Full disclosure: I never thought much about prayer before Farrah, Monica and I started this blog. Praying wasn’t something I did on a daily basis and I certainly didn’t openly talk about it. But, a change of events and a new job opportunity has made me reflect on the power of prayer.
When I was in Madrid this past summer covering World Youth Day and went to confession for the first time in 10 years, the priest told me I should pray every day and talk to God as if he was a friend. I had trouble doing this at first as my prayers and thoughts in my head would ramble. So, I decided to write them down instead and found this to make more sense.
Going to church each week made it easier to pray and reflect and though I often prayed I felt weird asking for things. I didn’t want to be selfish when so many people were worse off than me, even though it became clear that I needed a new job or to take on more freelance work to remain living in Brooklyn.
After talking with a friend, she stressed that its not wrong to ask for something. Two church services further contributed to that idea when the takeaways that left the biggest impact on me were “Ask and you shall receive” and “Make your requests known.”
So I prayed and asked for my second New Years resolution — a full time job in music. Maybe the stars all aligned, or I was in the right place at the right time, but I’m fairly certain countless prayers had something to do with it.
After receiving and accepting a full time job offer in music I was overwhelmed by the response from everyone around me. My dad said every time he passed a cemetery he’d pray for me, my aunt and her prayer group prayed for me when my mom told her about my first interview and all my friends and cousins showered me with endless support and confidence. Overall, I had no idea how much those that loved me were rooting for me and once I learned I was humbled and overwhelmed with gratefulness.
Despite countless obstacles over the years and the constant inner questioning of why music journalism was so important to me that I refused to give it up, all my hard work finally paid off. The excitement and relief that I felt once I received that job offer was overwhelming.
As I sit here in Brooklyn while Elvis Presley, Backstreet Boys and Switchfoot shuffle on my iPod, all artists that had a major impact in my life as a music lover, I’m thankful that I followed my bliss and found a way to make my passion for music and writing work. While my path has definitely zig-zagged over the years, I’m more certain than ever that with a little hard work and a lot of prayers God allows things to work out even better than we may have imagined.
