Faith! What is it? One of Webster’s definitions of faith is a firm belief in something for which there is no proof and the bible says, Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. [Hebrews 11:1] I have heard folks say that they have no faith, but of course you do. Let’s examine some ways we put faith into action each and everyday without really noticing it.

Every morning we wake up having faith that when the sunsets we will still be among the breathing above ground crowd. We leave our homes having faith that the home will still be standing when we return. We have faith that our jobs won’t be to stressful and we have faith that when the day ends we will have a job to return to the day. We have faith that the person we sleep with is not the enemy and that our trust has not been misplaced. We have faith that through our daily activities we are indeed helping to create a better tomorrow. I say these things and many more falls under the category of faith because we have no actual proof, but our belief is firm that these things will be.

We have faith that the child we nurture in our wombs will grow into a fine up standing citizen (what ever that really is). We have faith that when we marry our true love that all our tomorrows will be laced with joy and free from sorrow. We have faith that when we die we will go to a better place. Now when it comes to having faith in ourselves we tend to question rather than to just accept.

So now how do we develop this unyielding faith in ourselves? You must first know who you are? Stay with me now. Your name is what you are called, but this has nothing to do with who you are or who you were or who you will become.

As a child I can remember the only thing I wanted was to feel safe and at an early age situations and conditions help me to decide that the only person who could keep me safe was me, so I closed other people out. I decided that I knew what was best for me much to the chagrin of my mother and family members. Because of my early childhood memories and experiences the anger mixed with pain and confusion had folks label me as incorrigible. In reality I was just a lost child in search of love and attention. When deprived of these things I started looking in all the wrong places, hence a teenage mother was born. These early childhood experiences would help to carry me into adulthood. These were my very first lessons on faith for I learned that if you just hold on things will get better. You just got to ride the storm out.

My first marriage was an abusive one and I had to have faith that if I removed my children and me from this relationship I would indeed survive. The very first time I was really on my own with my babies was an exhilarating time for me, my husband had up and joined the armed services without much notice given to me. I didn’t have a clue on how I was going to hold things together, but I had faith that God hadn’t brought me to this point to just abandon me. I had no proof, but I had an undying faith. Leaning on this same faith when my marriage was finally over for real this time I knew that the road would be hard, but again I had faith that we would be all right. Why did I hold on to this faith? Because life’s lessons were teaching me who I was and what I was capable of. A lost child trying to hold on to today while dragging yesterday into tomorrow. This is who I was.

Now that I am entering my golden years I can look back on yesterday and see clearly where faith in tomorrow is all I had to hold on to. I can truly say faith has indeed brought me a mighty long ways. I reflect often on the poem Footprints, for indeed I feel like sometimes I was on auto-pilot., floating along on the current of life wrap in the creator's arms. Trying to hang on to my sanity and ride the current storm out. It's faith that got me through each and every storm. Nothing but pure love generated faith. This is who I am.

I am reminded of the Indiana Jones Movie where he is in search for the holy chalice. After undergoing several tests he is faced with the most challenging. He comes to a cliff and needs to get to the other side. The only thing he can see is hundreds of feet of protruding rocks rushing up to meet from the cavern floor. A little voice rings in his head about faith and not knowing what awaits him he appears to step out into very thin air. This very act of faith brings the once invisible bridge into view. Now you say I have that kind of faith, do you. Do you really have that kind of faith? I have reflected on this act several times and truly believe my faith is strong when tested, but sometimes I waver. Do you have a dream that you have not chased, dream career, a place you want to visit, some desire not yet fulfilled? What's keeping you from achieving this goal? Could it be that this is your invisible bridge, are you afraid of taking that first step?

I have often heard people say if you have faith in God/Jesus such and such will happen. I read in the bible that God said, "If you take one step I'll take two". If you have the faith of a mustard seed you can move mountains. As with most things that we do we might be that good at now, but with practice comes results. The more practice, the better the results. This is who I hope to be.

Just a lil food for thought coming straight at ya from Momma. Have you tested your faith today?

~I leave you with this thought~

When you get to the end of all the light you know and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly.

~ Edward Teller ~