More Than I Asked For

When I worked at Anasazi after I graduated from July to December 2007 I had a really neat experience one night. It was a Friday night and I was pulling a Rabbitstick (the first four days young walkers come into the program). So, it was our first night on Rabbitstick. I was with another trail walker and we had three young walker girls. We got out to the trail after it had gotten dark and we had blindly hiked down a wash from the dirt road we stopped on until we found an open area where we could just roll out our sleeping bags and go to sleep for the night.

I unpacked my pack, rolled out my sleeping bag, got my things situated, changed into my sleeping clothes, and then slide into my sleeping bag for the night. I said my prayers and then rolled over onto my back to look up into the beautiful starry Arizona sky. As I laid there I had the desire to see a shooting star before falling asleep. The thought came to me, 'well, if you want to see one, pray for it.' I followed that thought and said a prayer that Heavenly Father would provide for me to be able to see a shooting star before I drifted off to sleep. No more than 30 seconds had passed when a shooting star shot across the sky right above me. My heart was filled with love and gratitude and it was a simple testimony to me that God hears and answers our prayers, even if we're in the middle of the Arizona desert and all we want at that moment is to see a shooting star. Something so little. I said a prayer of gratitude and then drifted off to sleep.

This past Sunday evening I had the same desire I did on the trail so many months ago. My mind was still deep in thought from the fast that I had ended a few hours prior. I was thinking about the person I had fasted for and my heart was going out to this individual. I was laying on my bed looking out my window into the night sky at the stars above. I wanted to know and feel that the Lord was close to me at that time and so I said a prayer like I had before on the trail. I continued to look out my window waiting and hoping to see a shooting star, but I drifted off to sleep before I saw one. I don't know if a shooting star shot across the sky that night or not.

The next night I was again laying on my bed looking out of my window at the stars above. I was looking in a northwest direction when I saw the night sky light up from the east. I quickly sat up in my bed and looked to the east. What I saw astonished me! A comet was shooting northward across the sky. It was bright yellow in color and had a long tail trailing behind it. I only saw it for an instant or two before it faded, but I was so excited and felt like it was an answer to my prayer from the previous night. I prayed for a shooting star, but was blessed with a blazing comet streaking across the night sky.

To add to that tender mercy, I happened to be on the phone with the person I had been thinking about Sunday night when I prayed for a shooting star. It was a blessing to be able to then share that experience with this individual. The Lord knows all.

The Lord listens and hears our prayers. The Lord answers our prayers. He may not answer them when we expect or when we think we need Him to, but the Lord always answers our prayers on time. I am so grateful that He hears and answers prayers from His children who may think that their prayer or that they themselves are so insignificant compared to all the problems or other people in this world. He is my God. He is your God. He is our Heavenly Father.