Meteorology!! Keep Praying!

Abe is still out of town, so Saturday night I decided I needed to take a long, hot bath after all the children went to bed.  I would normally take a book with me to read, but this time I felt like I just wanted to meditate and pray during my quiet time.

As I relaxed, I opened my mind and pondered on my children’s education.  I wanted ideas on how to better schedule our time for all that they want to learn.  I wanted to know how to encourage their individual passions.  I wondered how to best prepare them for college- especially Jackson since he's the oldest.

As I prayed, some scheduling ideas unfolded into my mind.  Feeling satisfied, I started to turn my mind off.  Then a strong thought came into my mind, “Keep praying.” It was a very clear prompting, so I kept praying and meditating.

After my lengthened prayer, no new ideas came to my mind, but I felt that for some reason that lengthened prayer was necessary.

After church on Sunday, we went to a family’s house for dinner.  I discovered that the father was our Home Teacher.  (In our church, the men ages 12 and older are given home teaching assignments.  If a 12-year old is given an assignment, he usually goes with his father to visit a few pre-assigned families in the congregation each month to assess their spiritual and physical needs.  Otherwise, two adults coordinate schedules and find ways to serve their assigned families.  Ideally, each family in the congregation should have a visit from their 2 home teachers every month.)  

The family, whose home we were visiting, spontaneously invited another family over to their house for dinner as well.  The man from the other family happened to be our other home teacher.   It was perfect- both home teachers were there!  We claimed the dinner as our home teaching visit for the month.  

I asked both families lots of get-to-know-you questions.  I found out that one of our home teachers is a professor of physics and meteorology at the local university.  Jackson LOVES to study weather!! I was so excited, so I asked our new friend/home teacher to tell Jackson a little bit about how to prepare to become a meteorologist.  Jackson listened intently but couldn't help himself from silently twisting his face in all kinds of excited facial contortions while he pumped his arm like he had just won the grand prize.  

This was clearly an amazing moment for Jackson.

So… I asked the question….

“Do you think Jackson could just sit-in on your classes at the university?”

Excited to share his passion with a young boy, he exclaimed, “Sure!!”

“It’s allowed?”  I questioned.

He answered, “Yes!  As long as it’s ok with the professor, and I’m ok with it.” 

I assured our home teacher that he wouldn’t need to walk Jackson to our car or “babysit” him.  I would be there to pick him up.  He didn’t seem worried at all about Jackson in his class.  Rather, our home teacher exclaimed how happy he felt that Jackson was so interested in meteorology.  He told us how much Jackson would love watching the science experiments in class.

One of Jackson’s greatest dreams is to become a storm chaser!  You should hear him talk about the clouds!  He often reports obscure weather patterns to Abe and me from all around the world.

I couldn't believe this was happening.  I told everyone at dinner how I had spent an hour the night before praying about my children’s education.  No doubt about it, this was an answered prayer.  I’m so grateful the Lord told me to “Keep praying" even after I thought my prayer was over.

My heart is so happy to witness the miracle that our 12-year old son will be learning about one of his greatest passions in the coolest of settings from a professor we can trust- his home teacher.  I am confident that this class will prepare Jackson for college courses when he is officially admitted into a university.

I am grateful for so many answered prayers!

After I wrote about answered prayers and answered dreams last week in my post entitled, Ocean Science Lab:  Answered Prayer, a friend emailed me a quote from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, and it has been on my mind ever since. 

Every word feels empowering!

“God expects you to have enough faith and determination and enough trust in Him to keep moving, keep living, keep rejoicing. In fact, He expects you not simply to face the future (that sounds pretty grim and stoic); He expects you to embrace and shape the future--to love it and rejoice in it and delight in your opportunities.

God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can't if you don't pray, and He can't if you don't dream. In short, He can't if you don't believe.”