I am thankful for the many blessings God has bestowed upon my life. I have also encountered many challenges. All Christians will encounter difficulties. God never said life on earth would be easy. 1 Peter 5:10 speaks loudly to my heart. 

"But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you. "

God loves us so much. Challenges help us trust him. Reading that verse reminded me of three occasions where God tested my faith. Each time, I thought my world would come crashing down. After suffering for a while, my faith in God grew because he allowed me to emerge victorious in each situation.

 After I gave birth to my daughter, she ended up in ICU. She was born with meconium(the first fecal excretion of a newborn )in her lungs. The medical term is called Meconium aspiration syndrome. It is rare for a newborn to breathe a mixture of meconium and amniotic fluid into their lungs. This syndrome is a leading cause of severe illness and death after birth.

Everyone in my church started to pray for a miracle, and sure enough, my daughter survived the ordeal. Imagine the turmoil I went through after giving birth? Instead of rejoicing and holding my baby, I had to watch her from the ICU window. I do recall praying too, but I also questioned God. Why me? Why are you testing my faith at such a joyous time? After my daughter made a full recovery, I stopped blaming God. Instead, I began giving him praise for sparing my precious bundle of joy from severe complications or even death.

 God loves to test our resolve. He wants to see whether or not we can withstand what we must go through, so we can walk in the calling and destiny that he has for us. 

Eighteen years after the birth of my daughter, God tested me again. This time my youngest son spent nine days in the hospital. He almost died because the doctors did not know what was wrong with him. After conducting many tests, a specialist diagnosed him with Lemierre's Syndrome. Lemierre's Syndrome is a rare and potentially life-threatening complication of bacterial infections that usually affects previously-healthy adolescents and young adults. I believe God heard my prayer and the prayers of everyone in my church. God worked mightily in the specialist too. Once diagnosed, my son was able to get the proper medications. Thankful my son survived, I spent many hours giving praise to God. My faith grew even more.

The third test shook me like a category five hurricane. In 2009, the principal at my school decided to cut expenses. I lost my teaching job. I applied for other positions in the district. After three months, I had not procured a new job. What I did not know is the principal had a personal vendetta against me. He placed my name on the "NO HIRE LIST."

Now I knew why I was not getting any interviews.

The assistant principal came to evaluate me several times. He knew that I was highly qualified in my field of French and Spanish. He acted on my behalf. He highly recommended me to a school that needed a French and Spanish world language teacher. I interviewed. Later the principal called to offer me the position. 

 God came to my rescue, and in the end, my faith grew in leaps and bounds. The icing on the cake, my new job is 20 minutes drive from my house. It took me an hour and thirty minutes to get to my old school.

My former principal hired a new teacher to replace me. The principal tried to harm me. In the end, he did me a huge favor.

I am still teaching at the same school. After thirty years in the same school district, I will retire in May 2021.

I am thankful I learned to trust God even during trials and tribulations. Dear reader, I hope my story has encouraged you to keep the faith. Know whatever storm you may encounter, God can carry you through.