Yesterday

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary. '   
   "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!"
And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for all his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:1-8

Yesterday, I got a lesson in persistence. Persistence, by the way, is an attribute I need to cultivate within myself because I often find it lacking.

From the moment I woke up there was conflict. I mean this literally. My husband was cranky even before I got out of our bed in the morning, and he carried it with him all day.

It was unfair.

It was also my daughter's birthday, and even though he was in this foul mood, I was determined not to let it interfere with everything I wanted to do for her. I wasn't going to let it ruin my celebration of her life, or carry my wounding over to her in any way.

In order for this posting to be fair to my husband, I want you to know we are struggling. He's recovering from surgery and I'm recovering from a case of strep and bronchitis. I've been on two rounds of antibiotics and one course of steroids and we're trying to care for one another although we don't feel well. We're doing a remarkable job despite the circumstances.

Anyway, after I got the kids off to school, I had to come home and take a nap because I was feeling so sick. I climbed into my son's bed and shut the door. I was just drifting off to sleep when I heard a scratch at the door.

   Then another.

      Then another.

It was my dog, Titan, but I was determined to be left alone. Determined to ignore him.

Then I heard a snuffling sound, like a dolphin blowing air out of its blowhole. Then more snuffling and blowing.

   Then whining. Little pathetic whining sounds coming through the crack between the door and the floor.

That dumb dog was not giving up. He lives to snuggle with me and no barrier was going to stop him from achieving his goal. Just then, the scripture of the unfair judge and the widow came to the front of my mind. I decided, that like the widow and my dog, I was going to pray down Heaven about the conflict in my house.

I let the dog in and took a nap. For the rest of the day I prayed and didn't speak to my husband at all.

    Here I am again God. You've got to fix this. It's not right, nor fair. The battle is yours.  Today, I am going to be worse than the widow and worse than my dog. I am going to hound you about this. I will be a peacemaker. I will be called a son of God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9

I mean, I literally prayed all day. Almost 10 hours later, my husband came to me and made peace. My daughter never knew there was any strife between us and had a wonderful day of celebration.

Yesterday, God won.

    Yesterday, I won.

        Yesterday, Titan won.