As a person of faith I see God’s presence in many things throughout my daily life. However, if I am not feeling my best and not actively seeking out God’s presence, it can be harder to spot. I think this difficulty is familiar to most people of faith. Even though hard times can prove seeing and feeling God’s presence to be challenging, it’s nowhere near impossible, and I have experienced this perseverance first hand.
The most recent and impactful experience has been moving here to Glencoe. Moving here after years of memories I made in Indiana was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. Transferring to a new school without knowing anyone in the beginning of the hardest year in high school has been by far one of the hardest transitions I’ve faced. Knowing no one and knowing very little about Glencoe and my new school, I was obviously bound to face challenges.
Sitting in classes full of unfamiliar faces, learning new rules, and the worst part, wearing a uniform, has been by far the hardest challenge for me so far in this new stage of my life. The school year is almost over now and things have become much better, but the beginning was definitely a hard time to see the good and find God’s presence in this new space, that doesn’t mean it never happened though. Being the only junior in a class full of freshmen was definitely not the place I thought I would find God’s presence, but miracles happen. A girl who was also in my math class came up to me with tons of energy ready to ask why I’m a junior in a freshman physics class. Talking to new people isn’t exactly my forte, but she didn’t seem to notice or care. We now talk almost every day and I’ve made some great memories with her throughout the year. I believe God’s presence was shown through her small act of coming up to me on that first day of class. She had no clue who I was and yet that didn’t stop her from talking to me. I was nervous and confused but she came in like a ray of light and has continued to shine. The shining energy she exudes is a beautiful example of God’s presence being shone through even in the most vulnerable and scary of times.
-Evey Crews