God Bless the Canadians.

For those of you who don’t know, I recently went to Toronto on a mission trip. I cannot even describe how awesome the trip was! I learned SO much. So, since I haven’t blogged in a while, I decided to try to write some blogs about it ☺
I’m sure you guys have figured out by now that I have been praying for a CNU hockey player (Ryan Dove, #9) for a few months now. God has been teaching me a lot, and one thing that He has been stressing recently is unshakable faith. I am so easily discouraged, y’all! I’ve only been praying for 6 months, and I’m already losing hope, wondering if Ryan will ever come to love the Lord. Shortly before I left for Canada, I was praying to God, wondering if my prayers were even doing anything. I know that God hears our prayers, but sometimes He says “no.” I know that He is sovereign and His plan is perfect, but I still hope that Ryan is saved. I don’t want God to say “no”! Anyway, I was praying a lot about whether or not my prayers really meant anything, if they were really doing anything. It’s hard to pray for someone you don’t know and can’t talk to! I have no idea where he’s at spiritually! So I was getting very frustrated.
But that does not justify me losing faith. I may not know where Ryan is at with his faith; but I do know how big my God is. I know that God is mighty to save, willing that none should perish, and sovereign over all creation. So why am I worried? If He wants to save Ryan, He will- I just need to be obedient in my call to pray for him.
Still, God knew that I was getting a little discouraged, and starting to doubt if I was even still being called to pray for Dove. So He gave me a little push in the right direction. He’s pretty great like that. ☺ On the ride up to Canada, I had been praying for Ryan a lot. The next day, we had to exchange our money over to the Canadian currency. I’m not sure how familiar you are with Canadian bills, but you should check out the $5 sometime. If you flip it over, you’ll notice that there are hockey players on the back. One of the hockey players has his back to the viewer, and he’s wearing a number on his jersey. What’s his number, you ask?
9. The same as Ryan Dove’s.
It may sound stupid, but that was so encouraging to me! I felt like God was confirming that I was still called to pray earnestly for Ryan, and that He was hearing my prayers. I may not know what’s going on in his life; I may not be able to talk to him, or invite him to church; but I can always be praying for him. And I know that God hears me. He may not answer the way I want him to, but He will hear me. And His answer will be perfect.