What is faith? If we look online, we can find many wonderful quotes. Here is a personal experience I would like to share with you.
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In February 2007, our younger son moved out of our apartment, and moved into his own house because he was getting married in the summer.
Ever since their engagement in the summer of 2006, our son and his fiancee had looked everywhere for a special place for their wedding. They found a beautiful rose garden with a nice reception hall. They decided to have their wedding there. It was quite a distance from our son's house, his fiancee's family, and our apartment. As a result, the bride, her family, and all the bridesmaids had to stay in a hotel near the garden days before the wedding. An aunt of the bride lived about 35 minutes away from the garden. She had kindly offered our son the use of her house for the photo session with his family and the groomsmen. Our son came home the night before the wedding so that he could drive us over there the next day.
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In the morning of the wedding day, we woke up to a gray sky. It was raining, and the wind was blowing hard. I did not expect this at all. I had prayed months ago with all my heart and soul for a beautiful, sunny day on this important occasion. As I looked outside from the window of our apartment, I assured myself that everything was going to be all right. I affirmed in my heart that -
By the time of the wedding, the sun will shine and the wind will calm down.
The wedding ceremony was going to take place at 5 p.m. in the magnificent outdoor garden.
A loved one turned on the television. According to the weather forecast, it would remain pretty much the same for the rest of the day - cloudy and rainy with gusty winds; there would be no sunshine because the clouds were thick. Luckily, despite of the forecast, our whole family was peaceful. Our son, the groom, was in high spirit. He was excited, yet calm.
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In the afternoon, our son drove us to the house. As soon as we stepped inside, the aunt talked about the weather. She told our son that she had been calling party companies all morning hoping to rent some tents for the wedding. She had as yet found a company that had any tent left. I smiled and said, "Don't worry! By the time of the wedding, the sun will shine and the wind will calm down." She gave me a look as if I did not know what I was talking about, and continued to make her calls.
A while later, other people and the groomsmen, with umbrellas and raincoats, started rushing in. Almost everybody raised their concern about the weather the minute they walked in. Time after time, I would immediately say, "Don't worry! By the time of the wedding, the sun will shine and the wind will calm down." In their rush to get in, they had not noticed my husband and I were sitting in the family room. When they heard what I said, each one of them looked back at me with surprise and disbelief. A few including the two photographers had never met me. However, they realized I must be the groom's mother since I was the only Chinese woman there. Therefore, no one said anything to counter what I said. My husband did not understand English, and I told him what I said in Chinese.
One time while I was repeating my words "Don't worry! By the time of the wedding, the sun will shine and the wind will calm down", the gusty wind blew the backyard chairs off the ground, and threw them against the fence a distance away. I knew some eyes were on me at that moment. I smiled. I was neither embarrassed nor worried. Instead, I found the timing of the wind interesting.
Our daughter-in-law's aunt eventually stopped calling the party companies for tents. She was very loving and kind. She had prepared lots of food for the guests. Around 3 p.m., the wind and rain had slowed down somewhat. We put on our formal wears, and went outside to take some pictures. Then we got into our cars and left for the wedding.
On our way there, we drove past a vast field of grass with some trees. Suddenly, the powerful sun came out. The leaves and grass with a layer of raindrops sparkled in the golden sunlight. I was captivated by the sudden change of scenery. I looked up at the sky. Incredibly, it was beautifully blue with no trace of gray or cloud! I closed my eyes and said, "Thank you, God!" I looked over to my husband who was sitting at the back of the car with our older son. There he was, looking at me with a big smile, and two thumbs up!
Amazingly, by the time of the wedding, the ground was dry as if it had never rained. The sky was blue. The wind was calm. The sun shone lovingly until almost 9:30 p.m. During the wedding ceremony and the reception, many people commented on how beautiful the day was. (In my post The amazing prophetic dream of moving , I wrote a little bit about the wedding ceremony too.)
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What is faith?
Do we have faith when everything is going our way?
Do we lose faith when what we pray for does not happen?
Oh, believe me; I have my share of disappointment.
To me, faith is the innate knowing that all is well. Faith is to go about life with confidence and acceptance that no matter what happens, everything is going to be all right.
Many blessings,
Q of D
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