Character over comfort...

I'm amazed on a daily basis by the people around me...my family (who stick by me day in and day out), my friends (who surround me with kind words and encouragment), and even those people that don't know me that well, but contact me with sweet notes, emails, and phone calls (even though they don't know exactly what to say). Since last Wednesday I have been smothered with love and well wishes from everyone...and I can't thank you enough!! You will never know how much each note, email, phone call, and bible verse means to me (cause I would never be able to put it into words)...

My Aunt Bea (a true angel to me) sent me an email about a guy named Rick Warren (I think he wrote "A Purpose Driven Life??) and he says this:

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.
God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

I really, really LOVED the way Rick Warren put this - it made me understand a concept that I sometimes struggle with - WHY ME?? I did nothing to deserve this...I shouldn't have to go through this. But by reading the email, I now understand that God puts trials in our lives to build our character. It's not because He is punishing me or pushing me away...but because He is making me into the person He wants me to be!! His goal is not to make my life happy...but to make sure that I experience true happiness in heaven!

I'll leave you with this Bible verse from 2 Corinthians 12:9 that I think goes along well with this: "My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness."