Whale Pyjamas

A simple (perhaps even silly story) meant to offer encouragement:

At church today we had one of our "Shout Out" services in which people share the work and goodness of God in their lives. As small as it is, I have my own shout out story.

My five year old is growing like a bean (as most kids do). His particular stage of growth has left him with very few pairs of pyjamas that fit him. The poor boy has been squeezing himself into some shockingly tight nightwear! That is until I bought him a new, and rather stunning pair of whale pyjamas - my Finn is crazy about sea faring creatures. They are a cute, and more importantly size appropriate pair of pyjamas.

All was well until I misplaced the top portion of them. They have been lost for a while now, and Finn has gone back to wearing the same old skin tight pyjamas. As with all things that I lose, I have prayed about finding the shirt. I have turned my house up side down. Each time I searched for them, I walked past my coat closet and wondered if they would be in my basket that holds all of our winter apparel (mittens, scarves, toques, etc.). Each time I passed the idea off as completely illogical, for who would have put it up there? It is too high for either of my kids to reach, which would have meant that my husband or I put it up there - as I said, illogical.

Today I decided to give the house yet another look over. I was not willing to give up on finding them. I had spent money on these pyjamas, they were cute, they had only been worn once and my son needed them. As I walked past my coat closet today, I wondered if that little feeling I had always dismissed as illogical was actually the Holy Spirit answering my prayer and leading me to the shirt's hiding place. So, a little embarrassed that I was actually looking in amongst the mittens for a pyjama shirt, I reached for the basket and searched through it. There, amongst said mittens, was the shirt! The Lord answered my prayer - my silly little prayer about finding a shirt. I was so excited I thanked Jesus out loud!

That is my shout out story. I realize that it may seem like a trivial story, but there are so many reminders in there: that God answers prayer, no matter how trivial the subject matter may seem to us; that He cares about the small things that concern us - or in this case weigh upon my mind like a burdensome unsolved mystery; that He is constantly in control of every situation in our lives.

One particular thing that I have been focusing on since this whole scenario unfolded this afternoon, is how often do I put aside a thought from my mind, disregarding it as illogical, or not worth paying attention to, when it is, in fact, the Holy Spirit trying to tell me something? How many times have I ignored God and chosen to follow my own, more "logical" plan? How many times has God spoken to me, and I have not recognized His voice?

My prayer for each one of us, is that we learn to distinguish His voice and hear it more clearly than any other.

It is getting late. My house is quiet (except for the dulcet tones of a dishwasher doing my work for me). My sons are in bed (one of them wearing his newly found whale pyjamas!). The day is drawing to a close. Tonight, I am going to bed encouraged. Encouraged that the Lord answered my prayer. Encouraged that He is in control. And encouraged that if we listen, He will speak to us.

Good night all, and may you hear His voice above all others.