Birth prayers answered

So let me state the obvious: labor is a huge life changing event for all involved. Seeing our first child, Eme, born two years ago, I was truly astonished of the greatness of God. To witness the birth of a child, my own child, is something ill never forget! We definitely experienced the greatness of God during Eme's birth, but to be honest, it was a very tough experience. Sarah had a really long birth, long transition, and many false alarms along the way. All this to say, leading up to our second child's birth, we became mighty prayer warriors. I remember Sarah told me three things to pray for specifically for the birth of our second child, Ruby. First, that there would be a clear start to the labor so that everyone could get to where they needed in time of the birth. Secondly, she was believing for her to be relaxed throughout the birth. Thirdly, she said she was really believing for a shorter transition. Well, I remembered the first birth experience and I knew how tough it was for her, so I started praying and believing with Sarah for the things she mentioned. We probably started praying for these things at least a month before Ruby's birth. 

Fast forward to September 24. Sarah wakes me up in the middle of the night to tell me that her water broke. Number one prayer point answered. What better way to show the start to a birth than the water breaking! Within an hour, our midwife was there, of course I was there, and I took Eme to our friends, the Maynard's. Everyone was where they should be and now Sarah could focus on the birth. Things picked up pretty quickly after that. Contractions got more intense, and you could tell that Sarah was in a lot of pain. But then she hit a really long stride of being peaceful and relaxed through some really hard contractions. I remember thinking to myself man she is really in the zone. Second prayer point answered: God had given her a peace and relaxation to endure the intense contractions. On to transition. With Eme, Sarah was not only transitioning for several hours but also pushing for a long time. Well praise God for answered prayer number three because with Ruby, transition and pushing together we're well under an hour! The three specific prayers we had been praying for were completely answered!  I'm so proud of Sarah and so thankful to God for BEING THERE WITH US! God created us for relationship. He wants to be with us and love on us and teach us. I was reminded once again of how deeply God loves me and is interested in me and my thoughts and prayers. I encourage each of you to ask God for something after reading this. However big or small, silly or serious, God is interested in you and wants you to encounter his presence. 

There goes 17 bucks

I had an interesting encounter with a man who knocked on our door awhile back.  Sarah, Eme, and I were hanging out in the family room when this man knocked on our door.  I walked outside and started talking to him.  He went through a long story of what was going on in his life.  He somehow got locked out of his house, and said he needed some gas money to drive to dallas.  Long story short, he was asking me for some money.  His story seemed a little fishy, but I decided to hear him out.  I asked him, "How much do you need?"  He responded, "If I could get 17 dollars, I think I could make it." I thought the 17 was kind of a random amount, but told him I would go look inside and look to see if I had any money. I walked inside, opened my wallet, and sure enough I had exactly 17 dollars.  Seeing the 17 dollars, I sensed God had set up this encounter, so I walked outside and told the man that God had a gift for him.  The man was very thankful, and even responded by saying that he would bring back the money, with interest.  I told him not to worry about it, but he was very adamant about bringing the money back and putting it in our mailbox.  I walked away from that encounter definitely thinking that I would never see that 17 dollars again, but also knowing that God had led me to give the man the money.  A week later, still no 17 dollars in our mailbox, but we did receive an odd letter from Wells Fargo Bank.  We had just recently refinanced our house to get a lower interest rate, and sure enough the bank we refinanced with overpaid our old loan.  Guess how much was overpaid?  You got it, 17 bucks! Wells Fargo wrote us a check for 17 dollars!  When I got the check, I immediately thought of the strange man that knocked on our door and I just smiled at God.  This was yet another genuine encounter I had with the living God.  Not only me, but I believe that the man we gave the money to also had an encounter with the love of God.  I love the way God speaks to us and allows us to work with him! These encounters draw me close to God's love for me and get me excited about pursuing a deeper relationship with Him.