Thursday, May 25, 2006

Answered Prayer

The rooftop where her party was supposed to be. LOL
Isabella hugging Raggedy.


People say that God always answers prayer... whether it's Yes, No, or Wait. It's funny though how we often don't think God has answered our prayers unless it's a 'yes' and the way we want it. Last year a mother in our church taught me how to see God's answer, even if it was hard and not what you wanted. This was a huge lesson for me and really opened my eyes to be able to see God work in all situations.

After moving to Hong Kong, I made a commitment to 'look' for God in my everyday life so that I never took Him or what He does for granted. I have days where I can see Him in everything and other days where I struggle but it's always a joy for me to reflect on something and be able to say... 'That was God... He worked that out or allowed this to happen...etc' You get the point.

Today was one of those days. I prayed last night that we would have a gorgeous day for the beach trip and I wish I could say that God answered that prayer. But He didn't... in 'my' way, He did it His way. I woke up to a hazy, ugly day and figured Vivian would call me to let me know the trip was cancelled. I decided to pack and get ready though just in case. She never called but I got a little nervous. I kept thinking, "How is this trip going to be fun? It's going to pour on us and Izzy will get sick." yadda yadda yadda. On our way it did rain but I continued to pray that upon arriving at the beach it would clear up. Just as we arrived at the beach, it stopped raining but it didn't get sunny or gorgeous (except for the scenery) and the second we all decided it was time to clean up and head home, it began to rain again.

We ended up having a great time! Isabella loved playing in the sand but I think the water was a bit cold for her. She would walk to the edge of the beach but once the waves hit her... she would scream until I would pick her up. Everyone got a kick out of watching her.

I look back on the day and realize how perfect the day was. It wasn't so sunny and warm that the kids (and adults) were uncomfortable... the temp was perfect. With all the traveling we weren't at the beach for a super long time but that was perfect and with the weather we had there were no complaints when it was time to go. Because of the weather, most of the moms didn't swim and therefore I got to socialize a bit and say real words versus babbling with Isabella. LOL It was wonderful and I'm so glad we went.

There was an 'incident' that was quite frightening. Isabella was playing in the sand at my feet while I chatted with another mom when I happened to look down. Right at that moment the waves landed about a foot from her feet (originally we had been quite a distance away from the edge of the water). I never picked her up and walked so fast in my life! All of a sudden the waves were bigger than I had ever seen and I realized how so many people were killed in the Tsunami. It happened so fast. Granted.. these waves weren't big enough to hurt anyone if you were prepared for them but we weren't. They came out of nowhere. It was creepy because all of a sudden they just stopped too... so we're not sure if it was from a boat or because it was starting to rain again but it was just weird. No one was hurt but we were all stunned at how quickly this all took place. God protected us all.

All day I've had new motivation... I think getting out on occasion, away from Hung Hom, is good for me. Being with others I can relate too, having adult conversations, getting to know new people... it's always good for me. Gets me out of my rut and 'me-ness'--gets me out of 'homebody-ness'. (Not sure if those are words but too bad, I'm using them anyway.)

So God does answer our prayers, ALL the time, in His way because His way is always the best way. Yeah... the sun would have been enjoyed today but hey... we've got lots more hot, humid, steamy days ahead of us... today was just perfect.

2 comments:

Mike said...

Thanks for a much needed reminder that God is always at work. I haven't been willing to live by that truth enough recently and I appreciate your wisdom! I love you!

~Melissa~ said...

try