Internet

This morning my dad worked from home, and it was a crazy morning - he was on the phone a lot helping people fix problems. In the middle of one call with a lady, our internet died. From past experiences - when our internet dies, it won't come back on right away, it will stay down for hours. I knew that would make my dad have to drive into town (he can't work without internet) and it would be an unnecessary trip (plus gas is expensive :P ) So I just prayed and prayed that the internet would come back on soon... and in about 2 minutes IT DID!!! Halleluyah!!! (and thankfully, the internet company is coming to fix our internet - hopefully for good - this afternoon :D )

Shalom,
~India

Finally...!

I can't believe I forgot to post this earlier... But after studying since November of last year, I am FINALLY done with Western Civilization I!!!!!!!! :D

Believe me, this is a HUGE answer to prayer. I went in to test last week and God blessed me with the (passing!) score of 57 :) I am now halfway through my Sophomore year in college! So I'm excited. And ever so thankful to all you out there who helped me out, and encouraged and prayed for me. I thank God for you! You are such a blessing to me! :)

God Bless,

Essie

Come On!

Ok - here's a plug, people! JOIN us! Let me know if you want to be a contributor to this blog. :D

Also - note to current contributors, Essie suggested we tag "big" and "little" answered prayers when we blog.  I know all answered prayers are a blessing to us, but it'll help with organization. :)

Blessings!
~CJ

It's RAINING!!

:D :D
*is dancing with joy*
It's raining, praise God!  And it's a nice slow steady rain, that won't wash away all the good dirt and mulch we just distributed.

Here are some pictures! :)

Sorry it isn't that good quality... I don't know how to take pictures of rain :P .

Soli Deo Gloria!
~CJ

School

In China, you have those nasty entrance exams and processes for getting into Middle School and High School, the same way you get into college in the US.  It costs more, too.  And the good schools are just as hard, if not harder to get into.  Why? Because, you need "connections/ fame" and money to get into the good schools.

There's an excellent and prestigious middle school in the district my 12yo cousin lives in, that her parents supremely wished for her to attend. During the last few weeks of classes, a committee selected the top students for 2nd Railroad Middle School (I know, strange name).  She had good grades, good scores on entrance exams, etc. but not good enough to get into the school.  After a while, the committee went through again choosing more students to fill up open spots.  It's tough, like I mentioned.  My uncle and aunt don't have connections with officials, CEOs, and whatnot, and they're not filthy rich.  So, we all prayed that God would have mercy on my cousin and let her be among the students of the second "pool".   She and her mother are new Christians, and they've been taught that whatever we ask of God, He will answer.  They were told that, but they'd never seen it happen.

And guess what?  Several days ago, my Mom got an email (in the middle of the night) that Lili was accepted to 2nd Railroad Middle School! :D WHOOT!! and PRAISE GOD.  :D

God answers prayers! :)

I've got another post coming up about my cousin's family... that most of you probably know through Buzz :) .

Soli Deo Gloria
~CJ

School and Job Questions/Worries

If any of you are like me, you have occasional bouts of worry - worry about school, work, future, etc. I've been going through one of those recently - I still don't know exactly what God wants me to do after I complete my degree, and I'm having a hard time focusing on school (which is going very slowly right now because I'm in a sort of gap between tests and final classes). Needless to say, these items have figured prominently in my prayer life over the past few weeks! Funny how much more you seem to pray when life isn't going according to your plan (or if you have no plan) :-P

I really wasn't discerning any obvious answers. Until the last few days.

I got an email with answers (or at least next steps) to several of my education questions. I researched jobs and found some that are promising opportunities when I'm finished with my degree. But even more than that, I received a bit of the peace that passes understanding. It was like God was telling me, "I have a plan for you - just because you can't see it right now doesn't mean that it isn't there." It's a wonderful thing to be free of fear and worry, knowing that God is in control! And when He answers some of your questions - well, that's icing on the cake :-)

~Mac

And more rain . . .

Where I live, we have been experiencing a great drought. Very bad drought. It's unusual, and it has been detrimental- causing wildfires. Every morning at work, the staff and volunteers gather around to pray before starting the day. This time, I prayed for rain, that God would give us the rain we needed. Right after I finished praying, I went to my office and heard the downfall of rain! It was so exciting to see how quickly and timely God's answer to my prayer was, and not only me, but all the others who voiced prayer for rain. It may not have been much rain, but I am thankful God answered prayer!

Sunday Morning...

A lot of you know that I usually play the organ for church. Well, this Sunday, my brother who usually plays the piano wasn't going to be able to attend the morning service due to work... So the pastor's wife began to practice with me, but was/is not feeling well at all and couldn't make it through the first song. Her son took her home. That left me to play the piano. O___O Now I've played the piano for around 9 more years than the organ... But I find it much more difficult to play for church services.

So the pastor and I started practicing the songs. We both messed up here and there. He asked me if I was okay, and I replied I was - just really tired. The feeling was mutual. My cup of coffee-mixed-with-an-entire-packet-of-hot-chocolate-mix didn't seem to be extremely helpful.

Finally, as we stumbled to the end of a song, he set down his hymnbook and said, "We haven't prayed yet, let's go do that now." Whoever happens to be at the church early enough usually meets in the pastor's office and prays sometime before the service. My brother was there as he didn't have to leave till after Sunday School, so the three of us went in and gave it all to the Lord.

The rest of the practice went comparatively well.

And the service was noticeably better than practice had been. :)

It is my prayer that my actions, such as playing instruments for church, will bring glory to God and not myself. The answers to those prayers are seldom visible - But I know that God has everything orchestrated perfectly, and He can and does use everything for His glory. So I can know for certain that my prayers are being answered!

God Bless,

Essie

RAIN!!

I know lots of my friends need rain in their states.  So it's been on my mind a lot. We need a some here in NC, too. And guess what? IT RAINED YESTERDAY!!!  It poured for several minutes, lightning, thunder, a little hail, and they whole rigamarole... so awesome. Too bad, I was sleepy :P .  But God answered my prayer. Now our garden has been feeling better, today :) .

I'll will be praying for everyone else, too :) .

~CJ

P.s. Sorry about double posting :P .

Kid's Bible Study

I guess I'll start :-/ .

I've been leading the kid's Bible study (it's actually kind of like Sunday school on Friday night with kids from our cell group) for about half a year now. I've been pining to teach the kids so much and I felt as thought I hadn't taught them as much as I'd like.  It's especially hard since ages range from 2-10, all with high activity, curiosity, and mischief levels.  Last Friday morning, I simply asked God, "Please let me be able to teach the kids a lot tonight. I'm not very prepared this time, but I know these kids need to know more about You before they can live according to Your Word.  Help."  It wasn't eloquent, but I couldn't think what else to ask for.

7:45pm and only 4 kids, ages 7, 8, 9, and 10.  "Snap, I forgot to ask God would bring lots of kids to the Bible Study as well. *facepalm* Oh well, it's in God's hands now.

The study ended up being TWO and a HALF HOURS LONG!!  The parents evidently had dragged their study and prayer longer than usual. But with these four kids... wow. I started with a Bible Story book that gave a summary of the Old Testament. We never got past Solomon. The kids had so many questions. And for once, they were 99% relevant to the discussions at hand.  We talked about
original sin,
heaven and hell,
Satan and his fallen angels,
lots of Biblical history and how each person obeyed/disobeyed God,
not to be yoked with unbelievers (Solomon),
salvation,
new spirit/creation,
sinful nature,
fellowship,
going to church,
prayer,
the Holy Spirit,
and so much I can't remember.
I tried to find Scriptures off the top of my head that would support everything I was saying.  It was both amazing and humbling (man, do I need to study the Bible more).  At the end, I found out all four of them had unclear definitions of what Christians and children of God were, even though 2 were baptized. I pray I made it clear to them (and I think they understand now).  The other 2, I led to pray acceptance of Jesus as LORD and Savior. Hallelujah!!

10:15pm Jason: My iPod says it's 10:15... I'm tired.

God answered my prayer in an unexpected way. I wanted to impact a lot of kids and "hit them hard with the message."  God knew I couldn't handle it and He gave me a precious 2.5 hours with four of them. I was so amazed they were able to pay attention for so long and not complain.  Praise God for answering prayers and doing a better job than we could ever imagine.

Well - so much for keeping it brief. *rolls eyes at self*  Forgive the rambling and I'll try to do better the next time.

Your turn. :D

Soli Deo Gloria
~CJ

Starting Out

John 14:13-14 (NASB)Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask me anything in My name, I will do it.

This a place to share answered prayers, both great and small.  


This blog (prayerfully) will be a huge motivator to pray constantly.  Our prayer lives could always use a boost.


We will share more personal instances of answered prayers, especially situations in which we knew we couldn't do much about it, but God was in total control.  

We'll post about how God does things for us BEFORE we think to ask Him. 


We'll talk about how God answered our prayers, not necessarily in the way we were hoping, but we found His plan to be sooo much better in the end.

Or like one of Essie's prayer requests (not on this blog): that God would make her have a good attitude toward the day or a task (or something like that), and He answered!!  

Basically, going for very specific cases and maybe giving an encouraging word at the end. Keep each post very short and too the point. 7 page-long sermons are unnecessary. :)

We can post the actual prayers we prayed. Post pictures if needed or just to add some "flair" to the posts. Be creative!

Currently, authors are CollegePlus! students/alumni and you are welcome to join the "team". The more contributors, the better!   It also means the rest of us don't have to post as much.  

Just kidding - God is to be glorified and we know He can't be glorified too much.  Please forward this to anyone else, who you think may be interested! 

(And if you do post, be sure to tag/label your posts with your name.)

It's so good to look back on our lives and see God's answered prayer! 

~Excelsior

~CJ