Today I was thinking on a song I listened to the other night talking about how the "Lord is gonna give you rest" and then it went on to say "hold on my brother, don't give up the fight, hold on my sister, weeping may endure for a moment but joy is coming in the morning....the Lord is gonna give you rest hang on."

I remember the first time I heard this song. It was a few years back. Chad and I were newly married. No kids, no financial issues, we both worked, for the most part we didn't have a whole lot of problems. And I loved that song back in the day. Well as I listened to it this week, it just hit me like a brick.....that song means something to me today that it didn't years ago. This is a simple observation and truth, yet for me an amazing one. Because I have had to rely heavily on the Lord the last few years. There have been things I have dealt with I never thought I would. I have had to hang on and hold on. But I have seen God come and give the spiritual and physical rest that I needed for the moment.

I said all of that to say this....I am thankful for every hard place. Not only because I have seen the faithfulness of God, but because those hard places build endurance, perseverance, experience and a trust in God that could not come about any other way! But I can be a living example of God's keeping power and faithfulness through trials and share that with others! And it also brings about a testimony and a reason to look back on my life and say "IN everything I will give the Lord Praise!!!!"