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by Logan Ames

I bet that sounds pretty arrogant, doesn’t it? I mean, who in the world would write a blog post about their own faith in a series about the heroes of the faith? Well, it was suggested to me by another writer based on what has taken place in my life over the past few weeks and I feel it’s appropriate for several reasons. First, I don’t think that any of the “heroes” of the faith that I’ve discussed in my writings over the past ten months would have considered themselves as such. They did and experienced great things by faith not in their own abilities or merit, but through a righteous, just, and loving God. In their own eyes, they weren’t even almost heroes, but were simply doing what they knew was right in God’s eyes even when it was difficult. Secondly, God honored their faith even though they were ordinary human beings who struggled with sins just like we do. And third, those individuals who were faithful had no special power to see the future. When they chose to be faithful, they had no idea how God would use their circumstances to reveal himself to others. Each of these things ought to be true about our lives as well.

If you don’t already know, my wife Clara and I welcomed our first child into this world on June 19, 2018. We chose not to find out the gender of our child ahead of time, but are now blessed to be the parents of our precious daughter, Evangeline Myra Ames. As I think back on the faith of my wife and I over the course of our relationship, there have been so many times that we struggled, sinned, or frankly didn’t even stop and consider what God would have us do. But God, who is always faithful (1 Thessalonians 5:24), has continued to do his work even when we weren’t concerned with him.

Clara and I did not always honor God in our relationship with the way we viewed and treated one another. However, we made the decision of commitment in 2015 and were married on July 2, 2016. If you’ve followed my writings over the years, you may remember that I took a season away from Worldview Warriors during that time. Even after we said our vows, we learned that marriage is a blessing but not always easy. We both struggled with where God had us in our jobs in Ohio and wrestled with any changes he would want us to make. God turned our discontentment into an opportunity to trust him when we began to consider moving to York, Pennsylvania, which was only 40 minutes from where I grew up and about two hours from where she did. I was offered a lead pastor position at a local church in PA and we decided to take it. I can certainly say that we prayed about it, but I’m not sure how much we listened. Like many of you, I presume, we do a lot of talking in our prayers but find it hard to sit and silently listen. Yet, God was faithful anyway.

We made the trip back to PA on June 19, 2017. If you’re keeping track, that’s exactly one year before our little angel arrived in this world. We grieved having to leave what was comfortable in Ohio and bid farewell to the many friends we had made during our time there, but we saw many ways that God was with us during the process. From the many people who helped us with the move on both ends to the fact that God provided a job in PA for my wife where she gets to help people who struggle with mental illness from a faith-based perspective, we’ve experienced God’s goodness all the way. Then came the biggest blessing of all. We decided that while we were open to having children if it be God’s will for us, we would do very little to “plan” it. It would be totally up to God if and when it happens. We found out in October that Clara was expecting and, to say the least, she had a blessed pregnancy with very little sickness and no complications.

Evangeline graced us with her presence exactly a year after we made our giant step of faith. She is the best gift of all. We chose the name Evangeline for two reasons. The first is that it is part of Clara’s family history, but the second is that her name comes from the Greek εὐαγγέλιον or euangélion, which simply means "the good news." We know that she is a blessing from above and that she represents the good news of Jesus in our lives. We don’t deserve her and we don’t always know what she needs or how to best care for her, but she puts her faith in us daily just as we put our faith in God daily. One of the most important aspects of faith for any Christian is knowing that you need more of it. Read the story of the man whose son was demon-possessed until Jesus healed him in Mark 9:14-29. The man declared that he believed, yet still asked Jesus to help him overcome his unbelief. That’s where we all should often find ourselves, admitting that we need Jesus’ help to fully trust him. A person who has NO faith cannot utter these words, for it is only by faith that one can realize that they need more of it.

We’ll never consider ourselves heroes of faith, and most days we just hope to make more right choices than wrongs ones in God’s eyes. But the more we trust in him, the more his providence is obvious in our lives. We pray that Evangeline will not only strengthen our faith and dependence on God but also be an example to the world around her. What steps is God asking you to take that make you afraid today? Think about the endless possibilities of how he might just be waiting to bless your socks off until you trust him a little bit. Once you’ve practiced trusting him a little bit, then move on to trusting him more and more. Not everything will be easy, but God is faithful even when we are not and you will never regret depending on him.

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