On a windy day, this teen found herself dumped into the ocean when her sailboat capsized. She’d never been able to right a boat by herself before. What would make the difference this time?
I continued to panic and felt trapped, knowing that if the car ran out of gas, it wouldn’t be long before I would be in dire straits. I was so shaken that I figuratively threw my hands in the air and asked God, “Now what do I do?”
In those moments of feeling God’s presence, of feeling the vastness of divine Love, the unstoppability of Life, the stages of grief seemed to evaporate like a mist when the sun shines through.
Moment by moment, I listened quietly to God’s messages of love. It was a yielding, a letting go of human struggling and striving, but not in a fatalistic way. It was more like handing the problem over to a loving parent.
If I feel as if I’ve lost my joy, I go looking for it! And I keep searching until I find it. I pray about joy, for myself and for the world. Joy comes from knowing God, loving God, and being grateful for God’s love for all.
After he became a teenager, this author began to dislike attending Sunday School and didn’t want to go back. But it was more than a shift in class dynamics that changed his attitude; it was a spiritual breakthrough.