I am aware that as the British weather can be temperamental, unfortunately so can I. My mood and motivation can unfortunately change depending on the circumstances I face. Perseverance is an area of my life I am working to improve.

While out for a country walk my friend and I tried to follow the directions we were given and a map (which we’re not that good at). To make things more difficult, the signs along the way were not always clear. We felt a little uncertain if we were going the right way, and we didn’t want to get lost.

Should we continue? Neither of us wanted to go on and find ourselves accidentally trespassing onto private land. We became a bit discouraged; however we didn’t want to give up on the hope of enjoying a beautiful country walk as it was a bright warm day.

As we moved forward, we could see a wooden signpost in the distance. That was exactly what we needed to encourage us, it would help us confirm if we were going in the right direction. When we got closer we saw that it pointed in 3 directions. Choosing one of the paths we moved forward and were extremely happy with the result. We wandered through peaceful woodland, heard the birds singing, passed farmhouses and said hello to the horses grazing in the fields. It was wonderful!

It was a useful lesson for me. If we had given up when we encountered a discouraging and confusing situation we would have missed out on a wonderful opportunity to explore that part of the countryside.
At times in life we give up too soon, if only we had persevered and held onto our faith, or persevered to find a solution to the problem, who knows what could have been achieved. We can never know until we try.

When we face challenges in life it is helpful to ask God for wisdom. Also if possible to find people who can give advice and guidance. Like a map shows us the way to go, we may need someone who knows, through experience, the road we are travelling. Sometimes we may need to do more research to educate ourselves about how we can resolve the situation.

I have learnt that it is important to have the courage to move forward, persevere and not be put off by difficult circumstances. I hope and pray that whenever you encounter challenges in your life that you will keep moving forward. Remain positive and look out for encouraging signposts along the way.