Postcards from the Mess #7

learning to... recognize the answered prayers

Happy Friday Friends!

Earlier this week, the boys were visiting their grandparents in Aiken for a few nights. After a summer of go, go, go, it was so nice to have a few days to pull the house back together, have a moment with Rob, and, frankly, be surrounded by stillness and quiet.

But as I was sitting there Wednesday morning, drinking my (hot) coffee and actually hearing the news playing in the living room, I started to miss the things that make our house so full.

And a realization popped into my mind: the things I probably complain about the most (the noise, the laughter, the sports schedules, and the meals around the table) are all actually the answered prayers of the girl I once was. Not to mention, one of those little boys I am raising, probably the one that challenges me the most… was once a part of a desperate prayer to just watch him grow.

So that’s what I am learning this week: recognizing the answered prayers, even when they show up messy, loud, and overwhelming…

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. But as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:8-9

Sometimes in the daily grind of parenting, I get lost in the things that feel hard. I zero in on the attitudes, the sibling fights, the Legos I inevitably step on, and the noise that makes it hard to think.

And it isn’t until the moments of quiet help me recenter that I get to actually study how my prayers for this life have been fully and beautifully answered by a good and faithful God.

For as long as I can remember, being a mom was all I wanted in life. I carted around babies in strollers, had names picked out by age 16, and knew that, God-willing, motherhood would be a part of my story.

What I didn’t realize was that the prayers we often form in our minds are perfect versions of the life we dream of. But when our fluffy prayers and the plans God has lined up for us meld together… we have to shift our perspective of those answered prayers.

I have these two incredible little boys. They are full of life, ask me unexpected questions about who God is, and they are always pulling me in for quick hugs and reassurances. We giggle, we snuggle, we read together, and we play together. These are the things I prayed for.

But they are also full of their own desires, their own strong opinions, and the noise level they produce is one I never thought was possible. Not to mention the fact that a heart transplant for one of them was not something I ever saw coming.

Isaiah says His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. I used to read that as being about big, cosmic things. Now I think it's also about the way He answers a sixteen-year-old girl's prayers.

The life I prayed for was the dream version, but the life God answered with is the real one: louder, harder, and so much better than anything I sketched out at sixteen. His thoughts were higher than my fluffy prayers. They always are.

The girl with the stroller prayed for a dream, and God answered with something real. Now it's my job to recognize the answered prayers, step into the shaping He's doing inside them, and praise Him every step of the way.

And I’d bet I’m not the only one. I’d bet your house is full of answered prayers wearing disguises too, ones that showed up louder, messier, or harder than the version you prayed.

So tell me, friend: what’s one prayer God answered differently than you asked? Pop your answers in the comments; I would love to start a conversation around this!

Until next week, Blair