My present ministry is primarily to assist academically struggling student athletes. Many of these women and men have passion, dedication, and the necessary discipline for their sport, but struggle to transfer those qualities to the classroom. I see each student on a weekly basis and as might be expected their issues are often not just academic, but personal. The greatest signs of hope occur when students who were about to give up on their academic pursuits discover they have within themselves the ability to be successful in the classroom and proceed to reach the real goal, that of graduating from college.
One particular student has had a real impact on me. When we would meet, we would discuss not just how he was doing in each class, but issues of his personal life that were troubling him. I would conclude our meeting telling him that I would pray for him as he struggled with the issues.
The second week of March was the last time I saw him face to face due to the corona virus which now dictates that all interactions be done remotely online. At that last meeting, he asked me how he could pray each day since he never knew how to pray. He is Christian, not Catholic. So I urged him to begin each morning before he even got out of bed to be silent, asking God to be with him throughout the day and when he was in bed at night spend some few minutes again thanking God for helping see him throughout the day.
