5-30-21 It’s Here

Quote: “You ever stopped and thought, “Wow, I prayed for this.  It’s here.  It’s happening.”

Sometimes it’s hard in the messy middle of life to stop and take a look around.  Life is often going at such a fast pace.  Lately I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting.  It feels good to look back.

I sent my resume out to districts all over our state, hoping just 1 district would pick me for an interview.  I was fresh out of college and that year, there wasn’t much hiring going on anywhere.  All I wanted was to be a teacher and have a classroom of my own.  One district read my cover letter and called.  They had one opening – just one.  I was given my dream job – a 2nd grade classroom.  Somehow 20 years flew by and as crazy as education has been the last few years, it is still my dream job.

I wanted so badly to be a Mama.  I had dragged those twin Cabbage Patch dolls around until it wasn’t cool to anymore.  Mary Ann and Carry Ann were 2 loved little girls.  Fast forward and God instead gave me 3 boys and no girls.  What a sense of humor he has!  My favorite role in life to play is being a boymom.  I crawled in the woods with one of my sons just today.  It is the biggest joy to be raising 3 humans of my own.

I remember being rejected by a group of women after I’d come to them with an idea that I thought would blow their minds.  They weren’t interested in my idea and I was devastated.  I asked God, “Please help me to be brave and make this idea happen anyway.  Help me to invite women to gather and make a place for them to feel comfortable.”  Now over 6 years later, a group of ladies in my hometown get together weekly to read books, study the Bible, dance, take adventures, and do a lot of laughing together.  We support and encourage each other daily.

I prayed for all of this.  It’s here.  It’s happening.

Gratitude is not something that will make headlines in the news.  You don’t hear gratitude come up in conversation very often.  James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father…”  Anything we receive is a blessing.  It is important that we take the time to thank God for all he’s given us.

God is not a genie in a bottle.  We can’t always go to him when we need something.  Just like we remind our children to say “please” and “thank you” to show good manners, we need to do that with God, too.  We can’t just ask.  We need to show him our gratitude.

I challenge you to make a top 10 list of things that you prayed hard for that came true in your life.  Reminisce.  Take a trip down memory lane.  You will quickly realize how good our God is.

This life is happening and it’s going at rapid speed.  And though unexpected curve balls are often thrown our way, may we take the time to send some gratitude God’s way.