There was a song that all of the barefooted African children knew and would sing with us during our three month span across the continent. The chorus went like this:
“My God is so big, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing my God can not do…. FOR YOU!”
Such a simple childlike message that applies to all children; young, old or right smack in the middle of your 20s.
Before I started this season in Georgia as an apprentice at the CGA (that’s the Center for Global Action folks), there were just a few things I prayed for. I was afraid to ask for too much because honestly, I did not want to be let down. God, what if I expect this or that and it does not happen?
We always used the same expression on the World Race; “No expectations.” That really helped when lets say, your 3 hour African bus ride turned into 12 hours. Or when the country you were most excited about got cut from your route.
So with that mentality, leading up to this season I kept my requests simple and short. I only had three, and they may seem silly to you, but I asked Big Poppa anyways:
1. Lord, please let there be someone in my community that can cut hair. I have a lot of it and most places I have been in the past have charged around $60. Not possible on a missionary budget.
Let me introduce you to Haley, my beautiful roommate that is a stellar hairstylist:
Prayer one answered
2. Lord, please let there be some kind of workout machine at my new house. Yeah, I know how silly this may sound. There are so many more important or detrimental things to pray. But I just thought, what is the harm in asking?
BOOM. Prayer two answered. And yes, I do rock Chocos on the elliptical.
3. Lord, I think I am going to have baby withdrawal when I leave Owen and Layla (My nephew and niece, 2 and 4 months). So please please please, could I live in a home with a baby?
Meet Kohen Bravery. Six months old and always willing to be my dance partner. Prayer three answered.
God answered all three of my “silly” prayers. Cause you know what? He loves me. And He is a good Father and He loves when I not only ask for what I really need, but when I ask Him for what I would really delight in. What would bring me joy. Because He is delighted when I am delighted.
He does not just give us what we need to survive. He loves extravagantly.
I mean just look at this earth He created for us to live on. It is not just a place to survive; oxygen to breathe, plants for sustenance, materials to build shelter. This is a planet of great depths and high heights. Oceans and mountain peaks. Twinkling stars and crashing waves. Tiny mind-blowing details like Caterpillars that turn to butterflies. Double rainbows for goodness sake!
The reflection of His character is embedded in the sparkly mica rich rocks here in Georgia. Every sparkle cries out, “My Maker is extravagant!”
And so why would we expect anything less than a grand display of love when it comes to how this Father feels about His kids? Why do we hold back in praying big prayers, or praying little silly ones?
I prayed three silly prayers, and He answered them and then added His own embellishment of extravagance.
He gave me this as a back yard:
He has given me four snow days since I’ve been here (I am from Florida, this is a big deal!). And more importantly, He gave me Lynn. A fellow J-squader that has crafty ideas like using a massive dry erase board as like a bobsled to luge down our steep quarter-mile driveway. We are no team U.S.A. The wipeouts were EPIC.
He placed me in a beautiful home with a plethora of cars that make up for my lack of one.
He gave me an office where work can sometimes happen in a hammock or around a bonfire.
He gave me Meghan, my darling tenderhearted roommate. We cry together about something at least once a week, unapologetically.
He also gave me Mikala, who I sit with on sunny afternoons to do homework. And who is also that awesome girl that never hesitates to start a dance party with me.
He brought me into a house that was already a home. Filled with six passionate young women (that all share one bathroom, yikes) and a young but incredibly wise family. I was welcomed with arms wide open.
And at the end of the day, I get to drink chai tea on the deck and soak in sunsets that look like this:
And I feel the smile of the Father over me. This Father of mine, who takes my tiny silly prayers and transforms them into a life filled with abundance and blessings that are “exceedingly abundantly above all I could ask or even imagine” (Eph. 3:20).
And I think back to those sweet African street kids, with their callused feet and torn clothes and their bold declarations spoken in joyful, thick-accented voices. The children that lived on hot and dusty streets who understood so well that their Father in heaven is good and that He knows hows to take care of His children. And I whisper their words over me until they cover me like a softly spoken lullaby and silence all the “what if’s” that tomorrow could hold.
My God is so big, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot do… for me.. and for you.
