Thursday, January 13, 2011

Little Faith

Faith was born a week ago to one of my sweet friends. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that my friend has been through a lot of stuff these past nine months and bringing Faith into this world was a brave decision.

Of course the minute Faith entered the world we all fell in love with her. She does not like to have her clothes changed. She does not like to be put down. And she always leaves her mom a "treat" in the middle of a diaper change. (Something about that cool sensation of the room air hitting the toosh.)

But the main reason I love her is because she is a daily physical reminder of what faith is and faith does: it is a seed of certainty that bolsters my belief in a God that can bring beauty and hope into the darkest of my hours. And, more importantly, that seed can only be enlarged and matured when I walk through the dark places with him.





When I look back on this crazy difficult chapter of my life I will thank God for the greatest gift he could have ever given me: the enlargement of my faith. For to me, a deepening faith in my God is a treasure that can never be taken from me. It is more valuable than financial security, popularity, talent, attention, success, or approval, all of which are fleeting, earthly, and mortal. 

Can I hear an amen?

10 comments:

Juliette said...

AMEN.

We spent the last few months in a flying poo storm where it would be all rosy cheery one day and totally "is this for real?" the next. I'm so glad my husband and I both find our centers in the same spot; our faith has grown and yeah, I just think, wow, God is so gracious and that is our bottom line. Without that, I would just be a puddle of misery on the floor. You are so right.

eveapple said...

amen, amen and amen

Mia Moreing Russell said...

Amen!
All to Thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all.
Thank you for these pearls of wisdom.
Love you!

Rose said...

Amen.

Christie Brown said...

Amen. I strongly believe good things happen to good people. Keeping positive and only focusing on the positive people and things in your life. Forget the rest. Life is beautiful and short - embrace the ones that are most important and support you. Everything works out. Beautiful photos. :)

stacey said...

Amen.

Lovely photos, friend. And what a perfect name.

rosie said...

while i do not entirely understand, i am clearly left with the desire to have friends like you

georgia b. said...

tracey...

thank you so much for stopping by and writing on my blog. and please, don't feel at all like you are stalking! i was curious who you were when i saw your comment on my flickr pics, and so i went to your flickr profile to see if you had a blog. i knew stacey had just posted about my banner design for her and linked to me, so the fact that i got a new visitor led me to believe it was probably via stacey that you found me. {gosh, this is gonna get confusing... stacey, tracey... way too similar of names!} =)

anyway, so i clicked on your blog link via your flickr profile and discovered your wonderful blog {love the name, btw!}, and then i saw stacey had left a comment, so i really knew it was via her that you found me... and i'm so glad it happened, too.

first off {sorry for the novel i'm about to write}, i was so moved by this "faith" post... it is {as you know} so much like what i have been writing about in my posts lately... just how much God is trying to build my faith and trust in him... in all days of my life, good and bad. the post that i did the day before the one you read mentioned how my mom always encourages me to want to be known as hezikiah was known... for his great faith. she reminds me often of how God scours the earth in search of those who have strong faith in him. it is such an encouragement to me. i TRULY want to be one of those people. so your comment and this post just reaffirmed my outward vocal desires to be one of those people. and it is so uplifting to read of others who are going through something similar and have that same desire to have faith.

God has been so good to me to lately bring amazing, beautiful women across my path through my blog/photography... like you and stacey. it has been so cool! such a gift... and, again, an affirmation. i am daily encouraged by blogs like yours and stacey's.

thank you for sharing your similar story with me.

well, long story short {too late for that, i guess...}, i wanted to say thank you! and you can stalk me any time!! =)

many blessings,
~georgia

{p.s... i am now a "follower" {aka stalker} of your blog, and i look forward to more photos and words from you!}

stacybaker33 said...

Tracy,I love your blog today about my sweet baby girl:) It is soo beautiful...You always manage to bring me to joyfull tears!!!! I am so very gratefull to have such a wonderful friend as you:)Myself and my children are so blessed to have you and your family as our friends and such an important part of our lives!!!!!! love you!!!!! Amen!!!!!!!!

Stacy

Krista Lund said...

precious! i love how you can still see the pinprick in her heel. reminds me of my little emily. she was a jaundice baby and had many heel pricks in the first few days of her life :(