Friday, October 15, 2010

Journey of Faith Friday: Answered Prayer

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Answered Prayer


It is good for me to remember the times God has answered my prayer.  I am a glass half empty kind of girl....sadly.  I have been working on becoming more of a positive person and one way is through thanking God for answered prayer.  It is easy for me to get caught up in all that God is NOT doing in my life.  It is easy to forget all of the "little" prayers He answers each day like keeping my family safe or providing my family with the resources we NEED.  It is easy for me to focus on the unanswered prayers.

  • When I first allowed the Holy Spirit to begin transforming my life I prayed that God would give me the strength and courage to never settle for a husband that didn't love and serve Him.  There were times, when I was alone and many of my friends were enjoying marriage/relationships, when I resented that prayer.  There were times when I rebelled against that prayer, but God answered.  He answered during my 7 years of singleness, as much as He answered when Sam walked into my life.  He gave me the strength and courage to wait when it would have been easier, at the time, to settle. 
  • I was a junior in college when the questions, "What will I do with my life?  Do I really want to do THAT?" arose.  I thought I had already dealt with those questions, as I was on the path to becoming a physical therapist.  I had taken all of the pre-requisites.  I had began filling out my application, so why was I struggling with a decision that once held so much certainty?  My daily prayers were being filled with requests for God to guide my career path.  My junior year, I began taking business classes.  I thought if physical therapy was not the path for me, maybe business was.  I kept praying.  I applied to physical therapy school in May.  Throughout May, June, and July I prayed that God would reject my application if physical therapy was not the path for me.  I prayed if it was the path that I would experience His peace like I had never experienced before.  I remember receiving "the letter."  I held the manilla envelope in my hand as I sat on the edge of the bed.  My heart was racing.  I was alone.  All of a sudden I experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit like I never had before or since.  A sense of calm came over me and I knew I was meeting with my Maker.  I knelt beside the bed and whispered, "God, You know."  The "letter" was a letter of acceptance and am I forever thankful for God sending me to physical therapy school.  Being a physical therapist is one of the most rewarding, challenging, fun jobs in the world!!!!
  • My college years were unbelievably wonderful.  God changed me in so many amazing ways.  He blessed me with friends in undergrad that have forever impacted my life.  He allowed me to be a part of a ministry that continues to bless me.  However, I feared graduate school.  I was afraid I would spent two years of my life with a group of people that would become my friends, but would any of them be Christians?  I needed, I wanted, I prayed that God would place at least one girl in my physical therapy class that had a heart for Him.  If you read this post you know God provided more than one.  Like undergrad, graduate school was wonderful.  It was challenging and frustrating at times, but God provided friendships that helped me grow in Him.  He provided friendships that I still cherish today.
  • My first job as a Physical Therapist was more challenging than I can begin to describe.  When I say challenging, I mean challenging in a not-so-positive way.  Every day was a struggle.  Migraines and "head in my pillow" sob sessions became a regular occurrence.  My fellow physical therapist and room mate and friend and sister in Christ also became my part time counselor and prayer warrior.  Oh how I thank God for Amanda!!!!!!!!!  We prayed that God would open a door allowing me to leave my current job.  During that time it was rather easy to find a physical therapy job, but it was not easy to find an outpatient physical therapy job in our area.  It wasn't long before I got a call from one of my professors regarding an outpatient job in Georgetown.  The interview went well.  The salary and benefits were good.  The hours and caseload were challenging, but I said yes.  That is one yes I will never regret.  God clearly opened the door and He used my time at Scott County Physical Therapy (SCPT) to teach me more than I could have ever dreamed.  SCPT was a wonderful place to work.  Art, Lynn, and Lisa put so much time and effort into teaching me.  They were patient with me.  They were open to my ideas.  I am forever blessed to have worked with them, as my scope of knowledge and skill as a therapist greatly improved as a result of working it.
I could go on and on and on...........
  • my grandmother has been healed from breast cancer...twice
  • my dad's salvation
  • my papaw Frank's salvation
  • strong friendships, a church, and home here in Florida
  • Sam's job here in Tampa
  • my sister's heart surgery
  • restoration of friendships
  • ministry opportunites
There have been plenty of unanswered prayers and some pain that has come along with the answered prayers, but at the end of the day I AM BLESSED!!!

How has God answered your prayers?  Will you share it with us today?

If you decide to share...enter the URL to your post in the link tool below.  
You can link up any time through next Friday.

If you join, please help us find one another by sharing the "Journey of Faith" graphic within your post.  You can copy and paste the code below.

I am praying that a few of you will link up, as I enjoy reading of God's work in your lives.

Next Friday:  Sam and I will be in Kentucky celebrating his 30th birthday, so I will not be posting.  However, Traci from Ordinary Inspirations will be doing a guest post.  
Be sure to come back and read about God's work in her life.  
The following Friday we will resume our Journey of Faith sharing about Unanswered Prayer and how God has influenced your journey with Him by saying NO. 





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11 comments:

Kay K said...

Amber,
I love all your post on your journey of faith and I have do many in draft that I want to post and I will have to work on this one today and post for GOD has answered so many prayers for this Gal !!!

My Life said...

This was one of my favorite Journey of Faith Fridays. Thank for being so open and sharing...It was a great reminder for me and a blessing to read.

Carolina said...

I too am a half empty kind of girl. Really enjoyed reading your post and will be making a list of my answered prayers although I probably wont get a chance to post them being away this weekend.

I was going to suggest sharing about a time of unaswered prayer, and I see you already thought of it! Ha great minds think alike. Miss you!

Angel @ Finding The Inspiring said...

Hi Amber. Sorry I forgot to comment when I left my link earlier. Thank you for the opportunity to talk about the faithfulness of God. It is important to remember and share. God bless you!

Morning Glory Coffee Break said...

Love the family pictures
Hello Came from Friday Blog hop to check out your site and follow you. Please drop by and say hello.
http://barrettscountryliving.blogspot.com

Megan said...

I love this journey of faith article. It is so inspiring and well written. Very well done. :-) Love it!

I am new to this blog and following you. I would love if you stopped by my blog and followed me.

Blessings,
Maggie
www.foreverfindingmybliss.blogspot.com

Amanda said...

As always, I love you article and thank you so much for remembering me! I was just in the right place at the right time. God was so gracious to give me a wonderful roommate during that first challenging year in the REAL WORLD!!!

Hanna said...

HI there! I am your newest follower from the weekend linky:) I love finding new blogs and your is lovely:) You can find me at www.bouffeebambini.blogspot.com

Becky said...

What a great post, I can totally relate! I remember a few months ago, sitting in my BSF circle just sobbing because my husband still hadn't found a job yet and I felt deserted and angry because I didn't feel that God was answering my prayers.

My amazing leader encouraged me to look deeper than the one big prayer request and search for those little ones that God had answered because it's in those answered prayers that we can see Him working and moving to show us that He is indeed still there and He still loves us.

As I went home that day I went back into my prayer journals and I started to see many of those little prayers that were answered and all of a sudden I felt Him say "I am still here, I haven't left you". I still get chills when I think about that day.

So to sum up my long and ranbly post, it's super important to go back and see the little markers of our faith, when God worked in ways we didn't see at the time because it's those answered prayers that get us through waiting for the big answered prayer.

God is so good!

-Becky

Sandy said...

As always, Amber, I enjoy your posts and learn a little bit more about you.

I was thrilled to see that 6 women had already linked, sharing their stories. happy, happy

Warren Baldwin said...

Linked from Traci's. Cool post. God, Jesus and the HOly Spirit can and do make an incredible difference in a person's life. Have some teenagers/young people I'm working with I may have read your post. They could use your example of someone who waited on the Lord and depended on him. Good message.

wb