Defeat builds Character and faith sustains it ~ DC
How far will your faith take you? So often we believe in things that we
cannot see. We blindly trust in someone we barely know. We commit to things not
knowing the outcome.
I am reminded each day that it is through tough times that we know our strength,
it through failures that we find success and through faith that we find
direction and the courage to move forward even when we’re not certain of where
we’re going.
The bible says in Jeremiah 29: 11-13
11For
I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace,
and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
12Then
shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken
unto you.
13And
ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
A few weeks ago while in Toronto, through family members, I met a man with a story.
This story was that of his unshakable faith. He shared with us a piece of his
story.
A story that all started in a
pile of leaves. It was there that his life and his purpose began, where God’s
plan for him was revealed. Not knowing, nor understanding, here he was, a five
year old boy, playing in a pile of leaves when he heard a voice tell him that
he should not stay in Canada, he would return to his home land of Jamaica, have
a beautiful wife and many sons.
He felt
something powerful come over his body and that is when he realized that there
existed something/someone bigger than him. He had not seen where this voice
came from but he knew that from this day on someone higher and bigger than him
was watching over him and that no matter what adversities, trials and
challenges to come his way would be to lead him to where he was supposed to be.
Not knowing, he trusted!
Listening to this man speak I got goose bumps, I was encouraged to hear his
journey. It gave me hope, it gave me strength. To hear all that he had to go
through, all of the hard times that he faced, being brought up in violence,
without tenderness and love. He learned at a very young age what it was to be
hungry on the streets to be incarcerated in the name of survival. Through all
of it, after all of it he remained faithful; he kept his head up and never
asked why, all because of the voice he heard many years go in the pile of
leaves.
Seeing this man today, with his beautiful wife and his beautiful
children you know that God’s promise to him was kept and more is to be revealed
to him.
This story inspired me to write this poem; I called it… In a
pile of leaves.
Weeping day and night for my sadness to end
Not knowing why
Looking around me for a sign
Wishing and praying so hard for a chance to feel the warmth
of the sun
Wanting so much to know what joy feels like
Wanting to know what hearing the words I love you feels like
Then it happened
I heard you
You spoke to me…in a pile of leaves
In a pile of leaves I heard you say that I will be ok
In a pile of leaves I saw your face
In a pile of leaves I saw your hand reaching for mine
In a pile of leaves you promised me today and tomorrow
In a pile of leaves you dried my tears and erased my fears
In a pile of leaves you sat by my side and assured me that
you will never leave me
In a pile of leaves you said “My son, you will know joy and
goodness”
In that very pile of leaves you answered me and carried me
In a pile of leaves I found unconditional love for the very
first time
Danushka Chouloute