30 Days of Answered Prayer - The Beginning.

Around Thanksgiving, I notice a lot of my friends do a month of things they're thankful for. I love reading them and focusing on thankfulness, and I wanted to do something similar. Somehow though I ended up settling instead on 30 days of answered prayer. I don't really know why. Maybe it means that instead of just writing "I'm thankful for answered prayer' each day, that I actually focus on (and share) what God is doing. Maybe it's Holy Spirit me leading me that way because it acknowledges that the things I'm thankful for come from a good God who interacts and works for His children, and an army of intercessors calling those things in. Maybe it's to keep myself focused on a God who always answers prayer, whether that answer is 'yes', 'no' or 'wait'. At this point I have a confession to make. I often THINK about writing or committing to these kinds of posts but rarely actually write them. In fact, I daily write blog posts, magazine articles, dissertation thesis statements, and sermons/seminar teachings in my head. I'm truly prolific in my imagination! This one seemed as if it would be no different to those fleeting thoughts, except that this morning there was a 'plot twist'. I had my plans for my day and what work I would get done, and then waking up this morning, it was clear my body wasn't going to fully cooperate. At least, not in a pain-free way. Faced with the choice of 'ignore it and push on' or 'be kind and do things that can be done with my leg up', I decided to do the latter (not my most common choice in these moments!) and instead, asked God what I should do instead. "Write". "Really? Because I have several books I want to read, some journal articles bookmarked, or gifts I could work on, projects I could get ahead on...." "Write." "I'm not sure what to....." "Write" Then, a word came back to me from a friend who has been encouraging me to journal differently in this season and keep track of events and testimonies to share. This was followed by several words I've had from people both about writing and about just needing to get on and do it. So this is one of my 'starting points'. 30 Days of Answered Prayer. Some of these are going to be small details, others will be larger. After all, God cares not just about the big stuff, but also small details that seem so insignificant, but sometimes mean the world to us. I'm starting from a place of knowing that I only have life because of answered prayer. Of course, that's true for all of us, all the time - many of us even only began our lives because of answered prayer! Recent health events mean I know it more intently at the moment though, and so it would be remiss of me not to share something of that miracle. A few months ago, I was told the two year survival rate for people in my situation, is 20%. I was also told I was likely to be in that 20%, which I also knew in my spirit before the doctor told me. That looked a little less likely on October 4th when I was admitted through the ER to a local hospital, in a condition that I know recognise was more serious than I thought or was experiencing at the time. In fact, in some of the paperwork going round between doctors' offices, insurance etc, here is a quote about the prognosis for someone with just ONE of my blood 'markers' .... " are at increased risk for a complicated in‐hospital course including death, prolonged hypotension, cardiogenic shock, and need for resuscitation......... and values above 0.07 ng/ml predict all‐cause mortality"

Well, I didn't have the easiest time compared to my previous admission, and it's still a battle but I definitely am not dead, and definitely didn't need resuscitating! I had people checking me every 15 mins and watching me 24-7 for the first couple of days. It also turns out, I had a MASSIVE network of people praying. I knew of many at the time, but since coming home, I've had others share specifically how they were woken at certain hours of the day or night. During the two hours where I had no pulse in my foot whatsoever, it turns out people had been woken to pray. That evening we had no explanation as to why (we still don't know why it's sporadic and not just absent - but are thankful that it is!) but I know it was a God who heals, restores and protects. I have people in many different countries praying too (the blessings of a global friendship circle!) and I'm pretty convinced there was 24-7 prayer happening, both because of this global network and the friends I have willing to respond and pray at weird hours of the day. So before I begin my official 30 days (some of which will seem silly compared to this), my life is an answered prayer. My access to drugs, doctors, friends who rally round and take me there, the encouragement and love from others - in fact, EVERYTHING about this season - is an answered prayer, and this Thanksgiving, that is what I'm most thankful for.