A Family Bending in Prayer Together

Ahhh… the butterscotch chip cookie crumbles into my mouth as I bite it. Hot coffee gurgles and percolates in the kitchen and I can barely wait for it to be ready! Soothing nature/instrumental melodies stream from online, and the house feels peaceful.  Tousle-headed preschooler naps in his lower red bunk bed and my teens study quietly on their own. 

This week has been a whirl. Monday and Tuesday we were prayerfully watching the West African Senegal presidential elections, praying for peace there and a safe trip to the airport for my parents who were flying out from there. Tuesday they arrived, and I savored time with them after their absence of five months. 

Thanks Microsoft clip art

This week also we signed papers to sell our home (pending an inspection), after eight months of it being on the market. What a sobering, exciting, tremulous feeling to scratch our names so often across legal documents. Sign, date, sign, date. Fourteen years written across approximately fourteen sheets of paper. Grabbing his hand on the table, I whispered to my man, “Exciting and scary, huh?” 

For months, our family prayer was to be in peace and unity about these decisions. Wanting to follow God’s leading and to sense peace as a result, we prayed often for his timing in our house to sell, and for his timing in finding a new home.  This week when the offer to sell came, we felt peace and a decision to accept the offer. In true George Mueller fashion, some prayer requests whispered in silence to God were answered in clear ways only by him. So, we scratched pens, signed names, and shook hands. 

Clambering in and out of our car, we followed our realtor around to prospective homes this week. Up deep snowbanks and through slushy driveways, we slipped off shoes and padded through unfamiliar homes. Three year old raced through empty rooms echoing with squeals, wondering mistakenly where his packed up Legos were. 

One home grabs our attention now, and we wonder, ponder and pray. Grabbing hands with grandparents yesterday, we crouched low to the ground and sought God. Teens, toddler, parents, and grandparents all closed-eyes, thanking God for his leading to here, and praying for his continued leading and wisdom. What a beautiful thing to treasure: a family bending in prayer together.  I am so thankful for parents and in-laws and children who know our God’s name, and whose natural inclination is to seek his face. Rising, husband and I grabbed separate phones and called siblings and family afar, seeking their advice, asking them to pray for wisdom and peace too. 

This morning, my husband awakes. “I slept through the night without waking up once,” he uttered in amazement. For a man with RLS and general sleep issues, this is rare. 

“When was the last time you slept through the night like that?” I asked. 

“Never,” he said. 

I marvel and smile and look up at my God. Of all the nights where questions would normally interrupt his sleep… I would have thought the night after just selling our home, wondering about putting an offer down on another, and knowing that the May 11^th date was looming would all have been ample and expected reasons to disturb his sleep.  Wow, Abba. 

“You will keep in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you.” Thank you, Abba, for peace and deep sleep. You amaze me.