"Jesus said to him,'If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.' Immediately the father of the child cried out, 'Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"

-Mark 9:23,24-

Since our move to the tiny town of Westmoreland, Tennessee, it would be an understatement to say that we have faced a few trials. Between trying to pay our bills and trying not to kill each other (Honesty is the best policy, right?), my husband and I have been stretched very thin. I mean Pizza Hut thin crust thin. We spent a couple of months combating it all on our own, convinced that we were "grown-ups" and grown-ups can handle whatever life throws at them.

Until recently.

The month of January has been a roller-coaster, to say the least, but it was a ride that we desperately needed to take.

Let me make myself clear, I married a Godly man. One who has seen me through both happy and painful seasons in my life. However, in the last few months, I saw the enemy start to win. I saw my husband become discouraged and tired, the light in his eyes was starting to fade, and I, as his wife, did nothing because I was too consumed in my own discouragement. I started to wonder, is this who we were really meant to be? Two people so consumed with doubt and sadness, so... empty.

One night, my husband came home from work, he sat down next to me on the couch and proceeded to tell me that his job had started to fall through. I was terrified, absolutely terrified. Fear, however, is not inherently bad, especially when it leads you back to The Lord. You see, at that moment I was afraid because I didn't know what we were going to do, and it was that fear that made me realize that we had been trying to find solutions to our problems for too long. So, in that night we promised each other that we would hand our problems over to God, that we would begin the journey back to trusting him, even in this valley in our life.

We have spent the last month praying for wisdom and guidance, hoping that God would show us the direction we should go and guide our steps.

And as he so often does, God brought me a blessing through a person and place that I would have never seen coming. I am a Full-time Keyholder at a Christian store in Hendersonville, and we have recently hired a few new employees. One of these employees is a very sweet girl, who we will call... Daphne? Yep, we'll go with Daphne.

Daphne came into the store with her mom last week. She was off that day, but she needed to find a bible study for the teenage girl small group she worked with on Wednesdays. As we walked around the store looking at different studies, I got the opportunity to speak more with Daphne and her mom. Before they left they invited me to a Women's night at the church Daphne's father Pastors.

My exact thoughts were, "Eh, why not."

So, on Friday night, I got all dressed up, told my husband goodbye, and made my way to the Women's night. When I got there, I was automatically happy I had gone, because everyone was so nice and welcoming, I was having a blast! Then Worship began and the music truly touched my heart, it was so far a complete success.

Then Daphne's Mom made her way onto the stage. She began speaking a message of encouragement, she spoke a message on "Belief". She said something in the middle of the message that really caught me: She said, "Believe when your faith is shaken." Then she went through the story in Matthew 9 of the father who traveled to see Jesus so that He could heal his son. As the man is speaking with Jesus about his son's ailment, he says, "But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." (Mark 9:22) Then Jesus says "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." (Mark 9:23)

What happens next is heart-stopping:

"Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, 'Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24)

That night, Daphne's mother wrapped up the lesson by saying, "We serve a miracle working God, you just have to believe."

Then we sang the song "Miracles" (Sang by Jesus Culture, if you're interested) and the chorus goes like this: I believe in You. I believe in You. You're the God of Miracles.

I stood at the foot of that altar, and I sang those lyrics, and I cried my eyes out, and I declared to the Lord that I DID believe He is the God of Miracles, something that I needed so desperately.

So, for all of you in the valley, who are struggling to believe, who are losing hope in situations that you can not control: Let me assure you, He's the God of miracles.

My prayer for you and for myself is this:

Lord,

We believe in You

Lord, help our unbelief and do a miracle in our lives.

We love You, forever and ever

Amen