Imani

Imani is faith in Swahili. Faith is the most important aspect of our relationship with Jesus Christ, and unfortunately it is easily shaken. When our faith is shaken, the pain is almost unbearable and for how ever long it lasts, we feel alone.

I (being a normal 22 year old girl) am no stranger to heartache and confusion, and this year has been no different. The only difference has been how I handle the daily life of a young woman in her early twenties. This time around I have an ally. I have a body guard, a protector, a healer, a best friend, and a father.

It has been hard because I almost expected things to be easier. I thought because I have the Lord in my heart that I wouldn't hurt or cry or feel alone. I guess I was listening to Joel Osteen a little too much, because that has not been the case. My heart has been broken, my feelings have been hurt, and I have felt alone. This is where faith comes in.

I have to believe and choose to believe that the Lord's hand is in every single aspect of my life and since I believe that I also believe that my life is perfect because it is His. His timing is never wrong and His path is never ever dark. Though this is encouraging, it does not make pain and confusion go away...but He never promised us these things would be easy, He just promised us we would never go through them alone.

Every time I enter a time of confusion or hurt, a part of me is so grateful for it because I know that something great is going to come out of it. I also have become well aware that it is the time of anguish that we grow with the Lord the most because we need Him the most.

One of the many things that has always been confusing and painful for me is my future. It shakes my faith more than anything else in the world. Where am I going to live? Grad school or job? Jackson or Rome? Is he the right one? All of these thoughts consistently consume my prayers and I have been lucky because through this sinful behavior, the Lord has taught me to be faithful and taught me how to pray.

The biggest issues I am dealing with right now are Africa and Jackson. I am going to Africa, nothing and no one could keep me here, but a long with that comes the $4,000 cost. I am a little over halfway and I leave in 10 days. I need your prayers.

Jackson is also consistently in my prayers. I have had opportunities to do long term mission work, work with campus ministries, get a normal job, or go to Jackson. RTS has gone from my #1 choice to my last choice and back to my #1 choice. People and future plans have never confused me so much in my entire life.

I need your prayers. Not that I find $1,500 on the street or that one choice is made much more clear than the others, but for Faith. I need to to pray that no matter what happens I have faith in the Lord. I need your to pray that I rely on him solely to direct me to the right place and I need you to pray that I can completely surrender any brokenness to the one being that can heal it.

Faith. Imani. It alone can will keep you going.

(I John 5:4) For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world: your faith.