A Place to Write Out Answered Prayers

Yesterday we sang this song at church. I wish I could remember the name of it, but it was something like “Do you remember?” I could not stop my tears while singing this song. Sometimes, I have this problem that once my water works start it feels impossible to turn them off!! All of a sudden, I lose all ability to be tough or cool. I become total mush. Does that happen to you? It’s embarrassing, but it’s healing, and sometimes you have no choice really.

So today, why don’t we take time to remember? Do we remember?

There was this movie called The War Room, which starred Priscilla Shirer, and Beth Moore even had a small role in it. In the movie, an elderly woman served as Priscilla Shirer’s mentor. She had something hanging on her wall that I’d never seen before: a list of answered prayers.

It was a powerful film. I hope you get a chance to watch the whole thing later, but for now, here’s a dramatic clip:

This movie was GOOD, but because it was Christian you didn’t hear about it much. Go digging for it on the internet. It’s well worth your time. I mean I saw it a YEAR ago, and I’m still remembering things I learned in this movie!

Amazon sells it for $10, or if you have Starz, you can watch it for free:

The other big thing that stuck with me was having a closet to go pray in.

Here at my new house I finally have both a list and a closet to pray in, and I am loving that.

I even made a pretty list to write my lists of answered prayers on. In only 30 minutes, I filled up four of these sheets, so if you want to use this, you may want to print 5, not just one. Yep. I turned it into a free printable, so I can share it with you.
Free Printable for Answered Prayer ListEach list is the size of a sheet of copy paper. Click here to print it. : answeredprayerWord

I have a black and white printer, so mine didn’t have the pretty colors after all. Sad! But yours can so long as you have a color printer.

I feel like I’m living the longest answered prayer ever this year.

My list was long, and I won’t bore you with my list, but I do want to share this one with you.

I want to tell you about my support system this year. The hardest months were November 2015-April 2016. It felt like my physical body was crumbling. There were days I limped around with hip pain, and no one could tell me why. I would toss and turn, and I could not sleep because of that obnoxious hip, but no one could fix it. But the worst part was the fevers, because they would zap my energy and leave me feeling useless. Oh! And then the heart problem started. Then when they told me it was v-tach, and I read about v-tach, I thought, “Oh, great. I’m dying? I could just die any night in my sleep?”

Since my doctors couldn’t figure out my hip problem, they labeled me as having “many somatic complaints,” and they sent me to a counselor. Nice. So basically, if you have a sickness that docs don’t know how to fix they decide you need counseling. And there are lots of problems doctors cannot fix.

Many women would fall back on family during times like these, but when you live on the other side of the country from your family, you’d better hope you’ve made some friends.

It felt like a recipe for depression, my friends.

But that wasn’t how it turned out.

Sometimes God sends people who are the answers to our prayers. That’s what happened for me. I want to tell you about three people who were answers to my prayers.

analise

Analise, my substitute

Analise

I hired Analise to watch the boys each Friday while I went to my weekly doctor visits and tests at the cardiologist, the rheumatologist, the counselor, the physical therapist, and the chiropractor.

Ladies, don’t ever feel like you are “just a nanny.” Analise was 1000 times more than just a nanny. That is a noble calling. I could not have made it through this year without her, and she was a source of happiness for my boys who were having to cope with having a mom that was “always sick.” She was fun and energetic, but she was also mature enough to handle two boys who were supposed to be doing their schoolwork, along with two pre-schoolers.

Analise was a gift from God. She was the answer to my literal cry for help.

laura

My unofficial support group of friends: Every single one is a blessing. Laura is the one on the far right.

Laura

Laura was Daniel’s best friend’s mother. She had Daniel at her house about as much as I had him at mine, and I don’t know what I would have done if she hadn’t. I would also come home to little gifts from her all the time: bath fizzies, Bama cupcakes, and her signature sidewalk art.

Laura offered that touch that reminded me that I was still a person of value, even when I was sick and confused.

answered prayers

The incredible women in my home school support group. Paola is the second from the end on the right, on the sofa. Man, I miss these ladies!!

Paola

What you might not know about me is that I have this need to follow the rules and …..win. I like winning. That’s right. I too want to win and win biggly. (Hehe!) I crave success. So when I started failing, it was quite the avalanche of pride. Oh, what a humbling year it was.

I could not keep up as Joshua’s grammar/writing teacher. He had his computer program for math, but grammar was on me. But our grammar/writing tutoring sessions were every Monday afternoon. No matter how hard I tried, doctor appointments kept falling on Monday afternoon. And fevers. And just my general mess!

Fail. Fail. Fail. I felt like I was constantly failing. Joshua actually had to direct himself for most of his school work for most of that school year. I felt like I was setting him up for failure.

When we would make it on Monday afternoons, we’d be behind on assignments, because of me. Plus, JD’s entire day would be thrown off from the lack of nap at daycare, and Joshua would be in misery because he wasn’t getting much out of that class as unprepared as he was.

I didn’t have it in me to stay for Monday afternoons any longer. It took so much of my energy reserves to finish a Monday that I finally realized I could not keep it up.

We could handle the three-hour Monday morning tutoring sessions, but packing a lunch for all of us and staying for the afternoon became too much.

So it was with great humility that I wrote Paola (the Essentials tutor, Joshua’s teacher for the 2 hour afternoon session) a long note explaining why we had to drop Essentials with only five or so weeks left in the program.

And what I got from Paola was something I won’t forget. I’d back that woman up for any battle she may ever need help with. Paola gave me grace. 

She agreed that our course of action was best for us. She sympathized with all we were going through. She allowed Joshua to continue turning in his grammar charts to her, but she didn’t pressure us for anything at all. In fact, when the year was over, she congratulated me on persevering to the finish.

Have you ever known someone who gave you the exact encouragement that you needed and more? I felt like such a flake that whole semester because of all the “no’s” I was having to say. But Paola and the other CC moms accepted us right where we were in life.

It wasn’t just Paola that gave me support last school year. All of my fellow Classical Conversations moms were understanding and helpful. If only I could have brought my California friends with me to the South!

Sometimes God uses people to answer our prayers, and truly even to teach us what grace feels like.

Grace, hope, and love. I hope that he will use me to bless others as greatly as my friends and family have blessed me.

What a year of answered prayers. I can’t wait to see what God does next. I want you to all know that I am doing much better now. Thank you so much for loving us through the hard times.

Be sure to get the printable and share what God has done in your life.

12 comments

  • Anonymous

    “Your journey, marked with challenges and answered prayers, is profoundly inspiring. The power of faith and the support of friends like Analise, Laura, and Paola beautifully illustrate God’s grace and love. Your resilience shines through, offering hope and encouragement to others. Thank you for sharing your heart and the printable.”

  • What a great post. Really made me think about things going on in my life. Sometimes we can forget how blessed we are. Glad you shared.

  • Loved that movie!

    April, have you looked into Ehlers Danlos? It may not be your condition at all, but it is actually quite common (not rare, just rarely diagnosed) causes a lot of seemingly unrelated issues, and is easily dismissed by drs. I think you remember that I had a lot of trouble getting a dr to take me seriously: https://newcreatureinhim.wordpress.com/2015/11/07/but-i-cant-drive-a-manual/#more-2141

    Last year I was diagnosed with POTS, and I have been searching all year for the cause. Last week, I found it. I have Ehlers Danlos. I just thought I would throw it out there, because I had two drs pooh-pooh me when I asked them if they thought I could have it. It wasn’t until I went to see a geneticist that it was confirmed.

    Please check out my EDS faq page: https://potsspot.wordpress.com/edsfaq/

    (And please know that I am not just trying to plug my blog here. I really just wanted to throw this out to you, unlikely as it may seem, because it is crazy how long it takes people with chronic illness to get help.)

    I don’t want to throw in a 3rd link or your spam blockers will block me for sure, but there is a youtube video from the Ehlers Danlos Society called It’s About Time. It shows how long it takes people with EDS to get properly diagnosed, and it is absolutely tragic.

    I hope you check out this information, and I really really hope you find some answers. I am praying for you tonight.

    • Fascinating. Can it affect skin? My skin on my stomach after having 4 pregnancies is barely even attached to me and looks awful. There’s definitely collagen gone awry there. And I certainly have joint issues, but then I also have psoriasis which could cause it and wheat sensitivity which could cause it. The geneticist sounds like a brilliant plan.

      • It does affect skin, usually makes it stretchy, and makes skin slow to heal and it scars with a thin ‘cigarette paper’ scar.

        It does affect different people differently. My skin is stretchy, and very slow to heal, but I don’t get the cigarette-paper scars.

        There is an image at the bottom of this post that shows some of the bendy tricks along with some of the symptoms. I havae no idea if you are bendy or not. I hadn’t even realized that I was bendy, and it turns out I do all of these. things. Here is the link: https//potsspot.wordpress.com/2016/08/19/faq7/

  • I cry in church pretty much weekly! I loved War Room and I covet your prayer closet. 😉 This was a lovely shout out to your angels.

  • Oh I feel all teary eyed now. Yes indeed, these wonderful people were sent to you. I am so glad they listened to the promptings to help and be a good friend.

    Thanks for sharing your lovely printable. I think remembering our answered prayers is so important. I probably need to spend some time reflecting and reminding myself of all I have been given,

    Hugs!

  • Nana

    Awesome post April! I kept a little book of answered prayers for a short time before I lost it. It can boost your faith. I think there are many times we don’t even recognize God’s answer to our prayers. So thankful for the friends he sent to you in your time of need.

  • Nonna

    The War Room movie meant a lot to me too. I put my answered prayer list in my Bible and refer to it often. I hope I can be an encourager to others like those ladies were to you.. You were very blessed.

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