Happy dance time!

Good morning. Today’s scripture comes from Psalm 81:1 (NIV):

“Sing for joy to God our strength;

shout aloud to the God of Jacob!”

Today is a holiday for my wife and me. Silently, we will be singing for joy and shouting aloud. We have agreed not to do the happy dance while my step-son is around. He isn’t quite ready to sing and do the happy dance, but he’s coming around. The reason for our joy is that we witnessed God’s miracle in the 11^th hour as He changed the hearts of my step-son and his dad. In short, my step-son will be going to the same Christian high school he attended last year, and not the public high school four blocks away, which was his desire.

We are joyful, because we had inwardly resigned to his attending the public school when it looked as though all hope were lost. We even started looking into getting involved in a few faith-based programs at the school. Our prayers changed to “Lord, if this is your will, then show us where you want us to serve.” My wife was looking into Mom’s in Touch, a group that prays for the students, campus and faculty at schools, and I was praying for new ministry direction, perhaps on campus. I had even tried to meet with the principal of the Christian school in order to give back the generous scholarship the school had given us, but was thwarted by a phone calls that caused me to miss him. When I arrived at the school, the principal had just left. School started there on Wednesday.

Then something happened. The door that had seemed shut, suddenly opened a crack. “Hmm,” I thought to myself, “very interesting.” What might God be doing here? I grabbed my wife’s hand on Monday morning and said, “This isn’t right. We prayed for God’s peace in your son going to public school, and it isn’t happening. We’re not giving up. We’re going to pray some more. And we did – fervently. I was on my knees every morning, and my wife fasted for one meal a day all week.

What God did next blew us away. He opened new doors of communication with the dad. It seemed our “opponent” had switched jerseys at halftime. God shined a light on the truth. Their son had pitted them against each other to get his way. His reasons for wanting to switch schools became suspect; something was not sitting right with any of us. But the grace of God brought his parents together to decide what was best for him and tore down the walls of division. Before we met with him and his dad, we had prayed all day, and sent an email to over 200 people asking them to pray with us. We were deeply touched when about 20 people responded immediately that they were praying right then and there.

The last miracle was the change of heart in my step-son. He had threatened to ditch if we forced him to go to the Christian school, but last night, he was happily texting his friends and letting them know he would be there today. Through this whole ordeal, the school remained a staunch supporter of my step-son. Two of the secretaries were praying for us the past two days. This is where God wanted my step-son to be. It was an easy decision for us, because we knew he was loved and accepted there. Oh, and God answered a bazillion prayers on our behalf. Thank you all for being our friends and prayer warriors. We felt your prayers. Someday, we’ll let my step-son know that more than 200 people were praying for him. You may now move about the cabin and join us in the happy dance.

How does this apply to my life?

Today’s prayer: Lord, you are awesome. You do your best work in the 11^th hour. No one else gets the glory but you. Your sovereignty and love are simply amazing. Amen