Is it Faith...or just a belief in an idea?

Is it Faith...or just a belief in an idea?  A question that I had to ask myself a while back when Kaydence was first born.  I have come to the conclusion that what takes you from the idea of knowing Christ Jesus to actually knowing Him and walking with Him is the opportunity to trust Him in some sort of way.  And the larger kind of way you have to trust in Him, the deeper your Faith will go.  I am going to go ahead and say something that is kind of bold, but I believe it with all my heart.  Trials are absoltely necessary for your Faith and Belief in Christ.  If you never had to have Him pick you up and carry you, how would you know that He could?  If you never had to lean on your faith, how would you know you had it?  As I set here and reflect on this past year we have been through, I can't help but to think about everything that we have been through and how necessary it was for our growth.  Each day we would wake up and not know what was going to happen with Kaydence- whether she was going to live or die- we were taking our faith to a deeper level.  We couldn't wake up each day without first trusting in God to guide us through the day, give us strength to make it through the day and putting Kaydence in His hands.  When you have no choice but to put your trust in God, or try to handle something on your own, you will find that often times, you will find yourself in the hands of God before too long.  That's why I believe that trials are absolutely a necessary thing for Spiritual growth.  In memory of where this journal came from, I thought I would give you an update on Kaydence before I go.  Kaydence has had an incredible day today.  The kind of day she had can only be described with a heavenly language, so I am afraid that I will definitely come up short...but I'll try anyway.  Kaydence loved to smile as much as she could, so she did a lot of that today as she was in the arms of Jesus.  She spent so much time not able to say anything while she was here, so she spoke all day today about how loved she knew she was by the way people looked at her and spent time with her.  She has such a beautiful voice that she would have loved to show off to everyone around her while she was here, but she is sure using it now to give perfect praise to God.  She is growing spiritually every day as she is learning things we can only dream of.  She misses everyone that she knew while she was here, but she knows she will see them later, when the time is right.  She knows how sad we are for her to have left us, but she also knows first hand what is in store for those who are following Christ Jesus and she is excited to be able to show us around when we get there.  I miss you Kaydence and I want to give you a public thanks for turning my life upside down and showing me the things in life that are truly important.  There has been a big void in our lives since you have been gone...but it is being filled by Christ Jesus.  I am thankful that I have Him to fill that void!