I have been praying for an acquaintance for the last year who has been battling cancer. I have prayed for her young children, her husband and I have begged God to heal her. I fully believe that in a split second God could remove that cancer completely. I know that isn’t how it typically goes, but all we are called to do is pray and ask (not question and doubt). I also have prayed that if that is not the plan, that somehow God will give this family the strength, courage and peace that only He can give in this unimaginable situation (Phil. 4:6-7). I don’t have any idea what that looks like, but I have asked God for that almost every single day for the past year and so have many, many other prayer warriors. It is hard to imagine what it must be like for this woman (I’ll call her, My Hero) and for her family, but yesterday God gave me a glimpse into who My Hero is and He reminded me that He does answer prayers in His ways, in His time, sometimes publically, but usually very privately.
You know what I did yesterday? I rushed my kids out the door to school. I went to work for a while, came home, cleaned my house and complained about it almost the entire afternoon. I then threw together dinner (but complained about that in my head because I had forgotten all about dinner so had to get it together in 20 minutes). I rushed to grab kids from school, rushed to get my stuff for my class and rushed my daughter to volleyball. You know what I didn’t do yesterday? Notice what a beautiful day it was outside. I didn’t stop rushing all day. I wasn’t thankful for a new day. I didn’t look at my kids, my husband or my friends and intentionally find joy or have gratitude for the big or the little things. I didn’t live like My Hero does and frankly, I’m a little embarrassed and remorseful about that for a lot of reasons.