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During this last season I spent a lot of time feeling discouraged, like giving up.

Certain things were happening that at times simply made no sense. It  seemed as if one thing after another happened to cause me discouragement, grief and at times heartache. I had a hard time wrapping my mind around a lot of it.

I wondered why God even had me  serving where I was. If I was going to be attacked so much about it, if we were going to be blocked from moving forward, why did he have me here?

At just the right time, people would come with encouragement.

A woman from our church who I hadn’t spoken to in some time stopped me one day, and said, “This is for you.”

In her hand she held a neon green sticker, about the size of my hand that said, Never ever give up!

Having no idea of my plight, she simply followed the leading of the Lord. I so needed that sticker.

Towards the end of this season, even with all the encouragement the Lord had brought my way, I was still overwhelmed with all the disappointments, distractions and outright attacks.

At the Cleansing Stream retreat, the ministry team comes together for training the night before. While we were in worship and prayer, I saw a picture of a fence. This fence had a hole in it and I was looking through at everything God had for us, but I felt I just couldn’t get to it because I couldn’t get over the fence.

Then, I saw the fence fall down before me, and I heard God say in my spirit, “Do Not Give Up! In this next season everything that has been holding you back is going to fall down. Do Not Give Up!”

That word helped me tremendously. I was able to serve with joy at the retreat and see many lives changed and healed.

That promise is why I’m still standing today.

Stand strong and do not give up. The Lord is watching. He knows and he understands. Hold firm and do not give in to discouragement.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up (Galatians 6:9 NIV).