I had been on a spiritual "high" for nearly two years. Everything was smooth sailing when suddenly in June of 2002 an obstacle landed across my path that brought my world to a screeching halt. Just when I thought I’d found my way, an old familiar challenge reared its ugly head. "Haven’t I learned this lesson already? Do I really need to go through this again?" I asked myself. But there it was, bigger than life, a huge boulder obstructing the path that I felt certain God wanted me to travel.

Within a few days of learning that I was to face, yet again, an obstacle that I knew all too well, I boarded a plane to see a dear friend in Florida. The first leg of the trip was from Chattanooga to Charlotte in a small prop plane. As we rose into the air and glided across the Tennessee Valley landscape, the aerial view afforded me a different perspective of the city I’d called home my entire life.

Two speedboats curled their way through the river’s path, veering closely to one another and then away - seconds before colliding. The highways stretched for miles, meandering through the countryside. From my perspective, I could see the traffic jams farther down roads that cars wouldn’t reach for miles ahead. I could see detours long before earthbound travelers would ever encounter them. If there had been a fallen tree blocking a path, it would have been clearly visible from my aerial view.

I began to ponder on this vantage point, and thought, "This is how God sees my life. He’s up high where the view is clear. He knows if someone else’s poor choices are about to crash into my world. He sees the detours, traffic jams and trees thrown across my path miles before I’ll ever reach them." And then the realization struck me with such force. My Father in Heaven had been preparing me for the last few years to face this challenge. He knew it was coming. He knew what was happening behind the scenes that I could not see. And He was doing everything within His power to build my faith, strengthen my trust in Him, and prepare me for the detour that would lie ahead. What a feeling of peace and love filled my soul when I understood that everything was within His hands and that He loved me enough to prepare me years in advance for a challenge I wouldn’t face for miles ahead!

The remainder of the trip gave time to step back from my problems enough to see them in their proper perspective. They still seemed formidable and I had no idea how I would face them or fix them, but I knew that the Lord would carry me through. The answers would come when the time was right.

Upon landing in Ft. Lauderdale, I was greeted by a friend who had been instrumental in my spiritual growth in recent years. Instrumental, actually, would be a weak word for the transformation the Savior made in both our lives through this friendship. I found it no small coincidence that at the beginning of a difficult journey, the Lord carried me 900 miles to spend a few days with this wise and dear friend. I had come full circle.

In so many ways our lives travel in circles. There’s something that God loves about circles. The earth spins on its axis in a circular motion; it revolves around the Sun in an elliptical path; the shape of the planets are spherical. It seemed only fitting that the Lord took me full circle to the person who initiated my last phase of spiritual development to close that segment of my life and inaugurate a new adventure. The poetry, timing and intricacy of the Lord’s dealings in our minuscule lives always astounds me. This trip was just further evidence of that fact.

Away from the harried life of a mother of six and small business owner, and relaxing in the quiet world of my friend who was in the first few months of motherhood, gave me a place to reflect, read, ponder and pray. Originally the only solution I could find for the financial crisis which had struck our family, was to sell my largest and most profitable Web site. My former coach was able to ask key questions to help me evaluate the situation from the outside looking in. Through her questions, I came to realize that this was not the solution to my problem. For in selling this site, I would undermine the fabric of my business and lose the one automated flow of income that gave me time to spend with my family. My friend helped me see that the sale of this site would require the sacrifice of something dear – the sacrifice of the time I spend with my family. This was a sacrifice I was not prepared to make. Through prayer, I soon learned that this was not a sacrifice that the Lord wished me to make.

After ruling out the only solution I could think of I began my search for another one. The second morning in Florida, I awoke with a clear and definite answer. I was to sell a smaller site and was given some clear ideas about who to approach and how to sell it. I had such an overwhelming feeling of peace and gratitude about this solution. That is where I would start when I returned home.

The next couple days passed quickly and I was on a plane heading back to reality. How thankful I am that the Lord gave me a momentary view from His perspective and the time in quiet contemplation to rejuvenate and fortify myself in the eye before the storm!

Upon returning, I immediately followed through on the leads and ideas I had for selling the Web site. But it didn’t sell. No one wanted it - even though it had great potential within the hands of the people I approached. As I researched more people to talk to about buying the site, I began to see that there were ways that I could increase the revenues from this site that I had never tried before. I saw opportunities that had been there all along, but which I had never seen or pursued.

I began pursuing these and shortly thereafter the site began to increase in revenue, bringing much-needed funds into our family resources. Day by day I began to act upon ideas for generating more revenue from my Web sites and through the grace of God I was able to earn the money our family needed to more than meet our monthly obligations.

Everyone has their crosses to carry - their adversities to endure and overcome. As the stormy waves have dashed across the bow of my ship, I have learned that faith in our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ is the only anchor strong enough to hold you steady in the waves of adversity. The following are 12 tools for keeping your faith centered in Christ so you can have peace even amidst the winds and the waves.

Take time every day to pray, read your scriptures, and meditate. By meditate I mean take some quiet time without worry or angst and just listen to the still small voice. Many times our solutions are right in front of us, but we can’t see them because our cries for help or the busyness of life deafen us to the still small voice. Take time to listen each day.

Take it one day at a time. As Matthew 6:34 says, "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself." Now, we do have to prepare for the future, but fretting about tomorrow is fruitless. Praise Him for what He’s given you today - no matter how meager. Don’t whine to Him about tomorrow or this month or the next. Just ask Him each morning for what you have need of today. You can also ask Him for what you need by a certain date. But if you find yourself getting too anxious, worried or whiny about not having enough to meet next week’s challenges, step back and only look at what you need today, and usually you’ll find that He has provided for the needs of the day. Make a point to be grateful for today.

Don’t hide your head in the sand. Sometimes it’s human nature to hide from our problems. For example, if you are in the middle of a financial crunch, you might have a tendency to put bills out of site and refuse to look at them so that you don’t have to worry about them. This is a dangerous trap. Don’t hide from your problems. Face them head-on in faith with the Lord at your side. Assess the situation. In the financial example, write down everything you owe for the month and the absolute last date it needs to be mailed in order to be paid on time. It helps to sort it in order by date. Then pray over the list and tell the Lord that you’re giving it to Him to handle. You have to be honest about where you are if you want to get where you’re going. If you are in Atlanta and you’re trying to get to Disney World, but you’re telling yourself you’re in Miami, you’re going to have a tough time finding your way. Be honest with yourself and with God about where you are. And if you’re not certain where you are, ask Him!

Use visual methods to give your challenges to God. For example, I’ve found it helpful in tight money situations to keep the family budget behind a picture of Jesus Christ holding a little white lamb that sits on my desk. That picture reminds me that Christ has us safely in His arms. He’s not going to drop us. Each morning, I would pull that list out from behind the picture of Christ, see what was due, ask the Lord for it if I didn’t have it and thank Him in advance, because I knew He’d provide it. If I did have it, I’d pay those bills and thank Him for the ability to do so. Then back the list would go behind His picture. You can use this with any problem you may have. Put something that symbolizes your troubles behind a picture of Christ and let Him carry your burden (Matthew 11:29).

If you catch yourself doubting or worrying. STOP. Pull out your scriptures, put on some hymns or praise music, drop to your knees and ask for the strength to have faith. Thank Him for what you do have and what you know He will deliver (Matthew 21:21).

Center your faith in Christ, not your outcome. Christ is a firm and solid foundation on which we can build. As a wise man once told his sons, "Remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil sends forth his mighty winds, his shafts in the whirlwind, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which you are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men and women build they cannot fail." Don’t build your faith on the outcome you want, rather pray, "Be it unto me according to my faith in Christ." Read Matthew 14:22-33 about Jesus walking on the water and Peter taking a few steps on the water. There are great lessons here. The men were scared that Jesus was a ghost and were afraid. Sometimes the things that look the very worst coming toward us are for our greatest good. When Peter kept His eyes on Christ, he could walk on water. When he became fearful and distracted by the winds and the waves, he began to sink. Keep your eye on the Master.

Open Your Mind and Heart. The Lord may provide for you in a way or means you never even considered. His outcome for you may be something different than you had in mind. But rest assured that "all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). Don’t be frustrated if an answer the Lord gave you doesn’t materialize in the way you thought it would. For example, the answer to my prayer that I should sell one of my Web sites still hasn’t led to the sale of that site, but it has led to many mini-sales from memberships on that Web site. The research I did in attempting to sell the site helped me find opportunities to earn the money I needed from the site by keeping it. The Lord pointed me in a direction that I could understand and that would give me hope and then once I marched in that direction, He opened up auxiliary doors of opportunity.

Pay Your Tithing. Solomon taught his son, "Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine" (Proverbs 3:9-10). No matter how little you have, show the Lord that you put Him first and that you are willing to do what He wants you to do by paying an honest tithe. Then the Lord will "open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Malachi 3:10).

Fast. Isaiah taught that fasting and prayer could loose the bands of wickedness, undo heavy burdens, bring understanding and insight, increase health, bring prosperity and repair broken relationships. Through fasting and prayer, when you call, the Lord will answer, "Here I am" (Isaiah 58:5-12). A typical fast is to do without food and water for two consecutive meals or 24 hours. During that time you pray and meditate upon a desire or need you have for yourself or for others. Those with health concerns may adapt the fast to their circumstances. It is also customary, as explained in Isaiah to bless the poor and the needy by taking the money you saved from the missed meals and giving it to the poor.

Worship in the Lord’s house. In the Lord’s house we can receive timely instruction and inspiration. David put it so eloquently: "How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee." (Psalms 84: 1-2, 4, 10-12)

Look for the lesson. Ask yourself what you can learn from this experience. What will you consider or do now that you might not have been willing or able to if you hadn’t been called to endure this problem? How can you more empathetically help others? Squeeze lemonade from every lemon.

Reach out to others. Forget yourself and get lost in serving others. In the process you will find joy, happiness and a perspective on your own challenges that cannot be found in any other way than in selfless service to others.

I testify to you that these tools work. Even though challenges are not always removed immediately, God will give you the strength to endure them and peace to pass the time while they last.