Monday, May 7, 2012

Lilies, Matthew, and All Kinds of Answered Prayers!


"Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow.  They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.  And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you.  Why do you have so little faith?"

Thank you Jesus for this reminder!  I was reading last night in Matthew 6, still fretting about all that needed to happen and all at the right time and if this doesn't happen tomorrow then I'll have to figure out how to do this the next day or else this might happen.... and then I got to this part of Matthew 6.  What a gem.  I love to garden.  There is nothing I enjoy more than waking up in the summer and sitting on my front porch to gaze out at all of the flowers and listen to the birds sing.  I think it's funny that God used this verse to hammer his point home:  Kristen, I got this.  Back off.  You keep getting in the way with all your worrying and what not.


I woke up at 2 in the morning with a migraine and I know it was from the stress.  I took some meds, prayed and went back to sleep.  I was expecting a torrential downpour when I awoke based on what the weather man predicted but guess what?  No rain.  Yet.  I was nervous about my mom driving to Columbus and back in bad weather.  When it wasn't raining I let my go of my anxiety a little more.  I prayed that my mom would have a great time with the Lord on her way to Cbus.  She arrived at my school right after lunch with all of the necessary documents.  I asked her how everything went and she told me that she didn't have any rain, that it was sunny and she had the best time praying for everyone on the way up and back.  To top it off, she said that everyone was extremely nice to her during the whole process!  Praise God!  So far, he has answered 2 of my prayers I posted!

Immediately after school I drove down to the federal building and went into the USCIS office.  There was another young man there waiting to be fingerprinted.  When the lady called me up, I explained that I knew my appointment wasn't for another 3 weeks but I've had such difficulty with this process could she please do it today?  She asked if my fingerprints had been rejected.  I told her no, it's just that this is my 4th time down here.... She looked at me with a grumpy face and told me, "We don't do that."  I think my smile probably faded because she came back with, "But I will today.  But this isn't normal and I'm going to take all my other appointments before you."  Fine by me!!!  I quickly filled out my paperwork and sat down to wait.  The other guy was taking forever to fill out his paperwork.  Then you know what happened?  He walked out!  At this point, the man who was working pointed at me and told me to come on back.  He fingerprinted me, we chatted, turns out that he lives right by where I teach!  My fingerprints were accepted!!  I showed him a picture of Miss M. that I have on my phone and told him that all this craziness was for her!  He wished me luck and I was on my way!
I made a pit stop at Staples to make the color copies of her CSR and then headed over to the post office where I stood in line for 30 minutes.  You know what?  That was the best 30 minutes of my day because I thought about the verse I had read the night before and was so giddy how God was checking each prayer off of my list one by one!  I was able to overnight the package so my agency will definitely get it tomorrow!
I'm in a REALLY great mood at this point thinking, this is the best day!  I can't believe how God answered all of my prayers!  I got home to my house and got the mail out of the mailbox and sat on my front porch to open it.  I absolutely love my porch.  I can sit there for hours and hours.  Right now, almost all of my peonies are in bloom.  Peonies are my all time favorite flower.  There is just something about the layers and layers and layers of petals that make their blooms so majestic!  But what seems like an instant, they are gone.  It's like they show up to remind you just how amazing creation is and then they bounce, not returning until next spring.

I was enjoying the view of my peonies, the smell of my roses, and opened an envelope.  Inside was a generous check from a very sweet friend.  I've known her for almost 20 years and have experienced so much life with her.  I broke down and cried.  I really felt like God was showing me that I do not need to worry.  This is about him showing up to remind me of his majesty and sovereignty.  He loves little M. more than I could ever imagine and he has an incredible plan for her life.  And it's a good plan!

Who am I to question how God is going to accomplish bringing her home?  He uses the tiniest insects, ants, to open the peony buds so they can reveal all of their glory.  So the next time I start to worry about the process of bringing her home, I'm going to look at the ants and remind myself that the Lord is capable to do anything and that when I "seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, he will give me all that I need." - Matthew 6:33

6 comments:

  1. Oh Kristen, this is so beautiful. Our God is simply amazing!

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  2. That is absolutely incredible. God is so awesome. So happy for you!!!!!!

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  3. God IS amazing and I see His work all over the story of your day! I'm sooooooo excited for you!!

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  4. What a sweet story Kristen. I am so happy it all came together. God is so good. God spoke to me through my garden and flowers while waiting for our son. Blessings.

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  5. Praying God gives you many many more days like this as you seek to bring your little ones home!!!! Sooooo happy for you and soooo excited!KJJ

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  6. praising God. this is all so encouraging. thank you so much for posting this. by the way, your flowers are AMAZING!

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