Category Archives: Faithfulness

A Symphony of Souls

Posted on by

imageYesterday we hosted an Open House at our home for my stepson, Jack. This was a celebration of his recent graduation from High School but also a send off to Basic Training at Fort Benning, Georgia on July 5th. It seems fitting that he leaves to begin serving his country in the military the day after Independence Day. Jack is the baby of our family, all grown up and serious about what challenges lie ahead. We’re both very proud of him as were the many others who joined us yesterday to wish him well. We had family to celebrate, of course, but my mother noted about mid-afternoon how many people from our church had come out as well. They came to show their support of Jack  which meant so much to all of us. We have only attended this church for less than 4 years but the members have surrounded us with love and caring right from the moment we first stepped into their doors. This still amazes me.

It should not amaze me that this level of caring still exists. But there is so much unkindness in the world that when I see true kindness that is given without any expectation of return, it feels like such a treasure. I look around me and am thankful to God for this pocket of goodness that surrounds me. Community is something to be cherished but it is a vanishing commodity. We often blame our transient society on its demise but it’s more than that. As a society, we don’t value community. Maybe we’re even a little fearful of it. It’s much easier to hide our faults and flaws behind facades if we function in all areas of life as independent, separate individuals. In community we’re vulnerable. We’re accountable to the larger group. We all have our parts to play in the whole and if we don’t play those parts, the whole suffers. But the reverse is also true. If we play our parts, as many instruments in an orchestra, then we produce a beautiful melody, much deeper and richer than one instrument alone. Each individual functions better in supportive community.

Anymore though, most of us don’t seek community. We don’t know the people living around us in our neighborhoods and we have very little comradery in our workplaces. We have a type of community with our kids’ sports teams but it has an adversarial mentality. I’ve seen more hatefulness at Little League and soccer games than I wish to mention. But the church is not always the caring community that it should be. There is divisiveness brought on by selfishness and personal control issues that drive people away. However, when the church exists as it was envisioned by the apostles, it is a beautiful thing to behold.

One of my favorite passages in scripture is the roll call of the faithful people listed in the book of Hebrews. From Noah and Abraham to Sampson and the prostitute, Rahab, the writer lists heroes of the faith from past times.  I have always found it comforting to know that we are surrounded by this “great cloud of witnesses.” But I now think I only partially understood this passage. Yes, it speaks of people of faith who have gone before to pave the way but it also speaks of those who are walking with us now. We have a great cloud of witnesses on the earth today who tirelessly encourage us, lift us up, pray for us, and hold us accountable. They are the ones who anonymously give a gift to help a single mom or give an elderly neighbor a ride to the grocery. Sometimes we know who these faithful ones are but many times we don’t. They are all over the world doing their part, playing their instruments even if no one is listening. Somewhere in heaven there is a list, like the list in Hebrews, with their names on it.Their individual notes combine to form the greatest orchestra that is the present day cloud of witnesses. I personally know some of these people and I am ever thankful to be a part of their faith community. I know that I am a better person for it.

 

 

Tuning Out the Noise

Posted on by

 

image2015!!  It strikes me as odd to be so far into the 21st century already. It seems like just yesterday we hit 2000 and everyone was afraid that our computers wouldn’t run.  Remember Y2K?  Silliness! I thought it was silly at the time but supposedly we had numerous experts that were concerned.  Fear is so media driven.  News can be spread too quickly and false information is believed without checking it out.  I’m constantly surprised how many people are duped into believing everything they read and hear in the news.  Maybe I’m just a skeptic.  I am sure that I have been fooled many times over the years too.  However, I tend not to send on any questionable news items especially if they are inflammatory towards one political party or another.  The problem is that I still read them myself and I wonder how much they affect my thinking even when I know they are false.  When you hear something bogus over and over, repetition moves your mind away from the truth. It’s so important to step back from the craziness of our media world whether it be our news media or social media.  We must listen to voices of truth to keep our minds clear and open. Study the Bible, read classical literature, pay attention to older, wiser people in our lives, pray and listen for God’s direction.  There is so much noise in our world that we can’t make out the voices that should be holding our attention. They are all but drowned out.

In this new year, I want to intentionally listen:  listen to words of wisdom from seasoned voices, listen to God’s word, listen to the sounds of nature, listen to  beautiful music.  I want to just take the time to listen.  But to really do this I must turn off the noise.  I can’t be totally out of the world’s noise but I can limit it.  I will deliberately put down my smart phone for a good face to face conversation.  I will turn off the computer for a good book.  I will read the Bible one chapter a day beginning at the beginning with Genesis.  I purchased the Moody Bible Commentary over Christmas to help me study.  But most of all, I will focus my attention on things above and listen for God’s direction.  He speaks often in a still, small voice that can be difficult to hear through the noise of daily life.  I must tune my ear to Him like tuning a radio to a certain channel.  Static can certainly muffle the sound.  But I know that if I begin to tune out the silly, unimportant things of this world and listen intently, I will hear God speaking.  I have heard Him before and I have faith that He will speak again.  He’s probably trying to speak to me right now but I’m not hearing Him.  I’m like the boy Samuel in the Bible. God spoke to him 3 times before He recognized His voice. Only after the priest Eli told him to answer God by saying, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening,” did God reveal to Samuel a great prophecy.

So I pray: In this new year, open my ears, Lord so I am able to hear you over the rabble.  Let me not just listen but act.  Direct my paths so I may walk with you. Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.

Reminded of our humanity

Posted on by

My daughter Anna and I were fortunate to see an advanced screening of “The Book Thief” earlier this week.  I would highly recommend it.  We laughed, we cried, and I forgot to bring tissues!  The movie is set in a German neighborhood in the midst of Hitler’s reign of terror during WWII and follows one family struggling to live day-to-day through the madness.  In one scene, Hans (papa) tries to defend the character of a jewish neighbor as he is being drug away by the Gestapo.  He tells them that he is a good man and he has known him his whole life.  Hans is forced to tell the Gestapo his name and is thrown to the ground, unable to stop them. Afterward he says to his wife as she is cleaning his wounds, “What did I do?  What did I do?.”  What she said in response cut to the heart of the issue.  “What you did was remind them of their humanity.” The German people had lost sight of their humanity through Hitler’s influence.  They bought into the lies that the Jews (and anyone not of the Aryan race) were to blame for their country’s woes. They forgot that these people not long before were trusted friends and neighbors.  The Germans who realized that all this was very wrong, were too afraid to speak up for fear of the same fate as the Jews.  The country as a whole was pulled into the insanity.  A few brave souls stood out like the German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He could have stayed in America, out of harms way, but instead chose to return to Germany to help the Resistance effort.  He was part of a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler.  He died in a concentration camp 2 weeks before the end of the war.  His classic book, “The Cost of Discipleship” has a large readership yet today.  Did he imagine that the cost of discipleship would be his life when he wrote it?

Jesus was constantly reminding people of their humanity in many of his parables.  When asked by  a lawyer what he was to do to gain eternal life, Jesus asked him what was written in the law.  He answered that he should love the Lord, his God was all his soul, heart, mind and strength and love his neighbor as himself.  Jesus confirmed that he was correct and told him to do this and he would live. But the man then asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”  Jesus never really answered his question but told him the story of the good Samaritan who helped a man injured by the side of the road after two other people considered “good” by their observance of the rules, passed him by.  Jesus turned the tables on the questioner by presenting a Samaritan who was despised by Jews as the hero in the story.  He then asked, “Who in the story was a neighbor to the injured man?”  The teacher of the law had to answer, “The one who showed him mercy.”  Jesus never said who our neighbor is but said that we should be a neighbor to anyone in need.  In other words, we should not judge who should be considered our neighbor because we are to be the neighbor. He told the lawyer, “Go and do likewise.”

It’s easy to pick and choose who we consider to be our neighbors.  Usually they are people who think and look just like us.  But if we had eyes to see like Jesus sees, we couldn’t help but see the humanity in everyone.  To do this we have to step out of the familiar to meet these neighbors who are different from ourselves where they are.  Most of us will never be asked to risk our lives to help a neighbor but would we step up to the task if such a situation arose? The people in Germany and the surrounding countries who did risk their lives hiding Jews were no different from you and me.  The family in “The Book Thief” was an ordinary family but they chose to hide a young Jewish man in their basement for 2 years. Their eyes could see the humanity of this brother and they could not turn their backs on him. In the Gospel of John, Jesus spoke of this kind of sacrifice, “…love one another as I have loved you.  No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  Jesus did this for us. Now the challenge is, with His strength, to go and do likewise.

 

 

The Ultimate Sacrifice

Posted on by

I was touched deeply by a piece I read recently that was shared by a friend on Facebook about a fallen soldier who was escorted by his family and another soldier on his final journey home.  The family was honored by the flight staff and all the people on board the plane that carried the remains of their soldier.  This young man had made the ultimate sacrifice of his life to protect you and me. The story felt very personal  after being at Ft. Benning last week for Garrett’s graduation from basic training.  During all the ceremonies involved, I was struck by how much emphasis is placed on the higher calling embraced by the military. Garrett’s girlfriend, Lily, even asked me at one point whether the Army was a Christian organization.  I don’t think they could officially claim this.  It would not be “politically correct” to do so.  But it is obvious that those who make the decisions are spiritual people.  They are not afraid to call upon God openly at all their ceremonies.  I noticed that they were careful not to name Jesus.  They used a generic “God” term but the tone was definitely Christian.  Prior to this experience, I hadn’t really contemplated the very spiritual nature of military service.

Before Garrett made his decision to join the National Guard, he and I discussed why he felt called to do this.  He hopes while in the military to learn to fly helicopters since flying is a love of his life.  However his reasons for serving in the military are much deeper than that.  He truly wants to make a difference.  Protecting Americans and our freedom is not just a job, it’s a calling, a duty most of us don’t comprehend unless you are a soldier yourself.

I can relate somewhat, since medicine has a calling and a need for self-sacrifice as does the military.  Certain professions fill needs demanded by society and are more a calling than simply a job. As stated by Andrew Abbott in The System of Professions,” The sick want a cure, the sinner wants absolution, the accused wants exoneration, and the defenseless seek security.” When we had time to talk this last week, Garrett and I discussed the commonality of servanthood as an integral part of careers in Medicine, Pastoral Care, Law and the Military. For doctors, med school is like basic training in many ways.  Med students back in my day were called “Scut Dogs” and we were given the patient care jobs nobody wanted.  I spent 3 months at the VA in Indianapolis doing everything from starting IV’s, placing catheters, disimpacting patients and even transporting them to radiology.  I stayed overnight “on call” every 3rd night while I was in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy with my oldest child, Anna.  It was tough and I complained a lot to my family.  But my team took great care of our patients and they loved us for it.  Vets are a great group of patients.  They appreciate everything you do.  We came to love them too.  We all cried when one of our patients died of heart failure after a viral cardiomyopathy destroyed his heart.  He was only in his 30’s.  He needed a heart transplant but we were told then that the VA didn’t put patients on the transplant list.  That was 30 years ago.  I hope that policy has changed since then.  We were heart-broken ourselves when despite all our supportive efforts, his heart gave out one night on our call.  We felt powerless to help him but  in a real sense we did help him by truly caring.

I look back at this time of trial as a 3rd year med student as a period that strengthened me mentally and physically like a soldier.  I learned more in places like the VA than anywhere else.  I understand the sacrifice of time and energy that soldiers make.  But I’ve never been asked to put my life on the line for another. This is a dimension beyond what most of us are asked to do.  I could palpably feel this deep commitment by the soldiers during their graduation last week. They are there to protect us and give their lives doing it if they have to.  It’s a calling and a duty that is very spiritual and deep within every soldier or they wouldn’t be there.  I think the Soldier’s Creed says it all.

I Am an American Soldier

I am a Warrior and a member of a team.  I serve the people of

the United States and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough,

trained and proficient in my warrior

tasks and drills.  I always maintain my arms,

my equipment, and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy

the enemies of the United States of America in

close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American

way of life.

I am an American Soldier.

Honoring Those Who Serve to Protect Us

Posted on by

Garrett has been on my mind a lot recently.  In less than a week, I’ll be headed to Fort Benning, Georgia to see him graduate from boot camp.  I am so proud of the choice he made to serve his country in the National Guard.  I’m trying to find the words to fully express the gratitude that I feel toward all the people who put their lives on the line everyday to protect you and me.  It takes special people to do this who truly have servant hearts.  We need to honor them in all they do.  We need to support their families while they are gone and give them jobs when they return.  I think the separation from family and friends is the most difficult part for them.  I can hear it in Garrett’s letters how hard it is for him to be away.  Boot camp is the first separation of many.  Communication only by letters isn’t enough. I miss Garrett’s smiling face and his uplifting voice saying “How’s it going?” on the phone.  But as he would also say, “It’s all good!”

I don’t think any of us really understand the sacrifice made by these servant warriors unless we have lost a loved one who gave it all to protect us.  We have a long lineage of courageous heroes who have sacrificed their lives and livelihoods for our freedom.  So many in the world don’t have this.  I think of my Egyptian patients who can’t practice their faith freely in their country for fear of reprisals.  Their government does nothing to protect them.  They have fled to America for the freedom to believe and practice their faith as they choose.  They are pharmacists, engineers, and teachers who cannot use these skills here because they are not licensed in the US.  So they work places like Meijer stocking shelves so their children can have a chance to know freedom.  This is the very freedom we experience daily but don’t appreciate because we have never had it threatened personally.

Think about it for a moment.  Where would we be if there weren’t patriots who were willing to risk everything by fighting the British to start our own country, free from being ruled by a king?  I shudder to think what the world would be like if the Allies hadn’t won WWII.  Hitler’s reign of terror would have continued unchecked.  We have Al Qaeda terrorist who now wish to destroy us but the unstoppable American spirit rises up and says NO!  Our adversaries  may have leveled the twin towers but they are far from defeating us.

Yes, I will hug Garrett when I see him, tell him how proud I am of him and thank him for what he is doing. Please don’t forget to thank a soldier, policeman or fireman for serving to protect you today.  Just think where we would be without them.

A Legacy of Faith

Posted on by

As I was reading through the story “Look For the Face of Jesus,” I couldn’t help but wonder at the legacy of faith that Betty’s mom left to her.  Most of the time when we think of leaving a legacy, we assume this needs to be some great endeavor generally by someone famous in history such as Andrew Carnegie who left us a legacy of thousands of libraries dotting the United States. Or perhaps we would think of George Washington Carver who left us the legacy of hundreds of uses for the peanut, many of which are still used today.  These are admirable achievements for sure and of great value to society. However, I would guess that if I asked you who in your life left you a legacy that changed your path dramatically , it would not be any person famous by the world’s standards but it would be an ordinary person faithfully living out their values.

I think of the legacy of giving my parents have left to me.  I saw them as a child traveling to places far from our home to build churches for those people who did not have the knowledge or funds to complete them on their own.  I watched them give weekly to their own church even though when I look back I know we could have really used that money ourselves. My parents were small business owners and money was tight since most of their profit went back in to building up the business.  They tirelessly gave anyway.  I know that I value missions and faithful giving because I saw my parents not just telling me about giving but doing it themselves.

I remember a teacher that gave me the legacy of trustworthiness.  She was a safe person to confide in when my best friend was molested by her older sister’s husband and she was too afraid to tell her parents.  We knew that we could trust this wonderful woman to do what needed to be done to help a young girl in trouble. She had shown us what it meant to be trustworthy in everything  by who she was faithfully every day.

I remember an older man at my church who gave me the legacy of unwavering belief.  He was a research scientist at Eli Lilly and held many patents for discoveries he made in his career.  He avidly pursued knowledge in the academic world as well as in the scriptures.  He contended that the world was much too complex for a thinking person not to believe in a creator.  He would say that it was statistically impossible for the universe and everything in it to occur by chance.  He showed me that intellect could co-exist with belief in God as he stood firmly in his beliefs.

As it says in the Book of Hebrews, we have a great cloud of witnesses who have gone on before us.  They looked beyond the trials here on earth to a heavenly kingdom that could not be seen or touched but was real just the same.  Several of the witnesses of faith that have shaped my life through their legacy are still here on earth but many have passed on from this life to be with Jesus.  As with Betty’s mother, they watched for the face of Jesus in each person they encountered on their way until the time they would see Him face to face in their heavenly home. Those of us who have benefited from their example are left to carry on this legacy of faith.

 

 

       

Look For The Face of Jesus

Posted on by

Another story by Betty Carpenter                                    

 
Look For The Face of Jesus
 
When we first moved to Indiana from Tennessee we lived in Franklin, Indiana not too far from the high school and the railroad tracks. My mother wasn’t working at the time so I always walked home from school for lunch. We didn’t have much money so it was a cost savings and a wonderful opportunity for me to eat one of my mother’s home cooked meals. Plus, she always took the time to sit with me just to talk. She was the biggest influence in my life and, I thought, she must have had a heart just like Jesus. She always had some Bible teaching she would refer to when I or one of my siblings had questions about what motivated her or why she did some of the things we didn’t understand.
 
One Saturday morning we had just finished eating our breakfast of bacon, eggs, gravy and my mother’s homemade biscuits she made each and every day. There was a knock on our door. My mother went to the door and there was a man standing there that had a bag tied to a stick which contained all his belongings. He was not clean, he was unshaven, he had long hair and had just gotten off the freight train that stopped a few blocks away from our house. That was his transportation from town to town. He explained all that to my mother and asked her if we had any food he could eat since he was hungry. So, my mother, having that heart like Jesus, told him to come in and sit at our table. Her homemade biscuits and gravy were cold but she insisted on heating them for him while she made him some fresh cooked eggs. As usual, my mother sat with him, in fact we all did, while he enjoyed his food. I don’t remember the topics of our conversation but, even at that time, I considered it somewhat dangerous but so thoughtful and non-judgmental of my mother to welcome this stranger into our home. I’ve never forgotten that experience. I know it was never a question in my mother’s mind whether or not to feed this hungry stranger. And, as always, this was another lesson from the Bible when he left to go on his way. She just looked at us and said, ―you never know when you might have an opportunity to entertain an angel.‖ As I thought about this I searched my Bible and found the scripture to which she referred in Hebrews where the author provides some practical rules for Christian living. (―Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.‖ Heb. 13:2) Then again in Matthew, Jesus tells us of rewards to those who serve without thought of reward. (―The King will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.‖ Matt. 25:42) Jesus refers to His brothers as strangers— sick, in prison, hungry, thirsty, and needing clothes .
 
So, you might ask, what does all this have to do with the title of this article? It’s about serving as Jesus served and loving as Jesus loved. When people see us, at our work, at our school or at our church, do they see Christ within us? When they see our face, do they see the reflection of Jesus? I think that strange man must have seen the reflection of Jesus that day my mother invited him into our home and gave him food. Look around. Do you see reflections of Jesus around you?
 

        

God…Why Skunks?

Posted on by
Another great story from my friend Betty.
_____________________________________________________________________
God …… Why Skunks?
Why do we have skunks?  Yep, that’s going to be one of the questions on my “God List” when I see Him.  If you don’t know the skunk story, well here’s the short version.
One early morning, about 6 weeks ago now, our 17 month old black lab went outside on her regular routine of doing her business and surveying the property.  On her rounds she discovered a skunk in our front yard and, since she is still very much a playful pup, decided it might be a nice playmate.  Now you can probably guess what happened next.  The skunk did NOT want to play and proceeded to give her a spray just to let her know.  By that time my husband and I had seen the skunk and were horrified to say the least.  As we expected, the dog smelled exactly as we thought …..just like a skunk.  What we didn’t expect was that she would come running in the house and clean off her face onto our sofa.  Yep, that’s what I said, on our sofa.  All the way down the front edge of our three cushions was now skunk odor, not to mention the smell left on the dog.  So, now my husband and I are in a panic to get the remaining smell off the dog.  Still in our pajamas at 7:30 a.m., we corral the dog, run water in our tub, gather some doggie towels and begin to shampoo our 80 pound frisky lab, who also wants this stink off her.  Lather, rinse, lather, rinse and still, although drastically reduced, the smell of skunk is still evident.  Now, since we’ve concentrated on the source (the lab) we’ve also abandoned the sofa which is really stinking in the living room.  (Go ahead, I hear the laughter already.)  Finally we decided we had done  all we could do and dried off the dog, tried to figure out how many clothes we needed to throw away, take our shower and get to work late.
So, the sofa just sat there all day and continued to contaminate our home with the skunk odor.  By the time we returned home from work, well let’s just say, it was not a good thing.  We called the neighbor across the street to come help us haul the sofa outside to our large front porch.  At that point we had rid the house of the largest portion of the two sources of the smell.  Now comes the decontamination.  My husband and I, with Lysol and other disinfectants in hand, set out to clean floors, windows, doors and anything else in our path.  We just wanted to walk into our home without the overwhelming skunk smell.
Now, the smell is gone (thank God) and just this week that sofa, the one that was my favorite sofa ever, the one I loved when I saw it in the manufacturer’s brochure, the nicest sofa I ever had and the one I had waited, worked and saved so hard for was gone.  It was kind of sad to see it go, even though I knew it could not be repaired (it also had some puppy damage).  I thought about how much I had invested in that sofa.  Then later, I began to reflect on my investments.  Oh not the monetary investment, but rather the emotional investment.  I began thinking about just how much emotional attachment I had, not only to the sofa, but to other “things” I have.  So, this was a time of reflection and an opportunity to actually learn something about this whole experience.
What I’ve learned is that my “attachment to things” is not of God.  That doesn’t mean I don’t continue to appreciate and care for the things I have.  It just means that I have a new perspective.  I had such an emotional investment in that sofa that the loss of it diminished my joy of the other, more important, things in my life.  I would now rather concentrate on the joy of my friendships, my wonderful husband, my family that I dearly love, my church and the great love and forgiveness that Jesus Christ gives me each day.  After all, I am the child of a King!
 “Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV)
I might add to that, “where skunks and doggies do not destroy”.  Nevertheless, I try to look at circumstances as an opportunity to learn something.  I think I need to work just as diligently at thanking God for all that He gives, as I did diligently working and saving for that sofa.  That sofa is now gone but God’s love and forgiveness is always there for me, and you.  Eventually, I’ll get another sofa (God willing), but it won’t be one of my treasures.  Those are in Heaven!
                                                                    Child of the King.jpg

Pray Without Ceasing

Posted on by

I think prayer is one of the most misunderstood of all spiritual practices.  I once was asked many years ago by a child how to pray to God.  She wondered if she had to pray in a certain way for God to hear her.  I told her then and I believe it now that there is no required way to speak to God.  He just wants to hear from us.

Yes, I know Jesus gave us the Lord’s Prayer after the disciples asked Him how they should pray. But I believe this was meant only to be a guide for us.  Instead it has been over evaluated to give a formula of what parts should be included in a prayer.  This just confuses us and simply makes prayer too difficult.

Essentially, prayer was meant to be a conversation with God. It was never intended to be complicated.  The apostle Paul recommended to pray without ceasing.  This is talking to God throughout our day as if we were conversing with a friend.  It can simply be a heartfelt “thank you” or a plea of “help me know what to do, Lord.”  Sometimes our situation needs a longer conversation or when in desperation, it happens on our knees.  Whatever the circumstance, God just wants to hear from us.  He desires a relationship with us and without conversation this would be impossible.

It never ceases to amaze me the results of our prayers.  During lunch club this summer at my church, we have seen these prayers “on the fly” result in amazing things.  When the electricity went out on the first day of the lunch program, a prayer went up and plans went into gear to bring a grill to the church to cook hot dogs but there weren’t enough in the freezer for the number of kids expected.  Someone happened to drop in later that morning to see if we could use the hot dogs, hamburgers and potato salad that were extra from their graduation party the day before.  Problem solved!  Another time there weren’t enough cookies to serve and a prayer was sent heavenward.  In no time someone walked in with 16 dozen cookies. She said she felt a nudge from God that she needed to bake cookies for us.  She had never baked so many cookies at one time ever before.  God had set into play the answer to this prayer before the need was even recognized.

I’ve personally experienced this phenomenon of having a prayer answered before I’ve even prayed on many occasions.  When my son and I were in Haiti in 2011,  I asked one of the surgeons who is a devote Christian man, to speak to Garrett about his faith. I prayed that my son would be given encouragement to pursue his own faith by the example of this wonderful man.  That same evening before the surgeon had a chance to speak to my son, Garrett shared with our group how one of the Haitian men at the mission had expressed to him how thankful he was that God had gifted him with the ability to repair machinery.  This man was using his gift to glorify God.  I was amazed and more than a little tearful, that God had been answering my prayer through this Haitian man before I even asked.  I was trying to maneuver an answer myself but God had better plans.

Don’t underestimate the power of prayer.  The answers may not always turn out the way we anticipate but sometimes they turn out even better.  His answers aren’t always yes. They may be no or not now.  Sometimes the answer is “I will be with you through this.”  God knows what we need even before we know it ourselves.  He wants to have an intimate relationship with us and give us what is best for us always. Remember, we don’t see the whole picture, but He does.  Trust and keep praying.