Good God

this is random, but this weekend there were baptisms at our church again, and of course, it's my favorite thing to watch. mostly cause it really really clears out my tear ducts. just joking. seeing people publicly give their lives to the Lord is nothing short of the most beautiful thing on earth. whether you are a little kid- having the wisdom at an early age that Jesus is your Lord and Saviour, is awesome; or if you are a grown man of 40, with kids and a wife- having the wisdom and humility as a grown man that you can't do it on your own, that you and your family need and deserve to have God at the center of your lives, that's awesome too. anyway, that's not the random thing i was going to mention. in the midst of the baptisms, i noticed the shirt of a young girl who got into the 'pool' to get baptized. her shirt said 'OMG'. for those who are not of the texting generation, that means 'oh my god', and i just thought it was kind of a funny, yet oddly appropriate thing to wear to be baptized.

anyway, most of my posts are dedicated to my kids, poo, and family life. in that order. this post is dedicated to Jesus, who i love with all my heart. i have to remind you that i am not a pious and good person. i don't spend hours a day praying on my knees and meditating on the Word. i don't have the opportunity or ability for such practices. but, i do pray, and Jesus, being awesome, answers my prayers. always in His special way. and ALWAYS on his clock.

i have prayed for an acquaintance of mine to become pregnant for about 3 years. this couple had been trying for a bit more than that actually. they tried and tried and nothing happened. there were certain things that came up, endometriosis and such. even after that was 'fixed', still no baby. then this couple adopted a baby. and they waited and waited for that bundle of joy to arrive in their arms. pretty much as soon as their adopted baby arrived in their homes, a new baby arrived in the wife's womb. oh Jesus. you're so funny. when i told this story to a friend of mine, the thing that blew her away the most was that Jesus must have such a special plan for the adopted baby, cause if the parents had gotten pregnant at any time in their first 2 and a half years of trying, they never would have adopted the baby they have now.

then a few months ago (like 8) a few people i know prayed for a friend of ours to get a job. yes, eight months. no job. shocking in a recession. i know. sometimes i feel like if i pray for something, it should just happen. like right away. and knowing the verse that says "again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven." (matt 18:19) hello, Jesus? a lot of us here have agreed for quite some time that this friend, and his family, needed a job. but during these eight months, other prayers were said, AND answered, other things were being worked on and developed and God answered our specific prayer of getting a job this week (thank you Lord!)

and finally, today, i got a call from an out-of-town grilfriend of mine who was in a pickle a few weeks/months ago. she and her husband were not on the same page. already not a fun situation. but they were not on the same page about having a baby. my friend wanted one now-ish. her husband, not so much. (actually, chris and i prayed this prayer for our life a while back. the roles however, were reversed.) but more than wanting to have a baby now, my friend wanted to be on the same page as her husband. especially about this, cause it's kind of a big deal. so we prayed about it. we prayed for heart change, cause that's one of the many awesome things that God is able to work, in whoever needed their heart to be changed. maybe just one of them, maybe both. and God did it! sacrifice, peace, and love have shown up in abundance in their home, cause God is good.

so, all this prayer answering has been great for my faith, and i am sharing it all with you, cause hopefully it will help you with yours too. especially if you have been praying a certain prayer for a long, long time. philippians 4:6-7 says: "be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." it's important that God guards our hearts and our minds, and is able to do it for a long time, cause sometimes he takes a loooooooooooong time to answer our prayers. sometimes the answer to our prayers don't look the way we thought they would, and often they don't happen when we think that they 'should'. and that always ends up being a good thing. because God is good. and He's quite a bit smarter than the rest of us.