Immeasurably More

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us..."  Ephesians 3:20

The past two weeks have been a roller coaster of events and emotions which will take multiple posts to cover.  From transitioning to Arkansas, driving 29 hours  in 14 days going back and forth between 3 states, and having to say good bye to my 16 year old doggie, it's been a non typical season of life to say the least.

First in this series, I really wanted to focus more on how the Lord has directly answered so many prayers lately.  I've been so humbled as He is not only "able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine," He has done it over and over again in the past couple of weeks.  Often I'll sit in humble disbelief as I directly experience the Lord answer my prayers.  Prayers that seem silly to even pray for.  Prayers that sometimes, due to lack of faith, don't even get formally spoken, but remain in the "this would be great" part of my thoughts as if the Lord can't hear those too.  Prayers made in desperation and in faith still knowing the Lord is good even if they aren't answered. 

On February 8th, I wrote a list of what I was praying for this semester in regards to my move.  They were
-roommate my age
-house with a backyard
-a home $400 or less a month in rent
-church to feel at home quickly
-gym with pool
-grace/rest/enter slowly and steady with wisdom

Besides the church home, as I haven't even looked yet, all of those things get to be checked off and give praise to the Lord for!  I met my new roommate when I visited Fayetteville the first time, and I'm so excited to live with her!  Once we decided to live together, April 18, I made a "dream" list of what I would want in our home.

-House or duplex with a yard
-3 bedrooms so we can have a guest room/office since both of our families and friends live out of state (plus I have an extra bedroom set we could use if we had an extra room)
-2 bathrooms (though I have had only 1 1/2 in my current house and it's worked great)
-close to campus (not as high on my list, but 15 minutes or less would be great)
-allows pets
-at least one bedroom on the ground level for my arthritis dog that wouldn't be able to make it up steps
-storage area somewhere since we might have 2 sets of furniture (this might actually need to be a must have depending on space and how much each of us has)
-Lots of natural light and windows (this makes for a happier Katie)
 -Something that didn't make the actual list, but was in my "I wish" thought, but didn't make it to an actual prayer was a home with a view.

Well we found a house with all of that and more!!!!  Due to a comment one of my friends in Arkansas made, a facebook message sent to a different friend, an email to that friend's dad, a couple of phone calls, getting to see the house, and another phone call later, we have a house!  The coolest thing about this is that I'm pretty sure the house wasn't even being advertised as being for rent or that the landlords were sure they were going to rent it or not before we called out of the blue!  My favorite part about the house is for sure the number of windows in the living room to the front and back yards and THE VIEW!!!!!!  I didn't have enough faith to even really pray for the view I wanted.  It was one of those "I wish this could happen" thought, that didn't really turn into a prayer, BUT the Lord still provided!  There is a beautiful view of this small mountain/large hill from the moment you walk in the door!!!!!!  Direct answer to prayer!!!!!  As we walked in I just smiled in humble gratitude to the Lord for His provision!

I'll write more about this in another post, but another direct answer to prayer came yesterday as I had to make the incredibly hard decision to put my dog to sleep.  It had been a long time coming, but did not make the decision any easier.  The prayer I shared with others and just kept asking the Lord for over and over again was that the vet would be affirming of my choice.  That he wouldn't try and convince me to try an expensive surgery, but he would affirm that this choice was the best for my dog considering her age and quality of life.  So as I made the choice to put her down and shared this with the vet, although extremely sad to say good bye to my friend and pet of 16 years, I felt a sorrowful peace as the sweet vet affirmed me over and over, and even with a hug right after it was done, that I had made a good choice.  He had no idea that he was saying the exact words I had prayed for, but I immediately could only praise the Lord in my head for Him answering that very specific prayer.  

There are many more situations like this in the past semester, but these were the most current from Thursday and Monday.  What a beautiful, kind Lord we have that really does "do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine."