Are We Prepared?

Have you ever realized that you just aren't prepared for something? That you didn't plan on so many people showing up for a party so you run out of something everyone really likes? Or that you didn't get the laundry done in time to wear clean jeans when you needed to go out? Or even that you didn't pray for the right thing and you only realized that after the fact???

I like to think that I'm usually prepared for what might happen, especially when it comes to our regular visits to Dr. offices with Laura. I generally know what the outcome will be and have only been blindsided and gut-punched a few times. But yesterday, as I was praying for our upcoming trip to St. Louis for what I automatically assume will be a cast change, the thought occurred to me that I might need to take her night-night shoes/FAB along just in case. Just in case what? Hmmmm... I pondered that for a time.

I hit me that what I regularly do is pray for a miracle and then prepare for the worst case scenario. Now I'm not advocating that you don't think about what might happen because being prepared is part of being a good Mom. But what I am advocating is being prepared for the miracle, too. In my case that means not accepting simply that we're headed in to get Laura's casts changed, but to plan for the miracle we're praying for, too. In Mark 11:24 it says "Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." It seems that while I'm praying for the miracle of straight feet and yet don't take her shoes with me, I must not be expecting the Lord to do it. I must pray and then ACT on that faith by preparing for the miracle. From now on, those shoes are going with us along with socks and whatever else we might need if she isn't cast clad as we travel home.

Such a simple concept, isn't it? Makes me wonder what else I'm praying for that I'm not really preparing for. What are my expectations in the rest of my life? What haven't I accepted as mine from the Lord and yet continue to pray for regularly?

Are you prepared for the best that the Lord has for you? Or have you settled for what you think is inevitable? Been there, done that. I'm thinking it is time I stop and move forward. Care to join me?