{Chicken and the Shoe}

The other day I was reading the talk "The Privilege of Prayer" by Elder J. Devn Cornish. Elder Cornish begins the talk with a story of the Lord answering his prayer by helping him find a quarter so he could buy a piece of chicken. {It's a great story--read it if you haven't already} I didn't know at the time, how much that chicken story would mean to me.

This last 3 months has been the most physically and emotionally challenging for me. I have spent quite a bit of time utilizing that privilege of prayer! Prayers that sometimes seemed were not quit making it through with answers that just weren't coming. Was it me? Was my faith insufficient? I felt like I was doing my part, so why was I still struggling?

On one of my worst days, I was trying to get out of the house with the girls. I didn't want to go, I felt physically beaten and emotionally drained and Kylee decided it was an appropriate time to be stubborn. We had lost one of her brown shoes a few days before and I had already searched the whole house over for it, with no luck. It was at this time that Kylee decided she would ONLY wear her brown shoes. On the verge of tears and too tired to fight, I said a silent prayer and begged for help in finding the missing shoe. Immediately I heard, in that still small voice, look behind the cushion. Sure enough, behind the cushion on the couch, directly in front of me, sat the shoe. My simple prayer was answered.

"One might well ask why He would concern Himself with something so small. I am led to believe that our Heavenly Father loves us so much that the things that are important to us become important to Him, just because He loves us. How much more would He want to help us with the big things that we ask, which are right (see 3 Nephi 18:20)?" ( Elder J. Devn Cornish)

Finding that shoe was not a life altering necessity, just like Elder Cornish didn't NEED that chicken. However, finding that shoe mattered to me and because it mattered to me, it mattered to Heavenly Father. It was also at that point that it was confirmed to me all those prayers pleading for "help with the big thing" were being heard. "Sometimes we seem to get no answer to our sincere and striving prayers. It takes faith to remember that the Lord answers in His time and in His way so as to best bless us. "

Those prayers I so much desire to have answered are not being ignored. They have been heard, but they will be answered in His time and in His way. My job is to acknowledge my dependence on the Lord and accept His will, even if it is not the same as my will. “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done” (Matthew 6:10; Luke 11:2). A truth I've known but obviously needed reminding of.

Is this trial over? No and it might not be for a while and I KNOW this won't be the last or perhaps even the worst of my trials, but answers and relief will come. I will continue to pray and give thanks for the good days and I will continue to feel the love and peace from a Heavenly Father who is real, who knows and loves me and wants to bless me.

President Thomas S. Monson, said: “To those within the sound of my voice who are struggling with challenges and difficulties large and small, prayer is the provider of spiritual strength; it is the passport to peace. Prayer is the means by which we approach our Father in Heaven, who loves us. Speak to Him in prayer and then listen for the answer. Miracles are wrought through prayer” (“Be Your Best Self,” Liahona and Ensign, May 2009, 68).