Trails Make Us Stronger

I was reading the chapter "Firm and Steadfast in Humility" in He Restoreth My Soul and there is a poem there that I really like. It fits what we are going through.

The tree that never had to fight 

For sun and sky and air and light

But stood out in the open plain 

And always got its share of rain,

Never became a forest king

But lived and died a scrubby thing.

The man who never had to toil

To gain and farm his patch of soil, 

Who never had to win his share

Of sun and sky and light and air,

Never became a manly man

But lived and died as he began.

Good timber does not grow with ease:

The stronger wind, the stronger trees;

The further sky, the greater length;

The more the storm, the more the strength.

By sun and cold, by rain and snow,

In trees and men good timbers grow. 

Where thickest lies the forest growth,

We find the patriarchs of both.

And they hold counsel with the stars

Whose broken branches show the scars

Of many winds and much of strife.

This is the common law of life.

--Douglass Malloch 

 It's a good reminder that trials  make us stronger and without them we would be weak. 

I have found listening to good music helps me feel hopeful. So I now listen to a Christian radio station. My husband has started listening to it too. I really believe the music we listen to can influence us even if we don't realize it. He used to listen to stuff I didn't feel was appropriate. So I'm glad he is adding this kind of  music to his listening time.
This is a song I love. The words remind me to have hope and trust God. Enjoy.
What Faith Can Do by Kutless