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.

Major life decision made easy

A few years ago, Sarah and I were looking to buy a house. We found one that we really liked, and we decided to put an offer on it. The process of buying a home ended up being far more difficult than we had expected. We ended up waiting a couple weeks just to find out that our offer wasn't accepted. It was tough because we really wanted the house and we had already started envisioning ourselves in the house. But we continued to look for houses, still feeling a little upset about the one we lost.  We went and looked at a house that had just recently popped up on the market. Sarah immediately loved the house. I remember leaving the house and hearing Sarah say let's put an offer on it. Wow that was quick! Obviously this was a vey big life decision, so I definitely wanted to make sure we were making the right decision. Turns out we didn't have long to decide though because there were two other offers already on the house! If we wanted the house we had to put an offer early the next day, and even then it wasn't a guarantee that our offer would be accepted. So I woke up that morning still not knowing what to do.  The past few weeks I had been going through the psalms and that morning I read psalm 27. I started the psalm and stopped after the fourth verse. Here is what I read: " One thing I ask of the Lord,this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple." Then I thought to myself wait a minute what is the address of the house we really like? 2704 Ethel!! Psalm 27:4 for 2704 Ethel! Could God be more clear!!! Of all the books, of all the chapters, of all the verses, God had a very special and specific word for me that morning. I knew that Gods plan was for us to have this house. Even after we put an offer on the house we had lots more troubles getting the house but I knew all along this was what God had for us. I love the way God speaks to us when we need to know how to make big decisions. He is interested in all of our decisions. We just have to ask, and He loves to give His input!

Penny Hardaway Basketball Camp

If you know me well, you know that I love basketball.  Well, when I was younger, I loved basketball even more than I do now.  I attended many different summer camps. I played on a lot of different summer teams.  I lived and breathed basketball.  One summer, I was attending Penny Hardaway Basketball Camp in Memphis.  I had a blast at this camp.  I remember playing horse with Penny Hardaway.  I remember seeing many NBA stars.  My fondest memory; however, was one morning when I had a terrible stomach bug.  It was the last day of the camp, and the most important because all of the big competitions were taking place.  One specific competition that I had qualified for the finals was the hot shots competition.  You could shoot from different places on the court and get a certain amount of points for each spot.  Well, I woke up that morning feeling terrible, barely able to stand up.  My mom helped me get into the car and we drove to the colliseum where the camp was being held.  I remember very vividly praying and asking God to heal my stomach.  I was 10 years old, and I knew God, but honestly I had never really experienced relationship with Him.  After praying, I remember very soon after yelling at my mom to pull over and let me out of the car.  I got out and threw up in the parking lot.  It had never felt so good to throw up! My stomach was healed, I barely made it to the competition on time and I did great, finishing in one of the top spots! As a 10 year old, I encountered intimacy with The Living God!  I understood more that day than any other day that God cared for me and He was living with me. Psalm 139:17-18 says "How precious are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand."  I love how God thinks about me and thinks about the things that I am interested in. This one experience changed my perspective on God. I understood first hand what it meant to have relationship with Him.

30 dollar off coupon from God

Yet again, I reflect on my day today and know without a shadow of doubt that God knows me and that He loves me. Today, I decided to sell a bunch of books to a local bookstore. I was hoping to get enough money to buy some new shoes that I have been looking at for awhile.  Well, I didn’t sell as much as I wanted, but we decided to go to the mall anyways.  I was hoping that the shoes might be on sale.  On the way to the mall, Sarah prayed and asked God for the shoes to be on sale.  Well, we get to the shop, and the shoes are marked full price.  I also asked the sales associate if there was any way to get a discount.  He said no.  I was somewhat bummed, but I decided to checkout anyways and use some extra money I had planned on using elsewhere.  The cashier scans the shoes, and who would have known, the shoes rang up 30 dollars off!!  I had been looking for these shoes for months, and I had never seen any discount on them online or at a store. The final total ended up being nearly the exact amount that I had gotten from selling the books. The guy looks down in astonishment, “I guess these shoes were on sale.”  I love the little reminders that God gives to let me know that I am on His mind!

The boiling shorts story

The other day at the mall, I bought some nice golf shorts for a really good deal.  I tried them on at the store, and they didn't fit great, but I figured since they were such a good deal, I would make them work.  Well I got home, and I knew that these shorts were not going to be very comfortable because they were way too big. I asked Sarah if they would shrink at all, and she said that since they were 100% polyester, they wouldn’t shrink.  So, here's the deal, I know God cares about me so much because He could tell that this was really bothering me.  So, I prayed and asked God to help shrink my shorts.  I know this is silly, but I know when I get this feeling of being bummed or overwhelmed or thinking about something too long, that God wants me to bring him the concerns.  Jesus tells us to ask God for anything in His name, and He will give it.  Lately, I have been encouraged more than ever to simply ask God for things, no matter how silly it is. Well, after I prayed, I looked online for ways to shrink polyester shorts.  I found one way that had me boil my shorts on the stove for 30 minutes and then iron them dry.  So I did all that, and guess what! Perfect fitting shorts! Whether God shrunk my shorts, the boiling water, or a combination of both, I knew that God was present and active in my life that day.  I knew without a shadow of a doubt that God cared about what was on my mind that day, and He helped me through it. 

God, are you really going to give me some chocolate?

I love how God is so interested in me! He loves everything I like, dislike, and everything I think about!  So one night, Sarah and I were about to go to a church event.  I had just gotten home, eaten a quick dinner, and I found a mini chocolate candy in the house.  Well that piece of chocolate must have had a profound impact on me because as we were driving to the church, I had an overwhelming desire for more!  Then out of nowhere, I felt like God was going to give me some chocolate at our church rally.  I remember telling Sarah, "God is going to give me some chocolate!”  I knew in my heart that God was going to give me some chocolate.  Well, we get to the church, and sure enough in the foyer was two huge baskets full of chocolate candy! Yay God!