More Wasps and Learning to Pray with Courage

I'm sitting here incredibly tense....all I hear is buzzing.  For the second time in a few days I've been stung by a wasp in the comfort of my own home!  I don't think I'm allergic to them, but whatever poison is in their sting is very itchy, at least after the initial dart-in-the-arm feeling.  Stupid me can't stop itching and now my arm is literally twice it's normal size.  As of this morning I think it is finally going down in the swelling.  It's not like there are swarms of wasps, just one or two sneak in through cracks in the house and they seem to find me.  Now, every night, I check my sheets, the floor, the windows...every where I step.  Then this morning, I heard another one above my head.  I located it, smacked it, but then thought I still heard it.  I sat down with my phone beside me, thinking maybe I still heard the buzzing sound.  Suddenly my phone alarm went off with the vibrating/buzzing sound....I nearly jumped out of my skin!!!!  I'm a little on edge needless to say.  I have no interest in getting stung again.  It makes me feel 6 years old!!!

This past week my oldest son was invited to a friend's house from work.  We always pray and challenge him to be more than just a buddy with all his colleagues, but a witness.  He had been wary of being upfront about his faith at work.  There really hadn't been an opportunity, but he was also torn between being professional, being courageous, being treated differently, even being fired....Everyone knew he was different, acted differently, didn't participate in all the partying, swearing, reckless relationships, etc., but did they know why?  He started to feel very convicted about it.  What should he do?  Should he say more?  Say anything?  When?  How?  What if he was in their lives for a reason?  What if he was the only Christian that came into their lives?  He prayed.  We prayed.  He had his Power to Change group pray.  When they invited him to connect on Friday, he agreed, but with the intent of making the most of every opportunity.

We didn't see him until Saturday night as he came home late on the Friday and went straight to work on the Saturday.  When we finally connected he was just beaming, so excited.  God had answered his prayers in such a neat way.  My son didn't have to do a thing, the conversations just naturally (or supernaturally, I should say) just flowed.  Person after person started asking him about who he really was, why he was that way, what he believed....he literally shared the gospel and they were all ears.  He would stop talking every once in a while just to see if they wanted him to keep going, and they would just keep asking more and more.  It was so inspiring for our younger children.  Hearing him talk made one of my kids long for the faith his older brother has and he literally expressed that longing out loud which made me so happy.  He asked what books he should read and what he should do in order to be like him.  It's moments like that when I realized the power of having so many different ages in the home.  It's as if my husband and I have a team of people now all longing to raise these younger ones to love God.  It's not just the two of us, but there are 6 of us in the house praying for these younger ones.  How amazing is that?!

As a result of listening to my older son, we changed our whole night and brought out some of the material we've read in the past to the older set and are now attempting to go through it with the younger ones.  We started with Ken Ham's testimony called "Fire in My Bones"....in this talk he explains how he started Answers in Genesis and how the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter began.  It's long so we're listening to it over a series of nights, but it's so good.  It was a great reminder to not give up with these younger ones, to do what we attempted to do with the older ones, to fill their minds with good things, to inspire them, to train them.  Covid has stopped a number of the opportunities that we had with the older ones.  Bible Quizzing was impacted, Worldview Camps were eliminated, courses we used to send the kids to don't happen any more.  So now we have to be more creative and intentional.  I liked it when it was easier, but it's like the verses we read yesterday "in church", at home.  King David had a plan to build the Lord a house, but God said, no, I have a different plan.  David didn't pout though, he sat and prayed and thanked Him for revealing that to him.  He said, "Therefore your servant has found courage to pray before you.  And now, O Lord, you are God, and you have promised this good thing to your servant."  So that's kind of how it is with me.  I had a life plan for my kids and I have to keep surrendering that before the Lord.  I need to sit like David, not pout about Covid, or any of the plans I had that got changed and just pray with courage thanking Him that He is God, I'm not and keep remembering His faithfulness and all His kept promises to me.