She had lost everything. Her hopes. Her dreams.

It all vanished as the doctors told her a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) had ended her gymnastics career.

Natalie Nelson proceeded to her car, sat down and cried. It was then that she looked up and saw a comforting sign, the only thing that she felt could help her get through this — a cross painted outside on a wall. Her car was facing it. Nelson knew this was no coincidence. In Nelson’s time of need, she felt that her God was present to comfort her. That was the first time she felt his presence.

Religious experiences take many different shapes and forms for different individuals, but they all create a stronger connection between the person and their god.

Nelson, a Lutheran Christian, had always been religious. The sophomore in kinesiology and health attended church on Sundays at Lutheran Church of Hope in Des Moines. She is a member of SALT at Iowa State and prays regularly.

The moment in the car while she was in high school was different from any other moment, she said. 

“It was just the worst part of my life at that point,” Nelson said. “I saw that cross and I thought God was going to be with me like he had been in the past.”

At first it was a comforting symbol and then it became more.

“I was like, well, it’s probably not a coincidence that I happened to park my car at this exact point on this certain visit to the hospital,” Nelson said.

While Nelson’s first religious experience happened while she was in high school, some people experience them at a much younger age.

Elizabeth Garzon, senior in global resource systems, had always gone to a Catholic school. Garzon was at a church camp in the seventh grade when her group split off for an hour of reflection and prayer. She sat on the ground and proceeded to cry.

“It was just a realization,” Garzon said. “I felt a sense of warmth.”

For Garzon, the story of Jesus Christ was no longer just a story. It became something she believed.

“I was sort of meditating on the fact that someone actually died for me,” Garzon said. “I think that is why I was so emotional. … It’s just a sense of worth.”

Hannah Adams, sophomore in elementary education, felt that same sense of worth when she became a camp counselor for Camp Wapo.

For two months, Camp Wapo, a Lutheran camp in Amery, Wisconsin, centered around Christ and Bible teachings. Adams wasn’t certain in her faith when she first started camp.

“I came into camp really cynical about God,” Adams said. “I had a really rough second semester. I just had a lot of hatred toward anything.”

Adams’ second semester of college was marked by anxiety and depression. She said she questioned where God was during all of this and felt like he had left her.

“I was a super insecure and really just an unhappy girl on the inside, and then I got [to camp],” Adams said. “The amount of love I experienced was just the craziest thing.”

For Adams, the most profound moment within her faith was seeing her God work through those children. She said that experience was when she realized his power. She said she could see the way God was present in those children’s lives.

There were moments throughout Adams’ time as a camp counselor when she felt her God’s presence. One time, in particular, a little girl came up to Adams, hugged her and told Adams that she was beautiful.

“I had talked to God maybe an hour earlier about my insecurities,” Adams said. “[It was] so out of the blue, but I had learned through camp that God was in the small moments.”

A similar moment happened when Adams was drawing crosses on the kids’ foreheads with water. Another little girl came up to Adams, dipped her hand in the water and drew a cross on Adams’ forehead.

“Nobody asked her to do that,” Adams said. “There are just moments where he is so present and you just see him working through the children.”

Adams said she felt overwhelmed in that moment.

“You see [God] answer your prayers through people,” Adams said. “He uses our hands to talk to others. I really saw that this summer.”

Nelson had also experienced a time when God worked through someone to answer a prayer.

Last August, Nelson’s grandmother was put in hospice care. Nelson said she knew that she needed to say goodbye to her grandmother.

“Right when I walked in there I just started crying,” Nelson said. “It was hard for me to look at her. I just knew it was my last time to see her.”

Nelson said she wasn’t sure whether she should say her goodbyes because she didn’t want to freak out her grandmother, but this was the only time she had.

“This big weight — something pressing on me — said that this was your time to say goodbye,” Nelson said.

Nelson told her grandmother she loved her. She turned around just before she left and rushed back over to her grandma.

“She couldn’t make a fist,” Nelson said. “She was just so weak. But when I was telling her, ‘I love you grandma, I have to go,’ she grabbed my arm. She squeezed it. It was the coolest moment of my life.”

That was so significant for Nelson because her grandmother was brittle. She couldn’t speak or move.

“She hadn’t been able to hold anything, but then she had God give her that strength to connect with me one last time,” Nelson said.

Moments like that reinforced Nelson’s belief, she said. While people may not have a constant feeling of presence, Garzon said that the feeling of inconsistency is to be expected. 

“I think that is what faith is,” Garzon said. “You just have to believe that he is there.”