I have been reading and praying for the prayer requests made on the list. Yesterday I read some bits and pieces from some journals I have kept over the years. The journals I chose had some particularly hard times in them. As I read them a flood of memories of the emotions and the frustrations I experienced bore down on me and almost depressed me. But the thought came in the form of a song I used to sing at church:

I've had many tears and sorrows, I've questions for tomorrow;

There've been times I didn't know right from wrong,

But in ev'ry situation God gave blessed consolation

that my trials come to only make me strong.

I've been to lots of places And I've seen a lot of faces

There've been times I felt so all alone,

But in my lonely hours, yes those precious lonely hours

Jesus let me know that I was his own.

I thank God for the mountains And I thank Him for the valleys,

I thank Him for the storms He brought me through,

For if I'd never had a problem I wouldn't know that He could solve them,

I'd never know what faith in God could do.

Chorus:

Through It All

Oh I've learned to trust in Jesus

I've learned to trust in God,

Through It All

I've learned to depend upon His Word.

Oh, I've learned to depend upon His Word.

In 1995 I moved my family from Texas to Oklahoma. Now in Texas, I owned a home, I had a very good job and a very lucrative part-time job and several nursing home contracts as a social worker. I prayed and I felt God moving me to Oklahoma. It was such a clear command. Every time I threw out the "fleece", the answer came back to go.

I left my family, my home church, my work and my sphere of influence to take a job at a hospital that was run by a Christian organization. Little did I know they had sold the hospital to a private entity just before my move and it was not a Christian entity. My integrity, my credibility, my ethics, my faith, everything I was, was severely tested. On top of that a "mechanic" put the wrong power steering pump on my car and ruined everything under the hood! I was challenged in every part of my life - relationships, worship, faith. I endured very painful backstabbing from my new co-workers. My mother said that because of my move, the family back home fell apart. I was crushed and broken and was afraid maybe I had misunderstood God. And the hospital was downsizing and my job was phased out.

Matthew 14: 22-33 gave me my answer.

22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.

23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when the evening came, He was alone there.

24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.

26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear.

27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying , "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid."

28 And Peter answered Him and said, Lord if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."

29 So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.

30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"

31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God."

Notice that Jesus sent the disciples out and then the storm came up. He knew they were going into a storm. He is the Son of God. He sent them out anyway.

He didn't stop the storm even as approached the boat. He beckoned to Peter to join Him in his stroll on the stormy sea. Peter's faith failed Him just as mine did me. Jesus looks at us and says again "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?

Then when He gets on the boat the storm ceases. The story ends with those who were in that boat in the storm praised and worshiped Him. That is what He expects of me even when I am in the storms of live. He expects me to give Him praise and worship. He expects me to acknowledge Him as the Son of the Living God.

The last verse of the song has always been difficult for me but He expects us to thank Him for the mountains and for the valleys of life. He wants us to thank Him for the storms of life. These are the things that strengthen our faith.

Another thing to note when you are on a mountaintop the view is splendid but what do you see from that mountaintop. I look about me and the trees are twisted and gnarled from the winds and the weather. The mountaintop is pretty barren and stony. But if I look at the view, it is of the valleys. The valleys are full of growth. That is where I grow. I grow when I am in the valley and experiencing life and all of its storms and troubles. That is where I grow and bloom and that is where my witness is.