Don't Stop Believing

When I was younger, I always wanted to be a Dad. Throughout my adult life, I felt that I could right the wrongs of my childhood and the relationship I had with my father by being a better Dad to my own child. When my wife and I got married, we knew we wanted to have children as soon as possible. But that didn't exactly happen the way we wanted it to.Over the next 3 years, my nephew and 2 nieces were born. Amazing moments for my brothers and our family, but very difficult moments for my wife and I as our attempts to conceive were still unsuccessful.My brother had become very serious about his faith in the late 1990's and I saw a change in him for the good. A few years later, I made the choice to get serious about my faith as well but my original motivation was basically making a deal with God. If I trust in you, you'll bless me with a child. Again, it didn't exactly work the way I had hoped.So we waited, and hoped, and prayed and continued to be patient. This difficult season for us resulted in me really searching for answers on why we weren't able to conceive. Visits to the doctors didn't reveal anything wrong so we continued on in our journey toward parenthood.I always believed that I'd be a Dad but the waiting was the hardest part. Being forced to be patient is a lot more difficult than choosing to be patient. In that patience, an amazing thing happened. I started to learn and grow even more in my faith. Becoming part of a church family, getting baptized, understanding what it truly meant in Matthew 6:33 to "seek first the kingdom of God and all these other things will be added unto you."  That changed my heart, my way of thinking and eventually, my life.  I started to understand that life wasn't about the struggles but how we responded to them. I started to believe.There were moments when my wife and I talked about giving up on this whole parenthood idea. Doubt creeped in and there many nights we went to bed crying, wondering why this miracle was happening to everyone else, except us. Ultimately, we chose to respond by not giving up, by continuing to believe and continuing to hope. It wasn't easy. And when we received the call from the doctor that we were having a baby, I fell to my knees in absolute joy and amazement. I started weeping, thanking God for the answer to 4 years of prayer.Now I know that not everything we pray for, hope for, and believe for, comes together the way that we want. There's many examples of that in my life as well. But knowing that there is a God who is in control of our lives has put things in perspective for me. That when we put our trust in Him, there's a joy and a hope that is bigger than ourselves.If you are going through a difficult season, a time when things just don't seem to be going your way, I would encourage you not to not give up. Don't stop believing.  It may take weeks, months, or as was the case with us, years until it's clear what the outcome will be. Until that door is completely shut, keep running toward it. God will make it very clear when it's time to move on to something else.[embed]https://twitter.com/JasonRomano/status/518715699301474304[/embed]