Ask Me Anything

I'm supposed to be finishing this book called "Is That Really You, God?" by Loren Cunningham, founder of YWAM. It's part of an assignment due Monday. I'm about halfway through. As interesting as it is, I find myself distracted. By this blog post. Because I realize I have been waiting almost a month to write it. That probably does not make any sense, but it will.

Thursday afternoon I finally made it to the second chapter which has this really cute, simple story about Loren as a boy in the 1940s. He loses his family's milk money on his way to the store. He confesses to his mother when he gets home and her response is for them to pray. "Come, son, let's pray. We'll ask God to show us where that money is." The story goes: God told her that the five dollars was in a bush, it was, and they were able to feed the family that week. It's a short simple tale, but it's true. I thought to myself, "Why don't I ask God where stuff is?" Why freak out and drive myself nuts trying to do things in my own power or by trusting man. He's all-knowing, if we can depend on anyone for anything (big or small), it's surely him.

Now, somewhere between getting on the plane in Maui and arriving here on base July 5th, I managed to misplace my passport (among other important things). Yes, the whole time I have been here, I have been without identification and the one thing -besides a couple grand haha- I need to get me to Cambodia. By God's grace, not having it has not been stressful. More like an exteneded teaching moment, in trust and timing. I know that he wouldn't bring me all the way here and let a passport hold me back. So, I made phone calls, I told my leaders and asked for prayer from people back home (more lessons in vulnerability), I searched my room and my work duty high and low (Transportation Manager gives me access to the campus vehicles and the locked Lost & Found). After that, I knew I just had to wait. I also knew I had to be grateful for where I was and trust that God was going to give me a passport-old or new.

"Lord you know where that five-dollar bill is hiding. Now we ask You to show us. Speak to our minds, please, for You know that we need that money to feed the family this week." What do I need? Why don't I just ask? Simple enough, right? So, I offered a 10 second petition to Father and then went back to reading. An hour later, I was waiting for a friend to show up for our dinner date when I got a call. I didn't recognize the number and let it go to voicemail. My heartbeat kind of stuttered when I heard the lady's voice say, "This is Hawaiian Airlines regarding your passport..." What sweet joy and relief it was to return Nichole's call and confirm that it was in Honolulu! It was even more fulfilling to know that not only was the wait over, but prayers were answered. I had people to rejoice with! Over something that in someways is so small, but still significant. God really cared enough to see my need and show up for me in his timing. He cares about what we care about. So why don't we just ask?