Hi {First Name}!

We are already in the middle of August. My, where does the time go? I am sure you are in the middle of getting kids ready for school and hopefully planning some relaxation over Labor Day.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to go with my youngest daughter to Louisiana for the Dixie Softball World Series. Her team won the state championship and represented North Carolina.  The team was 11-0 going into the tournament and won their first game against South Carolina. For their second game, they played Florida and experienced their first loss. This was their first loss ever as a team. This was a huge disappointment but for 9- and 10-year-old girls there was endless tears and a lot of giving up. Their coach gave them a pep talk and they finally stopped crying. The next game they beat Louisiana by a huge margin.

In their loss, the Holy Spirit showed me that in life we must suffer disappointments just like this. It is our nature to want things to go the way we want them to go. I can surely say that I wanted my daughter’s team to win every game and go undefeated. But the Louisiana win was more special after we had lost to Florida. The reason is that we valued the win more because we had perspective of what could have been. If we do not suffer disappointments, we would not have proper prospective in the successes.

Suffering gives a perspective that we would not have otherwise. A humbleness that is only acquired through the struggle or disappointment. My daughter is a more mature child after the tournament than before. She learned how to experience disappointment and celebrate success. God wants to mature us just like this, it is called sanctification. His perfect will includes highs and lows, disappointments and successes but in the end, we are a mature image of Jesus Christ. A much better version of ourselves!

I pray that if you are in the disappointments that you keep the faith but if you are in the successes appreciate the good times. Trust God in the process of sanctification. God is for you!

Unit next time!

Dr. Cheryl Davis