I recently over heard myself giving some advice to a young lady who had beaten the odds.

I was trying to encourage her to celebrate the life she had achieved, even though her early years reflected that the odds were against her.

I recently read an article produced by the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study. They named several risk factors inpacting the lives of children. Among those listed were divorce, an alcohic, a drug abusing parent, sexual molestation, violence at home, mental illness in the life of a family member, and death of a loved one.

Their study concluded that if you had four or more of these risk factors, your chances for a happy life are low, and your chances for a lousy life were high. In my opinion far too many children are living with way to many of these risk factors. The more that impact a young life the greater the odds are stacked against you.

Odds are just odds and some have found ways to beat the odds. This study did not take into account the positive people and events that can impact young lives. What saved me and countless others can be summed up in one word–love.

Love in its many faces and places, love by chance, love on purpose, love on the fly, brief love, lasting love, love that was too embarrassed to name itself, broken love that got repaired–every kind of love that you can imagine. It’s a pretty fair bet–indeed it is a proven fact–that loveis the biggest difference maker life has to offer us searchers and sufferers.

Even the Bible reminds us that love is the greatest. Although availabe, it’s not always found, and when found, cherished. I belive that God loves me unconditionally and forgives me. Once I found that truth it made all the difference in the way I viewed myself and the others around me. I am still working on cherishing–I am sure that is a life long work.

Overcoming the odds may be difficult but I would not bet on those who are dependent on God’s love. The Bible says they will overcome!

This is my story…