This last year has been a whirlwind for sure. While I started out in a positive and expectancy mindset, I still had not imagined all that it would turn out to be.
It feels amazing to be ending the year and having my eyes so opened wide to seeing God as my Abba Father and truly for who He is. However, even with that revelation and the beauty of it, it didn’t come easy and wasn’t free of a lot of struggles and tears. In fact there were PLENTY.

I write today, to encourage any and every person reading to keep pushing, to keep pressing, and to consider it all joy. The good, the bad, and the not so pretty. Consider it  joy, to be able to see God and even join in with the sufferings of living for Him. While it is uncomfortable most days and I feel like I made the struggle look ugly on other days, I still consider it pure joy. To think of every moment I lacked and every moment I was broken down and forced to face the ugly things in my heart, it was sooooo worth it.

I truly count it all joy. A joy to be dying daily in order to be used by God. A joy to make the sacrifices I’ve made in order to see the people around me healed. Honestly, a joy to have had my faith tested in so many ways in which perseverance and maturity was produced.  I am truly thankful for the maturity that has taken place in my life and look forward to it continuing in the days and new year to come. I will continue to persevere so that I might mature and be complete, lacking nothing.

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, ^a whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.    ~James 1:2-4