Religion was not always my favorite thing. Growing up I was apart of youth ministry, I eventually got confirmed, and I try to make it to mass at least once a month (I promise you’ll see me there on Christmas or Easter). I definitely appreciate my faith, but I would never go as far to say that I make it a priority in my life. I wish I could but I can’t say my morals, values, and decisions rely heavily on being “catholic”.

I was not forced to pursue the confirmation process, but like most 16 year olds, I felt a bit of obligation behind it. I knew my parents hoped I would, but they truly made the effort to point out the fact that this was my decision.

Now, unfortunately I am not here to tell you about some life-changing, religious experience that I have gone through. As any normal human being, I have largely questioned my religious beliefs. How could we not? We live in a society where everything is so empirically based, sometimes the concept of religion seems arbitrary or—dare I even say it—impossible.

However, there have been countless (modest) experiences I’ve had, stories I’ve heard, and blessings in my life that tend to help fuel my spiritual fire. But, there is one particular saying about God that has allowed my confidence to remain strong.

How many times have you prayed and prayed and prayed for something, and you feel like you’re there, all alone, simply talking to yourself? No matter how hard you pray for a new car, to ace the test, or for your parents to stop fighting—you feel like no one is listening. It becomes easy to blame God, even resent Him for your unhappiness. But here is what I’ve been told the process is:

God has three answers to any prayer:

“Yes”

“Not now”

Or “I have something better in mind”

Notice the lack of the term “no”. If you’re religious, you have to remember that of course God is listening to you, of course He wants you to be happy! The tricky part is on us: being patient and having trust.

I may sound completely ridiculous to some—especially those of the non-religious backgrounds. The main message here that I’m trying to convey is that resentment is easy; trust and faith are hard. Can I justify the reason for why your boyfriend broke up with you for your best friend, or why your grandpa got sick suddenly and left this earth far too quickly? Absolutely not. I just hope to spread some of my humble wisdom on anyone who has questioned the events they have experienced.

I try to thank God every day for all of my blessings—and even some of my hard ships. I trust that He has a plan for me. It may not necessarily be what I want for myself, but constantly trying to figure out the reasoning behind it all would surely drive me to the brink of insanity.

Religious or not, practicing faith, trust, and gratitude are important for anything in life.

Just keep on prayin’.