Life in a rural area had been hard on this city-girl, but I had adjusted (if you have heard my talk, "Growth in the Shadows", you'll remember what a struggle it had been). While I was content and the Lord had changed my "move-me-now-or-I'm-going-to-die" attitude, there was an ache in my heart for my kids that never truly went away. When my husband and I would reminisce about playing with neighborhood kids as children or having huge birthday parties attended by tons of friends, our kids would just look at us with blank stares. Living off the beaten path, down a long, lonely highway was all they had ever really known.
Naturally, my heart ached for them to know some of the same joys I had known as a child. Yet, I knew if the Lord asked us to stay in that rural area for our whole lives, then we would do so, happy and peaceful in the center of His will. I needed to talk to God about the ache though.
I prayed something like this, "God, if it would ever be within Your will, would you let our kids experience a neighborhood...a community...lots of friends...the sort of thing we knew as kids? Would you, Lord, expand our territory and the influence of our family? We love it here, with all of our hearts, but if You want to do more with us, please lead us to the 'more'."
It wasn't very long after that that my husband got a phone call.
That phone call lead us to eventually move two and a half hours north...to the "more" that God had prepared for us.
There are few things about this particular move that have been easy, but I have to tell you...I have never in my life felt so much like I was walking around in the literal, tangible answer to my prayers!!!
When I stand in my den and look out the window to see tons of neighborhood kids playing with my girls in the backyard, I have to fight back the tears. Sometimes I don't even fight them...because letting them flow feels like worship...an overflow of a heart filled to the brim with gratitude. When I take my walks here and neighbors stop their cars to chat, or yell out the window, "Hey Becky!", it makes me thankful for a place where I have found community as well. When friends stay late because "it's peaceful in your house" and kids don't want to leave here, I know it has absolutely nothing to do with me (or us), but everything to do with God...because that, too, is exactly what I prayed for, for this new home to be a place of refuge, peace, and the warmth of His presence.
So, I'm wondering what it is on your heart today?
Prayer works. Do you believe it? You should!! Because it does.
God absolutely hears each and every request you bring to Him. If what you are asking for is within His will, then He delights in giving you exactly what you asked for, plus more blessings on top to that! Why?
Because that is the heart of our Father.
Seek Him. You'll find Him.
Ask Him. He will answer.
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For His glory,
