The Unseen Friend

If you were asked the question,

“When did you last see God”

how would you respond?

We’ve all been told God is always with us, but sometimes we have a difficult time finding Him.  We can’t see Him, but He walks with us through every step of our lives.  We can’t hear Him, but He speaks to us.  We can’t feel His hands or arms, but He embraces us with His love.

In our busy lives, it can be difficult to find God even though He is always there for us.  The purpose of ‘The Unseen Friend’ is to help everyone become more aware of God’s presence, not just in extraordinary ways, but in our everyday activities.  This is a chance for people to share their own personal experiences of how they encounter God in their own lives.  By sharing our own personal stories, we can help each other become more aware of God’s presence in our daily lives.

To Share A Story

 Stories can be as short as a sentence or two, or as long as you would like.

Write your story on a piece of paper and drop it off in the box labeled ‘The Unseen Friend’ located at each of the entrances of the church. 

Your story can be kept anonymous, if you’d prefer.

Stories will be shared in the bulletin.

Gratitude Journal

            Frequently in the Scriptures we hear the call to “give thanks always.”  Life is a gift from God, therefore all it contains is also a gift.  One tool to help us develop a thankful heart is a gratitude journal. 

        The purpose of the journal is for you to record how God is blessing you and those you love.  There are no hard and fast rules for keeping a gratitude journal.  You might want to begin your book by listing all your blessings.  Then as each day goes by you can add any special blessings that happened recently to your list.  At first I found it hard to find three blessings each day.  Now I find so many more blessings.

          Each time I pick up the journal I like to write “I thank you Jesus for...” then I just list my blessings.  At times you might want to write a prayer of thanksgiving.  Create the journal any way you wish.  There is research that reinforces that being thankful makes you a healthier person.

          It is my prayer you will find Christ’s peace growing deeper in your life with each passing day.

Personal Stories 

          When I arrived at Holy Trinity as the temporary administrator, I didn’t know if I should apply for the position of Pastor, so I prayed for guidance.  Each time I prayed I received no answer.  My friend Melissa reminded me of the many times I preached about trusting in the Holy Spirit.  Then she said “Why not submit your name and let the Holy Spirit decide.”  I did submit my name and the Holy Spirit made the choice through the priest personnel board.

                                                                                                            Father David

 

          As I was preparing to leave for New Jersey for my aunt’s funeral, I prayed to St. Therese of Lisieux for help.  Many times when she intercedes for a person she sends a rose.  From the very beginning of my trip to my return to Holy Trinity roses in many forms crossed my path.  Even at one moment I felt her standing next to me.  Thank God for His love shown to me by St. Therese.

                                                                                       Father David

 

Angels on the Highway 

            I drive about 30 minutes to work every day along the thruway.  Living in WNY, winter mornings can be treacherous to say the least.  Driving in the dark with snow covered roads and white out conditions, it is often difficult to find the road.  Yet there always seems to be a tractor trailer for me to follow who’s not going too fast for me to keep up with.  I am able to follow the tracks he makes and watch his taillights which help me to find the road.  I like to think of these drivers as angels.  I’m sure they’re not the typical angel with wings and a halo, but to me they are an angel safely helping me drive to work.  As I pull off my exit ramp, I say a prayer for the driver thanking him for helping me and hoping he has a safe ride the rest of his way. 

                                                                                                            Anonymous

             It sounds so simple, and often times the most important things in life are, but I find I am closest to God when I offer up my hectic schedule and disappointments of the day to him.  He seems to know just what to do with them.  Every night I ask Him for courage and guidance and He always rewards me with a feeling of warmth and purpose.

                                                                                      Aaron

Ideas To Help Get You Started 

We’re not looking for only ‘amazing’ experiences, but even more important are the simple everyday blessings.

Finding or receiving forgiveness

Healing a hurt that you thought would never heal

Being able to find the good in something that seems only bad

Realizing that even though something didn’t work out the way you prayed it would, God blessed you with what you needed

A person helps you out unexpectedly

While facing a challenge or fear you were able to find the strength to overcome the obstacle

Did you ever stop and think ‘Somebody is watching over me’

B

You can use the following space to submit your own story to share. 

Feel free to use additional sheets of paper which can be found in the entrances of the church.