Friends and Family,

Every year from 1997 to 2005 we took a summer vacation on Fripp Island.  It still is one of our favorite vacation places for several reasons. One, you don’t have to get in your car the entire week since the preferred method of transportation is a golf cart.  Two, there really isn’t much to do so it is incredibly relaxing.  And three,

the wildlife is truly amazing. From the alligators catching some rays to the deer literally everywhere to the marine life you are surrounded by.

During one of those vacations we went on a sea turtle excursion.  Our guide led us along the dunes in the dark until we came to a nest where sea turtle eggs were hatching.  Once the tiny turtles break out of their shells in the sand dunes they have to crawl a very long way to the ocean’s edge.  It was our natural reaction to want to pick up the helpless creatures and carry them to the ocean so they would not have to struggle those hundreds of feet through the sand.  But our guide passionately explained that if we carried them they would not develop the strength they need to swim out to the warm waters of the gulf stream where they need to get to in order to survive.  If we carried them into the water they would die within hours.

I think God does that with us – our wonderful Father could easily pluck us from our trials and place us on safe ground. But He knows that is not what is best for us. He knows we need to experience our struggles in order to get stronger, more mature and develop trust in Him.

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

 He also tells us we need trials in order to grow our faith: “For a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold—may be proved genuine” 1 Peter 1:6-7

 Trust Him – a good trust-developing exercise is to think back to trials from your pasts and recall how God delivered you and mostly likely how you grew as a result.

 In His Service,

 Ed