The best moments of my life include discovering and marrying my wonderful wife Diane for sure. Only God could have brought such different people together and kept us together for so many years. Trusting in God through this has definitely made my faith stronger. I am not always easy to live with and seeing Diane not give up on me is truly a gift from God. In marriage, I got to see a different aspect of God that I had not seen before. Some would call it the “female” part that can only be seen in a close relationship with a woman. Diane is so godly and so Christ-like and seeing it helps me discover God in new ways. My faith continues to be enriched by her daily life, her witness to me, of what a good mother truly is, of what our heavenly Parent fully is with all of the characteristics of One who is father and mother to us all. I knew God as Father before I met Diane, even though I am growing in that knowledge as well, but being with her lets me see how God cares for us as a hen cares for her chicks. Diane is such a good Momma and that shows me that side of God.
Other best moments of my life include the births and lives of my delightful daughters. Watching them be born and then grow as infants, children, teens, and into womanhood has been such a wonder to me. My faith has grown stronger trying to teach them, love them, and model for them a good father. They both have made the job easy because of their respect and love for me. I hold onto God tightly as I want God to be at the center of their lives as well yet know it is a decision and lifestyle that only they can choose for themselves. I pray for them daily and am so glad for the times we are together and the memories we have made over the years and continue to make. They strengthen my faith as I hold onto God and let them fly on their own yet let them know that I am here for them always.
Then there are the worst moments in life. The times that I have failed God and felt so terrible that I did. The times that I have hurt the ones I love and the times that I have been hurt so badly by others. In these times my faith has been strengthened as I was driven closer to God because there was nowhere else to go.
In my times of failure, I have to admit that I didn’t feel right away that my faith got stronger. Usually, I felt like I was fighting through my failure and then realizing that I needed to trust God more. God was there for me but I was trying to deal with things on my own. Then when I wised up I asked God to forgive me for not calling on him for help right away and I told him that I needed him to see me through whatever it was. All of that took a while. There was no instant fix. Often I have been a slow learner. I still am but I want God more than anything and I’m holding on to him for dear life. Fortunately, God is and has been holding on to me as well. I am so grateful that he didn’t give up on me in my times of failure or in the times that I acted like I was sailing high on my own. All of this has made my faith stronger. I am definitely a work in progress.
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