Answer to Prayer

In my Rhoda/Prayer I posted that I was praying and waiting on God for some direction. He Did!!! I have some direction now, though it wasn't what I anticipated.A friend called to say she had 5 ladies interested in a self defense class. She wanted to know if I would be interested in teaching them if she found a building and was able to get a date that would work for all of them. I told her yes and then didn't hear from her for a few weeks. That last week I had 4 people call and tell me they had been praying for me,(most called the day before she called me back). It never ceases to amaze me how many people God prompts to pray for one another at any given time. What an encouragment to me that God's love for us is personal and He wants to show us what to do. :) I start teaching this Thursday and I have about 6 more young ladies that might be interested.
The Lord often works in ways I don't anticipate. I think He is moving one direction and then He turns me completely around and gives me something wonderful, but unexpected! I have wanted to teach self defense and knitting to young ladies for a few years now, but every time I tried it didn't work out. I had been considering enrolling in a basic course of study at a college if the Lord didn't open something else. My parents and I had been asking the Lord for direction, and I had just quit checking into things having decided I had asked for wisdom and now it was time to 'wait on the Lord' - to see where He wanted me to go next. I can not express in words how exciting this has been for me, or how it has increased my faith. :)
I am seeing once again that when I don't have direction I need to be diligently working on the last thing I know God gave me to do while I'm waiting. When I have direction I should move with confidence into whatever it is He has placed before me. Focusing on my fear can paralyze me into doing nothing or tempt me to rely on my limited abilities.Case in point: I want to trust God and be who He made me, but I sometimes choose to let my fear of people control what I do. (Will I fail to communicate clearly, be too loud, too giving, too quiet, too talkative, not talkative enough???? & so on and so on....) Instead of focusing on my fears I need to focus on obeying His Word, and then trusting Him to guide me. I need to believe He wants me to be who He has made me, not what He has made my brother or sister. ( Though that one is quite tempting! I know some pretty special people.) Focus needs to be on pleasing my Father in heaven.
I must meditate on the truth of who God is ; omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent.

I'm now studying a book on self defense and notes from classes I have taken over the years. I'm praying that the Lord gives me wisdom so I can teach these girls the basic skills they might need. I am so excited and so nervous.

Class/Thursday

Right before the class I called a friend and asked for prayer. He was kind, encouraging and patient to take the time to pray that I would have wisdom and peace while teaching. It helped me to pray, and quit thinking of my limited abilities. I appreciated it more than I could express over the phone.The Lord has graciously given me a wonderful group of friends over the last two years. I pray I can be as steadfast & encouraging a friend to all of them as they are to me.

After praying I was able to breath a little bit better and I didn't shake quiet as much. (Sigh) :)

There were 14 ladies in the class and all of them were excited. They asked questions, worked hard, and we still enjoyed ourselves. It is a blast teaching an all girls class, though they were excited in a loud manner. I had to keep raising my voice to be heard over the excitment but I loved it!! We covered a lot more than I expected. They were eager and learned quickly. We went over the safety precautions, wrist grabs and 1 neck grab. They were fun to teach.

Afterward we went to Joanna's house (the friend that set it all up) and had ice cream with peanut butter on it. Wow, that is sooooo good. I had no idea I would like peanut butter on ice cream. Who would have thought?:) One of the truly enjoyable things in life; getting to experience new foods!

I came away feeling very blessed by all of these people that I know. What an amazing Father we have.

This week I am supposed to have 3 or 4 more young ladies start taking the class and I am feeling so much more confident about it. Our heavenly father is personally concerned with us and does answer our prayers. :)