Hello everyone! I am so excited to be able to write this blog every week, and I hope you are encouraged by the things I share. I love blogging; I am hooked!!! Today, I want to share some thoughts about perseverance and patience. In life, there are always times when you are trying to get from point A to point B: from setting a goal to finally reaching it. It is so hard sometimes to not give up on our goals because we often face obstacles and trials while we are trying to reach them. It takes a lot of patience and perseverance to remain steadfast in pursuing our life goals in the face of difficulties and delays. When I graduated from high school, my heart was so full of joy and hope for the future. I was going to “help people,” and I had set my sights on majoring in Psychology or Social Work, thinking that those were the fields that fit me the most. The long story short is it took some time for me to get from setting these goals at 18 to finally getting my first mental health professional job at 28. I went through undergrad and grad schools, doing my best and fighting my way through. I had to sit out a semester here or there for various reasons and there were times when I wondered to myself if I was gonna really ever be a mental health counselor like I felt God had put in my heart. I am so glad I did not give up because I am reaping the benefits now. Going through so much while I was in school and persevering through it all has taught me so much. I love what James 1:2-4 ERV says, “My brothers and sisters, you will have many kinds of trouble. But this gives you a reason to be very happy. You know that when your faith is tested, you learn to be patient in suffering. If you let that patience work in you, the end result will be good. You will be mature and complete. You will be all that God wants you to be.” I know that I am not usually happy and focused on the end results when I am in the midst of the troubles but I can see why God encourages us to do so: because the end result of our struggles is usually growth and that is what I want. I have learned that God will help you reach the goals he has placed in your heart but you also have to fight for them and see them with the eyes of faith, because in the natural, it may look like that dream is never gonna happen. Sometimes what we are waiting on is deliverance or help in some very hard area of life; the same remains true: we need to keep our faith in God, keep praying, and never give up. “I waited patiently and expectantly for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up out of a horrible pit [a pit of tumult and of destruction], out of miry clay (froth and slime), and set my feet upon a rock, steadying my steps and establishing my goings” Psalm 40:1-2 Amplified Bible. God is our strength, and he is right there with us as we pursue our dreams.

Songs that remind me: “Don’t Give Up” by Shawn McDonald; “Never Give Up” by Yolanda Adams; and “While I’m Waiting” by John Waller.