So many answered prayers.....

(I had shared this beautiful picture I bought at Cracker Barrel with y'all before, but couldn't resist sharing it again)

As this year draws to a close, I have been thinking a lot about how many prayers God has answered for me personally this year.... and how many things He has brought me and my family through.... Oh He has been so Faithful! He has been our Provider, our Comfort, our Friend, our Joy, our Savior, our Strong Tower and Refuge........ and so much more......

As for some of the answered prayers:

As many of you know, we lost our beloved black Labrador retriever in May, and it was such terrible time..... I wept for days, and just didn't know how I was going to get through it..... we had lost him on a Tuesday, and on that Friday night, I went to Wal -Mart with my parents.... just needing to get out of the house..... as I walked around the store, I remember praying in my mind: "Lord, I don't know what I'm going to do.... my heart is broken, Lord.... please help me!" I specifically told Him that my heart was broken...... and when I got home later, what did I find waiting on the table for me? My sister and our friend Kerri and gotten me a book, and notepad..... and on the top of every page of the note pad was Psalm 147:3: "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds"

and then back in September, I had another bought of Pnuemonia.... and was not supposed to be out of the bed, but needed some things from Wal - Mart, and so thought I would just go there and then come home...... I started having trouble breathing...... and, by the time I got home, I was starting to panic, needed a breathing treatment, and felt very bad...... I know that God hears and answers prayer..... and I wanted my Pastor to pray for me...... so tried to call him.... but He was having a wedding at the Church that day... so didn't get him right then..... (he called me back a short time later though) and then I tried another minister in our Church.... and couldn't get him either...... so I was in tears standing by the phone.... and I said aloud "God I need a minster to pray for me.... what am I gonna do?" right after I said those words..... the phone rang...... and it was a precious friend from another city, whom I haven't heard from in a long time..... she is married to a minister..... and she heard the distress in my voice and said: "Are you ok?" and I told her what was going on..... and she said, "would you like my husband to pray for you?" and she handed him the phone and he said: "Well, let's pray right now!" and as he prayed, the power and strength and peace of the Lord just went all over me.....

Isn't God good? He never ceases to amaze me! and there is no way to share with you all of the prayers He has answered for me and my family this year..... but I have to tell you these recent ones:

A few weeks ago, an evangelist (my Pastor's nephew) was preaching at our church, and He kept saying : "I just feel like God wants me to tell someone that everything is going to be allright! No matter what the situation, God is already present in that situation...... He is there before you... and everything is going to be allright....." (that's not word for word, but you get the meaning) and I remember standing up in front of the altar, and thinking "Lord, everything is going well for me and my family..... are you giving us these promises to store up for the future? That we can be reassured and draw strength and peace from them in future days?" Well, little did I know, that a few days later, my Dad would find that the contract to his job would not be renewed..... and that my Mom would have a scare with a possible malignancy on her ovary.......

Do you know how comforted I was to think back on the message that minister had delivered???? I repeated it over and over and over again..... Mom and dad and my sister and I would repeat it over to one another, too, and it was such a comfort...... and the Friday before Christmas, Mom had another sonogram, and the doctor says that she doesn't think the tumor is malignant at all, just to make sure it is watched regularly for any growth......... but that she has seen many of these type and they are almost always benign.............

and today, the last day of his contract, my Dad got some phone calls about good job prospects..... one in particular that looks very promising....... he could go to work there as soon as next week, they said.......

Praise the Lord! Oh my soul rejoices in Him! And my eyes fill with happy tears of thanksgiving as I type this...... My God is able to supply my every need! (and not just for me and my family, dear friends! He can do the same for you and your family)

I have been ill this week, and was feeling rather low last night, but opened up my Bible and somehow found myself reading Hebrews 4:15 "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities......." and I got to thinking about how that God understood what I was going through, and how He cared for me, and took care of me, and could heal me...... today, as I was getting ready for Church this evening..... I prayed "Lord I need some encouragement from You at Church tonight, please let something be said that will let me know You are with me in this sickness and pain....." and do you know what one of the scriptures was that was mentioned at Church this evening? That's right! Hebrews 4:15!!! And the message Bro. Wesley Jackson preached from the book of Revelation was so annointed and powerful I just sat there and wiped away tears.......

God is so good! I could never, ever thank Him enough for all of the wonderful, amazing, Miraculous things He has done! Praise His Name!