I am always happily surprised when some specific prayers are answered. It's not that I do not have faith. It's just that I have enough sense to know that God cannot answer each and every prayer, sent by each and every human, in the way each person wishes it to be answered.
However, today's prayers, sent early this morning and throughout the day, followed a pattern that I often neglect to use. With each one, I did add, at the end, "...and not my (or "our") will be done, but thy will be done." This way, I do not set myself up to expect that which is not in God's plan for my life or the lives of others I might be praying for.
God does not always say "yes," and the times he says "no" work out for me if I get myself into the proper frame of mind. I try to remember that if he says "no," it just means that I can stop wishing for the wrong thing, and begin focusing on other possibilities. It takes a real burden off my shoulders. When I pray in that frame of mind, I am always content with the response.
Today, just for the curious, we went for a post-op checkup on my "nephew's" eyes. He had laser surgery for beginning stage glaucoma, two weeks ago. He has been having trouble, daily, with bloodshot eyes and scratchy eyes, and we were worried that an infection may have set in. Good news, here. The surgery took very well. He doesn't need to see an eye doctor for another year, and that will be to check on slow-growing cataracts. The glaucoma fear is a thing of the past. The scratchiness and bloodshot eyes are a coincidence, timing-wise, apparently. He drives a cab and our hot, dry climate is simply drying out his eyes. We didn't realize this because he had never worked "outside" so much before, in this climate. Easy to fix with eye lubricant (artificial tears).
Another issue was a slow leak in one front tire. People were actually pulling up beside the car to tell us we were "running low" on the one tire. We finally went to oen of the many Hispanic Llantera's in our area, where they sell tires for $25. We were happy to learn we only needed a repair for $10. Another treat.
We stopped to pick out frames and order Frank's badly-needed prescription reading glasses. Well, actually, they will be bifocals, to correct two other small issues. But, the good news is he happily found $9 frames! Plus the entire bill, frames and lenses, only came to $64, including tax (Wal-Mart's Vision Center).
There were other things, too, today, but the latest one came when I was too dog-tired, almost, to deal with it. I couldn't access the Internet. My modem didn't seem to be connecting. I was afraid I had forgotten to pay the phone on time; checked, but my phone is fine. Prayed hard on this one, email-addict that I am, and blog-addicted, to boot. Promised that if I connected, I'd post a joyful thank-you post about answered prayers (yep, this is that!). Lo and behold, I suddenly remembered a modem I had received from the phone company almost a year ago, which I had never hooked up. It is hot back in this bedroom, and I really didn't want to get on the floor and behind the tower and play with cords, but I did. And, since I am posting this, that was answered, too.
I'm done asking favors for the night, though. I don't want to wear out my welcome or push my luck. Well, except for my regular prayer list for those who have asked for prayer or need it.
Forgive me, my friends, for being so long-winded tonight.
Father, thank you, always, for answering my prayers, even if they are not always what I expect.
No comments:
Post a Comment