God has blessed me with many feelings, emotions, and circumstances that I am sure the “world” would not consider a blessing. These blessings have helped make me into the person that I am today and enable me to be able to minister to a variety of people on different levels. I have been blessed with surviving! My whole life has been about Surviving. Surviving drug addiction, alcoholism, homelessness, adultery by a spouse, abandonment by my own children, divorce, the death of a parent, loneliness, suicidal ideations and actions, and so many other things that I am too ashamed to mention. Every sin and difficulty common to man I have had a part of. The day after I came to Christ I lost what I thought was everything, my wife, my children, my home, my family, my job, my freedom, and my rights, but God definitely had my attention and showed me that the Lord Jesus was all I really needed. God also had something to work with as well, a blank slate without distractions. After going through all that I did, God has been able to use my past for His glory. I look to the words of Paul written in *1 Corinthians 9:22 To the weak (wanting in discernment) I have become weak (wanting in discernment) that I might win the weak and over scrupulous. I have [in short] become all things to all men, that I might by all means (at all costs and in any and every way) save some [by winning them to faith in Jesus Christ].23 And I do this for the sake of the good news (the Gospel), in order that I may become a participator in it and share in its [blessings along with you].* My life has not been glorious and I do not always have the joy of the Lord that everyone can see, but I do have it. I want to encourage all that are struggling to make it through the day, that today we are one day closer to heaven than we were yesterday. God has a plan and purpose for all of us and all that we have gone through. He uses the difficulties in our lives to help others as well as to fulfill His purpose in our lives and the lives of those we interact with. My BeLoved, whenever you find yourself doubting how far you can go, just remember how far you have come and that you are not alone. Jesus loves you and I love you too!