Just In Case You Don't Believe in Answered Prayer.....

Today has been awesome! I realize that I can still wake up just before the alarm is to go off at 6:00 A.M. Yeah! Had to get up and get ready to be at church at 8:00 for the one hour choir rehearsal before the 9:00 service, so had to get caffeined up for extra energy.

Today was a big day at church as Pastor Dave was preaching his last sermon as the pastor of EFC of Hershey for 36 1/2 years. The congregation was happy and sad as he has been a tremendous, humble servant of God. The worship service included "Blessed be Your Name," "I Sing Praises to Your Name," "Glorify Thy Name," "How Majestic is Your Name!" "Great is the Lord," "Turn Your Eyes," "To God be the Glory," "God is Great," "What Can I Do?" "How Great is our God," "How Great Thou Art," and "Mighty to Save." Every now and then, I could sing a note or two, but it was very difficult to sing without crying. Then I got to sing them all over again in the second service of the morning.

After the singing, Pastor Dave's sermon was on Gratitude: When I Think about the Lord. The simple yet profound points that he made were
That God can't love me anymore than He already does....
That God can't learn anything He doesn't already know.....and
That God has more to give than I've already received.

Then, my responsibility toward this profoundness is
That I should be willing to just receive whatever He gives
That I should trust Him for what I need (and I shouldn't need much), and
That I should not make things harder than they need to be!

Just a few hours after the service, I got to put "In Everything, Gratitude" into practice. I had time for only a ten mile bike ride in the afternoon. I made the best time ever (1:04), but there was a reason! Since my "bird experience," I never go on the trail without my camera. Well, today, I was going to take a picture of a particular scenic field with the colored leaves of the trees from the mountains in the background. When I got to the five-mile mark, I realized my camera was not in my pocket. I panicked!! It must have slipped out somewhere on the trail! There were numerous people on the trail today including horses, so my mind was creating all kinds of chaotic scenarios. I turned around and sped off, pedaling the hardest that I ever have before , all the while looking for the camera on the ground.

After two miles of constantly begging God to help me find the camera, I raced by an older couple leisurely walking along the opposite way from which I was biking. I was going so fast, they didn't understand me when I yelled "Have you seen a camera anywhere on your walk today?"

The lady yelled back, "What?" (I don't think they understood Southern accent.)

"Have you seen a camera?"


She looked at her husband and he pulled my camera out of his pocket!!! I was overwhelmed. They could tell, too. I told them that God had directly answered my prayer and he used them to answer it. They said it was a good thing I said something. My heart was overjoyed with gratitude.

So, thinking about the sermon this morning, I realized that I had probably made things harder than they needed to be by not putting my camera in a zippered pocket like I usually do; I know I did not necessarily NEED the camera (but it had been a precious gift); and I was SO grateful to receive what He gave, an answer to my prayer. Thank you, God!