The Power of Prayer

When have you last witnessed the power of prayer? 

Sometimes I hold back on sharing things because they seem totally bizarre, but I'm witnessing how profound the power of prayer is right now, so I'm going to share my little experience I had a couple weeks ago because prayer is incredible and sometimes we need these reminders. 

Now, I do realize our prayers don't always get answered and I'm not sure why other than something to do with the bigger picture, but when they do get answered, I think they are reminders that something we can't quite explain is going on. Something so profound... 

i posted a couple weeks ago on Facebook that Nathan (our youngest) had a fever for 14 days. He FINALLY was on day 3 of being fever free. We thought we were in the clear. He had all the blood work done we could think of and things were coming back pretty OK. There was some elevation in white blood cells, but we didn't hear back from his doctor so assumed everything was OK.  Karl was gone in Milwaukee that night (Weezer calls!) and around 2 am Nathan walks into our room totally disoriented and screaming his head hurts. He was burning up. The fever was BACK and full force! He mentioned was going to get sick. My stomach dropped. WHAT. WAS. GOING. ON? 

Automatically I started thinking meningitis. This bug just didn't want to leave us. I started planning up what I was going to do next. I was alone. Our neighbors were out of town. Karl was more than 6 hours away. My mother in law was babysitting our nieces. Do I bundle up and head to Children's? Was I being dramatic?? 14 days of a fever seems crazy - something we never have gone through in our house. And all symptoms were back. Was this something way worse? I gave Nathan some Tylenol and pulled him in close to me. 

So I started to pray. And I prayed and prayed and prayed. I held our baby tight and kept repeating the same healing prayer over and over and over. Then I asked for a message. "God, TELL ME what I need to do. Send me a message. Please." 

I must have fallen asleep. The last I looked the clock showed 4:26. All of a sudden I was in a dark room. Jackson and Nathan were with me and I was looking at my watch. It showed 3 a.m. I told them a nurse was calling me soon. Sure enough a phone on the wall rang and I picked it up. There, the most angelic voice spoke to me. "Christie, do not be afraid. Nathan is healthy. You are doing just fine. He has a rare virus he is fighting off and all you need to do is..."

I woke up. WHAT did I need to do??

Nathan was whispering in my ear. "Mom, I'm so schweaty. so so schweaty."

The bed was soaked. He was covered in sweat. And he was cool to touch. I immediately scanned his entire body over with my hands and eyes. I took his temp.

His fever broke. He was a cool 98.7 and was lying there like a sweet angel. And he's been fine ever since. In the meantime, his doctor finally called and I told him about Nathan getting a fever again and he mentioned that was quite concerning. He suggested we come in again. 

We did. But this time I KNEW he was fine. I kept saying that to everyone when their levels of worry or anxiety would rise. HE IS FINE. Because I knew in my heart he was fine. 

Sure enough... all numbers came back fine. 

Has your prayer been answered recently? Or have you witnessed the power of prayer?

Tweet

Read More

Have You Ever Wanted to Write a Book?

Kind of a random question, but have you ever wanted to write a book before??? 

Before kids, I had this dream growing that I needed to write a book. I remember when I was in the 6th grade, I climbed my favorite tree in the backyard and journaled how one day I was going to write an entire book. Back then it was going to be a book of poems, but still. It was a book.

When I entered college, I put a time capsule together in one of my classes and was instructed to open it a year later....but forgot about it. I found it buried in the back of my closet 5 years later. In there, was my dream written out how I was going to write a book. (I also was going to have five kids and live in the middle-of-nowhere Montana, buuuuuut, this was written by the girl who had never even changed a diaper before. 😂)

So I Googled, "How to write a book". First step? Actually WRITE a book. So that is what I did. Every free second was devoted to writing, and in the end, I wrote a 365+ page book days before I had our first son. While I was writing, I took community writing classes, had a friend out in Hollywood offer advice, found an online critique group and even was able to find a few agents who actually wanted to read the entire thing. Exciting!! But no offers.

Part of me took that as maybe I wasn't cut out to write books. Part of me reverted back to the day my college volleyball coach told me I'd never amount to anything. And part of me was so exhausted after becoming a mom, that I decided maybe I'd come back to this dream later in life when things slowed down.

Then I went to California on a work trip last month. I stood in line to get a book signed by Ann Handley. Funny because I ran into her last August too at another conference. But it wasn't like I had read all her books or was her hugest fan. However, that dream was lit again. I was determined to talk to her. I was inspired that she had an actual book in her hands that she had written, not to mention a few more. But she did it. And that was all I needed to ignite my dream again of writing. Sometimes we need others out there to remind us it can be done.

I mean, have you ever met someone who has went from realizing their dreams to discovering their calling to getting to do their perfect dream job? It doesn't happen often. BUT we all have to start somewhere. Sure, our journeys can lead us in all different directions, but if the hustle is there, and we can be brave enough to listen to our dreams and keep trying.... one day the hard work pays off.

Keep dreaming, friends!

Tweet

Read More

Is God Really Listening??

Does Praying Really Work?

Have I told you guys about the two times I seriously had a conversation with God and He listened? Like... I prayed and something magical happened days after? Maybe a coincidence, but I'm not so sure. You can decide for yourself, but I truly think God was listening.

The first time was when I moved to Minnesota randomly several months after graduating college, had NO friends (yet), no plans and I was scared out of my mind, lonely and so very lost. I was in desperate need of a job. I had just paid my first ever $500 rent check and needed a paycheck before the next one came due. I remember dropping to my knees on the floor of the apartment I was living in and turning the pages of the local newspaper. I said, "God, please direct me to the perfect job for me. I need something that will change my life. I don't know what that looks like, but I trust you do."

My finger landed on a job opportunity at a church of all places. I really didn't want to work at a church. After all, I had a "college degree". Didn't that mean I was supposed to work somewhere fancy? I applied and got a call shortly after for an interview. When I walked in for my interview, I KNEW I was supposed to be there. I don't know how to explain it, but everything in my being told me THIS is what I prayed for. I also KNEW I was going to get the job. And I did. And I worked there for almost 4 years. I made incredible friendships, developed a deeper relationship with God, was able to do mission work in Peru and learned a lot about the power of grace and forgiveness. Not to mention, I was able to spend a lot of quality time with my bigger bro too since we ended up moving right next to each other in town homes for most of our 20s.

The second time I remember praying and God answering was when it was time to leave my position at the church and spread my wings. I didn't want to leave a place I felt so safe in, but something was telling me it was time. Again, I opened up the local paper, prayed that God would direct me to the right opportunity for me. I applied for ONE job. One. They were on their third round of interviews out of 600+ applicants and I sneaked in at the tail end. I walked in and told myself, "I'm getting this job," which was SUCH a long shot. And oddly enough, I got the job. It wasn't my ideal job by any means and my position ended up being eliminated less than 2 years being there. But you know who I met at this place? My future husband. And we began our beautiful journey together.

These two events in my life remain as constant reminders to me that the magic seems to happen in the uncomfortable moments. The times when we feel stuck, maybe even alone, but there is this nudge. What is that and what happens when we listen to it?

I think God wants us to remember Him. I think these times require us to be brave and vulnerable with our true thoughts and feelings...and then let Him know that we are READY (even if we're still scared) for Him take us on the wildest and coolest rides of our lives. And when the timing is right, He will.

When has God answered one of your prayer? How did that change you?

Tweet

Read More