God is here more than ever

Like many people, this year has been very tough for me and my family. My business took a severe downturn due to the economy, I tried several new jobs that didn't work out and I had to take some drastic measures in regards to my finances. I also applied for over 100 other jobs and got one phone interview that never we nt any further. All this 4 years after I lost my wife to cancer and became a single father to our 9 children. Enough already. How can one person take so much?

I'll tell you how - prayer. When I left the insurance company I was working for this past July because I hated the job, I decided that I would dedicate full time hours to my job search. I also decided that it was time to step up my prayer life. I knew the odds were against me with the economy the way it was and I knew that God was the only one who could help me get a job.

Like any good Catholic I've always "said my prayers." A couple of Our Fathers, a couple of Hail Mary's and a couple of Glory Be's and I was good to go. Throw in an Act of Contrition for some extra protection and I had it made. But these past few years I've been thirsting for more. More of what I wasn't sure. I just knew that my relationship with God was ok. Not great, just ok. I knew I could do better.

As I began my job search full time, I dedicated daily times to prayer. I would begin my morning with the daily Mass readings and then read from a little book called Challenge 2000 based on the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius. I'd also read from a daily book called Jesus Calling. Then during the day I'd pray daily prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours and I'd close the day in bed praying the night prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours. Occasionally I'd say the Rosary while walking or exercising but mostly it was the other prayers. God began to make some changes in the way I thought about money and he really took away my constant worrying about it.

One night while I was on the phone with my sister she suggested that in addition to all the prayers I was saying that I do a Novena to St. Therese, The Little Flower. Her and my mom have had a lifelong devotion to her so she thought it would help me with my situation. My intention was to find a job. So I decided to do it. While praying the novena I felt so relaxed and connected to God.

A week after I finished the novena, on All Saints Day, I was having bagels and donuts with the kids after Sunday Mass, a weekly tradition in our house. I was looking out towards our pool and I saw something red through the white fence. I went out to see what it was and it was a beautiful rose that had started blooming - on November 1st, All Saints Day, in New Jersey no less! I couldn't believe it. I've prayed the novena before but never actually received any roses.

I ran inside to get my camera and started taking pictures of the rose bush from different directions and noticed that there were 4 other roses beginning to bloom as well. I took a close up shot of the biggest bulb and through the lens I couldn't believe what I saw. On the rose there were rain drops in the perfect form of a cross! (see picture) It was a double message that yes, God was listening to my prayers and as an extra blessing he placed the image of his Son's cross on the rose.

Many wonderful things have happened to me since then. The message I get from all this is that God is here more than ever. He's waiting to hear from me. He's waiting for me to reach out to him because if I do, he'll respond. He wants nothing more than to have a relationship with us. And your relationship won't be the same as mine because he meets us where we are and makes the relationship perfect for what we need at this moment in our lives. But we have to let go of the things in this world that overtake us and call on him and put our faith and trust in him and give him the time he deserves. Once we do that, and only when we do that will the bend in the road we've been waiting for arrive. God Bless!

Rich Vosler is a Certified Life Coach, Speaker and Author. He just published his first book "The Vosler's Nest: 45 Short Stories of Faith, Hope and Encouragement" about raising his 9 children with his wife and then as a single father after his wife passed away. You can learn more about Rich and his book through his website, www.RichVosler.com.