by faith...

According to dictionary.com faith is:

  noun

1.confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another's ability.

2.belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact.

3.belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion: the firm faith of the Pilgrims.

4.belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc.: to be of the same faith with someone concerning honesty.

5.a system of religious belief: the Christian faith; the Jewish faith.

6.the obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise, engagement, etc.: Failure to appear would be breaking faith.

7.the observance of this obligation; fidelity to one's promise, oath, allegiance, etc.: He was the only one who proved his faith during our recent troubles.

8.Christian Theology. the trust in God and in His promises as made through Christ and the Scriptures by which humans are justified or saved.

While I would not disagree with any of those definitions, I am most attached to the definition I find in Hebrews 11:1, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

"The evidence of things not seen"... yep. Definitely. Each day presents itself with a new opportunity to exercise faith and believe in the things yet unseen. Faith that I will wake up, Faith that my list of to-dos will get tackled, that my husband will go work and come back home safely, that my children will do their school work, that dinner will taste good, that whatever trial arises God is already preparing me to deal with it...and on and on... Faith is all encompassing. From the trivial and mundane, to the big and fearsome. I don't want to wait for a crisis to have faith that God is at work. I want to be confident and certain everyday in every little thing that god is in control, fulfilling every promise, and caring for every need. When I rest in Him and trust in Him to walk with me in all I do each day I can have faith that He will care for me that much more during times of trouble.

"...Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed." ~John 20:29b