life. faithful.

Why is God waiting? Why does He watch this world as it falls apart, just sitting back while it spins out of control? Why does He let bad things happen? why doesn't Jesus just come back already? In the midst of all the chaos and unrest and fear, God is still at work. He is there with those who are in the fire. He is there with those who sink down into the pit. He is there when the earth shakes or when the flood waters rush in or when the stars fall from the heavens. Because the thing is, if even one soul turns to Him in that moment, it was worth it. If one person sees the waves crashing around him and cries out like Peter did, "Lord , save me!" then who are we to say that God should have held back the flood waters? Or, on a more personal side, if there was one single person who was drawn to God's side in part due to my brother's death, who am I to say that God should have spared him on that August day in Najaf? I know where my brother ended up. Why would

I have high hopes for you. I don't wish you fame and fortune, and I hope that's not what you spend your life chasing. Instead, I wish you a good life. I don't mean an easy life. Easy lives have a tendency to make weak people. I wish you enough hard times to help you develop the grit you will need to become a strong person. Helen Keller once said, "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."  I wish you people who will stand against you, because it is only then that you truly develop an appreciation for the people who stand beside and behind you. I wish you times that knock you flat on your face, because sometimes those are the only times that remind you of the importance of being on your knees before God. I wish you boredom, because it is only when time seems to slow down that you take the time to look around you and notice the b