God of Everyday Miracles

God is always answering prayers, but sometimes it's very obvious. There have been times that I've tried to remember God directly answering prayer and I can't think of an example. Somehow I forget so easily. So this time I'm writing it down.
I'm taking a class right now and last week I knew I was supposed to be sharing my story in 2 weeks because that is what I signed up for. But being in the class, I felt some anxiety and was just ready to share it sooner than 2 weeks. So I went to the restroom and I made a simple prayer of like "God can I please share my story next week instead of in two weeks?" My human mind thought, there's no way it's already scheduled. Well, at the end of our class the leader explains that the next week was going to be a little different and she asked if I or the other girl that was going to share wanted to share the following week instead of that week. My eyes got wide, my eyes brows raised in amazement and I said quickly "Yes, I will." I didn't even give the other girl a chance, but I knew this was an answer to prayer. Thankfully the other girl said she'd rather wait and didn't put up of a fight or anything.
Then today, I was talking with my accountability partner and after some processing she was saying how she really wanted a mentor. We talked through all the places she could possibly get a mentor and no one came to mind and nothing stuck out to her. So at the end, I prayed that God would do a miracle and provide her a mentor. And that He did! When she got home, she got an e-mail from a friend that had just got back from North Africa and she was looking for someone to mentor. Wow were those some quick turn arounds in prayer!
I know God always hears our prayers and is trying to answer them as long as they are in His will and in our best interest. But I know sometimes it can take a while because He's having to work with the free will of people and systems etc. I just love it when He does it so quickly and blows me away. He's done it a million times, but I want to remember because it's so easy to forget.

Modern Day Good Samaritan (well sort of)

So I was driving to meet my co-workers at a restaurant and I was in the turn lane to go under the freeway. On the corner catty corner from me I see this elderly guy fall flat on his face, no knees or hands to stop the fall. Yeah, flat on his face. It looked bad! So I panic and think, "Oh my gosh is he okay." My good Samaritan and motherly instincts kick in and I immediately am trying to figure out how to go check on him. I also think of the bad falls my grandpa has taken and how when an elderly person falls, it's especially bad. I see him get up and pull out a napkin of sorts from his pocket and put it over his nose or mouth. I can tell he's trying to stop the bleeding. I think to myself, I can offer him some water and then see if he wants a ride to a CVS or Walgreens to get whatever he needs to doctor himself and I would pay for it all.
My light turns green and I'm forced to turn left away from the guy so I get in the turn lane and make an illegal U-turn to try and get to the right side of the street. Then the guy starts walking across the street and I have to make another illegal U-turn to get back on the right side. I pull over and roll down the window to talk to him and then I see the cars come at me in the rear view mirror. So I thought I'll just go through the light and find a spot to park. Bad idea. I had to go through two lights and go part way down another street to find somewhere to pull over and park. I park, grab the water and walk as fast as I can to get to the guy. By the time I wait for all the lights, cross the intersection and get back to where he was, he wasn't there anymore. Then I see him walking to the bus station holding the napkin up to his nose or mouth. I try to catch up to him, but he takes one of the elevators and I don't know which one it is. Believe it or not, at this point, I'm actually shaking trying to help this guy. I was so disappointed. I tried to be a Good Samaritan, but had a million hurdles to jump.
As I reflected on the whole ordeal, I realized a couple of things. One thing is that the compassion that overcame me made me think of the compassion God has for me. Sometimes I may think God or even people don't notice me in pain and aren't doing anything. But maybe there are just hurdles that have to be jumped to get to me. The second thing I realized is that I should not have let traffic stop me. I should have just parked my car in the street and put on my hazards. The other cars had 3 lanes to go around me. I had my priorities mixed up. I let the thoughts of people getting impatient and honking at me get in the way of me helping this old guy that just took a bad fall and was bleeding. So that was my lesson for the day...don't let traffic stop you from being a Good Samaritan!

Rich/Poor Judgements and Reality

I had a revelation, an epiphany, yesterday. This realization has been in the works for a while now, but I finally felt some breakthrough. I've been praying that God help me have a healthy view of both wealth and poverty steering away from judgment. I've learned much about poverty over the years and have found it easier to not wrongly judge the poor. I've ofter tried to put myself in the shoes of the poor to try and understand where they are coming from (it helps that I didn't exactly grow up wealthy). Some say the poor are lazy and just want handouts. I've learned although this can be true at times, it's more complicated than that and many times there are reasons outside the control of the person that influence them and there are great hurdles to overcome that make elevating oneself economically very challenging.

However, for the first time yesterday, I realized I need go through this same process for the rich as well. I have easily jumped to the conclusion that the rich are greedy and insensitive. I just realized yesterday that it's just as wrong for me to call a rich person greedy as it is for someone to call a poor person lazy. I know hardworking people that are poor and rich people that are very giving and generous. The rich also have pressures, obstacles, and things out of their control that lead them to their economic state. I want to continue to have a healthy understanding of both sides and be the bridge that God has called me to be.