An Answer to Prayer Knocked on Our Door Yesterday

Well, I’ve been reminded once again that my faith is too small.

I was reading the Bible to Anika before bed, and I read these verses from John:

When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.”

“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

Then Nathanael declared, “Rabi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”

Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.” He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

And I thought to myself, “How often do I settle for the vision of the fig tree, when God is thinking, ‘Good grief, that was nothing! Just wait until you see what else I have planned!’”

How often does He long for me to expect big things from Him?

A few months ago, while we were still living at camp, Anika and I were having a bedtime talk, and she told me how worried she was about making new friends in Niverville when we moved. I suggested we pray about it, and ask God to bring a friend into her life.

She was very excited about this idea, so we got right to work, and she started confidently, and very specifically, asking God to send her a friend, who would live on the same street as us, and be homeschooled, so she wouldn’t get lonely in the afternoons.

I experienced a moment of panic, and began silently (frantically) praying for God to keep her faith intact when this impossible request would not be filled. Seriously, what were the chances of that happening?

And God sat there listening to all this, possibly shaking His head at me??

I answered a knock at the door yesterday, and there stood the masonry man, who turned out to be from my hometown. I didn’t recognize him at first, seeing as it’s been many, many years since we were in school together, but we figured out all the connections.

As he was working on our house today, we started chatting, and he said it would be great if we could meet his family. He also has two little girls, and he was wondering if we might like some grass to play on, for a nice change from our yard of dirt.

I told him we would be all over that idea, and would love to meet a new family, as we are on the hunt for kids to play with, especially since Anika is homeschooled and all.

And then he got all excited, and said they were homeschooling their daughter, and live about three houses down from us, and I should totally call his wife, and of course become best friends, and he had already sent her a text asking her to bring him a drink or something, just so we could somehow all meet.

Everything worked out in the end, and we had such a fantastic time with his lovely family.

And you know what? When Anika starts making bold, detailed requests of God in the future, I will just go with it.

Last night, I even prayed for more little girls to move onto our street.

Homeschooled ones! 🙂