A Wake Up Call

Garth Brooks may sing that "some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers".  But let me tell you that today we are thanking God for "Answered Prayers".

During the early morning hours, as the sun was just beginning to let a tiny bit of light shine through the trees and our bedroom curtains, Jim's phone rang.  I heard bits and snatches of the conversation, and began thanking God from the bottom of my heart.  I was instantly remembering the very words I had spoken from my heart just a little over a month ago.

The person on the other end of that phone line was William. He and several friends had just been involved in a car accident that resulted in his friend's truck being totaled and the other truck being flipped.  Yet they were all walking away! 

The early report is that there are a few stitches needed and a possible concussion...but it appears that they all will be okay.  As for Will, he will not be playing in the Varsity tennis tournament tomorrow, but he has only suffered some bruising and abrasions where the seat belt caught him over the right shoulder. 

As Jim and I drove him home from school for a little ice, Advil and rest today...I told Will about my prayer for him on his birthday. 

I'll be honest and admit that I am not the best at praying for my children every, single day.  With five kids, three grandchildren, two sons-in-love and another in the making...plus the rest of our family, friends and employees...I usually hit the most pressing needs on any given day. 

And we do lift up our whole family and ask for safety nearly every time we pray over the meal together. 

BUT, on their birthdays I spend time praying over them and asking the Lord to show me how to pray for them.  I remember so clearly, on January 11, sitting on the chaise lounge in our home office with pen and paper in hand, wrapping up my prayer time.  God impressed an image in my mind of Will and his friends, riding down the road in a vehicle.  I was reminded that at 17 years young this was going to be the new 'normal' rather than the parents driving them everywhere.   

My brain works much more quickly than my pen...but as I envisioned the faces of those boys and asked the Lord to protect each of them as they began stretching their wings in fast moving vehicles...I wrote these words, which were answered today.

"Watch over him (Will) in the coming year.  Keep him safe -- physically, mentally and spiritually."

I truly understand that today could have ended much differently -- good and bad.  It could have been a close call that I never even heard about.  Or it could have ended in one of those boys being badly injured or worse.  But this measure of safety is what did happen...and I want to give God all the glory!  For answering my prayer...for impressing that need on my heart in the first place...for including the faces of those boys that are not mine...and for reminding me, in that split-second of a moment when I first heard it, of the prayer spoken specifically on January 11, 2012.

To God be the honor, the power and the glory -- forever and ever!  Amen!