Thankful Thursday...Answered Prayers

It's been a few weeks since I've been able to do a Thankful Thursday post. Between work & life, I've barely had time to keep the house clean, let alone keep up on the blogging. I will get caught up on the posts though, I promise. I have some fabulous ideas running around in my head that must get out (they're giving me a headache).

I think I relate to Peter the most out of all the disciples, for a few reasons. I've been known to share my opinion without thinking about it first, my family is considered to be rednecks, I get a great idea and try to run with it without thinking it through first. But the way I feel I can most relate to Peter is the issue of faith. I see him as a man who absolutely knew that Jesus was the Son of Man, the Messiah, yet struggled with faith on the day-to-day level. He had spent every day with Jesus, witness to perhaps thousands of miracles. When Jesus told him to get out of the boat and walk to him, he did it. Immediately. As long as he looked at Jesus, he was fine. But, as soon as Peter's line of sight turned towards the waves instead of Jesus, he became overwhelmed and started to sink.

I know that I know that I know that Jesus will never leave me nor forsake me. That He does have my best interests in mind. That He will hold me in the palm of His hand. And, yet, it is easy to take my eyes of my Savior, focus on the waves in my life, and become overwhelmed.

This week, I am so thankful for two answers to prayer that, honestly, I didn't even think about after I prayed them. And, yet, God loved me enough to remember them, and answer them exactly when I needed them most.

Prayer #1:
Saturday morning, the girls & I went garage sale hunting. I had been thinking, in the back of my mind, that I would really like a new pair of casual brown sandals to wear to work. I needed something comfortable yet nice enough for work. But, like most things, that little prayer got forgotten in the everyday. At the Florida Mesa Madness, a huge yard sale at Katrina's school, a woman was selling a TON of shoes. And guess what? A cute pair of brown leather sandals, that fit me perfectly, for $1!

Prayer #2:
Back in January, I was preparing our taxes for the feds. Mind you, we are still paying on our taxes from 2007, so the thought of having to pay even more was daunting, to say the least. I was feeling really discourages as I was preparing everything for our accountant. I prayed as I was gathering, "Lord, it would be really nice to not have to pay anything. I know better than to ask for a refund (cause that never happens when you're self-employed), but if we could just break even, that would be great." I gave our information to the accountant to prepare and forgot about it.

Last week, I realized we hadn't heard from him yet. Jerome called our CPA, and he said that he would have everything ready this week. He also had a surprise. Not only did we not have to pay anything (a specific answer to my specific prayer) but we were also going to get money back, which would be applied to our 2007 debt! God answered above and beyond what I expected.

Monday morning, Jerome received some bad news about the financing for one of his deals. This deal may or may not go through now. I must confess that, like Peter, I allowed my focus to go to the waves rather than my savior. And I felt myself sinking. But God, through my amazing sweet hubby and an awesome friend with wise words, picked me up and lead me back to the boat. God knew we were going to receive this news. I know He answered my two specific prayer ahead of this to remind me that He will see us through this as well.

I am so grateful that my Jesus picks me up!