Reflecting On Our Years in Cusco

 

We’re just over a month away from completing our time in Cusco.  I’ve found myself reflecting a lot lately about how I’ve seen the Lord at work during these 6 years here—how He’s worked around us to grow His church in Cusco, and how He’s worked in my own heart to change and mold me.  I truly feel amazement and incredible gratitude for both.

 

 

How I’ve seen God Grow the Church Here

When we arrived in Cusco, our church, Fuente de Gracia, had just been planted and there was a small group of around 40 people—primarily missionary families and Peruvian young adults meeting for worship services and Bible study gatherings.  Everything was fairly missionary led at that point with some national participation on the worship team and hospitality set-up. 

 

Since that time, it has been a joy to watch the Lord grow the church both in number and in depth of commitment to the Lord and His people. 

-       The church has expanded to include 80+ people of all different ages and stages. 

-       Peruvian men and women have stepped into significant leadership roles, working together to develop vision and strategy for set-up, sermons, children’s ministry, youth ministry, small groups, Bible studies, fellowship events, and mercy ministry.

-       Passion for meeting together and praying together has grown significantly.

-       The church family has learned to care for one another through very trying times, reaching out to one another, praying for one another, and speaking scripture to one another.

 

Just this past year, in particular, it has been an incredible delight to watch the Lord lead individuals in church through times of great uncertainty and then, after a season of walking forward by faith, He has come through with perfect solutions and answers.  He’s provided jobs, homes, locations for the church to meet, physical healing, and relational restoration.  We’ve seen bonds form between brothers and sisters in Christ where there was previously tension.  We’ve watched husbands and wives die to self, putting the other first in reliance upon the Lord, and we’ve heard testimonies shared over and over again about God’s constant goodness and faithfulness through hardship. 

 

 

We have truly received a KINGDOM WHICH CANNOT BE SHAKEN (Heb. 12:28) and He is constantly adding to the GREAT MULTITUDE STANDING BEFORE HIS THRONE (Rev. 7:9-12) and INCREASING HIS GOVERNMENT over more and more people and places (Is. 9:7).

 

 

NOW TO THE KING ETERNAL, IMMORTAL, INVISIBLE, THE ONLY GOD, BE HONOR AND GLORY FOR EVER AND EVER.  AMEN!  (1Tim 1:17)

 

 

 

How I’ve Seen God Grow and Change Me

I’ve told friends that I feel like a completely different person today from who I was when I arrived in Peru in 2015.  I could write for ages about the things that I’ve learned and ways that I’ve changed, but most significantly:

 

My view of God has changed.  I now see and experience Him much more intimately.  He’s taught me to hear from Him in ways I never did before.  He’s shown Himself to be much more of the hero and plot mover in His kingdom story—even down to the smallest details—than I ever realized. 

 

My view of the gospel and God’s kingdom has changed.  I’ve learned to see the gospel as so much bigger and greater than mere salvation.  I’ve come to truly delight in the astonishing invitation to partnership and kingdom rule that God instituted at creation.  My understanding of the kingdom of God and its presence, power, and impact has increased exponentially.  That word—kingdom—has taken on a concrete, dynamic, and incredibly consequential concept for me. 

 

My view of myself has changed.  As the Lord has taught me to delight more deeply in Him, my fear and dependence on human approval have lessened, and I’ve grown in confidence of how the Lord could and does choose to use me.  And so, I now see myself as capable of much more through the Holy Spirit’s power.  On the other hand, I’ve seen God work most mightily during my times of greatest weakness and dependence, and so I’ve also come to see myself and my efforts as much less consequential—in and of myself.  I’ve seen my sin more deeply during these years and learned to wrestle more proactively for my own sanctification.  I’ve learned to see more greatly my need of the body of Christ for that purpose as well.

 

My understanding of the role of prayer has changed significantly.  That’s a whole other blog post, but suffice to say that when I say significantly, I mean SIGNIFICANTLY.

 

My view of missionary service and ministry in general has changed significantly.  I’ve done a LOT of thinking and wrestling through my own thoughts on this topic, and last year some of it culminated in my writing an 11-page Philosophy of Ministry paper that helped Derek and I to process a lot of experiences and thoughts from our time serving with MTW thus far.  That document, which expresses our current convictions and aspirations, can be viewed here. 

 

 

 

And for those who have read this far…. Thank YOU for your role in all of the above.  I’m so thankful for the body of Christ rallying around us and our efforts and propelling these changes for the kingdom these past years.

 

 

Spanish Blog: Learning to be Real

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Have you ever felt like you are wearing an invisible mask and no one really sees the real you?  I realize that today, in 2021, we are all wearing masks due to COVID.  But what I am referring to is putting up a front so that people will see only what you want them to see in your personality. 

 

 

During my second year of college I came to the realization, one day, that I was presenting the world with a version of myself that wasn’t completely honest. 

 

 

How did I arrive at this realization?

 

 

The Lord used two good friends in my life.  One of these friends was willing to confront me and ask me difficult questions about myself.  She expressed to me that she wanted to know me—the real me—but that it felt like I wasn’t willing to be real and vulnerable with her.  This was a very challenging and surprising message for me to receive.  It shook me a bit.  I had never had a friend before who was willing to poke that much at my personality.  The other friend who the Lord used was available right at the time when I needed someone to process these things.  She listened, encouraged, and walked with me through my need for growth.  I’m thankful to the Lord for both of these friends and the way that He used them to help me see myself more objectively.

 

 

What was I trying to hide?

 

 

I think that as I had grown up in the church and been taught to exemplify Christ in my interactions with people, I learned, over time, that it was important to appear “good” to others.  I wanted not only to be liked and approved of, but I wanted the people in my life to have no reason to doubt my virtue.  The problem with this was that I was a fallen, sinful human just like everyone else in the world, and keeping that part of me hidden had created a barrier between me and other people.  I was allowing the world to see the person that I wanted to be and not the person that I really was.

 

 

This was a complicated concept for me to discover, because on the one hand, we are called to put on the characteristics of Christ.

 

 

“…put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,  and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”  Ephesians 4:22-24

 

 

On the other hand, however, the way that God has decided to grow us to become more like His son is through being honest with each other about our struggles.

 

 

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”  James 5:16

 

 

 

Now, I don’t think the Lord expects us to share our struggles and sins with everyone in the world.  I think it takes discernment and faith to discover the people whom God has provided in your life to walk with you in your own growth and mortification of sin.  And of course we will not be able to find these people if we are not putting ourselves in community with a family of believers. 

 

 

Occasionally the Lord may send you someone like my bold friend who pursues your heart relentlessly, but more often He will simply put a deep longing in your heart to be known. And when that longing burns within you, you will ask the Lord your Father to provide you with a community.  And you may be tempted to stop there, but the prayer of faith is one which is followed by action, so by faith we must risk being hurt by other people and ask for the privilege of being genuine—of removing the mask and being honest about struggles. 

 

 

Of course making a move like that is quite scary the first time you do it.  It certainly was for me.  But the promises of scripture assure us that we can trust God to protect and care for us even in moments of great vulnerability.

 

 

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”  2 Corinthians 12:9

 

 

"Be strong and courageous ... The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."  Deuteronomy 31:7-8

 

 

 

This was somewhat a turning point for me relationally.  Both of my friends were very patient with me and they taught me a lot through their good examples of friendship and their gentle boldness in drawing me out.  I continue to journey with the Lord in navigating how to be honest and vulnerable in relationships.  I do think that overall it has gotten much easier over time.  Though I’ve also continued to experience the effects of the fall in relationships as well.  Sometimes I fail others and sometimes they fail me.  But praise be to God, He never fails us and always works on us to make us more and more like His perfect son.

 

 

Spanish Blog: Conflict and Peace

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Shortly after my eighteenth birthday I moved into a dormitory at a Christian college about a 3-hour drive from my parent’s home.  The school had arranged a roommate for me, and I was so excited.  I had been looking forward to this for a long time, praying fervently that my roommate and I would become fast friends.  I was determined to be the best roommate I could be- sensitive, caring, and constant in prayer for her.   I was desperate for someone whom I could really share my heart with and come to know on a deeper level.

 

 

Things didn’t work out like I had hoped, however.  After moving in with my roommate we quickly discovered that we were very different people with different social habits and needs.  I tried to be kind and caring, but by the midterm break I was miserable and incredibly lonely.  I felt hurt in some ways by my roommate, but I didn’t know what to do about it.  I didn’t want to talk about the situation to anyone else because I thought that would be gossip and wrong.  I tried to bear up under the struggle and place it in God’s hands, but while I was home for Fall break I broke down in tears and my parents found out about the struggle.

 

 

My parents encouraged me to have a talk with my roommate about the way I felt, and then seek a different living situation.  I followed their advice.  My conversation with my roommate was one of the hardest I’d ever had in my life.  I naturally run from conflict, and yet as my parents had pointed out, loving another person sometimes means being honest with them when you are hurt.

 

 

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” Matthew 18:15

 

 

I realize now that there are some circumstances in which it is not safe or wise for an individual to confront someone who has wronged them alone like that, however between brothers in Christ the Lord often uses conflict to grow His children both in relationship with Him and with each other.  I learned a lot about relationships during my time in college.  The Lord granted me wonderful, dear friends who would encourage me and spur me on in my walk with the Lord, and He also provided challenging relationships which brought me to my knees before the Lord, growing in me a greater dependence on Him.  Through it all He was always a faithful Father and Friend to me Himself.

 

 

After that first difficult relationship with my roommate I recalled the conflict I had worked through with Molly five years earlier, and I realized that in many ways God had used that conflict to prepare me for this one.  In fact, I can now look back and see that not only did God prepare me to walk through that trial with my roommate, but He also used it to prepare me for future trials that He would bring my way. 

 

 

God never brings a challenge to His child for which He has not adequately prepared them.

 

 

 ^“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence.”  2 Peter 1:3

 

 

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

 

 

To this day conflict is a thing that I would love to avoid at all costs.  Yet I have learned that true peace often comes only by facing conflict in love and honesty.  Jesus Christ Himself demonstrated a commitment to walk into conflict over and over again for the sake of pursuing righteousness, and so with Christ we must be willing to walk through the conflict He leads us to—putting on Christ as we go, and allowing His love to define us as we speak and as we listen.

Spanish Blog: Loneliness and Fulfillment

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During my last couple of years of high school I experienced some loneliness.  I worked hard on my schoolwork to earn good grades so that I could get a college scholarship, and I worked a part-time job at a grocery store to save up money for a car.  My sister and I did share one sweet friend, with whom we often spent time, but I longed for a friend who was just mine—someone who understood me and whom I didn’t have to share with anyone else.  

 

 

I felt like I didn’t fit in with the other young people who I interacted with at school, work, or church very well.  Most of the girls seemed more interested in talking about boys and the latest pop stars than about the things they were learning, or the types of fun that I enjoyed.  

 

 

Many in my situation would have sought out a boyfriend to fill the void, but I was convicted that this was likely not what God had for me at the time.  I had always been taught that the purpose of dating someone should be to discover whether God was calling me to marry that person, and as a high school student I was certainly not ready to think about marriage yet.  Also, I had never met a boy who seemed like someone the Lord would lead me to marry.  

 

 

I had always shared a bedroom with my sister, and given the size of our family (I had 4 younger siblings at this time), solitude was not always easy to find in our home, so I often sought it outside on a swing set behind our house.  I had gotten a CD player for my 15^th birthday, and I often brought it outside and listened to worship music while I imagined heaven.  I longed for heaven because it seemed like the ultimate answer to my loneliness.  I knew that no earthly friend or husband would ever be able to fully satisfy my desire for companionship, because I was designed to long for God and He alone could fill the void completely.

 

 

“As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.” Psalm 17:15

 

 

I’ve come to see loneliness as one of God’s greatest tools for nudging us toward Him.  I believe He is jealous for me and desired that I throw myself into relationship with Him, and so He was willing to allow me some discontentment for the sake of advancing my journey toward finding Him to be a faithful and ever-present friend.

 

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.  Proverbs 18:24

 

I have continued to struggle with loneliness on and off again as an adult.  Honestly, I think all humans do.  Because we were created to live fully as spiritual beings in intimacy with the greatest of spiritual beings—our Creator God—and yet sin constantly works to convince us that fulfillment is possible—and easier—through human relationships, possessions, success, etc.  We run after these things so hard because we long SO DESPERATELY to be fully known and fully valued. 

 

“To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.”  - Tim Keller

 

 

So when I struggle with loneliness, I know that my first response should be to seek quality time with God.  Then, resting in His full love and approval, I can take steps of faith toward relationship with my brothers and sisters in Christ.  Alongside my spiritual family, we make up a spiritual organism that grows and thrives best together--through constant interaction and mutual pursuit of our Father God.

 

 

  “From whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”  Ephesians 4:16

 

 

The Language of Heaven

For some time now I’ve wondered if perhaps music is the language of heaven.  It is a universal language that conveys meaning to our hearts in a beautiful and emotional way.  It’s like a heart language that all of humanity shares.

 

 

This morning while on my walk with God I was listening to “Lothlórien” by Enya—which I find absolutely gorgeous by the way—and even though it’s completely instrumental, I felt like the music was drawing my eyes to the skies and my heart toward thinking about life from above—from my heavenly position in Christ’s throne with Him (Eph 2:6).  The song has no lyrics at all, but the melody alone was used by the Holy Spirit to call me toward a heavenly perspective.  And yet, somehow, the tune also seemed to allow for acknowledging the more humble setting in which I physically reside.  It seemed to promote a balanced approach to looking up, seeing from on high, but also looking straight ahead, and accepting where I am.

 

 

( By the way… after writing this post, I decided I ought to look up what the word, “Lothlórien” means, and I was pleasantly surprised.  It seems the artist had a similar thing in mind when she composed the song!  Lothlórien was, in fact, the convergence of two contrasting realms.  Look it up!)

 

 

 

I’ve written before about how it seems to me that God writes and reveals melodies and lyrics in His perfect timing and with His own purposes, which are almost certainly grander than those of the earthly artists who are given credit for them.  I’ve found over the past few years that I often find deeper spiritual meanings to secular songs.  Sometimes the lyrics an artist assigns to a tune just seem absurdly shallow or silly compared to the message the Holy Spirit impresses on my heart.  

 

 

It makes me think of Jesus’ parables.  There are some who will only take away simple moralistic messages from them, and God allows it to be so.  But the Holy Spirit’s omniscient power to wield anything in creation for His purposes is one of the most beautiful and magical aspects of the way He works, and the more I experience it, the more I stand in awe.

 

 

 

Anyway… the language of heaven.  As I thought about this more, I realized that music is not the only artistic expression that is somewhat universal.  Perhaps heaven will have unlimited languages which speak truth and meaning to each one’s heart.  Perhaps our emotional intelligence will be raised to level where we can gain absolute meaning through observing the facial expression and muscular efforts of a runner completing His marathon, a ballerina executing a pirouette, or a painter blending colors on a canvas. 

 

 

Just as each of us have mother tongues with which we will always communicate best, we also have other heart languages which speak to others, and as ourselves as well, of the longings of our hearts.  In the fallen condition we tend not to have opportunity to fully express these things as we would like to, and even if we do, it tends to be misunderstood or under understood.  But one day it won’t be so.  

 

 

Communication is clearly one of God’s defining attributes.  So integral is it to His character, that John 1:1 names Him the Word.  Genesis 1 introduces us to all of creation as an expression of His speech, and Hebrews 1:3 affirms that His power is in fact a means of His communication which actually upholds all of creation.  Clearly, He is a communicating God who is not limited to the languages of vocal cords.   

 

 

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  Hebrews 4:12

 

 

Spanish Blog: Prayer and Laser Vision

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When I was seventeen years old, and I had just graduated from high school,  my parents wanted to do something special for me to celebrate my graduation, and my mom had the idea of a day at the lake with a couple friends.  Here is what I wrote about the occasion in my journal:

 

June 25, 2004

Yesterday was my graduation party at the lake.  It was just Misty, Stephanie, Kelly, me, and our dads (just fathers and daughters).  It was really fun.  First of all it was great to see Misty.  That was the second time I’ve seen her since she came back from Venezuela.  At first I was going to invite more friends to come, but then I decided it would be more special with just Steph and Misty.  We’re really close friends…

          

         There were some really neat answers to prayer about the whole thing that made it a totally awesome day.  For several months my mom had been praying about what we should do to make my graduation special and she eventually thought of the father daughter idea - which turned out to be really great.  Then several days before we went, I was having my devotional and I prayed that God would make the weather really nice that day – or at least for most of the day so that we could have a good time.  I have been reading “Prayer: Asking and Receiving” by John R. Rice, which is really good.  It has really challenged me about praying in faith and believing that God delights to grant my requests.  So I prayed for good weather and for some reason I really had the confidence that God was going to grant my request.

 

         Now a couple of Sundays ago in my dad’s Sunday school class he was teaching about how if we ask God for something and He says yes, we shouldn’t pray for it again.  He gave an analogy that I thought was good.  If I was to ask my mom to do something for me tomorrow, and she said yes, I should take her word for it.  If I went back to her in an hour and asked again she would probably be a little annoyed because she already said yes.  If I then went back a third time, she might get frustrated with me.  If God gives me the faith to pray believing that He will grant what I ask, I should not ask again, but think of it as a closed matter.  If God says He is going to do something, He will.  I need not ask twice. 

 

         So anyway, God gave me faith to believe that He would grant my request, so I decided not to pray about it again, even though the trip was several days off.  Man that was hard.  I came so close to asking God again several times.  I’m so used to praying things over and over again.  I didn’t ask again, however, and yesterday when we went, the weather was perfect.  It was sunny for most of the day and just cloudy towards the end.  It was just slightly warm and the water was wonderful.  I couldn’t have asked for a better day.  God is so good!

 

         That was an awesome answer to prayer, but God did an even greater miracle while we were there.  That’s the way I have come to see answers to prayer like that.  Some people say that God doesn’t choose to do miracles now like He did in Bible times, but after yesterday I have no doubt that God has not changed at all.  We simply don’t have the faith.  I think if people would expect things like what happened in Bible times, it would happen and maybe even to a greater extent.  In one of the gospels (I don’t remember where now) Jesus said to His disciples that with the Holy Spirit, they would do even greater things in His name, than He did himself.  I think that was at the same place where He said, “You will say to this mountain move, and it will be done.”  (or something like that). 

 

         OK, now I’ll tell you what happened.  Later in the afternoon we were riding in a rented pontoon boat and we found an island that had a rope tied to a branch over the water so we stopped and went and played on it for a little while.  It was a lot of fun.  The dads took turns staying on the boat while the rest of us went and played on the rope swing. 

 

Well, Stephanie’s dad brought a tow rope contraption (I don’t know what it was called) that we used when we went knee boarding and we were going to need in order to water ski later.  While most of us were swinging, the dads were trying to untangle the rope from the propeller and in the process the connection apparatus to the rope got dropped and it sunk to the bottom of the lake.  I think it was supposed to float, but it didn’t.  The lake was pretty murky there by the island, and we guessed probably about 20 feet deep where the apparatus was dropped.  Stephanie’s dad yelled over to us on the island asking if anyone had goggles.  I had brought a pair, so I swam to the boat to get them. 

 

By that time Misty was over by the boat too.  I gave her my goggles and she was going to try to swim to the bottom to find the connector.  Poor Misty went down time after time.  I went down with her a couple times, not to help (because I didn’t have goggles and had to keep my eyes shut) but just to hold her hand and give her moral support while she went down.  I couldn’t hold my breath for very long at all.  I hadn’t been swimming in a long time and never have been good at holding my breath for very long.  It was a little scary going down there.  Our ears got really sore.  Misty looked like she was in a lot of pain afterwards.  We all prayed that God would help us to find it, but it seemed hopeless.  The water was so dirty and so deep.  Even with the goggles on, I could only see a short distance in front of my face.  It seemed like I would swim downward for a while but I never could see a thing but dirty water in front of me.  I never was even able to see the bottom.  Maybe it was because I was scared.  I don’t know.  I think Misty swam farther down than I did.

We all kind of gave up.  We all got back on the boat and I went over to the side of the boat and looked over at the water.  I asked God to show me where it was so that I could dive in and get it.  I kept scanning the water intently, hoping God would give me some kind of laser vision so that I could see through the water.  Then I noticed a small light reflecting on the water from the sky a short way from the boat.  It was pretty cloudy then and Steph and Kelly said they saw a little hole in the clouds where the light was coming from.  The light reflecting on the lake was very small.  I could have covered it with my. Hand.  It was not in the spot there the rope thing had been lost either, but I told whoever was standing next to me that we needed to try diving right in that spot.  It was like God had bored a hole in the clouds and pointed to a spot in the lake.  I asked Misty if she wanted to try one last time, and she said no.  I think her ears were hurting her from diving down so much.  So I grabbed the goggles and went to a little perch in the back of the boat. 

 

I stood there for a minute or two until I located the light again.  When it reappeared, I dove off of the boat.  I can’t think of a way to describe in words just how awesome and spectacular it was.  I went down a ways and then there it was in front of me!  I grabbed it and swam back to the surface holding it high above my head in.  Swimming back to the boat I thanked my Father for I had had the privilege of taking part in a miracle.  

 

I have had some awesome answers to prayer before, but I think that was by far the most awesome.  I was almost shaking for a while after that, it was such an awesome feeling.  I feel so unworthy for God to do that through my prayers.  God came with us on that trip and man did He make it awesome!  I don’t think I could have had a better graduation party short of spending it in heaven!  Last night I couldn’t go to sleep for the longest time just thinking about it!  In my mind I can still see that little red contraption floating a little above the bottom of the lake in front of me.  I think that is a mind picture I will never forget as long as I live!

 

This occurrence at the lake was, I believe, a test of my faith, which only served to strengthen it even more.  I felt so privileged to have been given the opportunity to take part in such an awesome experience, and yet it was also a lesson to me, for I realized that had I not persisted in prayer and presumed to ask God for the impossible, I would not have gotten to see Him work in such a miraculous way.  Perhaps, I thought, people would see Him work like this more often if we would but ask for it.  

  

Do you believe in miracles? 

Spanish Blog: Delighted by Answered Prayer

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I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to there and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you.  (Matthew 17:20)

During my high school years, God chose to draw my heart closer to His through answering my prayers immediately and sometimes miraculously.  Still intrigued with what I had learned as a young child about how God answered the prayers of men like George Muller, I decided to try his tactic of praying for something and then looking for the answer expecting to see it.  I realized, of course, that God would only grant requests which were good for me and in accordance with His will, but I also believed that He desired to work for His children through answering their prayers.  

 

  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!  Matthew 7:11

 

I started off by praying for little things – like that I would find a missing book, or for resolution when my dad  was struggling to fix a broken appliance.  I would pray immediately when an unfortunate situation arose, and almost 100% of the time God would do what I asked of Him right away.  I was thrilled – especially in instances involving other people such as when my dad was frustrated with something.

                  

 

Another instance that stands out in my memory was when I was outside with my little brother searching for our lost cat.  I remember looking all over our property to no avail, and then telling David that we should stop and pray for God’s help.  And I kid you not, when we opened our eyes from that prayer the cat was directly in front of us walking toward us.  That sort of things actually happened quite often. 

 

 

This victory in my prayer life led me to pray more often.  I realized that if I wasn’t careful, however, I would end up praying only for selfish things.  So I would make a point of thanking God for beautiful weather, or praising Him for this or that.  Every once in a while God chose not to grant me what I requested immediately, and I recognized that I needed to accept that response, move on, and assume that what I wanted wasn’t good for me at that time.  When I was lonely or discouraged, I would spend time with Him (often on our family swing set outside) talking with Him and looking forward to the time I would get to see Him face to face.  I was delighted with the tangible evidence of the personal relationship that I was forming with my divine Pursuer.

Eventually I got a little bolder with my prayers.  When I was fourteen years old, our family had become a family of seven, and our family vehicle was quite cramped whenever we went anywhere as a family.  So, despite the fact that my parents had no plans of purchasing another vehicle any time soon, I began to pray that we would be able to get a larger car.

 

 

Two weeks later, as we were going somewhere as a family, our car began to eject steam of some kind.  We were barely able to pull into a gas station before it stopped working entirely.  Mechanics who worked at the station informed us a couple days later that it would not be worth fixing.  My parents began scouting for another vehicle and before long we had a larger, much more comfortable van.  God had answered my prayer again.

 

 

The most exciting instance of answer to prayer, however, occurred a few years later.  I’ll write about that next time!

 

 

Do you believe that God desires to grant you things for your good?  Do you involve Him in the small things as well as the large?