Think back to a time when trial entered your life. Were you prepared for it? Did you see "opportunity" in your trial? How did you react when trial first hit? Was God your first call? Do you believe there is purpose in trial? Or is it just punishment?

The premise I have taken as the author of "Winning Thru Trial" is that trial has purpose-to provide experience, certainly. But it will be up to each of us to choose a reaction that will determine, for the most part, what we will make out of each trial experience... and how it will affect our test of "becoming" the person God, our Heavenly Father, knows we can be.

But how can a person think of winning when a child or loved one is deathly ill or the victim of an unthinkable crime? How can we look for opportunity after being evicted from our home, after losing our only source of income? How can I find sweetness in trial after waking up to find my baby daughter dead in the crib?

These italicized words in the paragraph above are the last words you would normally think of using after suffering such unspeakable losses. The world teaches you to reject such words because the world doesn't correctly understand the purpose of trial. We are taught to cast blame upon others for our misfortune. We are encouraged to take time off to mourn, allowing our body and mind to give in to the sadness and loneliness that often follow such losses. Separation from those we love can be devastating and often unpredictable. How do we cope after experiencing trial and opposition?

These expressed concerns over real-life events and follow-up feelings are nothing to be ashamed of. But neither are they meant to send you into the depths of despair, sinking ever so slowly until you lose any sense of purpose or desire for accomplishment. As you allow these worldly thoughts to take over your direction in life, and you feel an uncontrolled spiral downward with no feeling whatsoever of what it is going to be like when you hit bottom... PLEASE KNOW THAT YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

This book, "Winning Thru Trial," is about preparing you for when trial hits... because it will hit again! This book is about teaching you 7 Winning Ways to build resilience sufficient to remain in control and to think clearly about what the next step is. What am I to learn? Who can I call upon to reach out and grab my hand before I hit bottom?

You will learn a new definition of "Winning." You will learn ways to see trial as a teacher, a headmaster in the school of taming the natural man or woman within you. You will gain a new understanding of the word "Opportunity" and that it doesn't relate to taking advantage of others... rather, you will learn to take advantage of your fallen state of humility by trusting in God to use trial in your refinement, and to gain Christlike character that will open your eyes to see more clearly whom you may become (Opportunity). And you will learn ways to proactively change your negative attitude to become more self-loving, believing in yourself because HE believes in you. And I promise you will begin to understand the "Sweetness" that can come after the trial of your faith and you feel, maybe for the first time, the love of your Savior, Jesus Christ, whose arms shall be wrapped around you as you feel His healing power penetrate every inch of your body and soul. That "Sweetness" is real, and I promise you it will be there when you are ready to accept it... maybe even crave it.

I have felt every word I have used in this writing, my friends. I have spiraled. I have fallen into such a lonely, depressed state, unable to feel or care. I have hit bottom and tried to climb back up on my own... even soliciting professional help to do so. But until my mind and heart were ready to admit that "I cannot do this on my own," did I then begin to taste the "Sweetness" from winning over the natural man within me. Now, read and Win!