A Prayer for a Lost Hamster

This morning I DID NOT want to get out of bed. I caught my daughter's cold and feel pretty rotten. I was still snuggled in bed calling out the morning routine to my, so not a morning person, daughter... you know the drill... "eat breakfast, get dressed, brush your teeth..."

And then I heard it...
JOLT me out of bed, TOTALLY frantic, tear the house apart news.... "Mom, Misty is missing." Misty is my daughter's beloved hamster. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, not TODAY!
My husband was already at work, so it was up to me and Amanda to find Misty and return her to her hamster palace. Just the 2 of us... or so I thought! The plan was my daughter would look in her room and I would look in mine. She started off... I couldn't focus. I walked in circles, totally overwhelmed. We are still remodeling... hamster hiding spaces EVERYWHERE! I froze... my daughter was screaming and certain that our Labrador Hershey had eaten Misty.... I must admit I was thinking so to...

Then I remembered.... WAIT... PRAY.... Give this to God... ask for His help... HE KNOWS where Misty is! So I clasped my hands together and prayed. Now it wasn't my best... most beautiful prayer... it was scattered.... went something like this....

God, Please help us find Misty... Show us where she is... let her move and us hear a noise or see a shift in something.... let her come to our voices... help us find her. Amen

Not very eloquent I know...
But there I was... sitting reflecting on my prayer, waiting to see something or feel a nudge to head in a specific direction. No more than 5 seconds had passed, Amanda tearily called out "I found her!" I cried out "Thank YOU God!" and ran to my daughter's room... She was holding Misty and sobbing... said she was looking on one side of her closet and saw Misty trying to climb up a stack of boardgames to get to her. Misty was actually heading towards Amanda, towards the noise, towards items being shoved around! OH MY GOSH! I told her about my prayer and then together.... Misty in hand... we thanked God for His help.

Giving things to God and going to Him FIRST with problems is one of the most difficult battles I fight. Just a few weeks ago, I was in a difficult confusing place and I prayed... but I didn't do it with the heart KNOWING He would answer me... Even though I doubted God... He gave the people around me the words I needed to hear and still guided me to an answer. Through that difficult time He was at work changing me. I could feel it... feel Him opening me up... growing me. Even though I feel so much stronger now in my faith, this morning still took me by surprise... It was pretty surreal... as I prayed it was like I left my body... I was watching myself pray... and saying to myself... WOW... that's different... trouble strikes... within minutes I'm in prayer... pinch me.... cause I must be dreaming here! Praying this morning... I had so much faith that God would answer my prayer... I was SO SURE...

Now, while my body is weak and sick, my soul is SOARING! God not only answered my prayer to find a missing hamster, this morning he showed me he has answered prayers prayed for a long time... prayers for for clarity and stronger faith, to feel closer to Him, for tranquility and peace within myself.... GOD answered all of my prayers.... in HIS time.... and used my daughter's missing hamster to reveal it to me. How AWESOME is that?