Do you keep track of all the times God actually answers your prayers? I'm not the best at it, but I knew a gal in grad school who did. It started in high school, when she and her mother would keep a prayer journal together - that way they were able to go back and say "Hey, remember when we were praying about this a month ago? And look, two weeks later this happened! Can you believe God answered our prayers in that way with that timing?!"
I was impressed and inspired and decided right there I wanted to do that for my own children someday. But in the meantime, I didn't do it at all. Which is of course silly! I need to train myself to become aware of God's presence and answers before I can teach it to anyone else. And sometimes God makes things so obvious that it's easy, if we'll just open our eyes and look for it.
I mentioned just two weeks ago that I really wanted to make friends. It was something I'd been thinking about and struggling with for a while. I really appreciated everyone's caring suggestions and comments. And if one of you out there prayed for me, I want you to know that I really appreciate it. Because I think it was your prayer that did it. Seriously! I'd been praying about it myself, but sometimes my prayers can get flaky and I'll pray every day for something and then forget to do it the whole next week. But that's a whole other topic of discussion.
Anyway, last night it hit me across the head: this prayer has been answered. Not in the way I had planned, but in the way God knew was best.
I had been praying for a pretty specific thing: I wanted a girlfriend who was in my age and same situation - a Catholic woman in her late 20s who was married and on the verge of starting her family. That, or a spiritual adviser. Yup, I was praying for specifics, which I think is fine as long as you're open to God giving you something else. It's not a bad thing to know what you want, as long as you can embrace what you need.
More than anything, I was longing for a sense of community. This can be achieved by blogging in a certain way, but it's so important to feel physically involved and be able to talk face to face and hug and share desserts. I loved joining the Catholic Church, but with the silence before Mass and the lack of Sunday school classes, I just couldn't feel the community there. They talked about it and how they were a worldwide community, but it was just lacking compared to the fulfillment I had felt in my Protestant church past. I wasn't sure if it was a Catholic thing or a East Coast thing, but either way I was disappointed.
I didn't know how to build a community without starting at church or school. But I was determined to do so. One lesson I had learned from the women in my graduate student fellowship group was the importance of intentionality - particularly being intentional in spending time and fostering friendships with other Christians, no matter how long you or they are planning to be around.
This came to mind after I had written the post, so I made myself sit down and call the one woman I know. All of a sudden, we're getting together with another gal each week to read the Bible/Torah! What?! I'm not only getting regular fellowship, but also spending time with God's word, and seeing it from multiple perspectives: a Jewish woman (her), a lukewarm Catholic (the other gal), and a former Protestant turned Catholic on fire (me)? This is too good to be true.
And it turns out, Catholics can have wonderful small groups! I had prayed and prayed about starting an ENDOW group (you should totally check them out). I just didn't feel comfortable leading a group yet, so God kindly provided another woman who started the first one in all of Pennsylvania last month. The women are so kind and faithful and open, and I am having such a good time diving into John Paul II's Letter to Women with them. Most of them are my mother's age, but I am finding that it is good for me to see things from their experienced perspective. And I think they appreciate my younger perspective (especially when that perspective includes a deep appreciation for my own mother).
So I didn't get the exact specifics I was praying for. But I am suddenly involved in true community and building friendships, and getting to grow closer to God through all of it. If that's not an answered prayer and a reason to praise God, I don't know what is.
Have you had any prayers answered lately?