Beth – Washington

I woke up one day and I was in a horrible, terrible mood.

I had my cell phone out. Suddenly, it turned on. I have some YouTube channels that I subscribe to, but there was this picture of the statue at Apparition Hill, and I wasn’t subscribed to that.

I thought, “That’s so beautiful.” Everything changed for me. I felt peaceful, and I wasn’t upset anymore. Suddenly this oasis of peace just hit me. 

Then I started to look into Medjugorje. I had heard about it a little bit before, but I hadn’t investigated it. 

I started to study my faith in a really big way. I listened to anything I could find on Medjugorje, but I really dove into my faith which was, at that time, such a big deal to me. Then I dragged everybody else into it. 

That’s how my daughter, my husband, and I came to be here.

We all get something out of it every single day. I even think when we get home we’ll still see effects and notice things.

It changes your practice, your walk with God. That’s something you just have to watch long term. It feels like it’s still unfolding because you start a dialogue in a different way with God and with Mary.

One of my favorite things to do when we got here was Apparition Hill. It was exactly the same feeling that I had the first time I saw it. Every time we get a free moment, I run up there, even though my knee is killing me. 

You can feel Mary in the air. It’s like a hug. You feel a hug. I don’t wake up in the morning the same person.

There’s just this sense of peace around me. Everybody has these miracles, but the greatest thing to me is that sense of peace. I’m lucky I can take that home. I have heard that if you relive a grace, if you remember it, you receive the grace all over again. I’m counting on that.

I would try to come with an openness to every experience. Allow yourself to experience being here without a lot of, “I have to see this.” Don’t treat it like Disneyland. Just come here. Go to Mass. Go to confession. Participate in the programs. You’ll notice the beauty if you just come. It’s all set up for you. You don’t even have to think that hard. It’ll hit you.