The Consequences of Prayer

I had a very short conversation a couple of weeks ago - not really a conversation even, more of an exchange of thoughts. However, that short exchange has had my mind working on the thoughts that came from it since...One of my new-found friends, a postal worker by trade:), commented about the humidity and jokingly asked me if I could make it stop. Well, here's the deal...if indeed God was answering my prayers the way I had been asking Him to, I just might be able to do that. You see, I had been stuck inside at the University taking some classes from 8-5 every day for two whole weeks (oh, and 2-3 hours of homework each night)...So, I didn't have time to water my garden...I just kept praying for rain, and The Lord delivered. But, the consequence of all of the rain was...you guessed it - more humidity!

Now, I know that this is a trivial example, but it made me think about what happens when our prayers aren't so trivial, when they're more serious..when you pray for healing, or finances, or any kind of deliverance. hmmmm...
God hears our prayers and answers them according to His will first, and also what we have asked of Him.

I think about all of the times I have heard - "a loving God wouldn't allow..." or, "I prayed, but God didn't answer..." What if that "unanswered" prayer was the one thing that got through to someone who needed to accept Christ?

It reminds me of another conversation I had a while back. Someone told me that they lost faith when they lost a newborn baby and since have become skeptical about religion, heaven, hell, God...Even about Christians in general - the skepticism has given them a heightened awareness of hypocrisy! Yikes! Yet, this person has become a very good friend and has said that my faith seems real and genuine...Again, Yikes! I have to wonder, was it a part of God's plan for that baby to die so that I would one day be reminded to take my faith more seriously and to guard my testimony more carefully?
Once again, God is in control...the question is, can I let Him be in charge?

You just never know...

A couple of years ago, I had a student in my classroom...a sweet little boy with an amazing mom. His father had been deported. In every single encounter I had with the little boy's mom, she was in tears. She was so concerned for her son, wondering how he was doing considering their new situation - living in a strange place (basement of some friends they hardly knew), she was working a lot, constantly dealing with legal issues - trying to get the father back.
One day, I met up with her at Sam's club. Again, she cried as she gave me an update on the situation. She literally cried on my shoulder that day in the cereal aisle, and since I wasn't at school - I told her I would pray for her...which only made her cry more!
But, I did..I prayed for them as often as I remembered to.
Here's where the story gets good...Just about a month ago, I was down at the local hardware store looking for a new garden hose. They didn't have what I needed, but on my way out, a sweet little tan-complected boy caught my eye. He was so excited to see me there - "Mrs. Fuller!!", he exclaimed, as he led me around the corner to where his mom was. She was excited to see me and I was puzzled to see her pushing a baby stroller. She noticed my puzzled look and pointed out the man who was in line waiting for the cashier! She didn't have to say a word about it. Her smile said it all! They were so happy, and the baby was adorable! She said that her older son was having a hard time adjusting since he had been the focus of all of her attention for so long. The encounter brought me to tears as I left them and started out the door. At this time, the tears were just welling up in my eyes, causing me not to see very clearly - except for the next thing that caught my attention...
I stopped and stared for just a moment and then rushed to my car as I burst into tears and sobbed uncontrollably!
What did I see, you ask? Well...jump the story back a couple of years again...It was late fall and Jeremiah had won a contest at school and he was able to get a brand new bike. His old bike was way too small for him, but he had never yet learned to ride it - he actually never really even tried. It had all of the bells and whistles, and not a scratch on it. Since it was in such good shape, I took it to school and gave it to a friend who worked with a group of parents every Thursday morning. Since Christmas was coming, I told her to give the bike to the mommy who needed it most with a child whose eyes would light up on Christmas morning because of that bike. She said she knew just who to give it to, but I didn't want to know - I wanted it to be anonymous. And it stayed that way until...jump back to present-day...I saw that little bike leaning against a pillar at the hardware store!
I sat in my car and watched the family leave the store, the little boy hopped on the bike and rode away with his happy family!
This is the only way I can share this story - if I try to tell it, I cry so uncontrollably that I cannot even be understood.
So...pray, allow yourself to be touched by others, trust in the Lord...You just never know...

Planning Ahead...

 
This is the bald cypress tree that is in my backyard. I LOVE this tree. It is one of my favorite things about our yard.
There's a funny story about it though...
We are the third owners to have the house we live in. The first owner, who had it built, also invested a lot of money in landscaping, for which I am very grateful! Not long after we moved in, the lady that had the landscaping done stopped by - she was in the neighborhood visiting a friend. She asked for a tour of the yard, curious about all of the plants she had chosen. She walked around the corner into the back yard and immediately commented about the bald cypress - she said, "Oh, it survived!" She continued to tell me the story about how her mother in law had given them the tree and she hated it, so she planted it in the very back of the yard, and gave it little care, hoping it would die!
After she left, I just looked at that tree and thought - several years ago, before I even knew about this house, with no thought that I would ever live here, God was planning ahead...He took an unwanted tree and established it's roots, and set it up to grow just for me!
I love that thought - God created something special for me long before I ever knew about it. It's an awesome reminder of how much God loves and cares for me, even when I don't notice!

Getting Back on Track

I didn't even hear the message in church yesterday - I was with the kids - but I heard what it was about (that happens when you live with the preacher). Just hearing about it, I knew it was for me...I need to "get back on track". It is embarrassing to admit that I haven't put anything on this blog for OVER a year now! Ugh! And, even more embarrassing...what went into this blog was from my personal Bible study - that will tell you how well my personal study has been going for some time now:-{

So, this morning, I cracked open my study of the life of John. This is the third book in Beth Moore's series of "90 days with..." books. First was David, then Jesus, now John. (They can be found at amazon.com) I have read the first three days countless times as I have endeavored to start it up again. But honestly, I was never really into it - then a conversation I had a couple of days ago made me recall the story that unfolds in those first few days as James and his brother John leave their father Zebedee and his fishing business in Mark 1:20. The conversation I was having was about how hard it is for some people to leave a religion that they grew up in. It seems that many people choose their church because "that's the way we've always done it."

We do this with so many things...It reminds me of the great Chevy/Ford debate. My dad has always bought Chevy, now GM cars. And, I have followed suit being somewhat of a Chevy loyalist. I didn't think that anything would ever change that - except that now Ford did not accept government bail-out money - I'm not sure they're all that bad!

I'm reminded of how hard it is to break habits...to walk away from what is comfortable...what you've always known. This is just what James and John did. They worked in their father's business. They probably had a good life. Their futures were set. They owned a fleet of fishing boats. And they just walked away to follow Jesus. To do whatever he wanted them to do. Wow! To have that kind of faith!

"Rebuke the Devourer"

Malachi 3:10-11 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes...

This is one of the greatest promises God has given us, at least for the time we're living here on earth.

This time of year, with taxes coming due and statements coming in the mail, I always think about tithing and consider the blessings that God has given us over the past year.

A couple of years after we got married, we decided that we needed to sit down and write out our family's budget. We were working on taxes anyway, so all of the information we would need was sitting right there in front of us. We crunched all kinds of numbers, and just could not deny the fact that we just didn't have enough money coming in to cover all of our needs. We decided that would be our first and last attempt at a family budget, because miraculously, our bills got paid, our needs were met, but on paper, it just didn't work out!

We decided we wouldn't go there anymore, we would just trust God to keep a ledger for us and balance our books. And, He has kept his promise to us from Malachi. The windows of heaven have truly poured out a blessing on our household!

We still chuckle when we think about it!

Happy New Year!

This time last year, I decided that this was as good a time as any to decide to "stick with-it." I decided that I would get up a little earlier each morning and I would start my day with scripture and prayer. I was getting to my Bible study before that, but that was just it. I "got around to it". I decided last year that I was going to put it first.

It was rough going for a while. I tried to do it on my own - just starting somewhere in scripture and moving along. I found out that it is much easier for me to have a guide. So, in May, when we went to the Beth Moore conference, I bought her Devotional on David's Life. I loved it. It was a very exciting study for me. I learned a lot about David and his heart for God that I never knew before. If you're looking for a good study as we start another new year, I would highly recommend this one!

These studies written by Beth Moore are designed to last 90 days. Just as I was finishing up my David study, a 90 day devotional about Jesus was released. I bought it right away. It was a real blessing to study about Jesus' life in the fall as Christmas was fast approaching. I learned so many things about Jesus' birth that I never noticed before. The next few months would be a great time to complete this study as well, as we approach Easter!

Today, the first day of 2008, I started reading a Devotional called "Praying God's Word." I am really interested in this concept of praying scripture as a way to have dialog with God. It's sort of like saying "God, you said in your word that...I would like to claim that promise in my life today..."

These are my recommendations for 2008. Let me know if you need help finding one, or send a comment if there is something that you have used and would recommend.

Merry Christmas to Me!!!!

I was so touched by the generous gift card that the church got me for Christmas. I was excited that the Pastor was honored in such a special way, and that was all I expected! I was so surprised to get a gift EQUAL to his!!!! Wow! Thank you so much!

I thought I would send a message to let you know what I have done with it so far.
I have been looking at the Shark Steam Mop for a while and was hoping to purchase one after Christmas. My dad found one on sale, so I bought it with the gift card from the church. It is awesome!!! We had a really yellowed spot on our linoleum that was really bothering me. In just a short time, it was gone! It puts out a lot of steam and the "micro-fiber pad" really picks up a lot of stuff --and then you just put it in the washer! I'm pretty impressed with it and quite thankful to have it!

I also bought a 12"X 32" white picture frame on sale at Hobby Lobby - Gary's going to build a box frame to fit the back of it so that I will finally have something to display my wedding bouquet in. Eleven years later, I'm finally getting around to that. They still look great, but it's time! I'll send a picture when it's finished.

I don't have a plan for the rest yet. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Thanks again!!!!