My prayer life is in shambles, I just broke my confirmation necklace and my room is a mess. I always knew that keeping my faith strong in college was going to be difficult, but these past two weeks have taken it to a whole new level. I started off my semester in a really great place after working at my church all summer and doing an awesome Bible study every night before I went to bed. I went to the local United Methodist Church without fail every Sunday morning and I attempted to meditate on the sermon well as I could. Fast-forward nine weeks and all of that has gone down the drain.

I’m writing this article as a way to put off doing my statistics homework as I try to stay awake after another night of staying up until midnight and falling asleep without praying. I’m rushing around attempting to manage relationships, schoolwork, and work without taking any time for God. This is a season of my life where I am straying away from God big time. I’m ashamed to admit it to the public who I seemed to have fooled into thinking I have my life under control, but it’s true.

If the “Footprints” poem were about me, you wouldn’t see one set of footprints where God was carrying me. You would see a set of footprints accompanied by two trenches where God dragged me (patiently and lovingly) to my purpose while I tried to stray and do literally anything but listen to Him. Even in this time of stress I can see God working miracles in my life. Incredibly supportive friends, amazingly patient teachers and a family who never gives up on me surround me and lift me up. God put all of these incredible people in my life and shows His perfect love for me shines through them every minute of my life.

If you feel like you’re going through a similar season in your spiritual life, take heart. God knows what you’re going through and has promised to love you fiercely through it all. Romans 8:26-28 in The Message version of the Bible reminds us that “the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.” Just come to God with an honest heart and an open mind and talk to Him. Your problems and stresses won’t go away immediately, but your eyes will be set on the God of love rather than a world full of expectations and stress. I’m praying for you bud. We’ll make it through this rough patch with the help of some crazy miracles and insane patience from the God who loves us more than we can comprehend.