(This entry was written by a dear friend who allowed me to share it on our blog. We have mutual friends, but it was actually our sons that brought us together in nursery as they are just one week apart. She and her family have been through quite a lot with her health since December, and she has shown remarkable grace and faith even in times of frustration and pain. I pray that her own reflections encourage you as they have me. ~Rachel) 

I have been reflecting a lot the last past couple of months. I have a couple of friends who have been dealing with their own scary health issues, one of them with cancer. I have a couple of friends whose husbands lost thier jobs. There has been so much uncertainty, even in my own life. I had an opportunity to share my thoughts with one of my sick friends and then began to reflect on it myself. If there is anything that I have learned through my health scares, it is to remain faithful!! God has a learning opportunity in each thing that comes our way. Sometimes He blesses us with an answer to it all, and sometimes we never figue out why things go the way they do. While I was scared and laying in the hospital God kept telling me to just have faith in Him. On the second to last day I was there (in the hospital) I was tired of feeling sorry for myself and feeling like I was left alone. I was in a place that I can only describe as dark. I cried to Jesus and asked him...why? Why did I have to be going through this? Why was I taken, yet again, away from my family? My son? He overwhelmed my heart with the peace that He WOULD carry me through this. He told me that all it would take is for me to have faith. So often we try and control every area of our lives and forget that God is the one who is ultimatly in charge, not just in the things we do but in out emotions and feelings too. There is nothing we can do to change what is dealt in front of us. We just have to pray for the strength to get through. God does have perfect peace for us if we are just willing to seek it, ask for it. God calls us to our knees in scary ways sometimes. Sometimes that is the only way we will listen. Today, we live in a world where the is an answer for everything. Google is just a mouse click away and for one question we get 196,003 answers. I am learning that life is not that simple. Sometimes we have to come to terms and have peace in knowing that we aren't meant to have every answer. Why do you think they say, "God works in mysterious ways?" When we are screaming for answers and trying to wrap our minds around something so huge, God only gives us enough light for the step we are on. He promises to NEVER leave us in the dark, but that doesn't mean it is always going to be bright and sunny. He won't give us those answers all the time, but He WILL shine His light for you to see the step you are on today. Sometimes it is only a minute by minute process and that is how we get by. That was something else I had to learn. Take it one day at a time and truly take it one day at a time. I can't waste anymore of my precious time worrying about what the future will hold. Look at all I have today! Do not worry about tomorrow because we aren't promised it. I may never know why I have Crohn's and why I have to wake up some days and not be able to be the mother and wife that I want to be. But I do know that God is going to give me the strength I need, everyday. I have complete faith that He is right here with me. Carrying me when times are really tough. I try and wrap my mind around how much He truly loves us and everytime I can't seem to close the loop. I have to choose to wake up every morning and give my day over to Him. And that is how I choose to lead my life. It's working for me. How is life working for you?