Just waiting...

I have never felt more like a mother than I did today. I got one text, just one and this is what it said,

"some of the kids were coming from school and had a car accident. they are at JFK." (text from Baccus Roberts, mooreHOPE's representative in Liberia)

I received this text at 12:32pm. I immediately tweeted what had happened asking for prayer, texted all my prayer warriors and in between all that time, texted Baccus back 4 times to figure out some news. I waited, every minute feeling like a year. Every time my phone went off I jumped up waiting for it to be good news, nothing. It wasn't bad news, but at the same time..it was no news at all. 

I prayed that my kids were okay. I prayed that the driver was okay. I prayed for the hospital. I prayed for the doctors. I prayed especially for Mother Blessing and Uncle Theo (both caretakers of the orphanage home). 

I waited and waited. I finally realized how my mother felt when I was 2,000 miles away, in the hospital with malaria. Completely uncertain if her child would be okay. Now here I am, completely uncertain of what the next few days will hold for them but knowing one thing that is certain, God is holding there futures in His hands. 

As I waited for this news I realized that this situation is so much like our own lives. We wait and wait for God to answer our prayers, waiting for what we hope to be good news. As we wait, the devil plants bad thoughts in our head. "God isn't going to answer this prayer," & "If He does answer this prayer it isn't going to be what you wanted." 

I was sitting here, the devil taking over my mind. Telling me one of my kids isn't going to make it and they are all in critical condition and that there is NOTHING I CAN DO.

For a few minutes I was completely discouraged and then I remembered:

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1 NIV)

I have faith. I have faith that I believe in the things I do not see. I have faith in a God who can protect those that I have no control over. I know that my God protects His children and He will protect them today.

At 4:23pm I got this text message, 

"there were eight of them in the accident. Boakai and Josephine were the most critical. all of em were discharged from JFK hospital. thank God!" (from Baccus Roberts)

I was relieved, much like a mother who found out her daughter was released from the hospital after fighting a deathly disease, twice.

I now have a new respect for parents, especially my own. 

You can be 2,000 miles away or 2 feet away, but some situations you just have absolutely no control over. You only have control over your faith. I have learned that God may not answer right away, but when He does it will be far greater than what you ever thought.