And do you hear and answer every child's prayer?

My last post reminded me of two stories that I wanted to post as a reminder to me that prayers are literally answered.



A few years ago we were preparing to go to Canada with all the kids. We needed all of their birth certificates in order to cross the border. I gathered up everyone's, but I could not find Jacob's. I had each child's certificate in his or her "baby book", but I couldn't even find Jake's book. I looked for days, and there was just nowhere else to look. I knew that the border agents would likely take one look at Jake and know that he had to come from the same family, because all of our kids look so much alike. But really, I needed his birth certificate.



The night before we were leaving, I was kneeling saying my evening prayer. I asked for help finding Jake's birth certificate. Immediately, I got a picture in my mind of a dresser we had in the back corner of the basement. I ran downstairs to the dresser and started madly going through the drawers. They were all empty. I looked on top, where a couple of random boxes were sitting, and still had no luck. And then as I turned in disappointment to leave, I saw there was ONE box on the floor right next to the dresser I had seen in my mind. This box had never been unpacked when we moved into our house a few years before. Sure enough, it was the box that had all of Jake's baby books in it.



The next one happened just a few months ago. Mark brings home the bank deposit from the dental office, and I usually take it to the bank the next day. Sometimes I don't make it there for a few days, but I keep the deposit by my purse so I can remember to take it with me when I'm going to be running errands. One day I got ready to go to the bank, and I could not find the envelope with all of the checks in it. There was over $1200 worth of money in that envelope, and it had disappeared. I panicked, and looked everywhere for it. And then I prayed and asked for Heavenly Father to help me know where that money was. I instantly saw the 90-gallon recycling rollcart in my mind. We have 9 people in our family, and that translates to a lot of trash, and a lot of recycling--90 gallons worth. But the picture I saw was clearly of the recycling rollcart--not the garbage at least.

So I went outside and started digging. Sure enough about 1/2 way down through all the paper and cardboard and milk cartons was the envelope I had been looking for! I had carelessly mixed up this important envelope with all the junk mail I had put into the recyling.

These experiences really taught me that Heavenly Father is truly there waiting for me to ask for help. He must roll his eyes sometimes as I brainlessly muddle through the day sometimes, when things would be a lot easier if I asked for help to begin with. Anyway, I am truly grateful that he is there not only to help me keep track of things, but also to help me deal with the unexpected things that life sends my way.