Yes....God does care...and I could only begin to count the ways He's showed me that lately! But there's several unique answers to prayer that I just have to share!

The first answer to prayer is rather strange. This past week we had another earthquake here in Loma Linda California. I say "another" because here, earthquakes are happening ALL the time! It's just that most people don't feel them because they are only 1 or 2 on the Richter scale. But this one was a whopping 4.0!!! And it was sooo strong it was felt for miles away. Sunny thought a truck had hit our house, and Valerie thought her roommate had dropped something huge! Come to find out, when one friend engineer decided to do some more research and matched up the latitude and longitude coordinates to see exactly WHERE in Loma Linda this great quake had originated from....the earthquake's epicenter was basically right at our very doorstep.......right under our house.....almost 10 miles down!!! Hmmmmm.....now how's that for interesting??!!! Makes me wonder if God's trying to shake us out of sleep to greater zeal....or maybe He's saying "Get out of here before the BIG ONE comes!!" Whatever the case, I just praise the Lord for his protection....even when we don't know what to ask for ahead of time!! :-)

The next answer to prayer has to do with a silver mini-van.....our "space ship" as I liked to call it that we were driving this past week. Several of my girlfriends and I just got back from an incredible trip to Colorado for another girl's retreat with Eric and Leslie Ludy. (I will tell you more about that soon!) However, the last evening before we were to return to California, someone rammed their vehicle into our rental van...and then took off without leaving us any info. So we were left with a nasty ugly dent in our side panel! (Ouch!! And we hadn't purchased the extra rental insurance coverage!) I wasn't sure if our own insurance would cover and was just imagining what this doozer could cost. But we all prayed that God would help things to work out, and Praise the Lord, they did! My girlfriend who had rented the van, found out that her Credit Card she had used to pay for the rental provided coverage for damage to rentals. Yeah!!!! So no extra skin off our nose. What a blessing! We just praise the Lord for this direct answer to prayer! (Hmmm....maybe Credit Card's are worthwhile once in awhile after all...)

The third HUGE answer to Prayer has to do with furniture! You see, my sister is getting married this summer, and so that means that she moves out all her furniture......and basically I am left with nothing! ;-) Well, that's slightly over-exaggerated, but pretty much all I have out here in CA, I brought out in my car....so it's not much. Anyway, I'm still seeking to get completely out of debt, so am not up to re-stocking the house with furniture....and so I decided that I would just have to live with it empty. But we have all Sunny and I's family coming out for the wedding, and I host lots of events in our home, so a couple months ago, I started praying about the furniture situation...and praying that God would somehow provide if He saw best. Well, just the week that Sunny was moving her stuff out....another friend was also moving and didn't have space to use all his furniture at this time.....so he offered to allow us girls to use his couches, dining table (that seats up to 8 people), china cabinet, coffee table, end tables and more....until he needs them in the future! It was more furniture than Sunny moved out, but it is perfect and exactly what we needed!!! Even in the colors that I was wishing for!!! (How's that for a grand time miracle....and I didn't even have to pay a cent!) What a huge answer to prayer!!!! God is sooooo faithful....just like he provided me the miracle porch swing this past April for $30 bucks (Did I tell everyone this story??) he also came through in answering my prayer for the rest of the furniture we needed! I am just in awe!!

The last answer to prayer that I will share in this post has to do with my longtime friend and buddy, "Titus Trofast Elliot." Titus (pictured above) is a little stuffed puppy that my good friend Gabriela gave me in Norway a few years ago. His name is significant as it stands for a very important growing time in my life. (First name comes from: Titus 3:5. Second: "Trofast" stands for "Faithful" in Norwegian and I chose the name to remind me that "God is faithful." Third: Elliot was from one of my favorite missionary martyrs - Jim Elliot who quotes, "He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot loose." So there you have it!)

As you can see by the meaning behind the name, Titus is a pretty significant puppy, and besides making a great neck pillow, has been my confident and friend for a few years now. He's been with me to Africa, Egypt, camping, all across the US, and who knows where else. Naturally, I took him to Colorado with me as well, as I figured he'd enjoy another adventure. Well, sadly, I was sooo caught up with the activities of the weekend, that I went off and left Titus in our motel room in Windsor. But I didn't realize it at first. On our way home, I looked for him once or twice, but figured he got buried in the luggage. But then when I got home, I never found him. I panicked as I worried about "where" he might have gotten dropped. Then it hit me last night, "What if I left him in the motel? Would they even save him, or would they toss him out with the trash? Oh no!!! What have I done?" I almost cried thinking about it! I worked today, so couldn't call the motel til this evening....but praying, I made the fateful phone call. Was Titus still there?? YES!!! YES!!! He was!! They'd saved him... Praise the Lord! I was sooooo excited!!! I almost cried again! ;-) (Imagine if he'd been a real friend....)

Yes, God is sooo faithful....and I have to ponder the question, "When I see how God takes care of these little details in my life....why is it soooo hard to trust Him with the big details???"

Hmmmm.... we should all spend a few minutes thinking about that, huh??

"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, [shall he] not much more [clothe] you, O ye of little faith?" Matt 6:25-30

God is sooooooo good!!! I just praise Him....