Running out of time...

After Dan graduated from high school, we were glad to have at least one of our kids still with us for six more years. (And, thankfully, Dan was able to come pretty much every Christmas.)  But soon it was 1998, and time for Debbie to start her last year of high school.  Our "empty nest" was almost here.

Dan was already studying at Azusa Pacific University (after his four years in the U.S. Marines), and was so helpful to his little sister. (He has been, and is, a kind and thoughtful big brother.)  Many people think they can't go to college because it costs so much, but Dan had done research and found many sources of grants and loans available.  Debbie filled out forms, hoping for acceptance into the same college where Dan was, and concentrated on getting financial aid.         

The school year drew closer and closer to its end...and Debbie still hadn't heard if she'd been approved for the grants and loans she had asked for.  She was getting more and more worried, and near tears, as she said to me one day that her money just wasn't coming in.  Grade-wise there was no problem (both she and Dan had been inducted into the National Honor Society), but she needed the money!  She should have heard one way or the other.  Did it mean she wasn't going to get the help she needed?  She was running out of time!

Seeing her so downcast that night, I went to her room and hugged her as  I prayed, "Please, Lord, Debbie needs to know if she's going to get the necessary financial help. Will You please make the answers arrive sometime within this week?"  (It was a Monday.)  I wasn't giving God deadlines...just asking for comfort for my baby.       

                                                               

The next afternoon, Debbie came home from school and sat down at the computer again.  Pretty soon I heard her shout, "I got my money!"  Her financial aid applications had been all figured out and approved...and she got the news less than 24 hours after we prayed! I think God had a big grin on His face as He watched His (and my) little girl express her delight!

I'm so glad we had Internet by then.  Imagine the ordeal of waiting for all of this paperwork to go back and forth through regular mail! *****************************************************************

Philippians 4:6,7 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Once again, we were able to say with the poet-king, "You have granted {us} the desire of {our} heart and have not withheld the requests of {our} lips."  (Psalm 21:2)

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May each one of you know God's peace...which transcends all understanding...in your heart today!