Why am I always surprised...

Why am I always surprised when God answers my prayers?  There is no reason I should be.  I know He listens to them, and He has shown me over and over again that He will answer them - not always as soon as I would like him to answer them, but it never fails...His timing is always much more perfect than mine - go figure.  There have been times when I've prayed something as simple as - "God, please encourage Daddy to get back into the gym.  I don't want to nag him about it, but I really want him to be as healthy as he can be for his family."  Sure enough..the very next day..."I'm going to go the gym after work today.  I really need to get back into it."  Floored.  Again.  This example has happened TWICE.  No joke.  I don't mean to throw Daddy under the bus.  We could all stand to get to the gym a little more often.  It is just an example of how immediate God's answers to prayer can be and have been for me.

I wrote a few days ago about a picture that just broke my heart...literally.  I spent lots of time praying that night.  Praying and crying.  Something fierce.  I prayed that God would bring these children to their family...soon.  I reminded Him (as if HE needed reminding) that He places the lonely in families and that He needed to take care of this.  I prayed that if there was anything I was supposed to do, that He would reveal it to me.

I saw that picture and wrote the blog entry on June 30th.

A couple days later, on July 2nd, we were having some family time at the in-laws.  My sister-in-law was commenting on my blog post about those kids and I pulled up the picture to show her how beautiful they were.  Imagine my delight to find the message "As of 7/2/10, this child's file will not be sent to additional families."  Do you know what this means?  It means so many families requested information on these children that the agency is no longer sending information out to new families!  Do you realize what great news this is???  God heard my prayers and answered them...AGAIN!  A family, or two, or three is going to "go to committee" for these children in hope that they will become a part of their family!  God willing, these children will spend a short time in a care facility and then be adopted into a family that will welcome them with open arms, love them, comfort them, and reassure them - all of them - together.  Nothing will replace their birth parents, but at least someone will be there to help them deal with their loss.

PRAISE THE LORD, FOR HE IS GOOD AND HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER!

Great news!  I just looked at the waiting child photolisting and these three beautiful children now have a family who is working feverishly toward bringing them home!  Praise the Lord!