Tonight was such a special and emotional night.  My family and I were honored to be a part of a special day for one of our pastors and his family as the adoption of their son became final.  The adoption had been a lengthy battle and after several delays today it was finalized shortly after 5:00pm.  We all gathered at the church to celebrate this joyous day with our pastor, his family and our church family.  Everyone took time from their busy week to gather and celebrate.  We prayed, we ate, we laughed and we cried.  Our pastor and his wife had been through so much over a period of 19 months and today it was finally all over and they could take their precious little boy home.  We all stood behind them in faith believing for this adoption, planning for a celebration before we even knew if it would actually take place.  God tells us to stand in faith believing and trusting in Him.  Sometimes when times get difficult and things just don’t go our way it’s easy to sit and wonder if God is even listening.  Someone dear to me was also going through a difficult time and this week he would know what his future would hold.  I spoke with him and the one thing I said to him he couldn’t believe.  I asked him, “Do you feel like you pray all the time and things just don’t change?  You keep making the same mistakes over and over.  Your life doesn’t get any better and you feel like God just isn’t listening to you because if he was he would do something?”  He couldn’t believe I had hit the nail on the head.  He said, “It’s true.  I don’t understand why?”  Sometimes things don’t go as we want.  We make mistakes, which is human of us.  But sometimes when we are faced with a difficult situation, a pain from the past, a trial that feels unbearable, we seek God and we pray and pray but nothing happens.  The trials get greater.  When you seek God in prayer, are you simply asking out of desperation still trying to handle it all yourself or are you asking him with a whole heart ready to give it all to him 100%?  God hears every prayer.  He knows your thoughts and your heart.  When our pastor was going through these difficult months of challenging trials and attacks he didn’t just give up.  He reached out to God even more giving it ALL to Him, trusting that God would do what was best for his son and him and his family.  As I’ve been walking in my journey with God I’ve come to learn to trust God wholeheartedly giving it ALL to him…not 80%, not 90% but 100% of my trust in Him.  When my days get tough, like most days lately at work, I worship God even more each day, I reach out to Him more, I grab onto his hand tight, I seek comfort and understanding from Him.  I don’t sit and question God “Why am I still here?”  “Why won’t you help me find another job?”   Instead I tell him to show me and guide me on the lessons he wants me to learn.  I trust that in due time He will place me where He feels I should be.  I look to God for inspiration and guidance in all I do now.  I finally came to my senses and realized that ONLY and I mean ONLY GOD can help me.  What looks like Mt. Everest to me is simply an ant hill to God.  He gets me through the toughest of days and lifts up my head when it feels like the world is crashing down around me.  God wants to lift you out of your current situation.  He wants you to trust in Him and allow him to handle what’s going on in your life today.  You have nothing to lose in trusting in God…only to gain.  So are you ready to let go and let God?

I pray that today marks the beginning of something amazing in your life.

Psst…God Loves You!

XOXO…Ileen

“Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”  Isaiah 41:10