Peter began to say to him, “We have given up everything and followed you.” // Mark 10:28 Sitting in a dimly lit room, only two little candles illuminated the little monstrance holding Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. With praise and worship being sung in the back of the room, the dark room held the voices of young adults singing of the Lord’s goodness. With my journal and favorite pen in hand, I was also singing, but experienced a shift in my heart. I couldn’t help but stare at the blue wall off to the side with open curtains leaving way for the night’s moon to shine. Even as I sang beautiful songs of praise to Jesus, that shift opened me up to the realization that, like the disciples, I doubted the Lord’s rewards for me, His view of me, even as I was singing His praises. I doubted His ability to bring truth, beauty, and goodness into the garden of my heart as I walked in what seemed like a desert. I doubted that He was a good Father Who gives good gifts to His beloveds. I doubted my daughterhood in light of His Fatherhood. Isn’t that how we approach prayer at times? We like to sing these songs or pray certain prayers to fit in with the crowd or because they are second-nature or simply out of habit. Yet, in the crevices of our hearts, we still doubt the Lord’s goodness in our own life. Allow Him to soften those areas of doubt in your heart. Let Him convict you of truth that He is a Good Father Who desires nothing but truth, goodness, and beauty for your life. Allow God the Father to father you and show you what true daughterhood looks like, allow God the Son to show you how to live out your daughterhood, and allow God the Holy Spirit to give you the grace to be able to live as His daughter with the tender guide of Our Lady. Ask the Lord to give you the faith to give up everything.

But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed. // 2 Timothy 4:17 Walking across a dark campus following my evening class, I walked into the student union’s courtyard for fellowship hour before a praise and worship night as nervous as a college freshman would be frantically trying to recognize someone. While trying to catch my breath after hauling around my oversized backpack, I slipped into one of the chairs in the back while pulling out my phone making sure I wasn’t late to avoid any stares as I tried to find a seat. Between navigating classes and trying to find good community at a new campus, I was exhausted, ready to zip myself back into my little bubble. Maybe tonight I’ll meet someone who gets me? As unsure as I was to keep coming back because of the bubble I had enclosed myself in, I kept trying. And I did get to know some of the FOCUS missionaries and other students on my campus who invited me to not only be part of their wonderful community, but also to a deeper and more intimate prayer life, the very lifeline of my relationship with the Lord. I have felt a change in what I actually want in life, a new desire to bring about the glory of God so “the proclamation might be completed” through my witness to His Kingdom. The vocation of a student is hard, and finding Christ in the ordinary moments of student life can seem even harder. Yet, the Lord was guiding my every step, He continued to pave the way before me and used this Catholic ministry on my campus to teach me how to make my vocation as a student an offering to Him and proclamation of His Belovedness to everyone I encounter on campus. Today’s reading invites us to make our current season/vocation an offering to Him to proclaim His goodness and glory in its fullness. No matter how ordinary our daily tasks may seem, the Lord squeezes every last drop to use it for our good and His glory. Offer your everything to Him and keep saying yes to Him, sweet sister. Be assured that He is using all that you give Him so the “proclamation might be completed” through your current calling to build up His Kingdom. Fiat, my Jesus. [bctt tweet="He is using all that you give. // Jacky Hernandez" username="blessedisshe__"] listen to today’s devotion