Eighth graders are terrifying. Even more terrifying: talking in front of 40 of them about your faith. Today my roommate and I spoke at a retreat meant to prepare the younger generation of the Church for confirmation. We spoke about how we live out our Catholic faith in our everyday lives as young adults.

We gave the talk in an elementary school library. All of the girls were sitting on the carpet with their brown paper bags rustling when we walked in—talk about intimidating. We could feel them eyeing us up and down. The leader gave us a brief introduction and then the floor was ours. How do you get through talking to young teens about God?

We began with a classic Hail Mary and then introduced ourselves—a pretty old fashioned start. Nonetheless, the Holy Spirit came upon us and all of the butterflies dispersed. Suddenly there was no longer fear, only the excitement of talking about something we love. We were there to help these kids get to know God better and build a relationship with Him, even when it seems like no one around us has one.We shared our experiences of finding friends when starting new schools, handling peer pressure, and living how God wanted me to. Together, we emphasized the importance of prayer and keeping God by our sides throughout the day—after all, it is trust in God that keeps us afloat. We made mistakes, stuttered, even rambled on, but the whole time we were speaking, we were simply doing God’s will. The little hiccups did not matter because we did what we wanted to do, spread God’s love.

“God works in mysterious ways.” We were asked to give this talk to a group of girls for their benefit but we left the retreat with a changed heart. We know God is always there for us but we never know when we will need him most. He sent the Holy Spirit to give us counsel and fortitude; two of the seven gifts those girls were preparing to receive. As much as we would love to put it into words for that group and even ourselves, the power of God’s grace, we find it indescribably perfect.

I am blessed with a roommate who I am able to talk to about faith. Even better, I was able to stand beside her and share our faith and relationship with God to a group of young girls.

Shout out to Theresa! You rock!