Y’all. Can I just tell you something? God is really cool. I mean, I guess we all kinda knew that (let’s be real, He made the universe). But I had that reality hit me over the head this week, and I just had to tell you about it.
At the beginning of the summer, I had the pleasure of hearing a sermon on the power of prayer. It was given by Pastor Jonathan McIntosh of the fabulous Christ City Church here in Memphis and can be heard in its entirety here: http://www.christcitymemphis.org/james-part-2/2014/5/25/faith-and-prayer
While the sermon as a whole brought me to tears, here’s my main takeaway point.
PRAY SPECIFICALLY.
Even though God is in control of the world and everything in it, including our futures, He wants us to ask Him for things.
So I decided to test that out. I began praying—specifically—that God would show me how He is a provider. I wanted to be pushed into situations that I will have to wholeheartedly rely on Him to provide for me at the last minute. And you know what? He has. Over and over again.
Before the school year ended, I had a plan to stay in Memphis until I launched for the Race. I needed a job, and completely out of nowhere I was offered a position at my favorite non-profit here in the city. I needed a place to live, and two weeks before graduation I woke up to find an email from a professor asking me to housesit for her all summer. Hallelujah!
Me and my pet fish Fabio in front of our summer home.
But as the summer began to draw to a close, I knew that I needed to find somewhere to live after the professor returned. This was particularly difficult considering I’d only be in Memphis for another four months. I couldn’t really sign a lease on anything, and finding roommates that would take me for such a short period of time seemed nearly impossible. Every day I waited and prayed that God would provide a healthy, affordable housing option for me.
And then at the end of July a friend of a friend texted me asking if I wanted to move into her house.
At this point, I was overwhelmed. I was like, “Ok, God, I get it. You are the Provider!” But has that stopped Him? No. God has continued to show off for me.
I was moving into my new house just the other day and didn’t have a mattress. I mean, yes I’ll be camping all year next year, but I’d like to not sleep on the ground while I still have a chance. But I didn’t want to buy a brand new mattress to only use for four months. Turns out that my new house just happened to have an extra mattress hanging out in it. Are you serious?
But here’s the best one yet, which inspired me to write this blog post in the first place. My biggest summer project has been, of course, fundraising for the World Race, which surprisingly requires a lot of papers, notebooks, and sticky notes everywhere to keep everything organized. At the professor’s house I was able to take over the kitchen counter with all my supplies, but I knew that wouldn’t be possible in my new house. I needed a desk for my room. But same as the mattress, I didn’t want to buy something I was only going to put in a yard sale in December.
So I got to thinking about it, and I realized that the office where I work has a couple of extra little desks in it. I thought, “Well, my printer will probably take up most of the space on that kind of desk, but I really only need somewhere to spread out my papers. I’ll make it work.” I asked one of my co-workers if she thought I could borrow one of the desks, but she said I’d have to ask the boss. I decided to wait until the next day.
And I’m so glad I did.
Once again God came out of nowhere to provide.
That very night, I was hanging out at the home of my friends Kelly and Anne. Knowing that I had just moved, they asked me how I was liking my new house. Normally when people ask me that question, I just give some vague answer like “Oh, it’s good so far,” blah blah blah. But for some reason this time I responded by saying, “Well, I need a desk.” Kelly and Anne stopped and looked at each other in disbelief. Apparently they had just decided the day before that they needed to get rid of the desk in their living room. They said I could have theirs. For free.
Are you serious, God?
But wait, there’s more. Not only is this a desk, it has shelves both above and below the writing space, perfect to store things. Like a printer. And it came with the desk chair. Are you allowed to say “Hallelujah” twice in the same blog post? What does it matter, Hallelujah!
I’m not sure if you all will be as excited as I am about this desk, but I just can’t help but think this was a little miracle meant just for me. I would have been happy with a little tiny desk to stack some papers on, and instead God went above and beyond and gave me more than I even asked for. He’s not just a Provider who gives what we need when we need it, He blesses us in those gifts. He wants to take care of us. Take care of me.
Hopefully I’ll have a lot more stories like this as I get ready for the Race, and I can’t wait to share them with you. In the meantime, I encourage you all to pray specifically. You might just witness your own miracle.
