How do you pray? Do you ask God for big favors? Do you ask God for money? Do you ask Him for miracles?
I do pray for miracles, especially when friends would ask me to pray for a sick loved one. I also know that I can ask for BIG blessings, for why should I limit God? I do not recall exactly when I started praying this way. Each morning, I would give my heart to Jesus. I would tell Him how much I love Him. I would ask Him to give me His heart, His mind, His character. I would ask for good health, His protection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. I would remind Him (as if God needs reminding) that I have chosen Him, and I belong to Him. And that He is the apple of my eye, and I am the apple of His eye. I mention all of my loved ones’ names and ask for the same for them. I also ask God to channel His blessings to others through me that I may also experience His joy. I ask for forgiveness of sins. But before I end my prayer, I would always say, “Father, today, I am asking for only an ordinary day but please, NO emergencies. I ask all these in the Name of Your Son, Jesus. Amen.”
And our God who delights in mercy gives me ordinary days and NO emergencies.
The happenings of my past few ordinary days…..
Four days ago, I looked at the backyard and saw the birds feeding from the round plastic bowl on the pole. But something seemed to be missing. I looked again. Then my husband JR said, “Someone came last night and took our bird feeders!” “What?” I looked around our fenced backyard. Everything is there. Who would do such a thing? And before I could say something else, JR said (chuckling), “Nah, I took the bird feeders down. I’m cleaning them.”
The following night, a commotion in the kitchen woke me up. Mary Grace and JR were talking. “Look at these bugs! What are these?” Mary Grace asked JR. I would have not really cared but it was 2:30 in the morning. What in the world….? So, I got up. We googled for pictures of insects. It might be pantry pests. Or termites! Ugh! We have termite baits all around our house but if these are termites, where are they coming from? Mary Grace said she was going to call the termite people first thing that morning.
The following morning…..
“I have question…” Mary Grace was not finished talking when the pest control man said, “Do you have termite ‘swarmers’? I have 150 calls about them already this morning. Termite ‘swarmers’ usually come around Mother’s Day. They’re a week late this year. The swarmers are attracted by light. It does not mean you have termites.” We felt better. There were no bugs the next night.
Yesterday morning, Mary Grace was hollering outside our bedroom. She woke me up again. “Did you hear the sirens? I just saw in the news, there’s a gunman on the loose. And they are looking for him near our neighborhood. JR, you may not want to open the garage door this morning.”
Later, we saw this on the news: “A man was driving in an erratic manner when a deputy saw him and thought maybe the man may be asleep at the wheel. The deputy tried to stop him.
“Instead of stopping though, the man ignored the deputy’s attempts at a traffic stop and a police chase ensued. During the pursuit, the man fired shots at the deputy. Some seven miles from where the incident started, the man wrecked his vehicle and ran into some woods along the Amite River near the end of Hoo Shoo Too Road. (Our subdivision is on this road.) The man continued to fire at the police. An hour later, the police had residents evacuate their homes along the street. A six-hour manhunt ensued that ended with the man being shot and killed.” ~End of story
A week ago, we were on our way home after running errands when JR decided to pass by a business place to see if it is open. I really wanted to go back home but since it was only 5 minutes away, I did not say anything. I was glad when we finally reached the street going to our subdivision. But we had to stop. A fire truck and police cars passed us. There was a wreck outside the entrance of our subdivision. Then I thought, we can never understand why sometimes we get delayed, or our plans do not happen as we had planned. Because God knows the plans of the enemy, He delivers us from evil. We could have been part of that wreck! We could have been part of that wreck!
Sometimes, my ordinary days have unusual, little happenings and I thank God for NO emergencies. Yet, though just mostly ordinary days, there are times when God would give extraordinary happenings such as: the day when the local TV station came to our home to video tape Mary Grace for a Christmas Program. The day when Kaitlyn, 8-year-old granddaughter, won the talent contest at the National American Miss held in Baton Rouge. The day when I was able to attend my Siblings Reunion and see all my 9 brothers and sisters. When Mary Grace and I were interviewed on 3ABN for our ministry. Seeing Lucas and Sofia so happy, jumping up and down the hundreds of trampolines at Airborne Extreme. And the most awesome of all – is the miracle of my grand baby Logan who could not hear during his first two months after birth (which really tore me up) and one day – has perfect hearing! These are just a few extra-ordinary happenings in the past year and so I praise our Almighty God.
John 14:13 “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”