The Importance of Enunciation

Hope and I have been learning basic America stuff in school, so I decided I'd try to teach her the 50 States song. Even though I was sure I'd never want to hear it again after listening to mom sing it from here to Arkansas and back, it's an easy way to memorize the states.

So I was singing it to her, and about halfway through she started giggling. When I asked what was funny, she said she thought New Hamster was a funny name for a state!

Sinnerlings

 Chris Mueller used to say that children were little sinnerlings. Nobody had to teach them to lie; no one tells them to be disobedient or selfish or mean. They're very obiously born with a sin nature. Joel is certainly proof of that. I was getting out his bigger clothes and had a stack of pants on his shelves. He came over and started to play with them, and I told him not to touch them. He looked at me, turned back around to the stack of pants, stuck out one finger, and poked the top pair of pants. I pretended I didn't see it and walked away. He's such a little sinnerling.

Ignore or Implore?

I've been praying for direction on an issue for months. Over a year, I suppose. I gave God a timeline. About a month ago, I tried to revise that timeline. "Ok, God, by Thanksgiving. I want a definite answer by then."


Thursday, I felt the familiar cramping that meant I was soon going to be reminded again how much I detest my uterus. I had a sleep study scheduled for Saturday night; not exactly wonderful timing since I can't sleep through the first night without flooding. So Friday morning, I asked God to please just hold off till Sunday. I didn't want to cancel the study. So Saturday I kept waiting, but nothing showed up. Sunday morning, as I was being unhooked from all the wires, I felt the floodgate open.


Ok, God. I get it.

Perhaps my not getting the answer I want IS my answer.


But I just don't think I can live with that.


So, do I ignore a very direct answer to a half-hearted prayer? Do I assume that God is capable of answering some of my prayers in my timeline, but not others?


Or do I continue to beat down the door of Heaven pleading? Do I keep extending my timeline, hoping that God will change His mind. Or maybe there is the answer I want, if I just can be patient and not attempt to make God answer my prayers on my timeline. Maybe His timeline is different than mine, and if I could just go with whatever, I might still get what I think I want.


Do I ignore one answer and not the other, or do I keep on asking? And does it matter anyway? If I continue to ask, is that disobedient?

How do you know if the answer is really No or if it just hasn't been answered yet?