Faith

I was asked to speak about my experiences in Haiti at my church last week. It was an interesting experience to plan my talk around the theme of faith. If the topic had been service it would have been so much easier and I would have been able to tell many stories!

But as usual the easy way isn't always the best. The challenge was an opportunity for me to see my own experiences in a different way.

The apostle Paul tells us: “… faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) As I was studying for my talk I learned that faith is a principal of action. And no greater example of that was my preparation to travel to Haiti.

I had no idea what I was going to see, feel or experience. I had to overcome a lot of fear to get there. It was easy at home, months before my departure, to make the commitment to go. But as my time came near I felt afraid and wondered what I was doing and why. In the presence of fear my faith was not able to grow, so I was learning to let go of that fear and move forward.

As I was traveling I had many moments that pushed me far outside of my comfort zone. Now in looking back I have reflected on this and realized that I was never really afraid, just uncomfortable. I was able to feel the power of my family and friends' prayers and trust that my own internal wisdom would be guided by the spirit and know of my safety and surety of what I was doing.