Childlike Faith.

We had to write a tiny, 500 word essay in one of my classes about something we believe in. If you've ever read the book This I Believe, then you'll understand what I mean when I say it was modeled after the essays in that book. 
Obviously, I believe in God, and I could write my whole life and never stop if I wrote about Him. I certainly couldn't fit it all in five hundred words. So, I decided to write about my belief in childlike faith. If you wish to read it, here's what I wrote:

Faith Like a Child

Over the course of the last year-and-a-half of my life, the Lord has taken me on an incredible journey of faith.

After graduating high school, I attended a summer church camp with my youth group in south Texas. One of my counselors kept in touch with me the rest of the summer and constantly urged me to apply for a nine-month long discipleship program that the camp holds throughout the non-summer months. I applied for the program and went through all of the steps without even considering how I was going to pay for it – I call that childlike faith. Inevitably, I could not afford it, and I thought I would not be able to go. I prayed a lot that God would provide the money somehow, and one week before the program started, the director called me and told me that the camp would be paying for my entire tuition.

While I was still in the program, the opportunity of a lifetime presented itself to me. The director told us that a group from California was offering to let us participate in their annual trip to Israel the next summer. That was great news, and I was so excited about the trip; however, the trip cost a total of four thousand dollars. Three of my peers were the only ones who were able to afford this trip, so they were the only ones who even signed up to go besides me. I signed up without even thinking about how I would not be able to pay my way - there is that childlike faith again. I prayed fervently, asking God to somehow provide the money and send me to Israel because I just knew deep down that I was supposed to be there. Not only did I pray, but I prayed in faith because I just knew that God would come through. I felt a lot of resistance at first, but after praying and begging for several months, after having so many doors slammed in my face, and after falling on my knees and completely surrendering it all to the Lord, He finally gave me an answer: a resounding, “Yes.”

I got three large donations from some completely random sources. My parents and I collectively came up with one thousand dollars, one of my friends randomly gave me a thousand dollars, the father of one of my peers gave me a thousand dollars, and an anonymous individual in California gave me a thousand dollars! Needless to say, the Lord paid my way to Israel, and incredible, life-changing events happened there. I received freedom and healing while I was in the Lord’s land. I even got baptized in the Jordan River – the same river that my Savior was baptized in! God definitely wanted me on that trip, and He proved it to me in a million ways.

Right now, I am asking God to send me to London to study abroad this coming summer. I am asking in faith because I have learned that faith is the key to my Life.  I believe in the power and freedom of childlike faith.