Saturday night, John took our son out hog hunting. To my understanding, this involves total darkness, a spot light and driving around in a pick-up truck with two silly little boys who care more about laughing at each other’s bodily expulsions than actually spotting a hog. But, who asked me, right? I wasn’t invited, nor did I care to attend. My three year-old little girl and I stayed at home piled up in bed watching a movie.
It was about dark-thirty when our dogs suddenly began to bark. We have a sunroom that is completely enclosed with glass, so the dogs can spot any random animal, such as a raccoon, that wanders into the yard. I got up to hush the animals and made sure the back door was locked, then I went back to the bedroom. Since we moved in within the last year, we have not been able to decide what to do for window treatments in our room. So, we have done nothing. We have a sliding glass door in our room that has drapes, but the four windows have nothing. These four windows look out into our backyard, which is gated.
Well, about 30 minutes after the dogs had been roused, I saw what appeared to be a flashlight beam in the backyard. I got a little concerned. Although, I did not hear the dogs bark this time. I texted John and told him and he told me how to get the gun out of the gun safe. The funny thing about all of this is that I really was not scared. I prayed and asked the Lord to protect us and I kept my eye on the window a little more than I would have, but I definitely was not gripped by fear like I would have been in the past. There was still peace. Nothing ever came from the light that I saw and the dogs remained quiet the rest of the night. John got home a few hours after I had turned the lights off to go to sleep.
The next morning was Sunday and we attended church as usual. After service, one of the ladies in the church came up to me and said, “Jenny, I don’t want to worry you or anything, but last night I had a dream and the Lord woke me up to pray for you. I’m not sure what it meant or anything, but I kept feeling like I was to pray for you and your house.” Wow! I got goosebumps and just thanked her for being submissive to the voice of God. Chances are there was something out there the night before in my yard and chances are whatever or whomever it was was up to no good. But the Lord had different plans for me and my daughter that night and I cannot begin to express my gratitude to Him.
God does love his people and He will intervene on your behalf. Never lose hope and never give up on our big God!
it is what it is (and what YOU make of it!) 