though I was struggling so much.
As humans created by Love, we’re constantly searching for and seeking out Love. I realized that I’m only receiving that which I had prayed for. I am constantly asking God to teach me patience and different ways to love Him and other people. How will I ever learn these things if I do not have the opportunity to actually do them? Praying for these gifts is a constant searching for more of God in our lives, and God answers by placing Himself in the simplest of things, in everyday activities that we all so often overlook. My job entails dealing with a lot of different aircraft parts, from the huge nose cones that go on the front of the plane to the tiniest of screws. One night this past week I had to hand count over 750 tiny screws. However, it was not one order for 750 screws. It was order ticket after order ticket of 150 screws. I quickly grew irritated by what seemed to be a lack of organization. I mean, if you needed 750 screws, why not just order 750 screws right away, right? By the time I picked out the last 150 screws and sent them to the mechanics who needed them, I let out a sigh and a “Praise God that’s over!” As I was praying about my annoyance with the continuous orders, it was almost as if God was showing me how my prayer is sometimes. I ask for something, get it, but don’t think so much of it and sometimes shrug it off just to turn around to ask for it again, not realizing that I’m missing the bigger picture. When we ask for a grace such as patience, God is going to give us a situation to exercise the patience He has given us. Most of the time, during the situation, I’m sweating it out wishing it to be over so that I don’t have to be patient anymore. Contrary to what I’ve prayed for, right? I ask for different graces for different situations but not for every situation in my life. If I truly want to be a patient person, I must be patient in all situations, not just the most difficult. God was showing me that patience, love of God and of neighbor are not segregated but rather all encompassed in one another and are always needed! If I’m going to ask God to grant me the grace to love Him in a greater way, then I need to exercise my love for God in every thing that I do, whether spending time with my family, counting screws at work, playing Ultimate Frisbee with the teens at Church, etc.
Consequently, I have found God in counting screws and in the people around me. Consequently, I have fallen in love with God all over again because He has simply answered my prayers and given me the chance to find Him in the most common of places. No matter where you are in life I would like to challenge you to find God in your everyday activities, whether its driving through rush hour traffic with people cutting you off or living in an area where your faith isn’t really accepted. God is in all of these places, answering your prayers and attending to your every need!
Let us pray this week that we find God and fall more deeply in love with Him!
Written by Alycia
