Life is Fragile, His Grace is Enough, Prayers Work

PRAYER WORKS

Well im sitting in Grandma Judy's room on my last full day here. It has been amazing seeing her improvement over the days!! She really is a miracle!! God has answered so many of our prayers so quickly and I couldnt be more thankful!! She is talking a lot better, a lot clearer. She is able to somewhat stand and sit with little help of others. She is eating on her own. The Lord is truly healing her body and I think the coolest thing is that the doctors dont understand how- but I know- GOD IS MORE POWERFUL THAN A STROKE!! I cant tell my friends thank you enough for the prayers and support yall have given in this situation!!!!

Man the verse in James 5:16 "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" has been so evident over this whole semeste- I swear the Lord never seizes to amaze me. 

After lent, I felt convicted that I wasnt praying for others as much as I should have. My eyes were opened to the realization that it's not about me and how fulfilling it is to put my focus on others. Getting on my knees and lifting up those who I love and care about was such an awesome escape... A couple nights were spent sitting on a picnic table, listening to music, prayin and crying...what a release it was to lay everything at His feet- health, school, internships, uncertainties with summer plans and life, friends and family in need of a change of heart...everything... and each time I felt like the burdens, hurts and doubts were lifted.

I never would have thought of myself as a prayer warrior, but its always something to strive after! I have seen the power of prayer and it makes my faith so much stronger.. the Lord is so gracious and so faithful and when I see huge prayers answered it makes me want to pray even harder.... nothing is impossible for God and it has been proven time and time again... PRAYER WORKS :) 

Life is Fragile, Grace is Enough and Prayer Works.. part 1

I had heard the saying life is fragile, but it wasn’t until this semester it truly hit me how precious and fragile life really is. It’s so easy for us to go through the motions of everyday and miss out on some amazing opportunities as well as blessings that are right in front of us.  How often do you tell your parents thank you for all the sacrifices they’ve made for you? How often do you give one of those hugs where you don’t let go until the hurt is gone? How often do you tell the ones you love, that you actually love them? How often do you take the time to help out a complete stranger? All of these things have been coming up lately and I wasn’t sure why. The idea of me being a selfish 20 year old came up quite often too.  I kept pushing these whispers and thoughts away and kept on with my busy life. It wasn’t until there were a couple of unexpected deaths in families of friends of mine that this idea of life being fragile became real again. Death stings for sure, it’s never an easy thing to grasp or deal with. However, the only way to really get through those times is holding onto the Truth we believe in our hearts- and that is God is sovereign, He is in control and His glory will shine, even in the dark times.  So, watching my friends hurt made me really take a step back to see all the people in my life that I needed to reach out to.  I needed to encourage those who were hurting, those who were succeeding and those who were stuck in a rut. As I was doing this, the Lord turned the tables a bit.

An unexpected phone call came about my grandma last Friday. My dad said she had a stroke and that was all we knew.  It’s one of those phone calls where your knees give out, your heart pounds and tears start to stream down your face.  It’s almost this feeling of being helpless because you can’t be there with her in the hospital, you can’t give your mom a hug…all you can do is go to battle-pray and pray hard. God is a God of comfort and He who promised is faithful…so that’s what I held onto and I prayed.  The Lord has done some major miracles the past 48 hours and has answered some major prayers.  My grandma had a Hemorrhagic stroke  at about midnight Thursday but wasn’t found until 11am the next day. This would normally cause some major damage with victims of a stroke of this severity. However, she is awake, alert, sitting up, talking, eating and even joking around! I’m sorry but the only way to explain that is GOD did it! Her speech is still slurred, her right side is weak and there is a lot of rehab to be done, but she is improving every day.  I believe with my whole heart that things don’t happen by accident- that this was no surprise to God and that He is going to use this hard situation in a huge way!! The Lord was gracious in allowing me a free week to come up and spend it with her in the hospital.

 Ya, it’s hard seeing her in this state, but it’s a chance for me to shower God’s love, encouragement  and joy on not only her, but my uncle, mom and whomever else I come in contact with. I’m done being a luke-warm Christian- I am going to live a life that truly reflects Christ wherever I go. I want people to see me and see my heart for the Lord just seeping out of my pores. I am excited to see what opportunities pop up this week as I’m here.  Lord, hide me behind the cross so that you are seen!! more about Grace and Prayer later :)