But I didn't

One of my daily rituals is to read a few devotionals.  When I read these words last week, I thought, "this sounds like something I wrote".  But I didn't.
     "'If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.' 2 Corinthians 1:6 (New International Version NIV).
     During my journey of battling a chronic disease, I have had several dear friends tell me that God must love me a lot because He doesn't allow someone to go through the kinds of adversity I have experienced unless He has a special calling on my life    "The depth and width of your faith experiences are directly proportional to your calling." What were these men of God saying?
     I believe there is a process of preparation that God takes each of His leaders through when He plans to use them in significant ways. A "faith experience" is a time in your life where you see God moving in your life. It is an unmistakable event in which God shows Himself to you.
     If God has plans of using you in the lives of many others, you can expect that He is going to allow certain faith experiences to come into your life in order to build a foundation that will be solid. That foundation is what you will be able to look back on to keep you faithful to Him in the times of testing. Each of us must have personal faith experiences in which we experience God personally so that we can move in faith to whatever He may call us."
     That devotional was written by my friend, Ron Allen.
     54 years ago, my cousin Bonnie Smith who has been my dear friend ALL my life and I were on a train on the way to Capital Teen Convention in Washington, DC.  It was a Youth for Christ sponsored trip.  Ronnie Allen was also on that trip.
     As I remember it, he was not as excited to be there as Bonnie and I were.  However, it turned out to be a good thing - our being on that trip - for that was when Ron Allen came into our lives.
     He came into Bonnie's right much more than he did mine as they began to date - and were married in 1968 and for many years we have  shared joys and sorrows, laughter, tears - life's ups and downs.  I very much appreciate their faith walk, their generosity and their constant availability to serve God by serving others.  I also appreciate the way they have handled Ron's illness that has been a part of their lives for almost 14 years.
     They have handled it with grace and a never waving faith in the fact that God has a plan.  They have been an excellent example.
     More than once in my life, I have thought things were going in one direction when it seemed my path was changed in mid stream.  I've had one of those faith experiences Ron mentions.  Sometimes I change course easily, sometimes I fight it tooth and toenail.  I've never had physical suffering; I've not be diagnosed with a terminal illness.  I've just had some huge disappointments.
     BUT always, and again I say ALWAYS... the change works out for the best.