Gwen and Tim took their 4 children on an airplane to visit my 94 year old father-in-law whose health is failing. Now, this kind of a trip is not for the faint of heart! Just the sheer amount of "stuff" that they had to bring would scare anyone! Think car seats for all the kids, a playpen for Anna, not to mention, clothes, cups, bottles - you get the idea. And four little ones on an airplane - well, lets just say that Gwen and Tim are a hearty lot. But still, I figured that they could use prayer coverage for this trip. So I put out a request on my small group "text prayer chain".
Now let me tell you that this texting thing is really amazing when it comes to sharing prayer needs. I was just telling a couple of people how much I feel the very real presence of the Holy Spirit each time I get one of those text prayer requests from a member of our group. I have no doubt that this use of cell phones and texting is just one thing that Jesus is using today. Recently I saw a sign on a church near my house that said "Prayer - the ultimate wireless connection". And I think that the combination of using texting to pass prayer requests is just taking this one step further.
So on to the story of today. Well, everyone prayed for Gwen and Tim's airplane travel and it was a very good trip. So, yes, an answer to prayer. Let's face it. A good three hour trip with four children is a miracle!
However, I neglected to ask for prayer for some other details of this trip. Like a rental car big enough to hold 4 car seats and 6 people and all the stuff - even though there was a prepaid, confirmed reservation for one! (I know, anyone who knows the show Seinfeld is now saying "They know how to TAKE the reservation, they just don't know how to HOLD the reservation!" Ken and I were saying the same thing). Thankfully, although NOT quickly, a different company found a suitable vehicle for them. They were 3 hours later getting to their hotel than they expected. You would think a good nights sleep was all they needed.
But early this morning I got a text from Gwen that Ellie was very sick and throwing up. Now this is really no fun in a hotel. And really not good when you need to go visit an elderly person who should not be exposed to anything! I immediately put out an URGENT prayer request via text to my group. And they all assured me that they were praying. It was not looking good after 3 hours of Ellie getting sick every 30 minutes like clockwork. Gwen and Tim were trying to decide what to do and then I got a text from the leader of my small group. It said "been praying and feeling that a break thru is happening". And I am not kidding you, within 2 minutes I had a text from Gwen saying Ellie was up and out of bed getting dressed. And then they were on their way to see Great Grandpa. Within another hour Ellie was swimming in the pool at my sister-in-law's house.
By this evening, they were on the beach. As you can see in this picture, they are all doing well - including Ellie. And I am convinced that Ellie's quick bounce back was due to this wonderful group of prayer warriors who stood with me and prayed!
My encouragement to you is to find yourself a group of people who are willing to form a "text" prayer chain. You will be blessed.
Jesus, thank you for your protection and covering over Gwen, Tim, Lia, Ellie, Zeke and Anna. Holy Spirit, bless their time visiting with Great Grandpa and the rest of the family. Thank you for my friends and their willingness to pray when the need arises. Holy Spirit nudge us all to pray for those close to us even when there is not an urgent need. It is a miracle that we can connect through cell phones to connect TOGETHER to you. Thank you for the quick healing for Ellie! Amen
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