Everything Happens for a Reason

We have all heard of 'unanswered prayers', of 'blessings in disguise', and 'the power of prayer'.  I believe in all three and possibly they are really all intertwined.  I have always felt that everything happens for a reason and if you pay attention, there are signs all around us.  When I entered the new church for the first time, I had so many signs telling me that this felt right.  From seeing my friend singing in the choir to our little girl going to the nursery willingly against her usual antics to having a package of kleenex right in front of me when I needed it the most to having Tony hold my hand the entire time.  It all felt right. The music, the atmosphere, the trendy-ness of the church, the type of church, the message about resolutions/goals in the sermon, even the Associate Pastor resembling my high school boyfriend.  It just all seemed to have a theme for me...all things of comfort and security.  I joined a Faith Based Direct Selling company called Thirty-One to supplement my income and offset daycare.  My upline in this company was the girl who introduced me to this church. The same girl who was singing in the choir.  Tony and I took a membership class and on the last day, on the decision page, the page number said 31. I remember, circling it and showing Tony...he said 'it's a sign' and I felt the same way.  I really thought Tony would have more reservations about joining, but he has been a guiding light in our new path towards a relationship with God.  He has been positive, confident, and has held my hand the entire way. Why did it feel that I was pressuring him before we went and then later it felt almost as if he was pushing me a little.  He didn't even realize it though....why was I a bit scared, a bit apprehensive, a bit unsure. I was confident this was the right time, the right place, and my right mentality. But I still had our life issues looming over our decision.  I wanted to join and be a member and work on my relationship with God more than anyone could imagine, BUT why was I letting these outside issues affect my decision.  Tony was usually more practical than me when it came to stuff like this and he was so confident.  It felt great and that was the biggest sign of all. We were in this together, but as individuals. We weren't pressuring each other and we weren't' doing this out of obligation. More importantly, we both know we have lots of hard work ahead. It isn't just a paper you sign or a choice of what time to go to church on Sunday. This is an all or nothing thing and we were ready, quickly, for what lies ahead.  I believe that our unanswered prayer of our house not selling turned into one of the biggest positives of our life...we found a Church, but more importantly, we found God again.  We still are praying for the house to sell, but we are also putting a lot of faith into God's plan for us. It feels right and we need to trust in the Lord.  Like I said, it is not going to be easy for us.  We have to work to change our mentality towards putting all of our faith in God, putting him as #1, and being a living Christian every single day.  For me, all of the signs are helping me get there. They will help me evolve.  As individuals, we'll take our own avenues of how we accomplish this and for me, it is through lots of daily prayer for both answered and unanswered prayers.  Thank you God for both!