Any Questions?

 

Leighton wrote the following post for a series called The Sharpening Stone for our church's website exactly one year ago today. I thought it would be a good reminder to re-post it here. This instance made such an impact on my kids that they still talk about it today. 

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 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving 

let your requests be made known unto God.  -- Philippians 4:6

The other day we were taking the kids out to go geocaching. Our children love going. It gives a chance to get some fresh air, exercise, and time together. As we were getting ready to go Erika, my wife, reminded me to make sure I grabbed a pen. That way we can sign the logs in the caches we find. I assured her that i would grab one before we left and went on gathering the necessities to get five kids ready for caching. I made sure we had our GPS, the wagon and stroller were in the van. Erika had the water and a few snacks ready. All was good to go, so we went. We drove out to a local bike and walk path where a couple cachers had hid quite a few caches along the walkway. We got everybody unloaded from the van then into the stroller in the wagon and headed down the path. I got the first cache set on the GPS and we were off. We got the first location and began our search for the cache. It is always easier for the adults to find them so we kind of guide the kids in the right direction, but this time while I was looking in all the wrong places our daughter looked just in the right spot and found our first cache of the year.

She handed the tiny plastic container over to me and I reached for my Fisher space pen, that is my unofficial geocaching pen, and it wasn't there. Of course, I forgot it, you probably saw that coming. I looked at Erika with a plea in hopes she knew I'd forget and brought a pen of her own. Nope. So I lean on our oldest child and nothing from him. So our first cache of the year goes unsigned by us.

At this point I just figure I messed up and now we simply won't be able to sign any logs today. That's not what Erika nor our oldest thought. As we then continue down the path toward the next set of coordinates they each independent of each other ask God to give us a writing utensil. Erika asks for a pen and our son asks for a pencil. Independently! Erika didn't say out loud maybe we should ask God to give us anything. He simply asked on his own. Erika did say after she finished her prayer that she had asked. This lead to an immediate almost surprised response form our son, "I just asked Him for a pencil!" They shared a laugh and as they began, and I mean right away, like he looked away from his mother and exclaimed, "Look!" He ran a few feet ahead and picked up about half of a broken pencil. God had given him his pencil. I, of course, had my knife on me and was able to sharpen it. The rest of our logs that day got signed, but more important then that, my son's faith in God grew a bit more.

 

I was humbled by the fact that I would just settle to suffer the consequences of my forgetfulness and not make such a simple request to the Creator of the universe. As if the idea of providing to such a simple need of one of His children was in some way below Him. Yet my 9 year old son was not afraid to make his request known and then even expect it to happen. 

What is so small in your life that you're afraid to ask for God's help. "Be careful for nothing," the verse says. Don't worry about it. Simply make the request.

God Answers Prayer

This week has been rough.

I'm physically and emotionally spent.

And, honestly, I don't see much changing over the next few days. Sometimes parenting is hard. Life is hard. But I don't have to handle it on my own. (Yes, my husband is wonderful and is a hands-on parent, but he has many responsibilities of his own, as well.) Time and time again, when I reach the end of my rope, when I feel like I'm drowning, God is immediately there for comfort. For relief. For help. I can see Him in a big, real way. I know that He cares. When I finally come to Him broken, I can imagine Him saying, "What took you so long?"  

Too often, I think, I try to do too much on my own. Raising and schooling 5 little kids is busy. Throw in a week like this past and it can get overwhelming. I have piles of laundry to be put away and dishes to be washed. The kitchen floor needs to be swept and the carpet throughout the house needs to be vacuumed. Again.

So what am I doing writing instead of caring for my home?

I stayed home today with a sick little boy. My other little loves are singing tonight during church. I was sad to miss it, but promised to listen online to the live stream of the service. I kissed them goodbye, tossed yet another load of laundry in the washer, and cuddled my baby.

I watched the clock so as not to miss their song. Then my little guy had another episode, and it was not pretty. I washed him up, changed his clothes, cleaned the mess on the carpet, and put him down to sleep just in time for the song to start.

The most beautiful sound came through the speakers.

Oh, it wasn't that every note was hit just right or that their pitch was perfect. In the musical sense, it wasn't flawless. But they're kids. And 3 of them are mine. 

Most importantly, they sang from their hearts.

Did you ever talk to God above?
Tell Him that you need a friend to love.
Pray in Jesus’ name believing
that God answers prayer.

Have you told Him all your cares and woes?
Ev’ry tiny little fear He knows.
You can know He’ll always hear
And He will answer prayer.

You can whisper in a crowd to Him.
You can cry when you’re alone to Him.
You don’t have to pray out loud to Him;
He knows your thoughts.

On a lofty mountain peak, He’s there.
In a meadow by a stream, He’s there.
Anywhere on earth you go,
He’s been there from the start.

Find the answer in His Word; it’s true.
You’ll be strong because He walks with you.
By His faithfulness He’ll change you, too.
God answers prayer.

I stood in my kitchen with tears streaming down my face as the music filled the room.

A minute later, as I was still wiping tears from my eyes, my phone chimed. My husband had videoed the moment so I wouldn't miss it. (I sure do love that man.) I listened once more as I watched them sing. And once more I cried.

Those words sung by my little ones touched me. God does answer prayer.

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Today is now Monday. That is all I had time to write before my family returned from church and the baby was woken from the noise that is my children. I stayed up late caring for him and woke up early with him, as well. I get discouraged at times because there is much I would like to write for our blog--memories, favorite recipes, DIY projects, experiments, fun. Life. When it comes down to it though, my family is my first responsibility. My poor blog gets set to the side, and I write in snippets when I find the time.   

I had considered changing the wording in the beginning to fit today, but decided against it. This is life. This is real. This is the busyness I mentioned. 

And this is all the more reason I need God.
 

Today I find time to write again as the baby is napping.

Have you told Him all your cares and woes?
Ev’ry tiny little fear He knows.

"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." I Peter 5:7

You can whisper in a crowd to Him.
You can cry when you’re alone to Him.
You don’t have to pray out loud to Him;

"The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles." Psalm 34:17

On a lofty mountain peak, He’s there.
In a meadow by a stream, He’s there.

"Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." Jeremiah 33:3

Find the answer in His Word; it’s true.
You’ll be strong because He walks with you.
By His faithfulness He’ll change you, too.
God answers prayer.

"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

When you're discouraged, He's there.

When you're dealing with sickness, He's there.
When you're correcting attitudes, He's there.
When you're stressed, He's there.

When you're heartbroken, He's there.

When life gets too be too much and you're overwhelmed, God is there.  

I love how God used a ministry of my children to remind me of this truth. What a blessing these little ones are. May they never forget these words themselves and always hold them dear. May they forever remember to call upon Him.

God answers prayer.

*God Answers Prayer by Frances Towle Rath & Greg Soule