Tanner Life

Mountain Moving Faith

I'm reading "The Power of a Praying Woman" by Stormie OMartian. It was given to me for Christmas along with "Power of a Praying Wife" & "Power of a Praying Parent" by an awesome friend. Thanks T! I've read so many things that I want to remember, to remind myself, to share. I'm going to start with this one.

The chapter starts out with remind us of Matthew 17:20 "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'move from here to there', and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."

Wow- How powerful is that? She goes on to say "If that's all the faith it takes to move mountains, then surely I can come up with enough to move the obstacles in my life."

We have put all of our faith into our plan for adoption. Along the way I've ran into people who asked me "don't you think you'll jinx it" when they heard all the things we were doing. We did some work around our house, we got new carpet & floors and then we started taking big steps. We weren't yet approved (still aren't yet) and we were buying furniture for the nursery, bedding, toys, clothes, etc.. Several people would say again "don't you think you should wait?"

Wait on what? was my question. We wouldn't have taken this road unless we were 100% sure that it is what God had planned for us. We felt like he had spoken to us in huge ways over the past years about adoption. God is good like that.

The thing is, you have to be open to those times he sends signs to you or speaks to you. I don't think he is going to drop a banner in front of you that says "You should sell your house." I do believe, from personal experience, that if you are walking with him and having a real relationship with him, he will speak to you or send you signs. When we sold our house 5 years ago, we prayed asking God if it was the right thing to do. We felt like it was and we started working with an agent. She was wonderful and we knew from the first moment that God had sent us a sign, he'd made our paths cross. I prayed that if it were right, please let it happen fast. We didn't want to be on the market for months and months, years and years. We put our house on the market, it was shown about 6 times in the first week and by the second week we had a contract! It couldn't have happened faster, God is good!

Before Andy & I got married I was teaching Pre-K for someone whom I wasn't thrilled to work for. I prayed about it all the time. I got a random offer out of the blue offering me another Pre-K position at a brand new center, on a recommendation from a previous student's parent. I hadn't looked for the job, it dropped in my lap. It LOOKED like it was a sign from God. I paused to pray again, was this what I was suppose to do. I struggled b/c my Dad had always been very firm about teaching me "you finish what you start" and I believe that with my whole heart. Could I leave this group of kids I was working with, in the middle of a year? Did God send me a new job, without me looking at all. After praying I went to school one day to have an amazing conversation with a 4 year old. Her family was a Christian family and she was an awesome little girl, we'll refer to her as K. She told me that she'd dreamed about me the night before and I was crying. She said I was crying because something happened and I thought I might have to leave them. She told me in her dream, don't cry.. you'd never leave us like that. That was my sign, not the new job that would have been so much easier. It was a new center, a great new boss compared to where I was. I could have very easily read the wrong sign there, had I not continued to pray and seek God's will. It was the children that I do it for and it was in the form of a child that God spoke to me! He can use anyone, anytime, anywhere!

Back to Stormie, she says "Whether you realize it or not, you are living by faith everyday. Each time you go to a doctor, you trust he will do the right thing. When you buy medicine from the pharmacy, you believe they will fill your prescription correctly. ...... How much easier and more certain is it to trust God?"

"We have no idea what great things God wants us to do through us if we would just step out in faith when He asks us to." That's why he lets us go through difficult times. Times when we feel weak and vulnerable so that we will turn to Him and give Him our full attention. It's in those times, when we are forced to pray in greater faith, that our faith grows stronger."

Matthew 9:29 "According to your faith let it be to you" That could be scary for some people!! May I have enough faith, that God can do those things he wants in my life accordingly!!!!! May I be close enough to him to know what he wants for my life, find my purpose and see or hear his message. If we aren't having any sort of relationship with Christ, how in the world can he do great things in our life? How can he show us what road to take? How can he give us the miracles he so wants us to have? It's not always easy to stay on the right path, but I'm on it... and I'm holding onto it with both hands!!

"God, please take the tiny seed of faith that is often all I have. Grow it into a giant tree of faith so you can see all the things you want for me - come to be!"