I’m going to be 100% honest. I was going to title this entry, “I Don’t Know What to Write.” First I started with some notes I took after reading Acts Chapter 25 over the summer.  However, it was getting a little lengthy so I will have to revisit that another time. Then I went to something I was going to post a few weeks ago, regarding a lesson I learned from raising a child that I never gave birth to.  I learned the importance of not trying to let your kids fit your “mold” of what a child should be, and encourage them to be who God created them to be. However, that was too short, and I have a lot more I want to say, but not a lot of time tonight. So I went to good old Facebook. My sister taught me a trick on how to retrieve old posts. I typed in the word “faith” in the search box. On the left I clicked “me,” and then all the posts I’ve ever written with the word faith came up. The 2nd one was the post below, which I feel is just right for tonight. I actually remember writing this so I will share it with you today in hopes of encouraging someone, somehow.

Written January 29, 2017

All these years whenever I’ve heard of mustard seed size faith, I would equate that to just a little faith is all you need. However, that is only one part of the description of a mustard seed. This morning I read the parable in Matthew13:31-32 in regards to a mustard seed, “Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” The characteristic of a mustard seed isn’t just in its initial size. Over time, it becomes the largest of garden plants. I believe if we are going to equate our faith to a mustard seed, then we have to look at the full characteristic of the mustard seed. Initially it is small, but throughout time it grows. My faith has grown through unanswered prayers, difficult times, the passing of loved ones or innocent children, a strained relationship with my father, doubt, fear, anxiety, fatigue, stress and more. It was able to grow because I’ve seen God’s hand in the answered prayers, the healing, the mended relationships, the near death experiences, the faith, the love, the joy, and the peace despite the chaos. You see like the mustard seed our faith may start small, but if we let God be God and trust Him even when things don’t make sense, overtime He will allow us to become like the latter part of the mustard seed. Our faith grows over time and through trials. It doesn’t stay small, and it can encourage and uplift others. So faith like a mustard seed now takes on a whole new meaning for me. Faith like a mustard seed is a little faith at the beginning that GROWS over time through the good and the bad.