I collected stories about how faith kept people moving forward and put them together as a devotional for this Lenten season.
You can download the entire devotional here:
https://www.mosaicpearland.org/s/lent.pdf

From D’Anne Neal

I have faced numerous struggles and tragedies in my life and most of them I faced alone. I say “alone” because that is how I felt. That is until I let God into my life. As I have gotten older, the tragedies in my life have not stopped. However, my perspective of those events has made it easier to handle whatever happens. God wants us to trust God, have faith in God and appreciate God’s works. God has provided so many gifts that we over look on a day-to-day basis. Something that I have become more aware of is the beauty in nature. Going on walks in the neighborhood and seeing wild rabbits, opossums, squirrels and flowers. The uniqueness of everything I see, just by opening my mind, is incredible. Someone once said, “What you see depends not only on what you look at, but also where you look from”.

For me, I constantly try to look from an open mind, not just from my eyes seeing things around me. For example, the rabbit and the opossum. Many people would see varmints that tear up gardens. I look at them and see that God has created so many unique and wonderful things. There are millions of things in our world, and each is uniquely different. Have you ever thought about the unique things around you?

It’s incredible what God has created! I also use this perspective to address day to day concerns as well.  For example, instead of saying I don’t want to get out of bed today, I say let me see what wonderful things God is bringing to my life today.

I am not perfect, and notably there are days where I don’t succeed. There are days that I fail miserably, but God already knows that I am not perfect. God just asks that I try my best to lead the life God has given to me. So, on those days where I struggle and fail, I ask God for forgiveness, and I ask God to give me guidance so that I will continue to do God’s will. Each day I grow stronger in faith I feel less alone. I know that if I trust God, God will keep me moving forward, closer to the plan God has for my life and closer to God.