That August 2023 day, the heat was relentless at the construction site where Zach Hill was working. On a job that was already behind schedule, he came up against another obstacle: the scissor lift he needed would not gain traction on the sandy ground.
Frustrated, Zach found himself on his knees praying, after nearly 20 years away from a life of faith.
“I don’t know what came over me, but it was the choice I made right then,” Hill said. “I took a little while to express gratitude to God.”
When he stood up, it started raining and Zach couldn’t help but laugh.
“It came down hard for a few minutes and fixed my attitude entirely,” he said.
When he got back on the scissor lift, Hill discovered the shower made the sand cohesive enough to complete the job.
“Everything changed after that and the project went as well as it could,” he recalled.
Shortly after that day, Hill brought his wife Rebecca with him to church.
“We have been deep in it since,” he said. “We try to get involved as much as we can.”
The couple has made Sacred Heart in Staples their parish home. On Feb. 2, during the Sunday liturgy, Zach received the sacrament of confirmation. The couple also had their marriage convalidated, which is a process that a couple can work through to have their civil marriage recognized as a valid sacrament in the Church.
Zach was raised Catholic. He has memories of being really interested in the Church and saving his allowance money for the offering basket.
“I was really enthusiastic about church when I was younger,” he said. “But soon my family didn’t engage with [faith] in the same way and, over time, it became a chore.”
He said his family became “Christmas Catholics.” Although he attended confirmation classes at around 16, he remembers being put off by what he now considers “petty stuff.”
Zach went on to get degrees in criminal justice, small engines and construction management. He also served in the Army. After being deployed to Afghanistan, he worked in a series of jobs including small-arms technician overseas and project manager in the oil fields of North Dakota.
His path took him on some rough turns. He experienced anger, often “cussed up a storm” and was drinking six days a week. He also went through a marriage and divorce, before meeting Rebecca in 2011. Despite a multitude of opportunities, he never ended up getting into serious trouble.
“I dragged a lot of people down with me, and I put some people on bad paths,” he said. “I was the worst.”
But that all changed the day he found himself on his knees on the construction site and that’s when Zach went right to work in finding a faith community. He first followed up on a recommendation from a co-worker and began attending services and Bible studies at a local Christian church.
But he felt something was still missing.
“When we went back to church, I really wanted to go to confession and wanted to receive the Eucharist,” Zach said. “A lot of things about the liturgy and the Mass are very important, and you can’t replace it.”
Zach attended OCIA classes, the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, at Mary, Mother of the Church Area Catholic Community to prepare for the sacrament of confirmation. He and Rebecca worked through the annulment process with the diocesan tribunal office, and along with their children, are finding ways to become immersed in their faith community.
“[Our marriage] is legitimate in the eyes of the Church now, and that is important to us,” Zach said. “We are excited.”
Zach said that he spent a lot of his life “looking for something better.”
“I didn’t realize how lost I was,” he said. “God grabbed me right up by the shirt [that day on the construction site] and said, ‘Now it’s time.’”
His “something better”? A relationship with God and a place in the Church.
“It’s the most important thing in my life,” he said.
For additional marriage resources and/or to learn more about consolidation, visit foryourmarriage/org or talk with a parish priest.