This has been my prayer since January 1st.
Last year was marked by loss, personal affliction, financial strain, and anxiety attacks. I was losing myself, until one powerful moment at the Eucharistic Congress. In reconciliation, my confessor told me to face Jesus in the boat. (You can revisit that reflection in last year’s blog post, “In the Boat.”)
It took the rest of the year for the waters to settle and for me to find my footing again. So, on January 1st, my favorite day of the month, I resolved to seek God’s presence daily. I asked to see Him, or at least hear about His nearness, as a reminder of what He can do and how deeply He cares.
And He has answered, through stories of others, small moments of grace, and personal encounters I can’t explain away.
This year hasn’t been easier. I didn’t wash up on a calm beach after last year’s hurricane (figurative and literal). The seas are still rough. But I no longer feel like the sick passenger holding on for dear life. Now, I’m at the helm, with Jesus beside me, riding each wave as it comes.
Maybe this resonates with you. We’re halfway through the year, and this is often when major life shifts hit: a new job, a move, a baby, a loss, or a diagnosis that turns everything upside down.
Change, whether good or hard, almost always arrives with some fear. What helps me stay grounded is remembering this truth:
This day has already been written. God knows how it ends.
And I cling to His promise in Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you… plans to give you a hope and a future.”
That promise helps me surrender control, trust the course, and keep showing up, one wave at a time, with Christ at my side.
