Life.Simple.Perspective

Many of us probably have at least a couple of things that we can pray about every single minute of every hour of every day. But after our prayers are answered, how many of us remember to say “thanks”?  To God I mean.  It’s so much easier to post something on Facebook, to text someone or to pick up the phone when we get good news or bad. As I normally do, over the past couple of weeks I have said many prayers.  For me personally, praying is sitting before God and talking with him as I would a friend; either early in the morning or intermittently throughout the day as needed.  Sometimes I am able to stay quiet and to sit still long enough to hear what He has to say.  He doesn’t speak to me audibly of course, but He speaks to me in my spirit; a knowing.  Sometimes my mind starts to wander and I don’t even remember to say “amen” when I finish my prayer.  But do you know what?  He loves me anyway just the way I am.  He’s just delighted that I’m willing to spend time with Him. I’ve thought about some of the things that I have prayed about over the past couple of weeks.  During Hurricane Joaquin, I prayed for protection for my neighbors and my home. I went out of town the weekend that the storm was supposed to be the worst and when I returned; everything was just as I had left it.  Answered prayer.  A few weeks prior to our mountain trip, there had been a little family drama.  Prior to our departure, I prayed that we could leave our differences behind and just focus on being together and having a good time. In the recent blog I wrote entitled “Christmas in October” I shared how much fun we had and how we made memories that will last a lifetime.  Answered prayer.  My mom is a fan of charter bus trips.  She recently went on a sightseeing trip half way across the United States.  All I could think about was all of the horrific accidents that I see on the evening news involving distracted drivers while transporting passengers.  I prayed for safe travel mercies and as usual she made it home safely.  Answered prayer.   Unfortunately she looks forward to the next time when she can do it all over again!  Mom was diagnosed with leukemia several years ago which has been managed with little or no interruption to her normal lifestyle.  After her recent chemo treatments however, the doctor had a few concerns about her blood work.  She needed to have a CT Scan done to check things out.  Believe me, when it comes to a loved one going through something scary like that, you do a whole lot of serious praying on the front end.  I almost have panic attacks when I think of losing my mom.  Last week she rang the “no more chemo” bell at the hospital because she is a survivor and she is in remission once again.  Answered prayer.  There are so many things that we need to pray about every day; from the smaller things to the major ones.  The most important thing to remember when we do have an answered prayer or a positive outcome is to take a brief moment to look up and say “thanks”.  The last time I checked, God is still not on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or the phone but He is absolutely still on the throne.