Seeing the Fruit

Sometimes we pray and either wait many years or don’t ever see the outcome or God’s answer on this side of Heaven.  Recently, God has blessed me by letting me see the resulting fruit of some of my prayers and I am so very thankful.  It reminds me that He DOES care about the details of our lives and makes me feel so much closer to Him.  I’d like to share this fruit with you, which has all come about in the last week or two.

The first one had to do with a specific problem my sister was dealing with.  I don’t have the space to fill you in on all the details, but let’s just say it had to do with a project for the safety of her dogs after one was attacked by a coyote in her own backyard.  Thankfully, we saw God throughout the whole experience (the dog survived). My sister and her husband needed to come up with a way to keep the dogs safe in the backyard and were baffled.  They had considered many options and couldn’t find an appropriate solution.  One morning, the Holy Spirit prompted me to pray for them to receive wisdom and I also asked my parents to do the same.  Later that day, she said the idea “just came to her” and it solved the problem!  We rejoiced for the Spirit’s leading and provision.  Yes, God cares about the little details in our lives.

The second one was for a friend of mine whom I’ve known since elementary school.  She learned about a year ago that it would not be possible for her and her husband to have biological children.  So they had started the process to adopt.  About a month ago, they completed the process and sent out their personal website that ultimately would be shared with potential birth mothers looking for couples to adopt their child.  About 10 days ago, I felt prompted by the Holy Spirit out of nowhere to pray for them and a birth mother to match.  I am so happy to share that in the next couple of days they were matched with a 6 month old baby girl.  When I found out, I started crying tears of joy to see a prayer request turn into a praise so quickly.  What a huge blessing for all parties involved.  God is awesome!

Last weekend, watching the baptisms during service made my heart soar. I thought about the times we at the Vineyard have prayed for God to move and change the hearts of people in our community so that they would follow Jesus.  Getting to see so many people make the public statement of their faith by getting baptized at VCNP is just amazing.  One of them was the daughter of a couple who led the first small group my husband and I attended through VCNP back in February 2007.  What a joy and privilege to witness!  Again, happy tears burst from my eyes.

And now, that I am a mother…having been blessed with Christian parents who have and still do pray for me, I pray for my son (and daughter on the way) and for their spiritual well-being.  I take my 2 year old son to a weekly Bible study.  I realized recently when he memorized some of his Curious George book that it was time to make helping him learn Bible verses a priority.  So we started going over the ones on the Bible study children’s sheet I bring home every week.  He has now memorized two of the Bible verses.  Listening to his little voice speak God’s truth – is such a joy as the mom of a young child.  I thank God for his blessings and being able see the results of praying that the Holy Spirit would begin to work in his heart now so that someday he will choose Jesus as his Savior.

Thanks for letting me share my joy.  God has blessed me by seeing this fruit lately in so many ways and reminded me that even when I don’t see it, He is still there, working in our lives and loving us dearly.

Melissa