Prayer and Goodbyes

Lately, God has been teaching me several things. (as you may have noticed.)

One thing that He has really been impressing on me is the need for and the power of prayer.

This morning I woke up early (before 5:30, I think I get to call that early...) and my first thought was, go pray. So, I did, for the next hour. Which was kind of odd, because I used to think that an hour was a long time to pray and that it would be hard to stay focused for such a long time

But, recently, several things have changed that. Firstly, there are some very desperate needs that I am praying for right now. Secondly, I have been getting to know God better, so naturally, talking to Him is easier. (hurrah!) And thirdly, I have been seeing, over and over and over, the amazing ways God works through prayer.

Seriously, I am completely amazed at what He is doing right now, both in my life and the lives of friends.

A few examples:

One: we recently had our dryer break. As some of you know, we are preparing for a trip. As all of you know, it is really unfortunate to have a broken dryer right when you are trying to prepare for a trip, and that it is potentially really frustrating. My Personal Philosophy about getting frustrated in such cases is, "What's the use?" haha. And here's why: First, it's already broken. My getting frustrated is not going to help anything. In fact, it will damage things, like my character and also possibly relationships with my family. So, anyway, I just basically thought, well, I guess God has a plan in this, and we'll see how He works it out. (That is actually a pretty cool place to be, because God always does work it out, and it is always amazing. :D) We also prayed that God would provide a dryer.

So, last Monday, since the dryer was broken and we did have laundry to do (lots!) I spent nearly the entire day washing clothes and hanging them up on the line. (and also on the chairs and bushes and wherever else I could find to hang them... :D) I got lots and lots done, but there was still more, so Hannah and I went to the laundry mat. While we were waiting for the clothes to wash, we went over to the consignment store next door (hey that rhymed!) to look around. As we were leaving, Hannah happened to mention that our dryer broke--and it turned out she knew someone who needed to get rid of a dryer and only wanted $25 for it!!! So, we now have a dryer that works! Plus, just as a little bonus, they also gave us a phone-for free! (Our phone was also dead.)

So, that was pretty exciting. :)

Two: I've been praying for several people, and it's been so neat to watch God moving in their lives. I won't go into detail, but it's just so incredibly amazing to see someone's life changing because of your prayers!!

Three: For years, we prayed for a neighbor of ours to become a Christian, and, excitingly, she did, around a year ago! The really neat thing is that lately she has grown so much that her family noticed a difference in her and wanted to know why she was different. Because of that she's had opportunities to witness to them. It's just so awesome to see how God changes people!

Four: He has been teaching me many things, and drawing me to Himself. He is truly becoming my all in all.

Five: He has worked out details for our trip, like being able to see people we thought we would be unable to see, and many other little things.

There are so many other ways He is working... I am so thrilled that He allows us to be part of it!!

So, my encouragement to you is to start praying, hard, for the people in your life. And all the other things going on around you. God listens: He answers. We serve an awesome God!!

Oh yes, and as I have hinted, we are going on a trip. We will be gone for three weeks, from Saturday (early) morning to August 21st or so. We will be visiting family and friends up in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. So, I will probably not be around much for blogging. :) We shall see, I suppose...

Remember: PRAY! And keep doing stuff. ;)