For His Glory

In case you haven't noticed - we travel. a LOT. I used to always pray the same prayer no matter what growing up in regards to travel..."Lord, please allow us to arrive safely.  Please protect the vehicle/airplane/bus/etc and get us to our destination."  I'm not totally convinced there is something wrong with that prayer but I have been convicted that it's not how I should be praying in regards to travel.


So, for the past few years my prayers have been something more similar to "God, thank you for today and for the chance to be going to _____.  I pray that You would use this trip to glorify Your name above all things.  If that means we arrive safely & smoothly then that would be lovely.  If Your name will be glorified more through a different path/outcome then I ask for Your wisdom in handling whatever may come...even if that means that one or more of us does not arrive at all.  I trust that Your plans are higher than mine and that You will work it for the glory of Your name.  Amen."

Last week, we flew home from Johannesburg.  I have the utmost respect for any parent who is traveling with a child but my respect increased dramatically for any parent out there who has done it by themselves!  Steve wrangled all of our luggage & carry ons while I tried to keep a curious toddler & a hungry baby occupied until we could get checked in.  It was a process for sure!  Perhaps needless to say, I don't remember really taking a deep breath until we were all seated on the plane.  Looking out the window that Wednesday morning, I spoke those now familiar words to the Lord.  I reminded myself that there are no guarantees in this life aside from those spoken to us by the Father and I prayed for His name to be glorified through our lives however that may be.

Once we landed in Madagascar, I whispered a prayer of thanks (while Ryleigh shouted for the whole plane to hear "We DID it! We are in MADA!! Yippee mommy!!") and almost immediately the Lord brought my earlier prayer to mind.  He reminded me that I asked for His name to be glorified whatever that looked like.  He revealed to my heart that us landing safely & smoothly didn't just mean He got us there safely.  It meant that He would be glorified most (for now) by us all living.  By us all being there.  Right now one way that His name is glorified is by our family living in Madagascar.  His plan is to have us right here.

This was so huge for me because I guess I've always just stopped right after the "safely arrived at home" part.  I've given Him the glory for getting us there, but then just stopped and moved on to the next thing.  But that's not how He works is it?  Everything is part of a bigger picture, a greater plan, & the furtherance of His kingdom.  Gratefully praying that I (through His grace & strength) can indeed bring glory to His name by living out His love in the day to day.