It's the little things in life.

This blog is dedicated to Jesus Christ, my daddy. He asked me to start this blog for His glory and honor. I don't know where it will lead, but I hope (if anybody ever reads this) that you will come along with me for the ride. I am going to be completely blunt and open on this blog, although I will try to scale my at times R-rated past back down to PG. This is completely out of my comfort zone so I can only trust that God has some divine purpose in my typing today. If you would like to share your stories about our amazing God, He will be all the more pleased. After all, when it all boils down, NOTHING matters but God and His plan.
With that intro out of the way, I want to share a real live miracle that happened to us recently. We moved to Houston, TX about 6 months ago, and we are still living out of boxes because we, until two weeks ago, didn't know where we were really going to live. (I feel a shout out to my brother is necessary at this time for letting us stay at his place for so long. Thanks man!) So it came time to set up Christmas decorations, which were pretty much all packed. After rummaging through all the boxes we could find labeled "Christmas" we still couldn't locate our stockings. My wife was really distraught about this; she said Christmas just wouldn't be the same without the stockings. So she asked me to pray about finding the stockings. Now, this might seem like a silly request, but over the years I've watch my wife's prayers find our keys, wallet, remote control, you name it.
So I agreed, and I began praying. I immediately realised how completely helpless I was to find these stockings. We had two huge piles of boxes in our apartment plus an entire garage full of stuff. They could be anywhere. I told God, "I can't do this, but you can." I asked God to raise the box that the stockings were in to the top of the stack and make it clear to me which box to check. It was strange to feel what was going on inside of me. There was a part of me that knew how ridiculous this whole thing was, but there was also the part of me that just wanted my daddy to help me out. After a few minutes of prayer, I began to feel that I should try the pile of boxes in our former dining room (now just box room 1). I spent the next minute or so arguing with God about how I can't really trust that voice inside my head because sometimes I think its God, and it turns out not to be. But God kept pressing into me and convicting me to act by faith and not by sight.
I eventually gave in. I went to the dining room and saw the highest box in the stack. It jumped out at me right away, and I knew I should try that one. But it was so far up there and all the way in the back. It was going to take my ten minutes just to move the boxes in the way to get to it. So instead, I reached for a box that was kind of close to that one. It was a little easier to get to. I got that box down and opened it....No stockings. I almost gave up. That little voice inside me reminded me of how silly this was. To ask the God of Heaven for such a small thing, seemed preposterous to that side of me. But instead, I moved a few more boxes, reached a little further, and grabbed the very highest box in the stack.
I'm sure you've probably guessed by now, but the stockings were in that box. I am convinced that God either moved the box or had us put it there to begin with while we were unpacking so that His name could be glorified. We serve an amazing God who cares so deeply about our every need and desire. Sure, I could have been content without our Christmas stockings, but God wanted to show me that He is still in the business of answering prayers. What a great lesson.
Thanks, daddy.
Love, Dave.