We all go through hard times, but how we deal with it is what matters. A few days before Christmas, my father-in-love passed away. 11 days later, on New Year’s Eve, my mother-in-love passed away. They were 94 years old… dad was 3 weeks from turning 95. They had been married 76 years. That is not a typo. 76 years. Isn’t that amazing. Then about 3 weeks later, my oldest brother passed away, ending his fight with cancer. Even though this has been difficult, I am not the only one who is going through things that are difficult. In fact, everyone reading this is dealing with tough situations. It seems at times that the tough things come in waves. One thing after another hits, then it calms down before another wave hits. Going through tough times is not unusual. How we go through them makes all the difference. If I could do something to remove the painful things in your life, I would try to do that. But many times, the things we go through have a huge influence on molding us. That molding can be positive or negative. We know a family who has a child that is severely disabled. It is a day to day struggle working with her to keep her going. On top of that, the dad had 2 jobs and lost them both inside of a week. One thing after another hit them. Now it seems to be evening out again. But things can change so quickly. It seems like during the difficult times is when we learn the most. However, when things turn around, often lessons learned are quickly forgotten and old habits can be resumed. It doesn’t matter what our situation is, it can make us bitter or better. Perspective. How we let it affect us. Sometimes the load we carry is overwhelming. The only way I have found to navigate life is to follow the leading of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Without His help, things I have gone through would have left me swimming in a sea of despair. You might find yourself in the same situation. Jesus will help you through it if you let Him. Sometimes He removes the problem, other times He walks with you through it. Either way, you are so much better off when you let Him help you!