Day 11: Faithfulness (Defined as Walking by Faith)

Today I woke up feeling faith-less. Not all the way down the faith barometer to faith-empty, but certainly not faith-full as I often do. It was a reminder to me of the importance of choosing faith every day, both for myself but also for my daughter, who is always watching.

Choosing faith, even on the tough days. Walking in faith, even on the days where I want to run in the other direction because that other direction feels easier, appears to be a path with less obstacles, and certainly feeds my illusion of control better than a leap of faith would.

But I've learned over the years that faith is always the best option. I remind myself of a couple more reasons for this:

1. God tells us there is always "greater yet." We can't begin to understand what lies ahead and the adventure only gets wilder when it's with the God of the universe.

2. The shield of faith appears to me to be the most important weapon against spiritual warfare. God goes so far as to tell us in the bible that it "extinguishes the darts of the evil one." So when those darts start coming, we need to remember that sometimes it's darkest before the dawn and it truly can be as simple as choosing faith to extinguish them and move forward with greatness.

3. There is so much we can't see. The spiritual realm, the future, just to name a few. God can see it though and if I put my faith and trust in him, he can engineer the most incredible path ahead. It takes courage to trust, but in my life it's been worth it every time.

How do I teach that to my daughter? How do I set an example for her of choosing faith both on the days that that feels natural and on the days that that feels anything but? Today I chose to talk with her about it. To share that things were hard for a couple reasons, but that I was talking to God about it, praying and trusting, and that it would be fun to see what ends up.

Days like today are a reminder to me that I definitely don't have all the answers. But if my husband and I invite her in to this crazy journey called life, we can talk together with her about how to navigate it. And how to navigate it with faith.