Lord, give them enough hurts to keep them human and enough failures to keep their hands clenched tightly in Yours.

Hold fast to Jesus and remember: This breaking of you will be the making of you. A new you. A stronger you. Strengthened not with the pride of perfection but with the sweet grace of one who knows an intimate closeness with her Lord.

My life certainly didn't change overnight. I experienced a waiting period, a time of growth, development, and perseverance as God prepared me. Lessons on patience, trust, surrender, and learning to take hold all preceded my stepping out. But even in this seemingly unimportant time of pruning and trials, God was preparing me for the next step.

People with a realistic view see rejections as a natural part of life and adjust accordingly. It

What if the worst parts of your life are actually gateways to the very best parts you'd never want to do without?

Good things are coming. I know it. Today's disappointment is making room for tomorrow's appointment. Let's look for those good things with great intentionality.

The beliefs we hold should hold us up even when life feels like it's falling apart.

If we place our hope and future in the hands of our unchanging, unflinching God who never leaves us or forsakes us, we'll find healing and freedom. We'll be able to see something on the other side of all the pain. Something good. Something we know will be so wroth whatever it takes to get well. So instead of running from the pain, we embrace it as necessary. We must feel pain to heal the pain. If we never allow ourselves to feel it, we won't acknowledge it's there.

In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.3 I am fascinated by this research

God is good. He is way more interested in developing our characters to match our calling than in manipulating our circumstances to make us happy.

I realized that most times it's not the big things along my spiritual journey that tempt me to get off track. It's a culmination of small daily aggravations I know God could fix but doesn't. But what if instead of seeing these aggravations as inconveniences, I saw them as reminders to draw near to God?

God is interested in my character, not my comfort.